Prezcon

Just got back from a long weekend of gaming at Prezcon.  It was a great time.  I went with my buddy, Steve, and played a ton of games.  Made it into the finals of the Kingmaker tournament.  Woot!  I got to play some new games like Wellington and Arcane Legions.  Worked all last week to learn the rules to Triumph of Chaos, but when push came to shove, the game just kicked my ass.  It is far more complex than my reading of the rules led me to believe.
Arcane legions was pretty cool.  It reminded me of Battleground with real miniatures.  I like the fact that you can get a playable 3 armies right out of the starter, and you don't have to buy into the madness of collectible games.
Saw my friend Larry at the con.  Larry loves the wargames and he was in heaven with all the gaming goodness.  He wanted to try out Runewars, so we all played on Thursday night.  His buddy Doug liked it, but I don't think it was Larry's cup of tea.
Ran into my friend Rob Olsson.  We played Waterloo, and Wellington.  We tried to play Android, but again my brain was not too happy with all the rules.  I have played this twice, but I couldn't wrap my head around it.  :(  I do like the game.
Wellington was a blast.  I like card driven games in general, but I liked the simplicity and design of this one.
Played Conquest of Paradise with the designer, Kevin, and almost won.  The next day, we played a new prototype game about the war of 1812.  It was cool, with hidden troop strengths, and leader abilities.  The game end is pretty innovative, and I liked the way the game play felt like the time period.  This will be a good seller, I bet. 
And keeping with the theme of my blog, I kept the losing streak alive.  I was glad that I could be the reason others could have a good time and win games.  Seriously, it was one of the best times I have had at a convention.

Rogzor and Mucustos Save The Day

Played in a Monpoc Tournament last night.  It was a double monster tourney.  The first match was against Mucustos and Krakenoctus.  I was running Rogzor and Mucustos.  After a perfect set up to deal 3 damage to each form, I rolled my dice and got exactly one hit.  ONE.  I felt like my buddy Steve when he gets cheated out of a sure thing.  If that wasn't bad enough, It happened two more times in a row.  I received three points of damage for all my troubles and the match was a draw.
      The second match was against Mantacon and Grindix-Birvikaan.  I couldn't get a shot off because Mantacon gives cloak to all other units.  My opponent forgot, however, that Muscustos is a radiation based monster and Mucustos walked right up onto a radioactive tile and threw his insectoid ass into a building.  Killing his alpha form.  I repeated the disgrace by blasting Grindix and beat backing him into a nuclear plant.  After that it was pretty much over.
     The prize was a mega Gakura.  Power to the apes!!!!

Dungeon Stuff

Worked a lot on my dungeon stuff today.  Got most of the walls completed, the floors, doors, props, etc.  Pics coming very soon!

Gakura Saves City From Martian Menace

     Early this evening, our fair city was beset by Martian invaders.  Led by Deimos 9, they threatened to overtake our suburbs and turn our citizens into Martian drones.  Luckily for the people, Gakura came to our defense.  Gakura is one of the leaders of the Empire of the Apes.
     At precisely 7:00 p.m., a fleet of Martian warships was seen on the outskirts of town.  Deimos 9, that long-legged alien invader was close behind.  At first, he tried to demolish a building, but his razor sharp legs just bounced off the sides.  It was then that Gakura answered the call of the local chapter of A.P.E. (Association of Primate Emulators).  He brought with him apes from the empire as well as some Terrasaurs.  From there, it all went downhill for the invaders.  Gakura picked up Deimos 9 and threw him into two buildings.  This was more than 9 could take.  He morphed into his ultra form and tried to recover.  Luckily for the city, he recovered by being bowled into another building.  This put an end to the rampage of the Martians.  Property damage was estimated to be in the millions, but that is a small price to pay for saving countless lives.       
                                                                                                          Reported By: Oran Gutan

New Years Revolutions/Evolutions

It's an Evolution not a Revolution....

I have been encouraged to post my New Year's Resolutions, so here they are in not particular order.

Going to the Gym
I resolve that I will continue to lose weight this year.  I have lost 37 lbs so far since September.  My primary goal is to get to 185 lbs by April.
Building Some Muscle
I resolve to make my arms bigger, legs more solid, and chest and shoulders more defined.
Playing Lord of the Rings
 I resolve to badger Steve until we do this!!!  I am really jazzed about playing through the campaigns for the Fellowship of the Ring.  I have wondered if this is a good system, and I liked what I read.  Steve and I are going to make some terrain and try out each of the battles.  That's one plan, anyway!
Monsterpocalypse
Resolved... I will continue to learn from my mistakes and work towards being as competitive and knowledgeable as I can.
Wargames
I resolve to read the rules to at least one war-game a month and to try to play them.  Prezcon will be a great start, but I want to get back to my first gaming experiences which were war-games.
Building Confidence
I resolve to continue to work on my attitude, especially about how I see myself.
Dungeons and Dragons
I resolve to run the best D and D campaign I can.  I will look for ways to make it exciting and interesting while allowing players the freedom to make choices.  I resolve that their actions will affect the world they are in.
Terrain
I resolve to make more terrain for gaming.  I will hone my skills at card-stock terrain making.  
My Friends
I resolve that I will be a better friend.  I will look for ways to build others up and help them see the difference they make.  I will learn how to whine less and be thankful more.
Organize
I resolve to organize my games and purge those games that I won't play any more.  I am especially keen to go through all the ccg cards I have and do something with them.

Another Win

Played Monpoc last Monday with Stewart at the Family Games Store.  He chose Cyber Khan and I chose Gorgahadratron.  Both are Ubercorp monsters.  It started off with a bang.  On my first or second monster activation, I ran across the board and smashed him into oblivion.  From there it was a quick journey to destruction.
I still have a lot to learn about unit play.  I am not nearly as effective with my units as I should be.  Maybe I will take an older monster next time, so I can focus on my units.  It would help if I knew all the abilities of the pieces by sight.  There are like a million of them.  :)
I am seriously considering changing my blog name, now that I am on a winning streak.
More to come....
Rob

Your Training Is Almost Complete

OK.  I have got to be the most transparent, obvious, predictable person I know.  Once again, we start our Monpoc game by choosing monsters from the same faction.  Or to be more accurate, Steve chooses the one monster that is the perfect foil to my monster.  He does it all the time.  I thought and thought all day about how to be unpredictable, take a chance, try a monster I lost with, etc.  So I bring Muscustos to the table and he brings Mantacon.  Well, to be sure this would be a quick and painful ending for me.  So he graciously decides to change his monster to Drillcon-Vorionnic.  Let the games begin!

At first, I thought I would have a decent chance to hold my own.  I took a chance on a few risky moves that didn't pay out at all.  My only saving grace was that Steve didn't have much of an opportunity to exploit my weakness.  He did take out my Alpha form quite quickly, but I did not get discouraged.  I pressed on!

At one point, there was an opening to smash him across the board and deal some pretty hefty damage.  I did so.  From that point on, I just had to keep my distance and mucus-tize him.  Ultra-Muscustos is a very effective shooter.  So the victory was mine!

What's worse than a beat up subterranean?  A mucus covered beat up subterranean!

  I keep learning a lot from watching Steve beat me up every game.   He is one of the best miniatures gamers I know.  It was a very close game.  The best I have played so far.  I think I am becoming a better challenge.  That is a lot more satisfying for me than winning!  But winning is cool too.
Rob