Hawk The Slayer Vs. Dragonslayer

* = This is the sort of forward thinking recruiting that fills churches on Sundays. Oh that and the hate...







Well we sold Cassandra’s car. In the process of doing this we also paid mine off. (Not the actual 'Blue' but an amazing fascimile. In all seriousness you will be missed 'Blue'. May your new teen driver not drive you like she stole her, but instead squeeze every ounce of life you of you.) That puts us well on track to getting what we want accomplished this year; finish the basement, get guttering up on the garage, poop out a baby, and get almost all our non-monthly debt paid. Granted becoming a one-car family might make some things logistically difficult, but since we plan so much I’m not that worried about it.

Saturday I was at Dark Dave’s Game Day, and it while it was low on numbers of players this time it was HIGH on Nerdery. I arrived late, due to things both within and beyond my sphere of control. We began the night with Cadawallon: City Of Thieves, which I’ve reviewed before, an excellent game. It was definitely a battle between Dave & Steve with Woody and myself just basically there. I have to say that I do love this game, and the more opportunities I get to play it the more I love it. Next up was the deck building card game Nightfall (**** out of 5). Normally I’m not much of a deck building card game guy. In fact I’m not really into them at all. Well perhaps that was just the folly of youth, because I dug this game, in fact I dug it a lot. I enjoyed the buy in and chaining effects, the speed at which you could play, and the frantic tactic switch that the game demands. I have to point out though that the learning curve was sort of steep and at least one guy at the table struggled to grasp some of the mechanics. Suffice say although I didn’t come close to winning it was a good time, and a game I may have to eventually look into purchasing way down the road. Last but not least in the night was Bell Bottomed Badasses On The Mean Streets Of Funk (*** out of 5),
another offshoot of Z-Man Games B-Movie Card game system. I like these games; the other three guys at the table I was playing did not. First off I think you have to get the humor and have a love of the genre(s) the game(s) take place in, suffice to say I felt like our President at a Klan rally during play. No one cracked a smile or laughed besides me. It was disappointing and really put a damper on the evening. Overall though I felt it was a really nice evening of gaming.

One of the reasons for my lateness was the finishing some more cards as we speed towards 3/28/12 and the end of the current Artscow deal. This weekend I was able to knock out Anton Misroi,

and I think he turned out rather well. It did take three revisions to get this version though as my first was WAY overpowered. My second needed some further polishing, but in the end I think what I was able to finish with will be an interesting Villain. I also finished the other three Pathfinder Goblins. I like the mechanic the community came up with to give them a cowardly ‘deadly in a swarm’ feel. I didn’t neglect my Dragon’s Tears set either knocking out a 4XP version of a Nalfeshnee, a 2XP Shifter that specializes in ranged attacks, an Ally version of the same said Shifter, and an Ally of Gortok from the Cadawallon: City Of Thieves games because I love that miniature. I’ve got to get some more done this weekend, but I like the pace I’m setting.

Sunday we had the In-Laws over for La-La’s birthday and of course we sold the car in that same time period. So it was a fun and productive day. I had a great time playing with my niece and nephew, especially the insane hopscotch game in the driveway where I effectively wore them down. I also gave away my Heroscape (**** out of 5) stuff to my nephew. He’s old enough now, and I feel that game is a GREAT gateway into war gaming and into Role Playing eventually. It takes math skills, which he excels at, and patience, which he’s working on. I also think with his imagination he’ll have a great time just making up his own stories. I hope that Ant &/or Char makes time to play with him as I also think it’s just about a perfect father & son (and eventually daughter) type game. But I digress, my mom-in-law makes a MEAN homemade pizza, and she was in full force on Sunday. I have to say though the ice cream cake did a number on my guts. After all the excitement we both had trouble sleeping which turned out ok since we had to take the day off to go to ‘The Cloud’ in order to pay off the vehicles. The trip yesterday reminded me why I could never live in that place. The people are generally awful there. So we survived and after some shenanigans we had a great dinner with my Parents-In-Law.

We arrived home really late, but not so late that I couldn’t get roped into finishing one of my current books, James Sutter’s ‘Death’s Heretic’ (**** out of 5).
This was my first foray into the Pathfinder Tales books since I picked up that subscription from Paizo. I have to say with the exception of the ending I loved the book. So much so that I’m not going to tell you much because I want the rest of you, mainly you Dave, to read it. The basic premise is a Priest, who is not really a Priest, is called in from killing Undead to deal with a kidnapping, however it’s not a normal kidnapping, in fact far from it. You see the kidnapped is a soul and it was stolen from the afterlife before it could be raised, & the ransom is an elixir that grants extended life. Throw in a trip to Pathfinder’s Planes, a nasty twist, and a protagonist who is interesting, sort of funny, and yet tragic and you’ve got a nice mix in a fantasy tale. If this is what I’ve got myself into with this subscription then April and my next book can’t get here fast enough.



Let’s end it with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- The Big Ten homerism on KFAN today is a joke. The only team out of the Big Ten that can get it done in the tournament will be Ohio State. Michigan State can’t run with a team like Missouri. Michigan is to up and down, Wisconsin isn’t athletic enough, and Indiana will make some noise but won’t be able to finish. Big shock, but I’m going with Kansas to win it all. They’re tough, play fast, shoot well, defend, and are battle tested. In fact I’ve got Kansas against Missouri in the final. The Big East is down, the ACC is very good with UNC & Duke, but I just don’t think either are tough enough to win the final if they are physically tested. I do have to say I hate Kentucky, but they are amazing to watch. However I think they are saddled with a coach who can't win the 'Big Game'. I really think this year will be a great tourney, as it seems extremely well balanced. Of course is you read this drivel with any regularity you know that I'm most likely as wrong as wrong can get.
- Pork loin for dinner tonight!
- I was disappointed to see that John Carter did so badly at the box office this weekend. It doesn’t change the fact that Thursday I’ll be seeing it, but I had high hopes that we’d get a run of Barsoom movies. I guess there just weren’t enough sparkly vampires in it.
- Tonight I paint.
- Tomorrow night we go back to the sewers beneath Baldur’s Gate to kill more giant rats and kobolds. It’s so much fun to know how excited Cassandra is to play. The best part is having a whole lot of games just like that to play once we finish this one.
- Well I’ll paint if I don’t go directly to sleep. DAMN YOU DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!

Another day another $0.50…

“Look at young girls with your television eyes
Fixated on nothing, telling despicable lies
We play on your obsession with candy
And you do what we want you to
So play that guitar
And bring order to the stars
Turn up your stereos and drive around in your cars
And don't think about coming back home until you've never gone anywhere

'Cos you are not sure if you are going up or down

Expectations go out the window when Mr. Woman comes to town

'Cos when you talk nobody listens
You shoot to kill but you keep missing
They got you running round in circles but it's hip to be square
Tonight's special paranoia with a side of despair
Oh ho!
And one and one and one and one and one, I'm pretty sure adds up to five

Teenage alcoholics can be oh-so entertaining when they drive

Yeah!

'Cos turning people into product is easy
Turning idiots into stars is easier
The robots and the cockroaches are gonna be the only survivors

They're gnawing at minds with our sights and their sounds
And this is no time for fucking around
You can't be sure if you are going up or down
Expectations go out the window when Mr. Woman comes to town
When Mr. Woman comes to town

You can't be sure if you are going up or down
You can't be sure if you are going up or down
You can't be sure if you are going up or down
Expectations go out the window when Mr. Woman comes to town”





* = Why couldn't today have been the Day Of The Triffids...?