Birthday Gaming Extravaganza 2014

As I did last year, I threw another gaming weekend in celebration of my birthday. I don't have anything too special to say about it, but  I have a few pictures of the fun.

Saturday night was a few games of Epic Spell Wars, then a long roleplaying session with our home-brewed Marvel Superheroes rules. Pizza was interspersed throughout. I would have taken pictures but it was all theater of the mind and I'M NOT LETTING YOU SEE MY IMAGINATION. So there.

The lazy bastards slept in so I got a game of Marvel Dice Masters in against myself. I need to play more of this. No one else agreed that morning so they missed out on a great game. I shouldn't have made them breakfast but I did.

Then we played more Epic Spell Wars. We really love this game. Like LOVE it, love it.

And then I forced everyone to play HeroQuest. I don't know why everyone puts up a fight when I break this out. A fantastic time is always had by all, especially since we have no problem interjecting roleplaying into the mix. This adventure was actually a continuation of last year's quest, with the heroes hired by Prince Magnus to hunt down the true leader of the sinister cult encountered last time.

Madness inducing fishmen are encountered. Heroes in the room had a chance to lose their turn, based on Mind points.

Some culty cultists, who were having a nice meal until the heroes showed up.

The Elf and Wizard find an evil idol...

While the Dwarf and Barbarian clear out the rest of the monsters.

The cult leader and his Chaos Warrior bodyguards, one of which was murdered by a Genie, courtesy of the Elf.

The Barbarian joins the fray while the Dwarf struggles to even get in the camera shot with his stumpy legs.

After slaying the Barbarian, the cult leader is shanked by the Wizard while the elf distracts him.

All in all a fun quest. My favorite moment was when the Elf tried to search for the dead Barbarian's loot:

Elf- "I grab the Barbarian's coin purse."

Zargon- "As you lean down to grab it, a rat runs by and snatches it, scampering down the hall and disappearing."

Elf- "Shit. Well, I'll take the Barbarian's broadsword then."

Zargon- "As you turn to reach for the sword, you find a much, MUCH larger rat with its paws wrapped around it, growling at you."

Elf- "You know what? Fuck it. He can keep it."

After that it was burgers and everyone went home. It was a fantastic time and I can't wait until next year's BGE! Happy gaming!

Boston Comic Con 2014-Day Two

After crashing hard following Day One, we woke early the next morning to continue the Comic Con madness. Hereafter follows the account of...

Day Two

This being only our first con, Brigid did an extremely brave thing and decided to cosplay. She worked up a full costume for Doctor Who/Torchwood's Captain Jack Harkness, complete with awesomely badass (and extremely expensive) coat.

The day before had been about taking in the sights and checking the lay of the land. Today was to be all business. With a jam packed schedule of autographs, photo ops and panels, this was going to be the true test of our con mettle.

The first thing we did upon entering was head straight to the signing area. We waited in line about an hour for John Barrowman, who was a tiny bit late since he had come straight from shooting and I'm sure was exhausted. However, John was extremely friendly and accommodating to his fans and had great energy at the table. Not only did he sign a picture for us, but he also signed Brigid's Captain Jack coat while she was wearing it!

Then we stopped at Sean Astin's table and he was very friendly. I got him to sign my mini Lord of the Rings SBG book, right over Samwise's profile.

We also spotted James Marsters at a distance:

And Jason Momoa, who did a walkthrough of the signing area. Dude is fucking huge. I took a video and the thing looks like a damn sasquatch film:

After getting our signatures, we went to the Star Wars comics panel. We let shortly after it began. We didn't recognize the artists, the room was small, it was hard to hear and generally bored us to death. So we snuck out and went back to get Eve Myles signature.

Eve was awesome. She was super friendly, and even though we had to pay $20 for table pictures, she let us do multiple for that amount and was fun and silly. The whole thing was a riot.

We tried to hunt down Jewel Staite, but she seemed to have disappeared. She didn't seem to be around much on Saturday at all. Oh well, we would catch her on Sunday

Giving up on Jewel, we hurried over to the amphitheater because the Torchwood Reunion panel was going to start in an hour and a half. Now, this might seem excessive to try and line up that early, but people had already been lining up for an hour before this. Try as they might to keep the area clear and send people away, a mass of about 1000 people eventually congregated at the bottom of the stairs to the auditorium. Brigid and I managed to sneak in the side near the front, but that was about the time shit hit the fan.

You see, at the bottom of these stairs was a foyer surround by a semicircle of glass with 5 doors situated at even points in this semicircle. The foyer held about 500 of these rabid fans, who were packed like sardines. I wanted to take a picture of the crowd, but I literally couldn't get my phone out of my pocket. Now, only two of the 5 door were open and the other 500+ people waiting were streaming out these doors into the convention center. The nutty part of all this?

The amphitheater only holds 350 people.

This mass of writhing nerds was composed of people who had been waiting 2 hours (while breaking the rules about where to wait as much as possible), people who had been waiting an hour or less (while following the rules) and a small war was beginning to break out as to who could get in first. Some of the 2 hour people had been pushed further back and were pleading to be let in first. The hour people were trying their best to keep them back and wanted only the front of the crowd let in. There was yelling, pushing, and some people who tried to climb the sides of the escalators and run past the crowd control people.

At this point they threatened to cancel the panel and a deafening silence fell over the crowd. The organizers asked everyone to move back, so the crowd started to move. But then, the rear of the crowd past the doors (who couldn't hear the announcement) began to push forward to keep their spot. This meant the people at the back near closed doors had nowhere to go, so were being squished and also pushed forward. People not at the edges of the crowd (Brigid and I included) began to be ground together and generally mushed. It was a miracle nobody actually got hurt.

Finally the organizers made everyone stop and began taking people 10 at a time from the front of the crowd to get in, under threat of cancellation if we made a fuss. Luckily Brigid and I got in and the panel was fantastic. Nothing I post here will be able to do it justice, so I am just going to direct you to Brigid's YouTube Channel, where several videos reside.

We went home and crashed shortly thereafter with a dinner of various snacks acquired from the nearby 

7-11. Not the best of plans, but we could barely move and that was the easiest, closest thing.

That's Day Two! If you haven't checked out Day One, go here and stay tuned for Day Three!

Boston Comic Con 2014-Day One

This past weekend my wife and I attended Boston Comic Con.

This was our first time going, and our first con in general, and we had a blast. So much happened that I honestly can't remember everything that happened, but I figured a few of my fellow nerds might like to hear my experiences. This is probably going to be long, so settle in. This is just the first of three days.

Day One

Bags packed, we hopped a bus down to Boston. We were both excited and terrified.

We left with enough time to get to our hotel, check-in and head right to the con. Luckily we stayed at the Seaport Hotel, which just happened to be right across the street from the Seaport World Trade Center where the con was being held. That meant we could exit the building and look right at this:

We didn't get a good pic, but there were two lines that went into the building: one that went down the street to the left and another that went down the street and around the side of the building to the right. We ended up in that line, and our timing couldn't have been better because the line ended up doubling, then tripling back on itself after that. Being smart, we got our bands ahead of time and didn't have to slow down to get scanned or buy tickets.

We had a little bit of time before the first Q&A panel, so we wandered around a bit.

We got to meet gorgeous cosplay maven, Ivy Doomkitty:

You're welcome for that link up there, by the way.

Took a short trip in the TARDIS:

This one was the same size, inside and out.

And found some fuzzy, fluffy versions of the Doctor as well:

Don't worry, I was keeping an eye on those angels.

The first panel came up really quickly and we had to rush but we finally got to see Samwise Gamgee himself, Sean Astin.

He was surprisingly higher energy than I expected and told some great stories. Most of the questions were about Lord of the Rings of course, but that was why I was there anyway. It was most thoroughly enjoyable.

This is where I get to impart a little bit of wisdom learned my first con that I will carry with me all my days.

At some point, as we did, you will realize that you haven't eaten all day. You will be starving and head toward the food line. This line will be filled with sweaty, cranky, hungry people, half of which will be wearing some sort of costume. As the line grows closer, you will get your first glimpse of the menu. Among the $3 cans of soda and $8 slices of pizza you will see what seems like a sensible option. The cheapest item on the menu, it still looks like a robust choice that should last the rest of the day. As you near the counter, you can finally see it, its smooth, pink skin glistening with drops of oily sweat and surrounded by an envelope of golden bread. The smell will make your mouth water, but I am telling you now.

Do not eat the Con Hot Dog.

Not only will it fail to live up to your expectations, it will dash all hopes you have had up until this point that food was ever an option. The hot dog itself will me dense and salty, sitting in your stomach like an anchor. The bun will be dry and tasteless, its abrasive texture flaying what few taste buds survive the hot dog's initial assault from your tongue. And the next morning you will have a bout of gastrointestinal distress that will leave you glued to the toilet at 6:30 am and questioning the merits of your religion or lack thereof.

We made this mistake. Listen to us. 

DO NOT EAT THE CON HOT DOG.

After our "meal" we wandered around some more, and ran into the local chapter of the 501st. They had a great backdrop where we did our best to imitate action figures:

Well, I did anyway.

We also got to pose with both Rebels and Imperials:

The Dark Lord of the Sith does not appreciate selfies.

We also found a stand that sold some amazing prints. We bought five total, but these two are my pride and joy:

Those two are definitely getting framed an hung up in the ol' underground lair.

We ended our day by going to Jewel Staite's Q&A and that was an absolute blast. She was sweet and funny, and probably very sick of Firefly and Kaylee questions by the end. However, there was one event during the panel that was just amazing. You see, apparently Jewel and Nathan Fillion have been having a middle finger war for many years now, thinking of new ways to flip each other the bird at any opportunity, Jewel decided to get the audience in on this. She used her phone to take a picture of everyone there flipping Nathan Fillion off. About 15 minutes later, this ensued:

I don't think I've laughed harder in a long time. Getting to have Nathan call in and be a part of things was one of those amazing things that only happen at cons and I was thrilled to be a part of it.

After the panel we made our way back to our room and crashed hard, readying ourselves for another, longer day the next day.

So, that's it for my Day One report! Head on to Day Two!

Witches Be Crazy

The weather and my schedule of late haven't been co-operative with getting models primed, so I haven't made much headway on my Cryx. I was hoping to have everything done by August, at least for small battles. With the time I have left it could be doable, but I'm gonna have to rush.

I spent June, however, doing a painting challenge and chose my Warwitch Siren as the model to paint for it. I really like this model for a number of reasons, but one of those is not the metal nightcap helmet she sports. So I left it off and filled the back with putty, giving her a pointy, Dark Elf-y look that I think works quite well.

Now I like painting models with details and such, but this one was a little over the top in some cases. What a person does with three belts is beyond me. Strap after strap after rivet after strap. The contact for the arm and back spikes were a little weak, so after they snapped off after priming, I was forced to paint her in pieces. This is not something I normally do but I can see the appeal.

You can really see the helmet from this angle. This way it looks more like something someone would actually wear into battle and not for sleepy-times.

Not kidding. The original has a freaking tassel on the end...

I also added an extra rune to the end of the blade, which you can barely see here. My camera apparently disagrees with my artistic choices.

So much so that this is the absolute best shot I could get from it. I need to find my old phone and start using it just to take pictures. This auto-settings thing is ridiculous. I need macro in my life.

BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAND!

I ended up pretty happy with the way she turned out, and I can't wait to actually use her on the battlefield. Warwitch Sirens are great because they are speedy little bombs of "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" goodness for just 2 points. Add in the ability to provide an extra point of focus where needed and occasionally dousing the enemy in corrosive goo and you have a winner.

Anyway, that's this installment. Happy gaming!

I'd Like To Thank The Academy...

Well, no, I'd actually like to thank Paul Smith, AKA EndTransmission for sending me a Liebster Award for my blog.

Look at it! Loooook!

Ok, so its not a big super-prestigious thing, but it means a lot to me. I've admired Paul's stuff for a while now and if he thinks my blog is deserving of a little extra attention then I'm a happy man. Thanks a lot, Paul, and I really appreciate it!

For those of you who don't know, the Liebster Award is sort of like a chain letter. Someone sends you the award, along with a bunch of questions to answer, then you post a few random facts about yourself and finally you pick 5 or so other blogs to send the award to with your own list of questions. This continues until the entire internet is filled with nothing but Liebster Awards and cat pictures.

As long as the cat pictures survive, no one will really notice anyway.

That said, I suppose I should get down to answering Paul's questions:

1) What was your first wargame?  If by wargame you mean "miniatures wargame" the I would have to say Battle Masters. If Milton Bradley games don't count, then Warhammer. The game to really blame for all this nonsense is HeroQuest. It's not a wargame but I wouldn't have gotten into miniatures without it.

2) What is your favorite wargame? These days it is A Song of Blades & Heroes by a large margin. It is fun, fast and it accommodates my need for piles of disparate miniatures. I love throwing crazy warbands from several different manufacturers on the table and somehow have it all make sense. My homebrew dungeon crawl rules wouldn't exist without it.

3) What is your favorite model and why? It would have to be my D&D cleric.

It's a perfect example of old school Ral Partha coolness. I've always had a thing for clerics in D&D. This one is all stoic, heavily armored and carries a big smashy morningstar. It has everything I look for in a cleric. Plus, now that I've gotten him painted some 20 odd years later, I think he's one of my better paint jobs.

4) If you could only choose one paint range to work with, what would it be? Jeer all you like, but that would be Games Workshop's paints. I've used them for so long I don't know any better. Plus over the past few years they have put out some great products like their washes and Foundation paints. I haven't worked with any of their newest range beyond a few technicals, but I'm sure I will get some when I run out of my current colors.

5) What game do you feel is underrated and everyone should try at least once? Dungeon Command. Seriously, I don't think people really got it. The lack of dice really makes you think about where you place your figures and what cards to burn when. And who doesn't like a nice pile of dungeon tiles and pre-painted minis?

6) What songs are you listening to at the moment? People look at me like some sort of alien when I say this, but I'm not a huge music person. I paint with movies playing the background 99% of the time. When I do listen to music, its usually Irish pub songs or something comedic. So maybe that's why I can't stop listening to this and giggling:

7) What is your comfort film? The Princess Bride. I watch it every time I'm sick or feeling depressed. I can quote it backwards and forwards. That probably means I need some sort of professional help.

8) What do you do for fun when not gaming or painting? I don't understand the question.

9) Are you looking forward to the new Star Wars films? Yes, though I would not be a proper curmudgeon if I didn't hate them immediately after viewing them. And each time I view them after that, and so on until I die.

10) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Professional game designer. I would need heaps more ambition in order for that to work out but how could I say no to making and playing games all day?

11) If you could go and see one historical event, what would it be? Sitting in on Gary Gygax's first D&D session would be pretty neat.

According to the Liebster rules, I'm also supposed to post 11 random facts about myself.

1) I have red hair and I don't actually find the "gingers have no soul" thing funny. Its not that I find it offensive, its just that it got old REALLY quick. Find a new and clever way to pick on me and I'll laugh too.

2) My great grandmother was from Belfast, Ireland, so I am closer to being of Irish descent than 90% of people who celebrate St. Paddy's Day.

3) I can't really drink anymore due to stomach issues. This is torture to an Irishman.

4) The oldest game I own is a Shakespeare card game from the early 1800s. I have never played it.

5) I am primarily a solo gamer. This is due to scheduling issues, the collapse of my long-time gaming group, and more than a few social anxiety issues. I'm trying to fix that last part but it is slow going.

6) There is no fact #6.

7) I love this song:

And  I am constantly making up new tunes to this melody in my everyday life.

8) I used to attend LARP events. No elf ears were involved but I was a samurai for a while.

9) My wardrobe consists mainly of TeeFury shirts.

10) I own a Boston Terrier who throws temper tantrums:

11) My favorite TV show of all time is Futurama, but I've been really getting into Archer lately.

Ok, so I guess I have to give out some awards myself. Wee Blokes, Handgreandealiens Retro Dungeon, Fantasy Paper Miniature, magehammer's Gaming Table, Matt's gaming page, and Chicago Skirmish Wargames come on down and claim your prize! Here are your 11 questions:

1) What game got you into the gaming hobby?
2) What is your favorite game?
3) What is your favorite game to teach?
4) What hobby project are you most proud of?
5) What is your favorite type/style of game?
6) Marvel or DC?
7) Are you afraid of the brain spiders?
8) What super power would you choose to have?
9) Are you gonna eat that?
10) How any different games do you own?
11) What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

So yeah, that's it. Can't wait to see the answers guys.

Happy gaming!

Return To The Deep Dark

I decided to break out the ol' Deep Dark Dungeons rules for a crawl the other day. To sort of stretch the limits of the party, I built a nine room dungeon. That may not seem like very many rooms, but when each encounter is 33-66% of your warband value, it gets pretty taxing over the long haul.

In order to accommodate such a large dungeon, I turned to the swathes of D&D dungeon tiles I've accumulated over the years. This is what I came up with:

Pretty basic in the grand scheme of things, but a lot of deadliness belies it's simplicity...

I sent my usual party of dungeon adventurers down into the dark, and they were greeted at the bottom of the stairs by a single guard.

The elf ranger surged forward and planted his blade in the man's belly, but the guard only grinned as he shifted into a horrifying werewolf!

The heroes quickly overcame their terror and swarmed the beast, bringing it low through a series of repeated beatings.

The next door encountered had a simple trap that the rogue easily disarmed. He quietly opened the door to spy a dark elf witch and her bodyguard.

Attempting the elf ranger's trick earlier, the rogue rushed forward to try and take out the witch, but her quick reaction left the rogue bleeding on the floor. His adventures were over for sure.

The party moved in to avenge their fallen comrade, with the paladin striking down the witch. Quailing in fear, the remaining dark elf was dispatched with ease.

Moving to the next room revealed an ancient tomb. The dwarf fighter failed to reach it before the templar, and missed out on a magical crossbow. The templar hoped he would get a chance to use it to smite some of his hated undead foes.

The heroes decided to head left down the corridor, with the templar taking the lead and the paladin taking rear guard.

With the rogue out of commission, the ranger ended up as the scout, moving up to open the door. He got a firebolt trap for his troubles, and though this elven reflexes saved him, he was blinded by the flash. Luckily he recovered in time to see the three lizardmen waiting in the next room.

Not waiting for their dwarven companion, they heroes leaped into the room. This proved foolhardy, for even thought they slew one monster, the paladin was struck down. The other two reptilian foes were ensorcelled by the half-elf wizard and brought low in record time.

The last room in this pathway also had a trapped door, but it was harmlessly tripped. For all that trouble, the bookcase within contained nothing of value and the heroes trudged back the way they came, disappointed.

A little side room contained a weapon case surrounded by three statues. The adventurers weren't completely surprised when they lurched into life and started to attack.

What was surprising, however, was when the elf ranger was crushed under a heavy stone blade. The templar tried to use his new crossbow, but between trying not to hit his dwarven friend and the hard stone he had to resort to using his mace. The wizard climbed up on the tomb to get a better vantage point for his spells.

The wizard's spells proved invaluable and the statues were soon turned to dust. The dwarf opened the case and found why such powerful guardians were installed. The case contained an axe of masterwork quality, which the dwarf kept, and a magic mace that was passed on to the templar to improve his fighting skills.

Moving on to the next room, the adventurers opened the door to find a hideous, scaly creature with a tentacled face standing over a torture rack. The rack held a corpse, the skull of which had been opened and the brain removed. From the blood on the creature's tentacles, it was clear where the brain had gone...

Enraged at the unholy sight, the templar charged in, followed by the dwarf as the wizard held back. The creature spun wildly and lashed out with its knife, felling the templar, but it was hacked to pieces by the dwarf. Recovering the magic mace and crossbow, the pair grimly moved on.

The next room had a blade trap on the door that was no match for dwarven armor. As they entered the room, a humongous bat dropped down and attacked but was brained with a magic mace shortly thereafter.

Finally the last room! Opening the last door revealed the remains of an ancient wizard flanked by armored skeletal warriors. Unfortunately these animated as the door swung open. The undead wizard, obviously a lich, pronounced some curses in ancient dead language and its guardians lurched forth.

The dwarf used the narrow door to limit the fight to just two guardians at a time and keep out of the lich's line of sight. The half-elf wizard rained spells down on the skeletons, letting the dwarf smash them to dust at his leisure.

The lich attempted to retreat to a safe distance, but a surprisingly speedy dwarf chased him down. Being no warrior, the lich as reduced to a pile of robes and bones in seconds. A little magical support from the wizard didn't hurt.

Whew, that was a marathon! Large dungeons with lots of encounters are deadly. After the adventure, everyone recovered but the rogue, requiring a resurrection spell  bought from the gold gathered in the dungeon. The paladin was wounded, but a healing potion from a previous adventured cleared that up. All in all they ended up with a net 315 gold, a magic mace (given to the rogue to help in him not dying again), a masterwork axe (given to the paladin for the same reason) and a crossbow of lightning speed (given to the ranger to take advantage of his 2+ quality).

I learned a few new things and I will be making some edits to my rules at some point. Each game is a new experience and I'm always finding something I'm not happy with. Deep Dark Dungeons 2.0 gets closer with every game.

That's all for now! Happy gaming!