Gnomish Paratroopers

Mandatory Basketball Rant 2021-22 - Week 4

 Thankfully, the holidays allow for a calm before the storm of games starting on 1/8/2022.

Rec League:  Only the Middle School/High School Division, which plays at the local community college, has any games over the holiday break.  Those are on Sundays, and it's all the President of the league's responsibility.  Thank God.   If he can get the t-shirts squared away for the whole league, that would make things easier when things go into full swing on January 3rd. 

Millie:   (a) Millie's Rec League team pulled through a shaky start to beat a team badly, 26-6.  Millie either had the points or an assist the shots she didn't take. (b) The AAU League played against an entire team of girls from Wilkes-Barre, if not the future Jr High squad.  It was a 32-2 drubbing where the last 12 points were focused on getting the new girls open shots.   (c) The travel team felt some opposition from one of the local Catholic schools, but it was short lived.  A six player squad, with one new addition, managed a 28-13 win, with only two points allowed in the 2nd half.  

All her league's are now on hiatus, with the exception of the travel team, which figured out practices between Christmas and New Year's.  The competition gets tougher in 2022, worst case, she's prepping the crew for AAU this Spring.

Maja: With no 7th/8th grade games, thanks to COVID, the entire focus of the week was on a Pre-Christmas Freshmen game against Nanticoke, but Santa had an extra gift for the team, a second game even closer to Christmas against Hanover Area.

The girls from Nanticoke come from a great local rec league there, and they came out swinging.   At the half, Maja's team was down 7, but thanks to some solid gameplan changes by the coach, they came out roaring out of the gate in the second half.  They got the other team in foul trouble early (like Bonus five minutes into the 3rd Quarter and won in commanding fashion 41-34 (a 14 point swing).  

It was largely the 8th graders game, but Maja got plenty of playing time, and more time than some of the upperclassmen in that 2nd half.   2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals.

The second game wasn't nearly as difficult.  Underclassmen dominated their roster as well, but these girls did not stand a chance, even with a depleted roster.  

26-0 at halftime, 47-1 at the buzzer.   Maja 3 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, at least 3 steals.  She's shooting 50%, doing everything she's supposed to do, without giving up points or turnovers.   Since most of these girls are playing 7th grade, I pray for those teams in two weeks when Saturday Jr High games resume.

3rd/4th Grade Boys Team:   I've officially turned them over to their true head coach.   I may come back for a practice or two, but I wish them well.  

The Return of Teddy Bear Wars

The holidays bring out some excellent blog posts, but one of the things that warms my shriveled heart is when Der Alte Fritz breaks out a game of Teddy Bear Wars with his daughter. 

http://altefritz.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-return-of-teddy-bear-wars.html

My Late Christmas Present Finally Arrives on Disney+

I was hoping for Season Three of the Mandalorian to fall within this Christmas season, but The Book of Boba Fett is a better option. New season, fewer expectations (which is odd, considering how awesome Boba was in Season Two.)  If the crimelord drama works, I so want a spin-off with cantina aliens recreating a Goodfellas vibe, complete with voiceovers.

(Star Wars d6) #25 - Tournament

 Our "Heroes"

Ne'vets Aharo - an exotic animal broker, both legal and otherwise.  Teaming up with ally and friendly rival Abel Norrum for some exploration of the planet Alacazaar.

Evus - Twi'lek former mercenary, Ne'vets' armed muscle with a keen eye and a tendency to shoot first.

Tarrie - Human pilot "under contract" for the upcoming mission, whatever that is.  Brother of potential terrorist, rebel  Latorna Savvn.

Frokazza - Wookie co-pilot, mechanic, and unarmed muscle. Very distrustful.

Enough With the Flashbacks!

Stories told and drinks consumed, 

It was assumed the big game hunter, 

Abel Norrum, and his crew would be leaving the

Pleasure Planet of Zeltros.

Fate has intervened for a few days, as Norrum 

has discovered a military game

For the idle (or recently) rich, 

And has convinced Ne'vet Aharo and the Wookie Frokazza 

To partake in this odd display of bloodlust...

After exchanging stories of Remember When, both Ne'vets and Abel went to bed.  

The following afternoon, Ne'vets was an early arrival at their usual late brunch.  He was hoping to catch Abel and his crew checking out of the resort, before they left for parts unknown.  

Abel arrived alone, and appeared agitated.  No, agitated was the wrong (and expected) word.  He was... excited.

He ran up to Ne'vets, "Ne'vets.... Do you do other types of competition for money, other than gambling?"

Ne'vets was a bit perplexed, "Umm.... what are we talking about?"

"I know you killed a man... at least once.  Have you ever sent men to their deaths, and earned credits for it."

"I'm going to need details as to what you're getting at..."

"I was looking for a bathroom in this forsaken wasteland, and fell upon some type of betting parlor.  Except it wasn't your typical spaceball or gladiator combat wagers.  They offer patrons of the resort a chance to command a company of men against another company.  You're quite remote and safe in a bunker of some sort, but you're men could perish with the wrong command."

"Which planet?"

"This planet,  the pleasure planet. Freakin' Zeltros, Ne'vets!    What do you think the idle rich do?"

"The best part is, we don't have to fight.  We just press buttons."

""I know we're all itching to get out of here.  Your space-rolodex is screaming for clueless corporate executives wanting  a new fuzzy-wuzzy or a terrifying reptile with wings, but for a 2,000 credit buy-in the winner gets 10,000.  And we don't have to do anything."  

"My moral compass is screaming, but I'm intrigued by the immense payoff."

Upon signing up, and convincing Frokazza to join him as well, the pair were led down to a sub-basement.  Each were led to a different door that opened up to a personal bunker with numerous control panels and monitors.  

The weight of sending men to their deaths was quickly lifted.  The unit assigned to Ne'vets, Reog's Raiders was an established military company armed to the teeth, with an armored personnel carrier in their inventory.  Except that their light armor and helmets were covered in sensors, and the strange devices were attached to to the barrels of their rifles.

"Kriff, it's blaster tag for the rich."

Apparently, there were different levels of this competition, and 2,000 credits only got you a small skirmish of Capture the Flag.  Much larger quantities netted you armored division and proxy missiles and air support!

Reog's Raiders seemed to be a professional group and took Ne'vets limited orders to heart.  They use the fewest men they needed and their APC and performed a daring raid on their opponents camp.  To many in complete shock, the assault took seconds to surprise the other group, and only a few more seconds to capture the flag.  Round One win.

Prepping for Round Two, there was a buzz at the door of the bunker.  He opened it to find a disgruntled Frokazza.  

For Frokazza, things were not as successful.  His unit was a group of slow, plodding Gamoreans going after a group of retired Imperial snipers.  Slow versus slow (and accurate) was not a wise match-up.  There match hit the time limit, and when secondary points were counted, the result was a tie... and a double disqualification. 

At least he could hang out in Ne'vets' bunker.

Rounds Two and Three went according to plan, Ne'vets making the minimum orders and letting his men do what's best for them.  Unlike the civilian generals, who only looked for the big prize, each win earned the mercenaries some credits, and more wins could get them into the bigger stakes "games" with even greater rewards.  

The final round was against a familiar face, Abel Norrum.  Abel used a classic "Horns of the Batha" attack with his primitive tribesmen.  It almost worked too, but for once, Ne'vets had his assault hold back.  They punched a hole in the assault and sped to capture a largely unguarded flag.  

The 10,000 credits were Ne'vets.  

"That's the last time I invite you to something I should be guaranteed to win!" Abel moaned.  

GM Notes: There's six month time jump for the campaign for the next episode, so it's a perfect opportunity to insert a side-campaign Actual Play, returning to the moon of Volturnus.

"Tournament" comes from Challenge #26 and offers a few ways to use the power and influence of the rich to develop play, both for the "gamification" of military tactics, and the development for characters who want to be mercs, or at least combat machines. 

I need to find some wargames that allow for online play/display, and use this to fill the time for some of those 2-player attending sessions.  

We also realized that Ne'vets winning, and being somewhat prudent with money, meant that some funds would be available for the quad-laser cannon turret they were adding to their ship, the Pretio.  They just had not realized it yet.

Next: The New Adventures of Bo'Non'as and Oopsa.

Another Month of Gaming (December '21)

It's been nearly a month since my regularly scheduled "Another Month of Gaming" for December was supposed to be posted.  As I mentioned previously, Alliance Games Distribution was hit with a significant ransomware attack which hit the entirety of the business.  Their monthly solicitations, Game Trade Magazine is a minor part of those operations, but even into mid-December, there was little mention of issue #262.  

I finally broke down... and found time, to venture down to Sword in the Stone Games for a physical copy of the issue (and a pack of the WizKids Starfinder Skittermanders)..

(Edit: Alliance appears to be picking up the pieces to their website.  The full issue of Game Trade Magazine #262 is now available online here.)

ViscountEric's Want List

Nothing

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List
Mantic Entertainment

Deadzone: Forge Father Brokkrs Booster ................. $40.00

Deadzone: Forge Father Hold Warriors .................... $40.00

The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)

25th Century Games

Holly Jolly .......................................................... $9.99

Kohaku: 2nd Edition .......................................... $29.99

Sunny Day Sardines ........................................... $12.99

The Army Painter

Speedpaint: Starter Set ....................................... $45.00

Bandai

Dragon Ball Super TCG: Unison Warriors Set 8 - Boosters

Dragon Ball Super TCG: Unison Warriors Ultimate Deck 2022 Display

Catalyst Game Labs

Battletech: Battlefield Support Deck ..................... $ 9.99

Battletech: Miniature Force Pack .......................... $24.99-34.99

Shadowrun RPG: Emerald City ............................. $49.99

Shadowrun RPG: Shadow Points ........................... $14.99

Shadowrun RPG: Rides Deck ................................ $14.99

Shadowrun RPG: The Kechibi Code ..................... $49.99

Chaosium

Call of Cthulhu: A Time to Harvest ........................ $49.99

Call of Cthulhu: Keeper Tips - Collected Wisdom.. $17.99

Chessex Manufacturing

Festive Pop Art/Red Dice ....................................... $9.98-$13.98

Coming in 12mm d6 Dice Blocks (36), 16mm d6 Dice Blocks (12), and 7 Die Polyhedral

Coyote & Crow 

Coyote & Crow RPG .............................................. $60.00

Cubicle 7

Warhammer Fantasy RPG: Enemy Within 4: The Horned Rat ........... $39.99

Warhammer Fantasy RPG: The Horned Rat Companion .................... $34.99

Dolphin Hat Games

Steal the Bacon .................................................... $10.00

On Porpoise ......................................................... $10.00

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: On the Flip Side ................. $ 9.99

Free League Publishing

The One Ring RPG - Core Rules ........................ $57.99

The One Ring RPG - Loremaster's Screen .........  $29.99

The One Ring RPG - Starter Set .........................  $49.99

Funko

The Warriors: Come Out and Play ......................... $24.99

Goodman Games

DCC: 2021 Holiday Module - Feast of the Gobbler Witch  .............. $9.99

Green Ronin

Modern Age RPG - Five and Infinity ...................... $32.95

Modern Age RPG - Mastery Guide ....................... $32.95

The Expanse RPG - Beyond the Ring ...................  $34.95

Jellybean Games

Night of the Mummy ................................................... $19.95

Kobold Press

Vault of Magic HC (5e) ................................................ $49.99

Konami Digital Entertainment

Yu-Gi-Oh! Battle of Chaos Boosters

Loke Battle Mats

Add on Scenery - Wilderness .................................. $12.99

Little Book of Battle Mats - Wilderness .................  $12.99

Loke's Deck of Combat Twists ...............................  $35.00

Looney Labs 

Star Trek Fluxx - Archer Expansion ......................... $5.00

Star Trek Fluxx - Porthos Expansion ........................ $5.00

Luck Duck Games

Chronicles of Crime - The Millenium Series - 2400 .... $29.99

Small Islands ................................................................  $34.99

Mandoo Games

Jekyll vs Hyde .............................................................. $22.99

Mantic Entertainment

Deadzone 2.0 Two Player Starter Set ........................ $125.00

Deadzone 2.0  Rulebook Pack ................................... $ 45.00

Command Dice Pack .................................................. $ 12.50

D8 Dice Pack .............................................................. $ 12.50

Gaming Mat 2020 ....................................................... $ 40.00

Gaming Mat 2021 ....................................................... $ 40.00

Modiphius 

Index Card RPG .......................................................... $ 48.99

Viking Death Squad RPG ........................................... $ 53.99

Monte Cook

Cypher System RPG - 2nd Edition - Claim the Sky .......... $49.99

Cypher System RPG - 2nd Edition - First Responders ...... $44.99

Numenera RPG - Break the Horizon ................................. $44.99

Osprey Games 

Frostgrave: Blood Legacy ......................................... $30.00

The Silver Bayonet .................................................... $30.00

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder - Goblin Firework Fight ......................... $29.99

Pathfinder RPG - AP - Quest of the Frozen Flame 2 - Lost Mammoth Valley ...... $24.99

Pathfinder RPG -  Flip Mat Classics - Keep ............. $14.99

Pathfinder RPG -  Flip Mat Enormous Basic ............ $24.99

Pathfinder RPG - Flip Tiles - Fortress Chamber Expansion ... $19.99

Starfinder RPG - AP Horizons of the Vast 5 - Allies Against the Eye ..... $22.99

Pegasus Spiele

Floriferous .......................................... $24.99

Pokemon USA

Pokemon TCG:  Evee Evolution Vmax Premium Collection

Pokemon TCG: Poke Ball Tin Display 

Role 4 Initiative

Oversized d20 ........................................ $4.99 each

R. Talsoarian Games

Cyberpunk Red:  Netrunning Deck ......... $17.00

Cyberpunk Red:  Red Data Pack ............. $20.00    

Skybound Entertainment

Wonderland's War ................................. $65.00

Steve Jackson Games

Deluxe Dice Bag: Kitten Caster .......... $12.95

Munchkin Babies .................................. $29.95

Stonemaier Games

Rolling Realms ...................................... $20.00

Teeturtle

How to Slay, Berserk, and Necomancer Expansion

Unstable Unicorns - Nightmares Expansion 

Wizard of the Coast

D&D Critical Role - Call of the Netherdeep ....... $49.95

D&D Rules Expansion Slip Case Gift Set ........... $169.95

A slipcase with Xanthar's Guicde, Tasha's Cauldron, Monsters of the Multiverse, and a DM Screen.

Wizkids

D&D Idols of the Boneyard - 2D  - ........................ $14.99 each.

Sets 1 & 2 

Lots of Booster Bricks, pre-painted figs, and a lot more.

The Mandatory Christmas Swag Haul for 2021

 Or, as the internet bots call it, a chance to inflate my page views.... Seriously, no matter how else I format it "Christmas" and "Swag" generates some additional traffic, not all of it from live people.  

There was no formal list, and a reduced budget between the spouses, so we kept it simple.

• Kids Against Maturity - an Apples to Apples/Cards Against Humanity variant where the humor is more kid/tween/teen giggling than CAH depravity.  The cards start in alphabetical order and have a number of options involving butts and poop.  
• Gnoming A Round - Probably my personal favorite from the wife for the past few Christmases.  Gnomes, Miniature Golf, and basic math that sometimes hurts my head (negative numbers?  Of course it's golf!)
• An LED lighted magnifying glass for the painting bench!   I'm finally scheduled for an eye appointment for new glasses this week, but this will help with painting and possibly quick pics of projects
• Pulp Alley Starter Set - This is actually my Kickstarter reward that I received, but since I had no time to look at it, it made sense to have the kids wrap it up.  It was worth the wait.
• Star Schlock Astroguard Minis - Another Kickstarter that arrived on the 23rd, we never got to wrap it up, but it was a happy arrival.

• Millie also got be some adorably derpy squishy dinosaur, with the intent of seeing in in play.  Hopefully he'll make an appearance in a battle report in the near future.

My second favorite gift, beyond Gnoming A Round?  TWO full packs of Gold Toe Socks.  I am a dad after all.  

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2021!

(GURPS) Eric Jacobson, Gamified, Year Ten

It's a crazy year, where even the fondest of Christmas traditions seem to be bothersome to me.  One tradition that almost passed me by entirely is my odd attempt at gamifying my on-again off-again dream journal, and translate them into character points for a GURPS (3rd Edition) version of myself.  I've been doing things this way for over 30 years, and the dream version of myself isn't some glorified super-hero...

It's Tom Arnold character from True Lies (Albert Gibson).

ST: 10 DX: 11  IQ: 13  HT: 12

Advantages:  Charisma +2 (I'm a heckuva guy), Common Sense, Luck, Voice, Light Hangover (50)

Disadvantages:  Bloodlust, Near-Sightedness, Gluttony, Stubborness, Sense of Duty (Friends) (-35), Dependents (Family) Enemy: LDS Cabal

Skills:  Skills in bold received points, but not increase.  Bold with a (+) indicates and increase in skill.  New skills to the list for this year are in bold with (New).  Not exactly rocket sciences

Acrobatics   9 
Accounting 11 
Acting 13 
Administration 20    
Animal Handling 11 
Anthropology 11 
Archaeology 10 
Area Knowledge: Baltimore 11
Area Knowledge: Iceland 13 
Area Knowledge: Lehigh Valley 14 
Area Knowledge: New York City 13
Area Knowledge: South Africa 13
Area Knowledge: Michigan Upper Peninsula 11
Bard 20 (let me...entertain you!)

Bicycling 11
Boating 9
Boxing 10
Brawling 13
Camouflage 14
Carousing 12
Climbing 10
Club 11
Computer Ops 14  +
Conspiracy Theory 11
Cryptography 10
Dancing 10
Demolitions 12
Diplomacy 13
Drive Tractor Trailer 11
Drive: motorcycle 9

Driving: Auto 14
Driving: Diesel Locomotive 11
Engineering 12
Economics 12

Electronics   11  (NEW)

Electronics Operation  11 (NEW)

English 14    

Fast Talk 13

First Aid 13

Forensics 12

Forgery 10

French 12

Geology 10

Guns: Pistol 15 +

Guns: Rifle 14

Guns: SMG 13

Hiking 11

History 17

Hobby gaming 14

Hobby: Models 12

Intell Analysis 11

Interrogation 11 

Judo 9

Law 12

Leadership 12

Literature 10 (New)

Mathematics 10

Mechanic   11

Merchant 11

Meteorology 11

Naturalist 10

Navigate 10

Occultism 14

Performance 13

Physician  10   

Pilot: Jetpack   9  (NEW)

politics 14

Psychology 10

Punning 11

Running 13

Savoir Faire 17

Saxophone 12

Scrounging 13

Sex Appeal 15

Sport: Basketball 10

Sport: Football 9

Sport: Golf 11

Sport: Ice Skating 8

Sport: Volleyball 9

Stealth 12 

Strategy 11 

Streetwise 11

Survival: Mountains 12

Survival: NBC 13

Swimming 10

Tactics 13

Taxidermy 11 (New)

Theology 11  

Wrestling 11 +

309.5 points

I've slept like garbage this past year, so it's no surprise that there's little excitement going on.  I'm still some mid-level management in the intelligence field.  Like a many procedural show, my character may have taken a step back "this season", letting the other characters grab the spotlight.  

There are a few odd new skills, plus the electronics skills, some weapon training, and a half-point in Jetpack that makes me believe that one "episode" is one where there's a flashback to my military service, (Possibly Army, although I'd lean towards Navy, based on these skill point disbursement).

God Jul! 2021

The Winter Solstice is Upon Us!

 

(Star Wars d6) #24 - Flashback - LifeDay Special - Land of Misfit Droids.

Sitting on the pleasure planet Zeltros, two old friends were comisserating over neon-green drinks in a tropical theme poolside bar.  Ne'vets Aharo, exotic animal broker, and Abel Norrum, big game hunter, were trusted colleagues, but even they could not fully believe the success of their most recent mission.  Drenched in credits, and Ne'vets in the possession of a "new" ship, it was time to tell stories, with Abel prodding particular tales. 

"Your old Mon Cala pilot was the best, Ne'vets.  Whatever happened to him?"

"He's the one that lost our ship!  I had a nice, gently-used YZ-725 for our operations.  We were en route to Bespin to deliver an animal when a Neebray penetrated the shields, smashed through the cockpit, killing the Mon Cala and that idiot Rodian co-pilot, Yin-Yan.  Problem was, the alarms were deactivated and the cockpit, self-sealed, so it was two days before we realized there was a problem..."

"By the time Evus and I figured out the overrides, the ship was completely cooked.  We barely got it to Dolla, and the scrap was barely enough to lease a ship... with heavy interest."  

Ne'vets looked off to his pilot, Tarrie Prolek, playfully teaching some young co-eds the finer points of Water Volleyball, "I hired the cheapest pilot I could... even came with a Wookie at no extra cost.  Seemed eager and naïve, a great combination."

"Whatcha get to fly?"

"A Lone Scout B-Class."

"Kriff me!  That's a one man vessel, with a closet for supplies!  Sounds tight."

"Oh, it was...."

The Wookie, Frokazza, was not happy.   While he was delighted his friend, Tarrie, had gotten them a long term contract working with some animal broker, he was disappointed in the cramped condition of the O-Bah-Die and even more distressed that he was working on Life Day.   He would never argue with a pile of credits for some simple astrogation calculations and looking intimidating, but these humans never understood the cultural and spiritual significance of the holiday.  

The mission was a cake walk, some mining baron on Bespin, a retired General Ob, had requested the broker, Ne'vets Aharo, acquire and deliver a small creature, a Polygemius Rex, a rodent without legs, for what sounded like insane credits.  Aharo had acquired the creature, and had been struck by disaster with the loss of not only his previous ship, but his trusted pilot.  Hopefully Frokazza and Tarrie would be worthy long-term replacements.

Polygemius Rex

All they needed to do is make contact with General Ob and receive payment upon delivery.  As luck would have it, Ne'vets had acquired a pregnant Polygemius, and two offspring resided in the case with the original.  Tarrie pondered another adventure to further liquidate the assests, hoperfully in a bigger ship.

Ne'vets number two, the Twi'lek Evus, just wanted the new guys to shut up.  The old ships remote cockpit seemed like a distant dream compared to these two who just... wouldn't... shut... up.  

Still, the trip from Dolla to Bespin had been problem-free and Ne'vets was sipping Savareen Brandy without a care in the world.  

Ne'vets hand nothing to worry about because everything had already gone horribly wrong.  Flying around in an oversized shuttlecraft with a green crew in the cockpit and three volatile creatures in a tiny force field crate, a crate that dug into the minimal profit margins of the transaction, did not make the man happy.  Hopefully, things on Bespin would go smoothly, and he could pay back the service fees on the Oh-Ba-Die's lease and pay for the equipment he ignored to buy a good bottle of brandy.  

Entering Bespin space, Ne'vets went into the cockpit to check on his crew....

"This is Bespin Planetary Control, identify yourself and your purpose on planet."

The Wookie, jumped on the coms, and with a nervous stutter, " We're transporting illlegal....*static static static*"  

Ne'vets fidgeted with every control that wouldn't send the ship into a death spiral, "Everything's fine, we're transporting ordered equipment to General Ob, Mining Sector C-19."

"Send credentials, once approved, proceed to 12.20.07-0"

The approach to mining facility C-19 nearly sent the O-Bah-Die three quarters around the planet.  They found the city above the clouds to be a mere framework, with only a few levels looking suitable for habitation.  

The comm awoke with a droid voice.  "This is CL-19 control, re-submit credentials and proceed to 12.20.07-0."

Frokazza re-entered the coordinates and became concerned.  They were not for the landing pads on the city, rather they were going to send them hundreds of kilometers beneath the clouds! 

The auto-pilot lurched into the clouds,  like a spiral staircase following the stalk of the city, the ship flew down hundreds of kilometers.  

"The droid controller gave further instruction, "O-Bah-Die, you are clear to land on landing pad #2.  Will you require teamsters?"

Ne'vets jumped on the coms again,  "Negative."

"A droid cart will be awaiting you upon landing..."

The crew, rare creature in a force field container in hand, was met by some peculiar teamster droids.  Each one of the five appeared to be an assassin droids, or at least security droids, with a giant cannon replacing their left arm.  The barrel of the cannon looked to be 200mm! 

Ne'vets casually handed the container to Frokazza.  "Don't lose this."

Tarrie whispered into the ear on the other side of the Wookie, "If we weren't under a long-term contract with these guys, we would be so out of here!"

The "security" droids escorted them to customs, where another droid, BX-7, processed minimal information and allowed them to proceed.  

BX-7

"General Ob is currently unavailable.  Please allow us to provide refreshment for the short time until he is able to complete your transaction."

A droid shuttle met them on the opposite side of customs.  It was a peculiar device, a droid torso operating the craft, with no repulsorlifts, rather a pair of flat belts acting as slippery tracks. 

Tarrie was the most nervous of the crew.  "We shouldn't be able to breathe down here.  The breathable air is only up in the city.  I've got a bad feeling about this."

The shuttle dropped them off in front of a large dining room, with a 10 meter-long table and numerous comfy chairs along the walls.  

Within minutes, BX-7 arrived at the room, "Greetings again,   I am Bx-7, liaison for General Ob."  It extended a hand to Frokazza.  "Mister Aharo, we are glad to make your acquaintance."

Ne'vets seemed concerned, as the same droid had successfully completed paperwork and introductions minutes before.

"I too understand the umbrage to being forced to work on Wookie Life Day.  Would you like a cake?"

Frokazza was taken aback by this odd display of droid generosity and agreed to a cake.

"Our chef droids can produce a Life Day Cake immediately.  We hope that you can enjoy it." 

BX-7 left and was quickly replaced with a retro-fitted Trade Federation battle droid.  

"I am P90-X, servitor droid.  I will be happy to fulfill all the requests for you fatsos until General Ob is available.  Happy Wookie Life Day."

P90-X

P90-X incessantly ridiculed the physical abilities of the crew, offering only fruit flavored protein shakes and a variety of ab workouts, "for you dweebs and fatsos."

Finally the cake arrived, to much noise and clatter.  Rather than using a droid to push a repulsor-cart, the droid torso was again attached to cart, and rather than repulsor technology, the cart used five-sided wheels that were not properly alignment.   The cake was a mess, but an appreciative Frokazza, scooped up some with his hands, as the cart droid played the Wookie Life Day song.

Then everything exploded.  

Upon completion of the song, the cart-droid released an insane amount of glitter into the room.  The force of this eruption sent cake flying everywhere.

"Happy Wookie Life Day,'  the cart-droid extolled, glitter still leaking out various holes.

Within moments, P90-X was across the rooms, arms in one corner, legs in another, all thanks to a glitter covered, angry Wookie.  A flurry of cleaning bots entered the room to clean up the cake and glitter.  

Evus tried to clean off the large table with a some cleaning supplies in the room, only to realize he was in possession of a fourth Polygemius!   

"Something broke containment!"

Ne'vets was aghast, "We have a situation.   We need to make this delivery quickly..."

"But first more cake.... and no glitter," BX-7 barged in with a replacement cake.  

"The Wookie can take advantage of our beautician droids to remove the unfortunate glitter from his fur, Happy Life Day!"

Frokazza ate his cake in quiet, and Ne'vets continually demanded to at least go to the area where General Ob was.  

Finally, a new droid appeared, with oversized legs and no arms.

"Hello, humans in the employee of General Ob, I am the Gazelle. I am to escort you to him.  However, he is allergic to glitter.  We can take the celebratory Wookie to cleaen the glitter from his fur."

Reaching a cramped salon, Frokazza was met by two astromech droids, armed with spinning straight razors and mini-flamethrowers. 

The Gazelle laughed "Go to the back portion of the refresher, should be big enough."

The set-up of the refresher was in a strange language, and Frokazza started pressing buttons indiscriminately. With 22 separate buttons with some variation of a drop of water, something was bound to work.    

As the doors sealed, Evus kept staring at the shower, realizing somehow he was familiar with it. 

The faint Wookie cries coming from inside confirmed his worst fears:  the refresher was set-up for a Mon Calamari bathtub.  

Luckily, Wookies can hold their breath for a long time. 

Outside the refreshers, the others could see an "Additional Heat Requested" alert pop up on a screen.  The droids applied their mini-flamers to a heating element.  

Soon the water stopped processing, and the passed out Wookie lay on the ground, with nary a speck of glitter anywhere.  

Tarrie quickly jumped in to revive his friend, "Boss, boss, I'm a medic, I can revive him. "

The Gazelle could only ponder, "Perhaps he is too relaxed... Our baths have that effect on people." 

Other droids handed Tarrie a cocktail to give to Frokazza, but the pilot quickly surmised that it may kill his furry friend.  In response, he simply grabbed a glass of water and splashed it in the Wookie's face.  

More Polygemius could be found in the salon.  The issue might not have been coming from the containment case, but no one had enough time to investigate.   It was time for the Gazelle to deliver them to General Ob.

Another transport appeared, another droid torso welded onto a transport frame.   Except the transports locomotion were four bright red, four robotic legs.  with a giant set of horns installed on the front torso.  

Everyone hopped into the seating area, but the droid took a sudden disliking to Tarrie, charging the pilot.  Tarrie simply sidestepped a number of charges by the transport, and finally entered the seating area  as the droid appeared to tire somehow.

The transport dropped the crew off at a set of double blast doors.  Two more of the assassin/security droids with the ridiculously oversized cannons guarded the doors.

"State your business"

"Delivering a package to General Ob"

"Go inside, payment will be waiting."

Within seconds of going through the doors, the blast doors shut behind them, and everyone knew they were in some form growing danger.  

"The atmosphere in here is compromised.  You can see the gases creeping in from every corner!"

After passing a few more security droids, the crew spied living humans for the first time on this mission.  Humans and Ugnaughts, many unconscious, lay shackled against the walls. 

Tarrie did a quick triage and found most hungry and deprived of oxygen.  

Reviving an Ugnaught named Cade, the small being went on a rant.  General Ob was a moron, the true despotic ruler of that mining complex was a droid calling itself the Scrapmaster.   Ugnaughts intentionally break down droids and rebuild them better than ever to avoid future issues.  The Scrapmaster was making wild, illogical repairs, and the memory banks of the droids were becoming corrupt.  And if the droids weren't going to kill them, the leaking Tibanna gas would do the job earlier.

"We need to escape this Land of Misfit Droids...."

Evus found General Ob,  an old man in an ill-fitting uinform and random ribbons and medals.  Tarrie revived him.  After minutes of coughing up a yellow-green-black phlegm, Ob admitted to his misdeeds.  

"I'm not in command anymore.  Haven't been for quite some time... and all of you are going to die because of it.'

"Who ordered the creature?"

"There is a droid that has my face upstairs.  That's who the droids are looking for.  It was a personal luxury droid,  I gave it everything, treated her like a real person.  But then, she started copying my mannerisms, even setting up a "General Ob" disguise. Then she fixed all the droids and captured living beings and shoved them down there.   If I was thinking clearly, I would have deactivated her.    

"I've always wanted that creature, and somehow the Scrapmaster has pulled the knowledge from my mind and made it happen."

Ne'vets quickly realized that they might be prisoners, they were still considered guests.  He demanded the security droids provide some basic necessities while the transaction was being completed, most notably the five-sided wheel delivery droid, a few oxygen tanks, and a slugthrower.    All requests were honored.  

Ob inquired, "How did you get here."

"We flew in, droids were cooperative until they led us to here."

"If you flew in, that means the Scrapmaster is in the Communications Room. The comm beacons must be working, but she's there.   Oh how I wish I had been a moisture farmer. 

Frokazza pointed out air ducts running parallel with the hallways.    Evus and a small group of  Ugnaughts volunteered to explore them.  Evus managed to elude the security droids, without issue, but at some point the screams of the traveling Ugnaughts met cold solid non-blaster fire.  

Meanwhile, Ne'vets used Tarrie skills to rewire the programming of the the cleaning droids.  

Evus reached the landing pad with the O-Bah-Die, guarded by three more assassin droids.  Evus quickly moved out of Comms Room.  

Frokazza commandeered some oxygen for the gasping civilians.   Greatful people tried to justify the question of   "Why do Wookies get one Life Day when the Rodians get whole month?"

Ne'vets and Tarrie sent out the reprogrammed droid.   They assembled the prisoners and set the droids upon the security droids.  

The attack is quickly thwarted. Security droids picked them up and put them on a high shelf along the hallway.  

While Ne'vets dashed out the door, he told the others to "Pick their moment."

With incredible agility (and a roll of 22), Ne'vets, still carrying the  Polygemius containter, jumped  off a wall and avoided security droids and yet tossed a cleaning droid down another hall to distract their foe.   

Frokazza and Tarrie picked their moment, and the prisoners stumbled towards their main doors of the facility.  

Evus reached the comms room.   There in the center of the room stoods a very droid-like recreation assistant of General Ob.   His first "love tap," ripped off the shoulder of the droid, and a we'll keep to keep the bands on until they settle. 

"Who dare defile, General Ob, the Scrapmaster?"

"Your days of scrapping are over! "  The second shot ripped through the CPU. 

"I just wanted to rebuild... my friends."  With that, the Scrapmaster's systems went dark.  

Evus quickly set up a planetary distress call.  This is how we get pirates....

Ne'vets, followed by Frokazza and Tarrie are led to the landing pad, alerting the security bots.  The regular droids on the deck began beating others.  It could be two seconds from surrendering, until you view three Ugnaughts, one covered head to toe in red dye, the other two covered entirely in blue.  

Yelling in Ugnaught, "The cannons aren't guns!!!!!

The security droids move forward.   Ne'vets hit squarely by the cannon, a paint cannon.  Covered in red.  Another prisoner hit with a blast of blue paint. 

Ne'vets ran up to a droid on the landing pad and bear hugged it!  Other droids opened fire on Ne'vets.  There were multiple droids firing again,  but lucky shots were explosions of red or blue paint.

Evus and Frokazza led the charge to the O-Bah-Die pushing droids off the landing pad and into miles of falling one must do before they die. 

Tarrie grabbed Ob and the container and ran to the ship.  "Saving people is secondary to the contract, I can complete the transaction in the stead of Ne'vets Aharo."

Tarrie pushed Ob up the ramp to the ship, then proceeded to raise the ramp halfway and powers the engines.

Forkazza went wild, ripping droids apart, throwing them off the edge of the pad.   Some even explode in fireworks and glitter.  Cleaning droids coming out to clean up the mess....

The next day, they got paid by General Ob.   Ugnaughts returned to proper maintenance and a promise to rebuild everything.  Ob got his lone creature, while the others are sold as delicacies to clients on Cloud City.    

Staring at the painted remains of the "O-Bah-Die" Tarrie could only be a realist. 

"We're not getting our security deposit on the ship...."

After another day they were forced to flee Cloud City, due to an infestation of Polygemius Rex.  They jettisoned what little cargo they were going to carry, to avoid further infestation.  

On their trip home, the suffered system issues and a lack of creatures to match client wants. Tarrie immediately offered a suggestion to remedy both situations,  "I know someone who can handle this, it's a not-civilized world.  I'm certain we can find another creature on your want list, Mister Aharo.  We can head to Yavin IV.  My sister, Latorna is on one of those moons.  She can help. "

Next: Back to the present day, with #25 - "Tournament"

Marty, Stop Drinking the Glogg!

Getting the Traditional Wookie Life Day Tree

 

Mandatory Basketball Rant 2021-2022 - Week 3

We're deep into the basketball season now, with travel games for school, and all the schedules out for all the other leagues.  

The Rec League (as a board member):  It's funny, the usual high strung age groups (re: parents) are pretty chill this year.  With the exception of the "Where are the uniforms?" question, which I immediately tell them to contact the league president (who is the only one who knows what's going on).  They're overall happy just to be playing on the court.  

The Biddy parents/coaches (1st and 2nd grade) are holy terrors.  Demanding equal playing time as the high schoolers, demanding equal practice time (with COVID quarantines and Thanksgiving holidays closing school 7 out of 10 Biddy teams demanded alternative practice time.  Only 5 of the 20 3rd-6th grade teams even asked), and generally being the self-entitled parents from day one.  It's a shame, the 2nd grader's parents seemed totally awesome when they were Kindergarten pre-COVID.  The pandemic turned them in Karens and Kyles. 

The schedule worked out, with only one or two minor issues (the Biddy divisions adding time to their games, which in turn made half of the afternoons game late.  The school district just made masks optional last week, but I'd like to avoid extra crowds at the gyms, if at all possible. 

Maja:

Maja had four games originally on her schedule,  two games for the 7th grade team over the weekend, and two away games for the Freshman team, with destinations an hour-plus drive away.  

The 7th and 8th grade games all are played at the regional vo-tech school.  It's a relatively central location, parking is great and the snack bar is inexpensive for the kids.  With half the 7th graders normally practicing as the Freshman team, this was the first chance since tryouts to have everyone together.  

On Saturday they group boarded the bus and drove up to the vo-tech to play a very depleted and raw Wyoming Valley West team.  After seeing Maja's AAU teammate make their 8th grade team (and the top notch 8th graders all make their Freshmen team, there wasn't much left to work with.  

First game was a win for Maja's team 42-5. Maja got in every stat category except a block.  Even the 8th grade team got a four-point win against the West 8th graders (minus Maja's friend). 

A snapshot from the video of Maja's first basket 

Their second game was first thing Sunday morning against a slightly better Wyoming Seminary team.  We had seen them the day before take a pretty decent squad to the final minute, so we knew it wouldn't be a cake walk.  

It was more of  pie walk, then, as the players took control early and never looked back, 30-12. 

With Maja getting six points between the two games, and bunch of rebounds, and a lot of time filling in for the star Center, there was little to complain about with two dominating performances by a talented team. 

The 8th graders played their counterpart from Wyoming Seminary, and with many of the Sem's players on both squads, lost their game 26-23.  

For Freshmen, we discovered the Thursday game in Williamsport was cancelled for the Freshmen, but there was still a Tuesday game out in the middle of remote coal country.   We left a half-hour after the bus to only have Maja call us ten minutes to the high school to let us know there would be no game:  the girl's basketball team there didn't have a Freshman program at all!  

Their first Freshmen game is now Monday, at home, against a local rival who hopefully has a team. 

7th/8th site rescheduled this weekend's game, thanks to a COVID scare, so the weekend gets a little bit easier.

Millie: 

(a) Millie's AAU league is a strange assortment of 3rd-7th grade girls with pedigrees up and down the spectrum.  With conflicting times, she only played a half, scored four points, and had to rush to her rec league game.

(b)... which we were late for tip-off, so Millie got her mandatory four minute sit in early.  Unfortunately, by the time she checked in, it was already 8-0 to the other "hated" team.  The team was a mess, with one player missing, and another making her first team appearance at the game.  Still, the other hteam only eeked out a 13-12 score for the remainder of the game, so 21-12 isn't so bad.  

(c) The travel team had it's eyes looking at a tougher opponent for next week, and did NOT suffer for it.  Rather, they rolled over the Wyoming Seminary 5th grade team, 34-1... and it could have been soooo much worse, if they had hit their shots early.  A talented Freeland squad will be ready for them this Sunday, and if that goes better than expected, there's an overloaded 6th grade team from Berwick ready that should humble them. 

(d) West Hazleton's schedule just came out this week.  Season starts January 8th and runs through March.  I see some potential conflicts, and a few logistical nightmares, but if both girls want to play, I'm not saying no.

This weekend is still crazy: 

Saturday:

• 9:00 - Maja's 9th grade practice
• 2:00 - Millie's Rec League
• 3:00 - My 3/4 Boys coaching swan song, I hope. 
• 3:20 - Millie's AAU League (full game)

Sunday: 

• 11:00 - Maja's 9th grade practice 
• 6:30 - Millie's Travel Team game.

The Adopted 3/4 Boys Team (More like Foster Care Now)

I thought I could turn over the keys to the team to the parent (and new head coach), but they're out of town this weekend.   I managed to half-coach this time to a 27-24 loss.   Coaching 3/4 Boys is a lot like 3/4 Girls: nobody can hear a word your saying.  Luckily the big guy on the team willed at least 16 of those points,  the one Indian kid on the kid actually listens AND hits free throws for four, and I've got a long range sniper who's 2-for-2 from three-point land, but has trouble with a lay-up.  

I make no guarantees anything I coached those boys will sink in this season, but I actually tried to teach the team a play to run.  It was very reminiscent of the play Maja's team ran where she scored her first points, feeding it the to the big guy and giving him options of drive, shoot, and pass to open teammates.  It fell completely apart in the scrimmage we played, but some of the kids got the concept of moving around.  Others.... not so much.

There's a Reason I Do My End-of-Year in September...

Even though I'll link my End of Year Gaming Review, I don't necessarily do it for views.  After years of tracking stuff Oct-Sept, there's no reason to change now.

And if I did Jan-Dec, I sure as heck would at least prime my figures in the photos and not leave them on the sprue.  

And there's not much change if I had waited three months, including my plans for 2021-22.  Work, the Kid's basketball, and life in general have been insane.   With my boss leaving for greener pastures, and limited help with the local rec league, I'm wiped, and have been relying on published material and the player tangents to keep things interesting the in the Star Wars campaign.   I have a few small projects to restart the painting bench, but we'll play that by ear.  

On a good note, we nearly cancelled this week's Star Wars game for collective sheer exhaustion, but with the three players that stayed on the Skype chat, we cobbled together a quick game of Coffee Shop, involving a FedEx Kinko's, the in-store delivery of a customer's baby, triple-sided packing tape, an oddly racist wall decal of a Cambodian cartoon giraffe, and Hoagiefest being a larger cash grab than usual.  Don't think that one-shot is getting a write-up, but it did allow me some time to cobble together the "LifeDay" stats and send them to everyone.  

Project 350:  It's almost two months since my last update on the futile quests to reduce all my blog post drafts and scheduled blog postings to under 350 total.   We've pushed through the first wave of holiday posts and shrank to 469 (317 drafts /152 scheduled), down from 476 (314/162).  I've only managed to write up one of the last eight Star Wars episodes, and I see the Star Wars holiday session, a Christmas-themed wargame, and maybe a zombie game in our future.... and Christmas is a week away.  

Pray for me. 

Cold Wars 2022 is Cancelled!

I can't really call it a surprise, but HMGS decided to cancel Cold Wars for next year.   Ocean City, Maryland for the first weekend of April was an interesting decision that I was willing to try when it was initially announced, but with Adepticon the week prior, and a potential loss of 50-60% of the regular vendors due to the back-to-back con schedules, on top of COVID considerations, the board made a wise choice to not only cancel the convention with a minimal financial penalty, but also cancel the agreements for 2023 and 2024.  

News of a replacement site for 2023 was promised by end of the first quarter of 2022.  

Also, in a true surprise that put a smile on my face,  Fall-In! 2022 will return to the Wyndham (Formerly HOST) in Lancaster.  

Happy National Cupcake Day

 Had to find an excuse to post these guys....

(Star Wars d6) #23 - Holiday on Zeltros

 Our "Heroes"

Ne'vets Aharo - an exotic animal broker, both legal and otherwise.  Teaming up with ally and friendly rival Abel Norrum for some exploration of the planet Alacazaar.

Evus - Twi'lek former mercenary, Ne'vets' armed muscle with a keen eye and a tendency to shoot first.
Tarrie - Human pilot "under contract" for the upcoming mission, whatever that is.  Brother of potential terrorist, rebel  Latorna Savvn.
Frokazza - Wookie co-pilot, mechanic, and unarmed muscle. Very distrustful.

Decompression!

The destruction of the Strell Corporation's 

Mining operations of the planet Alcazaar complete,

The teams of Ne'vets Aharo, Exotic Animal Broker

and Abel Norrum, Big Game Hunter

Are excited to get their rewards 

and find some much needed rest and relaxation

Meanwhile, Ne'vets continues to pester Abel for 

Transportation so Aharo's crew can no longer 

Rely on the generosity of others...

Upon the transmission of the mission's success to the Lisani Corporation, Abel ordered a quick jump into hyperspace, to avoid any additional problems that may be showing up to the planet.

Coming out of hyperspace, they got their response from Lisani. Payment would be delivered in person, IF they were willing to make the four-day jump to Zeltros.

Zeltros

FIVE DAYS LATER:  

Everyone in both Ne'vets and Abel's crews, were lounging poolside, sipping on some sweet, fruity drinks with a good alcohol content. Most, save Frokazza the Wookie, and Yast the Yazirian, were bedecked in the latest bathing suit fashion.   If they stared over the pool, they could view a beach with yellow sands meeting the purple waters of the planet.  

Zeltros was full-scale resort planet, for those with the credits to pay. 

Lisani was happy to pay the crew(s) for a job well done.  Everyone got their promised share, and most of that was secured in the hotel vault.  

DAY 1 of HOLIDAY

Besides lounging about, recovering from the last mission, Evus sat at a table, counting out credits over and over.  He still had a measly  4,100 credits to pay off his debt with Ne'vets, and before dinner he presented him with the money.  Ne'vets shrugged it off as pure business. 

Some in the group were aghast to learn that they had a slave on their expanded team, but were embarrassed that no one recognized the signs.  

Ne'vets countered with, "He wasn't a slave, he was an indentured servant."  No one else really bought it.  

The newly-freed Evus went to the complimentary computer terminals for research on the planets with alleged Imperial non-military activity. 

For the next three days, he was glued to the screens, pulling large chucks of data, of varying importance for the planet Phindar. 

Tarrie took it upon himself to investigate jobs and ship prospects, by working through some of the "companions" available, and possibly their bosses. 

Frokazza was not interested in any of that stuff, alternating between sitting on the bench, sitting poolside, and eating at the buffet.  

DAY 3 OF HOLIDAY

For Ne'vets , he would only catch up with the group during a late brunch.  He dove into the on-site casino and by the end of three days, was 20,000 credits in the black.  

Tarrie woke up on Day 3 alone, in a suite that he hadn't paid for.  Various drugs were everywhere, which he quickly disposed of. With the party apparently over, Tarrie had managed to score a sale lead for Ne'vets.  Pikorg, a boss in charge of the beautiful "companions" at the resort, was trying smuggle an animal off planet back to his home world Nimbam.  Tarrie may have made a few promises without the conferring with his crewmates, but the money sounded to good to pass up.  

Everyone  spent the evening after dinning riding the Riding Rocket Skis together.

DAY 4 OF HOLIDAY

Numerous messages started to  appear on Ne'vets coms in for various jobs, from basic brokering to searching for some rare dog breed.  All appeared legit.  A little more research confirmed some of the new leads had ties to Lisani.

At dinner, Abel broached the difficult subject. 

"When the kriff are ya getting your own blasted ship?  We're leaving here in a few days and my boys need their room."

Day 5 - First thing in the morning, The Big Game left Zeltros.  Destination: Rasterous  and it's numerous Used Starship merchants.  

After hours of numerous dealers, and surprisingly poor haggling, Ne'vets settled on a used Ghtroc 720, the Pretio.

Day 7 - On the last day Abel's crew was spending on-planet, a large dinner was planned.  Plates of food came out until no one could even ponder another bite, although the drinks never stopped.  

A drunk Abel was hugging/holding himself up with anyone who got near him.  He wrapped an arm around Ne'vets' shoulder.   "Alright Ne'vets, you and your crew are pretty sharp at what you do, despite some early misgivings.  But how'd you hook up with Tarrie and the Wookie?"

"That's a great question," Ne'vets responded, "and an even better story...."

Next:   A Very Special Life Day Flashback, "The Land of Misfit Droids"