2015 Gaming Year in Review

Like a contorted hockey season, my gaming year is officially over.

The Blog
2013-2014 was a banner year and 2014-2015 blew that out of the water.   I averaged more than a post a day and my hits went up about 20%.  Somebody's reading this!  Of course, a spam hit from Italy overinflated my growth post-Historicon.  I hate Italy.

The Top Ten Blog Posts of the Last Twelve Months
1. Battle of Isandlwana, Family Style
2. Cold Wars 2015 - Friday
3. History of the Gnome World, Part One
4. The Board
5. Mandatory Holiday Swag
6. Plunder from the Tomb
7. The Lost Shrine of Tu'Lip
8. Sphinx Head by Maja
9. RPGaDay (2014) Favorite Con Game
10. Reaper Bones Kickstarter Launches in June

The readers have spoken, so family-fun AARs it shall remain!

The Best Laid Plans
So, looking back at my plans back in October 2014, the year appears to be a dismal failure.

• Car Wars?  Nothing, save jumping on the Arenas Kickstarter
• Samoa?  Outside of restoring some beat up figs, the island was quiet.
• Home?  Filed deep into my records.  I'll try not to mention it again.
• The Gnomish Space Marines?  Despite hyping some playtesting at Mepacon, I was forced to cancel and haven't looked at things since.

So what has happened?

The FLGS
Emerald Vale moved down the street and expanded it's square footage and inventory, while reducing its owners from two to one.   I did some Sunday night booster drafts last Fall, and lived la vida loca at a midnight pre-release tournament.    I actually haven't played Magic since, although I did acquire one of my beloved Ihf-Biff Efreets, put it in the Treefolk Deck, and shoved that in a drawer.

They seem to be doing well with Magic, Infinity, Games Workshop, Heroclix, and an unusally active Blood Bowl group (when did Blood Bowl get expensive... along with everything else?). 

It is the one place in my life that I've encountered vaping, and as much as the smell of cigarettes on someone coming in from a smoke break disgusts me, the idea of someone vaping while playing a game makes me want to smash their faces in with a lead pipe.  If it's permitted in the game area, I'll avoid game nights. 

Now, I've discovered that the one owner has gotten out and the other is moving the store again to another location within a quarter mile. Joy of joys.

They're also not particularly responsive to my idiot proof special orders I've submitted from my Apathy of the New Releases columns.  Nothing comes out till October, but I've yet to know if anything was even ordered.

My only 5-gnome-out-of-5 gnome review, Pop's Culture Shoppe, is finalizing their webstore, and I'm tempted to avoid close proximity, eschew Amazon discounts, and pay for shipping and handling if Pop's can just communicate and get my stuff to me.

For now, the FLGS is getting drink and chip purchases for the kids when we make a futile run there.

Cold Wars 2015
We got back to the core group (Steve, Brian, and myself) for the "Guy's Weekend" and we had a good time. I played in a Western using Blood and Swash,  a WW2 game using Doctor Who Miniatures Game, Two types of Jousts, including blowing through the competition to win the Gnome Joust!  As I plan for Fall-In! in November, I'll try to plan a weekend like that, just with a six year old in tow.  I'll go light on the Mad Elf.

Kickstarter
My Kickstarter addiction resolves most issues that I have with my FLGS. 
Car Wars Arenas  - ON TIME/EARLY
De Horrore Cosmico  - DELIVERED - ON TIME
Pyramid of the Lost King  - LATE, VERY VERY LATE
Reaper Bones III (Add-ons Only) - JUST COMPLETED.  CAN ADD ON MORE THROUGH MAY
Scavengers RPG - PLAYTEST PDF ARRIVED, A WEE BIT LATE
Tales of the Caribbean   - CAMPAIGN JUST STARTED
Star Patrol: Carrier Commander - CAMPAIGN JUST STARTED

Of the old stuff from last year that's still pending, only the RAFM CoC minis are still outstanding, and it's just a matter of shipping them from Canada.

The Mini-Birthday Throwdown
Unlike last year's epic throwdown, this was a small affair with Brian and Steve involving Harbor, Battletech, Tiny Epic Defender, and a cutthroat game of Connect Four.  

Operation Tom Sawyer
My plan to clear off the painting table was a moderate success.  Only 53 new items painted, but I fixed up most of my Samoan armies and Gnome armies (207 total).   I also whitewashed the table and have some tiny projects in the queue for once.

Games
#30GamesAMonth:   Thirty different games over thirty days in September was a grandiose task that real life crushed like a steel-toe boot. 

Gnome Wars: Not Much this year.  The kids have been happy with smaller scale 25mm skirmish/role-playing.

Magic:  I have quenched my thirst for the game for another decade.  It was enjoyable while it lasted.

Zombie Dice:  Zombie Dice has become the go-to game in the family.  It's quick, it's simple enough for Millie, and Maja tries to teach every person that walks in the door. 

CoC - People were maimed in England, but in Egypt, the gloves have come off.  Character death may be a way of life in Cairo.  The players have been warned.

Savage Showdown: I've tried using this stripped down version of Savage Worlds to replace T.I.A.R.A. and Gnome Wars, and so far, the kids like it.  Fast and simple, until the special rules kick in.

Of course, the biggest news of the year occurred last month, when the beloved Hoyce returned to the area.  We're desperately trying to arrange CoC, Hackmaster, and 2nd Edition AD&D games with him, as well as convincing him to become another fella on the guys weekend to Cold Wars 2016.!

The 2015 Gaming with the Gnomies Awards!
Best Kickstarter:  De Horrore Cosmico.  Great book, great communication, and I don't even own a copy of Cthulhu Invictus!  It's that good.

Worst Kickstarter:  Reaper Bones II  - Somehow RAFM, now with a ten-month delay, gets a pass because the minis are awesome.  They share the same fate as Chaosium, not having enough money to ship crap out.  Perhaps I just expect a company as professional as Reaper being able to schedule in enough delays into production so late when an item is late, it's still early according to Kickstarter guidelines.  It could be far, far worse, as some of the $1 pledges I've made are for projects that will never see light of day.

Best Game:  ZOMBIE DICE.  Although the Risus IOU game was the best role-playing session,  this game keeps our family together.  Can't beat that.

Best RPG Buy: Cold Harvest - Stalinist Era scenario.  Who's worse, the Mythos or the humans?

Best Minis Buy:  The Battletech Introductory Boxed Set I got from my wife for Christmas.  Sure, it's more expensive than the old Games Workshop boxed sets that I use to gauge "expensive." but it comes with soooo many minis, and  a better painting guide than GW produces (and charges additional for).

Best "Other Purchase"  The spice rack my wife got me for my paints ranks up there, but the Windsword Miniatures Sphinx Head that Maja painted wins out. 

 

Shelving a Project... and Shelves for Another

As I mentioned previously, I sanded down my gargantuan painting bench and repainted it.  It's not perfect, but it got me back to organizing my paints and projects (the ones I've barely touched in weeks).

Then my wife found a Spicy Shelf on clearance at the local grocery store for ten bucks.

My wife drives me crazy, as all wives are wont to do, but this time she hit the jackpot.

The re-organized paint station

The three levels fit all my active paints (I have multiple bottles of the same color three foot to the left) and I'm able to fit the overflowing bottles in a much smaller space than before.  Best yet, the flocking materials that don't fit on the window sill above now fit besides the rack, with room to line up the painting queue to boot.

Well done, Sweetie!

I did get some time to sit down and paint last night and the one project for the next Savage Showdown game is finished.

I've tried to restart the #30GamesAMonth project that stalled out on day 13, but too many late night projects and horrendous 1st grade homework has prevented most inroads to gaming.  I even tried to throw in a game of T.I.A.R.A. in the morning before school, but my phone ringing off the hook between work and our confused daycare nullified it.   I've got a good weekend with the kids, and I anticipate that anything not related to yardwork and the kid's play practice will attempt to be gaming, and test painting some spiders from Michaels.

Fall-In Pre-registration opened up on early this week and I need to get ours done.  Barring some quick sell-outs, we're looking at some Gnomes, some Pirates, and perhaps Santa Claus, mixed in with a beginner's painting class and just enough time for Maja to pick out some Egytian stuff in the Dealer's Hall.  Perfect Daddy-Daughter weekend, even if Millie's Mommy-Daughter Day will be a princess makeover.

#30GamesAMonth Day 13... and the Streak Ends

When I started #30GamesAMonth for September, I knew I had a stacked deck against me.  An increased work schedule, crazy kids activities, and the evils of 1st grade homework pulled against us.  I definitely think Tim from Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog, who is also participating in this endeavour, had a few advantages to me, namely older kids (which opens up a plethora of games), I believe they home school (better scheduling), and, of course Saskatoon is already under 27 feet of snow.

On Sunday the 13th we played a do or die game of Candyland as a family.

On Monday the 14th, the very simple, but very structured homework program came out, and my wife took a bullet and handled the first night.  I pre-occupied the little Millie upstairs with... multiple games of Candyland.  Last night, we had dance class, a late dinner and by the time I oversaw homework and 25 minutes of reading, it was bedtime.

The 30 different games, a different game a day, in 30 days is over. 

Now, that doesn't mean I won't try to fill the second half of the month with games.  I've got a few things planned:

1.  If I can help Millie with her Scissor work while Maja does homework, we may try a fast game of Pondemonium.
2. A Savage Showdown follow-up to our last "Egypt" game.  If our heroes drove off in a truck, why am I still trying to finish painting up mules for the next game? 
3. D&D Monster Slayers: Champion of the Elements, although it's too easy for both my girls.
4. TWERPS using Gnome Wars figures
5. Gnome Wars - the long anticipated follow-up to Veliki Leptir.
6. TIARA and a playroom full of toys... and adventure!
7. A skirmish sized game of Burning Plastic?
8. Attack of the 50-foot Princess Revisited?  Using OGRE as the engine.

"Grown-Up" gaming with my friends seems unlikely over the next two weekends, although I could pull off some Battletech, Car Wars, or Contemptible Little Armies.  Our next Cthulhu session is all the way in November, and that might be our last session of the year.  It doesn't bode well for either the 2nd Edition AD&D game or to restart Hackmaster until the New Year. 

Outside of the rest of the month I'm going to dedicate it to family/kid games.  There's a Candyland-inspired Frozen game that just different enough mechanically to count as something else, plus a hoard of ages 3 and up games that just ensure we're doing something as a family.

Onward and upward!
 

#30GamesADay: Days: 8-12

When I decided try 30 different games in 30 days in September, I had padded the criteria and game selections to allow for some easy "cheat" days.  I knew things were going to be crazy, but I never thought they would be used up by the middle of the month. 

It was a long, but fun week.

Day 8:  To Cry a Joust - Shopkins Edition.
If Maja wants to participate in the joust at Fall-In!, we're going to need some practice.  Plus, it's great "fun" math work.

Day 9:   War

Day 10:   Go Fish

Day 11:   Uno

Day 12:  The Race Game: The Shopkins 100
The Race Game was my attempt at a *duh* auto racing game.  It's work pretty well thus far, and added another level of madness to it:  Shopkins.   

If you don't know what Shopkins are, consider yourself lucky.  Take the randomness of a toy out a aispenser like we had at the exit of the grocery store back in the day, add in sports card or Magic: the Gathering levels of collectibility, and make the items adorable household items with eyes, and you basically have the Shopkins phenomena.    The good news is, despite my wife continuing to buy more of these little things, the kids are actually playing with them. 

I figured I'd up the ante early last week by using the Shopkins for the joust, and that went over spectacularly.  After that, it was a no brainer to use some of them for a foot-race on the graph paper race track. 

The start of the Shopkins 100 is always dangerous.

We rolled 2d6 for movement, the drifting rules were kept it in (you try to be a giant piece of pecan pie and you see how well you run turns...), and I maintain the handling rolls if pieces ended the turn adjacent to each other, but hey only lost a turn if they rolled a 6 on 1d6.

Cute Boot hugs the corner and pulls away from Suzie Sushi

 Cute Boot took the pole and after a slow start, powered his/her way to victory.  

The winner and their prize.

 

#30GamesAMonth Days 4-7.

The load at work, Maja's first week at school, and Millie changing day cares has made this endeavor just as challenging as I suspected.

Day 4 - Zombie Dice
Dad built up a careful supply of brains, only for Maja to go gangbusters in the last round for the win.

Day 5 - Eggs and Empires
A fun little card game about outwitting your opponents and dragon eggs.  The game is available here.

Day 6 - Risus  Illuminati University (IOU)
The traditional Day of Sloth game with two Sophomores and two Freshthings butchering "Scavenger Hunt" from East Texas University 

Day 7 - The Village on the Hill
A Peaceful Storytelling Game where the players all play helpful spirits named Kami.  Millie only disappeared for a few moments of this game, where the premise was an early blizzard caught the village off guard and it was up to the spirits help a villager find her pet... monkey.    The Question/Action mechanic might be a bit much for a 4 and 6 year old, but a little nudging Dad got them thinking, and by the end of the game, all three monkeys in the village were safe and sound.  

#30GamesAMonth Day 3

Day 3 corresponded with Maja's first day of 1st Grade, so I expected a tired little girl, but it was a (potentially sick) Millie who passed out on the couch while watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Netflix.

While Mommy shopped for groceries, Maja and Daddy busted out a copy of Zombies!   No cards and Helicopter/20 zombie kills to win.

Maja was a zombie killing machine, rolling high for both movements and kills.  I, on the other hand, couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, and developed a delaying tactic to keep Maja from winning.  
With Maja needing four or five zombie kills tow, I raced ahead of her with wild abandon, trying to kill as many zombies as possible, not to try to win, but to keep her from winning.    Mom came home before we could finish, but Maja had 18 kills, five lives, and two bullets left to her original guy, and I had 5 kills, 2 life, and no bullets on my third.  

Maja's cleared out another building, and I'm starting my third guy.

Well played, Maja, well played.

#30GamesAMonth Days 1 and 2

Working for a private Medicare insurer, my normally cup o' life runneth over mightily during our ramp up to Annual Enrollment.  My seasonal staffing has arrived early, some of my returning staff has announced that they aren't, and the on a day I should be setting up phone lines and finalizing data, I'm stuck in (remarkably productive) meetings all afternoon, all to discover that the AC is essentially out on the 5th floor.

And we're still a month away until it actually gets bad.

We did managed to sneak in a little time with Millie on #30GamesAMonth.

Day One:  Connect Four

Day Two:  Checkers

In both cases, Millie quickly decided to "trade" sides when she finally realized that Daddy was going to pull out the victory.    She might need a little help with games, that's Maja's forte.

Game a Day for September and 12 Days of New Gaming for Christmas!

With #RPGaDay2015 finally finished, it's on to bigger and better things.

As I mentioned earlier, I'll be pursuing a lofty goal in our chaotic household:  We'll be trying to play a different game each day for the entire month of September.  The only rule to qualify a "game" is that it must use some accessory beyond ourselves, like cards, playing pieces, dice, or even a whiteboard. 

With those criteria, a cutthroat game of War or Hearts is okay, but Rock, Paper, Scissors does not (although a family tournament using the Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock dice will in a pinch).  

Playing the same game on multiple days will obviously not count towards the goal, but will be extra fun nevertheless.   To qualify the one unique game, at least one member of the family needs to play it.  This way, if I'm stuck at work with overtime, my wife and kids can play something and it counts, or, if I'm visiting friends and strike up a game of Mordheim, the kids can play whatever they want.

I've also decided that, if this works, or even work halfway, I'll try out a 12 Days of Gaming over the holidays.  Toys and familial chaos need to be countered by something like this, a chance to sit around the table and do something as a family, before the next waves of presents.

Of course, Santa could just give us a big new pile of presents to fit that bill.

#RPGaDAY2015 Day #6: Most Recent RPG Played

The last RPG played? 

With "grown-ups?"  Almost a month and a half ago when I ran another session of Masks of Nylarlathotep for two of the players.   As the log for the CoC campaign shows, Professor O'Hara was suffering from the after-effects of his motorcycle accident, a gunshot wound, and two bouts of hypothermia, and needed the Egyptian heat to recover (aka, the player was unable to attend)

*spoilers*
Everyone else but everybody's hard-drinking, fast-lovin' West Virginian historian, "Dr Bob",  had died out in the desert.

With Bob unavailable, it was his turn to rest up while our Physicist and a ex-French Foreign Legionnaire followed Bob's research trail to try to understand why he had created a mini-expedition out into the desert... and why everyone else died.  

Now everyone is up to speed and most leads, and hopefully we can get everyone together for August.

With the kids?  We finally ran our second game of Savage Showdown Pulp.   The adventurers wanted to spend a few moments celebrating the Eygptian artifacts they had found, but other interested parties had other ideas.  Half the group made it out of the roadside bar and headed off to the capital city and the Big Museum (tm).  Others, like Fritz O'Lay, "The Mexican" tried to grab a ride by jumping out a second story window.

He failed.

El Oucho...

Before this game, we broke out kids introductory adventure, Heroes of Heislod, for #gygaxday.   Since my eldest, Maja, handled the D&D Starter Set adventures well enough last year at the age of 5, this adventure was over simplified for her,  perfect for her four year old sister.   We'll go back to it in September when the second adventure, Champions of the Elements will be part of my #30GamesAMonth in September.