Sunday, December 31, 2023

Game Plan 2024 - Q1

It's a whole new year.... Whole new First Quarter.... 

This maybe isn't so much of a PLAN as a "Review of Things I'd LIKE to DO"... maybe some general guidelines...? While plans have worked in the past, when I've managed to stay FOCUSED... more often than not, they just make hobby-fun-time feel like work when I lose focus and interest in the thing I'd declared I would do... I really like the idea of challenges (10x10 Annual, or 5x5 Quarterly) because it encourages one to really DIG INTO a game and LEARN it... but trying to guess what those games I might be interested in over the next three months (let alone YEAR) is almost impossible for me to foretell anymore...

I have a Game Room again... so I should probably PLA Y SOME GAMES!!!


GAMES

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

I would really, REALLY like to get back to playing and/or running some role-playing games. I'm not quite sure what that might look like. 

I picked up a few new RPGs this year...

Blade Runner... 

and the new version of Twilight: 2000!

Both are from Free League - and I REALLY LIKE the look of the systems. 

I'm also still really interested in giving Wrath & Glory another go... I picked up Litanies of the Lost for this - a book of four adventures that can be run as one shots or strung together into a campaign of sorts. 

and maybe Hellboy, if I could ever finish reading through the rules.. 

And I really like the idea of FATE and would like to explore that some more! 

If I got playing Warcry and/or Warhammer Underworlds and/or Warhammer Quest: Cursed City again, I could also see myself wanting to try Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound again! 

Maybe in the new year I could run a series of one-shot adventures to try out all the systems and try out some new potential players and figure out something to run as a campaign later in the year...? 


SOLO (or CO-OP?) GAMES

Last year I tried out some solo games - starting the year with a LOT of solo games of One Hour Wargames, and ending the year trying out Five Parsecs From Home and Five Leagues From The Borderlands. It went pretty okay. I had a lot of fun playing the games and even more fun tracking the campaigns of the armies (One Hour Wargames/Back of Beyond) or Crews (Five Parsecs From Home). It seems likely I will continue to do so this year. 

It might be nice to try playing them as CO-OP games, though! I'm hoping maybe I might get Amanda to join me for some of those adventures!? 

We also still have a lot of Warhammer Quest games to play through. 

Amanda and I had a lot of fun playing through Blackstone Fortress in the early part of the pandemic. We finished the first campaign in the box, but never finished playing through all the OTHER campaigns... 

ALL THE OTHER CAMPAIGNS!?

(Maybe we defeated the Ambul Hulk...?)

I never even finished painting the Cursed City stuff - let alone started PLAYING it...

 Or either of the two Finnegan has (Silver City and Shadows Over Hammerhal - though he's played through the games - with UNPAINTED MINIATURES!?) I'd like to get back to that at some point! Will that be THIS year...? Not sure... 

Also, Hellboy the Boardgame!!! 


BOARD GAMES

So many board games I really want to play... once the Game Room is sorted, we'll have to start inviting people over on a more regular basis... maybe get a regular weekly (or... bi-weekly?) Game Night (or Afternoon?!) going...? 

I mean, they're starting to get organized onto shelves in the basement... 

The other shelves... These are both in the hall outside the Game Room. 

There are a few IN the Game Room. 

There are still a LOT of games spread about the house on assorted other shelving units. There just isn't enough space in the basement for all of them!?

SO MANY GAMES TO PLAY!!! 


MINIATURE GAMES

I still love the idea of miniature games... I'd like to play more regularly... There are SO MANY though and I feel like it would help a LOT if I could just focus on ONE for a bit, get some stuff painted (miniatures AND terrain), and then play it for a bit (while painting up stuff for the NEXT project...?). 

I am still really interested in Kill Team... (which is good, because I have an awful LOT of stuff for it!? It's a little ridiculous, really... I am DONE buying these boxes, though... I'll buy the books as they are released, if I have one of the teams... but I do NOT need more Kill Teams or terrain!!) 

 and Warcry... 

and Warhammer Underworlds...

ALL of the fast-playing, skirmish-level GW games... I have LOTS of stuff for each of the games that are painted and ready to go, that I could play with at ANY TIME - and SO MUCH MORE that I could play with if I finished painting them! 

There are lots of other skirmish games I'd like to play again (or new ones to try out) - All the Ganesha Games (Song of...., etc) and others... 

And all the LARGER skirmish games by Dan Mercy - Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Pikeman's Lament, Men Who Would Be Kings, Rebels and Patriots... I HAVE forces ready to go for any of the first four - and so much MORE I could add to those forces... again... painting... There's also Xenos Rampant.. but I wasn't as wowwed by that one... maybe I just need to give it another try - maybe with some of the other genres (modern, weird warss, etc...) 

I only just picked up new edition of Warhammer 40K (the mini version without all the fluff) and started playing it! I love the setting, but I'm not sure I have the time or patience for this to be a VERY regular thing like it maybe once was... I think I'd rather play the role-playing game (Wrath & Glory) and maybe bust out the armies when there is a narative driven scenario to play out! Maybe when and Imperial Guard or Aeldari codex comes out, I'll get more excited about it again... If there was an Emperor's Children Codex... I'd definitely have to pick that up!! 

[ONE HOUR WARGAMES]

Playing One Hour Wargames was fun last year. Wouldn't mind doing MORE of that! 


GAME WEEKEND

It has been a long time since I hosted a game weekend. I'd really LOVE to get back to doing that. 

I'm not sure WHEN exactly that might be or format that weekend might take (minicon, cooperative campaign, competitive campaign or tournament) or what game(s) might be played. 

There are many, MANY ideas I have for these that I'd like to play SOMEDAY... but the current MAIN ideas are:

The Under-Carngard Championships - this would be a Warcry Campaign/Tournament where all participants would be playing with Skaven warbands provided my ME. The weekend would start with drafting warbands from the collection of Skaven I have. This is one of the main sticking points for this one - I would NEED to FINISH PAINTING ALL THE SKAVEN!!! Which isn't a LOT... But I haven't been painting a lot the last few years... so... 

The other options would be an RPG-lite tabletop miniature adventure... Each participant would have ONE CHARACTER that is a member of an adventuring party and over the weekend we would play through a series of linked scenarios leading to an ultimate battle with a big bad main protagonist. 

I'm not 100% on what system or setting... could potentially make use of Five Parsecs From Home/Five Leagues From The Borderands - or possibly a return to Song of Blades and Heroes (or one of the other systems using the Ganesha Games Engine) or maybe even Savage Worlds - which has more options for non-combat skill use... 

It could even be Wrath & Glory or Soulbound (with some larger tabletop battles making use of all the Warhammer Age of Sigmar or 40K miniatures!) 

This would be for a very small group of 3-4 players... (maybe five or six if ALL of the DREAM TEAM of players were ALL able to travel to Saskatoon for the game!!) 


CONVENTIONS

I feel like I'm done with public conventions. 

Maybe MORE smaller invitational Game Weekends. Why just do ONE a year?!


TOURNAMENTS(!?) 

Honestly, this wasn't even a consideration until a week or two ago when my friend Orion announced she was looking for a new partner for an upcoming 40K team tournament in February - Strange Bedfellows. I'm not sure there are any restrictions on who can pair up, but since she was planing on taking her Space Wolves I offered the option of bringing Imperial Guard or a mess of Agents of the Imperium and Grey Knights... OR maybe the Harlequins...? She suggested it would be fun to team up with the Tallarn, so... Tallarn it is! My Desert Raiders are going to see some action again! 

Will I sign up for others...? My gut reaction is to say; "I doubt it!"... but then again, I would have said "I doubt it!" to the idea of signing up for ANY tournaments a few weeks ago, and yet, here I am... Battleforce Recon was fun the last two times I went! 


MINIATURES

I'd really like to just try and NOT BUY ANY miniatures. I know it's ridiculous to make any such proclamations like: "I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT BUY ANY MINIATURES THIS YEAR!" But I will say it is my INTENTION to minimize miniature purchases. I can't see any great NEED to buy anything at this point. Most of what I'm interested in playing I already HAVE everything I NEED... Honestly, I probalby have WAY MORE than I need for all the things... I just need to PAINT THINGS!?

I'd like to do some stock taking - now that the basement renovations are "finished" (are you EVER REALLY "finished" renovating your home...?) and we're sorting things out. Also some realistic planning of what I might EVER be able to finish painting... and maybe start clearing out some projects that will just NEVER see the light of day... Maybe...  

WHAT will I be painting!? 

Well that all depends where my ADHD brain decides to take me. I imagine with the upcoming tournament, I'll probably get some Tallarn painted up!! 

After that...? stuff for whatever game I'm interested in at the moment... Likely some Sci-fi stuff for Five Parsecs from Home or Fantasy stuff for Five Leagues from the Borderlands...? But maybe also some Warhammer Underworlds warbands - as I've had a hankering to play that again. Or SKAVEN - in case that game weekend idea goes ahead (also, they could be useful for Five Leagues from the Borderlands).  

I guess if I had to pick twelve things I could do, weekly, over the first quarter, right now, and had the power to STICK TO IT, it might look like:

  1. Manticore (40K - Self-Propelled Storm Eagle Rocket Launcher) 
  2. Manticore (40K - Self-Propelled Storm Eagle Rocket Launcher) 
  3. Basilisk (40K - Self-Propelled Artillery) 
  4. Basilisk (40K - Self-Propelled Artillery) 
  5. Scout Sentinel (40K) 
  6. Scout Sentinel (40K) 
  7. Ephilim’s Pandaemonium (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  8. Thricefold Discord  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  9. Cyreni’s Razors  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  10. Blackpowder's Buccaneers (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  11. Hexbane’s Hunters  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  12. Elathain's Soulraid (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
  13. Shadeborn (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
I'll get those first six done, for sure (because I need them for the upcoming tournament!) after that, though...? 

I'm also currently interested in getting some Skaven finished to try out the current version of Warcry (and possibly use them as hostiles in Five Leagues From The Borderlands) 

I feel like I'm about half done them... ALMOST half done them... (I think there are a few in another box somewhere - like a couple more Rat Ogors, a Ratling Gun crew and a Master Moulder).

...and there are only about 24 Highland Dwarves I need to finish up to be COMPLETELY FINISHED that entire force for Dragon Rampant. (The two units in the top right of the picture!) 

I'd also like to work on the boxes and boxes of sci-fi terrain that's come with all the Kill Team sets I've bought over the years! Not sure when I'll work that into the mix...?

What are YOU looking forward to playing or doing in 2024!? Got any BIG PLANS!? Or maybe just some modest, attainable plans...!?  


Looking Back at 2023

 Well... I did not get a lot of gaming or hobby stuff done this year... Not as much as I have in previous years... I feel like this has become a bit of a trend... and that makes me a bit sad. 

There were reasons for a lot of that. The state of the basement and the renovation that dragged on through most of the spring... and summer... AND fall...?! 

I'll try to keep this short and not dwell on things. It wasn't all doom and gloom. I'll try to focus on what I DID manage to do and then move right along to the next post; Game Plan 2024.


HIGHLIGHTS

Maybe let's start on a positive note with a few of the HIGHLIGHTS from 2023. 

Hands down, the top highlight of the year was being able to meet up with my old friend Christian for a day while Amanda and I were out in Toronto. Christian is one of my absolute favourite humans on this planet. He was up at a ridiculous hour to catch a GO Train in from Barrie. We met up and wandered about downtown Toronto catching up, checked out Meeplemart and The Beguiling and spent most of the day playing games at Snakes and Lattees on College. We went for supper wandered around some more and got Christian back to Union Station to catch his train home in the evening. You can read more about it in September Games

The next big highlight was the Back of Beyond Campaign I ran from January to April!? It had some problems... but I got me motivated to play over TWENTY games of One Hour Wargames! They ended up all being solo games... but that was okay... 

Finally, if I had a third highlight, I guess it would be finally sitting down and reading the rules for Five Parsecs From Home and trying that out. It's been really fun so far. Looking forward to exploring this more in 2024 - and trying out the Fantasy vversion Five Leagues from the Borderlands! 


GAME PLAN 2023

Looking back at the Quarterly Game Plans... 

Game Plan 2023 - Q1 

Game Plan 2023 - Q2

Game Plan 2023 - Q3

Game Plan 2023 - Q4

They weren't really much of plans... I knew there wasn't likely to be much going on this year. I tried to keep the plans (if you can call them that) open and tried not to tie myself down to any grand plans that were destined to fail... TRIED not to... 

Here are the numbers of what I DID get up to this year... 


GAMES

In the end I managed to play 116 games this year. Marginally more than what I played last year... (96 games) and but way down from the previous year (212 games). The difference is that nearly a quarter of the games I played this year were SOLO games.  So I was playing games WITH people less, and that still makes me a bit sad. 

Here are the games I played this year, according to Board Game Geek:

  • One-hour Wargames x20
  • Codenames x11
  • Wingspan x9
  • Splendor x8
  • Wingspan Asia x7
  • Five Parsecs From Home: Solo Adventure Wargaming x7
  • Clank! In! Space!: A Deck-Building Adventure x4
  • Loonacy x4
  • Agricola x3
  • Century: Golem Edition x3
  • Kingdom Builder x3
  • Set x3
  • Terraforming Mars x3
  • Abyss x2
  • Azul x2
  • Codenames: Pictures x2
  • Lords of Waterdeep x2
  • Tinderblox x2
  • Warhammer 40,000 (Tenth Edition) x2
  • 1754: Conquest – The French and Indian War x1
  • Beyond the Sun x1
  • Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game x1
  • Boss Monster 2: The Next Level x1
  • Carcassonne x1
  • Castles of Mad King Ludwig x1
  • Charioteer x1
  • Compounded x1
  • Cryptid x1
  • Cyclades x1
  • Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game x1
  • Imhotep x1
  • Just Desserts x1
  • Shakespeare x1
  • Tyler Sigman's Crows x1
  • Tyrants of the Underdark x1
  • Vinci x1
  • Warhammer Underworlds: NightVault x1
  • Xenos Rampant x1

Not even close to doing a 10x10 Challenge... But, y'know, over 100, so... not bad. 

Most played was One Hour Wargames - twenty of them - unfortunately all played solo... which was okay, I guess... 

Next was Codenames, but that hardly counts - we knocked out all eleven games in ONE EVENING!!

Lots of games of Wingspan and Wingspan: Asia... earlier in the year before the renovation really got going. 

I got really excited about the IDEA of role-playing games again - and bought three totally new ones (Hellboy, Bladerunner, and the new version of Twilight: 2000) as well as a few expansions for Wrath & Glory. I only got around to playing two, Hellboy and Blade Runner, for a single session of each, never getting past making characters.... Maybe NEXT year!?  


MINIATURES

Also, an all time low - at least for as long as I've been keeping track. 

I managed to paint 70 x 28mm minis.....  That's a few more of the 28mm miniatures than were painted last year... but last year I also painted a PILE of micro/epic scale stuff... So I'd say I ended up painting a bit LESS than last year. 

Part of this was due to the renovation upheaval... maybe now that I have a semi-permanent painting station set up - and a ridiculously luxurious and HUGE one, at that - along with plans to play in an upcoming tournament - I should hopefully get a few more done in the next year... (more on that in Game Plan 2024 Q1 - coming up shortly) 

Unfortunately I also managed to AQUIRE more that I ended up painting - 147 x 28mm miniatures - and MORE than I did last year!? Most of that was from five (FIVE!!) Kill Team boxed sets... which I haven't even managed to play ONCE this whole year!? (So embarrassing... Maybe I'll get some of that terrain finished up, though, and use it in Five Parsecs From Home!?) 

Here is a breakdown of those acquisitions and painted minis! 

PAINTED

28mm Foot

Q1


Q1 Total: 48

Q2

Q2 Total: 6 

Q3

Q3 total: 8

Q4


Q4 Total: 4

2023 Total: 66

28mm Mounted/Smaller Beasties

So, mostly Games Workshop miniatures for 40K/Kill Team or AoS/Warcry. 


PURCHASED (or otherwise acquired - gifts, trades, etc.)

28mm Foot

Q1
  • 11x Adeptus Arbites – Exaction Squad Kill Team
  • 10x Drukhari – Hand of The Archon Kill Team
Q1 Total: 21


Q2
Q2 Total: 85 


Q3
Q3 Total: 26


Q4

3x Domitan's Stormcoven (Warhammer Underworlds: Wyrdhollow)
5x Ephilim's Pandaemonium (Warhammer Underworlds: Wyrdhollow)
3x Thricefold Discord (Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge) 
4x Cyreni’s Razors (Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge) 

Q4 Total: 15


2023 Total: 147

So... I bought twice as much as I managed to paint... at least it's not like some years where I bought hundreds - or even THOUSANDS - more miniatures than I managed to paint!?!? (it's happened!). This was only 70 more miniatures... If I had a good year or painting and not buying more stuff. I could bring knock that off fairly easily. 



What was YOUR gaming/hobby Highlight of 2023? 


December Games

As with November, this is a scheduled post... 

I've started scheduling these posts, so they go up just before midnight on the last day of the Month. That way you can find the December Games post as the last post in December in the Blog Archive (over on the left if you're looking at this on a desktop computer... I have no idea where it is if you're looking at this on your phone...!?).

I can edit it throughout the month, adding games as I play them... 

If this post shows up with NOTHING in it other than this description... it's because I didn't end of playing ANY games this month. And I'm probably very, very sad. 

(or I've gotten so out of practice at doing this... BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN PLAYING GAMES AS MUCH ANYMORE.... that I just FORGOT to add to the post) 

The former seems more likely though...

I've done the same for LOOKING BACK AT 2023 post and the GAME PLAN 2024 post, which will be posting shortly after this!  

Anyway, here's what I (hopefully) got up to, if I got up to anything at all:


Saturday, 2 December 2023

Played another game of Five Parsecs From Home, online, with Chris and Christian. This was the second week in a row - which was nice, because we'd cancelled SO MANY games the previous month... 

You can read the full report of that game here:

Five Parsecs From Home - Online Campaign - Round Three - Space Pirate Raid


Thursday, 7 December

Thursday I got a new Ikea Kallax assembled and recruited #2 to help me haul some games downstairs. During said ordeal, they noticed our copy of Loonacy and felt like they hadn't played that in a while and suggested we play... 

We ended up recruiting Amanda, as well - who had just returned home from work.

We played three games

I won ALL OF THEM!?!?

I mentioned Just Desserts... so we ended up playing a game of that as well.

I won that one too.. 

yeah. 

On the weekend, Amanda had disassembled, moved, and reassembled this shelf in the basement as well... there is still a LOT of organizing to do... and still SO MANY MORE GAMES spread around the house... 

I didn't end up running a Five Parsecs from Home game on Saturday as we all went out to see Keiran in their high schools musical! (Mean Girls: The Musical - Keiran played Ms. Norbury - and did almost all the costuming and so much of the other set building and stuff!)


Thursday, 14 December 2023

One week later... Keiran and I were back at it. 

This time we played a game of Kingdom Builder. We played with the Hermits, Lords, and Farmers Kingdom Builder cards, on the Tavern, Oracle, Oasis, and Paddock boards. I won (by a little bit). It's been a while since Keiran played - August of 2021, I think...? And the time before that was in 2019... so, they did pretty good all things considered. More importantly, FUN was had and they said they'd like to play again! 


Wednesday, 20 December 2023

I got in my first game of Warhammer 40,000 (10th Edition)! I can't remember the last time I played a full game of 40k. I think it was just after the release of 9TH EDITION!?! I only ever bought two of the Codexes for 9th Aeldari and Imperial Guard... and never made use of EITHER of them!? There were enough changes to the core rules that all the previous codexes were instantly useless upon the release of 10th Edition, so Games Workshop has uploaded PDFs of ALL the Data Cards for ALL the models of ALL the factions, as well as the core rules... So... so far, I have not spent a penny on 10th edition... It MIGHT be handy to pick up the Index cards, though... 

The game was fun, I like whats going on in 10th edition - even if the scnenarios seem a little convoluted, with the constant fluctuation of goals every turn... 

You can read a full report of the action here:

40K10E - Exercise WOLF HAMMER 

(this was also the first game in the freshly - like THAT AFTERNOON) cleared out Game Room, post renovation! There is still a fair bit of organizing to do in the rest of the basement and all over the house... But we're playing games down there again! 


Finnegan ran his first D&D game in the Game Room on Friday.

I was supposed to run a game of Five Parsecs From Home Saturday... but no one responded to the message I posted midweek to our Discord to confirm we were playing... so... 


Sunday, 24 December 2023

Our friend Brent and Barb came over on Xmas Eve to play Wingspan! It was nice to see these two - and nice to play Wingspan! I feel like it's been forever since I played... though it's still one of the most played games for me this year! 

Round End Goals

My tableau at the end of the game - almost full! 

I felt like it was the best game I'd played in a long time - so much kind of all came together for me... still came in third... 


Monday, 25 December 2023

Could not get the kids to play games with us... are we THAT OLD!?!? So Amanda and I sat down and played a couple of games of Abyss. 

Took a bit to remember how to play... it's been TWO YEARS since we last played, apparently (according to my logged plays!? I figured it might be a year... but TWO!? Covid TimeWarp, I guess...?). 

Because it was set up and the first game kind of felt more like practice, we played a second... 

Clearly I need more practice!? 


Tuesday, 26 December 2023

I got up early to head to the Dragon's Den Boxing Day Sale... Usually an annual tradition, I've gone later in the week in 2020 and 2021 (to avoid the crowds!) and didn't even go at all last year! 

It is silly getting TWO MORE boxes of Warhammer Underworlds when I HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME ALL YEAR?!?! But I really like the game and I'm hoping with an organized game room, we'll get back to playing games more regularly (at least that's what Amanda keeps telling me!?) - and hopefully back to playing Warhammer Underworlds.

I decided to get myself a miniature version of the new 40K10E rules - saving myself $50 over the hardcover... but then realized the printing in it is VERY SMALL!!! I'd difficult to read even with my reading glasses!? Ah, well... 

I picked up Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Threat Assessment: Xenos because I'm still really excited about the idea of Wrath & Glory and am hoping to get a game of it going in the new year... 

The Wingspan Fan Art Pack...  it's all the cards for Wingspan, but done by 300 different artists?  When I heard about it I thought "well, that sounds interesting... but..." I'm not one that often buys different versions of things that I already have that are still completely useful - for board games, usually. But when I saw it in the store and the price, I kind of thought, why not? (I somehow expected that it would cost a LOT MORE!?) 

Later in the evening we managed to talk Keiran into playing a game of Splendor! 

Amanda won... as she does... 


Wednesday, 27 December 2023

Amanda was at the hospital all morning and afternoon for some tests. 

In the evening our friends Ryan, Andy, and Jasper all came over to play Terraforming Mars. Because Amanda was still sedated - we all had a CHANCE!!!

We really Terraformed Mars!!!

This was my Tableau at the end of the game - before doing the last generating resources bit. 

I was trailing in the points - Dead last for Terraforming Rating (26)... I did get a milestone (builder) and an award (thermalist), but that just kept me up with the rest. I fell back a bit when we counted greenery and cities... but holy makerel, did I ever have a LOT of points on CARDS!??! TWENTY FOUR!? Which catapulted me into the lead (by three points!)! Wow! 

There was seven points on Pets alone - because I got it out at the beginning of the game and there were SIXTEEN cities built! 

Fun game! Great to see all of these guys again! 


Thursday, 28 December 2023

On Thursday we somehow got Keiran to play a game with us AGAIN! 

This time we played a quick game of Kingdom Builder! 

We played with Merchants, Lords, and Citizens Kingdom Builder Cards - which kind of worked together. We played on the Oasis, Oracle, Farm, and Harbour boards. I eeked out a win, but largely because of luck of card draws. Amanda was totally set up to absolutely DOMINATE the game if she'd drawn either a valley and/or grassland in the last turn or two... 


Friday, 29 December 2023 

On Friday Orion was back to play some MORE 40k and try out Warhammer Underworlds! 

You can find a report of the ensuing shenanigans here:

40K10E - Exercise WOLF HAMMER II

Afterwards I walked them through a game of Warhammer Underworlds. It was so great to get playing Warhammer Underworlds again. They played the Thorns of the Briar Queen, and I played Ironskull's Boyz. I've really missed playing Warhammer Underworlds. I was incredibly rusty (despite having reviewed the rules over the two days previous) and feel like I didn't do the greatest job explaining it... But Orion is super quick on the uptake and figured everything out right away and totally beat down Ironskull's Boys 11-8!? 

There is a brief report of the action here:

Warhammer Underworlds: Return to the Nightvault! 

Earlier in the day we got my new semi-permanent painting station set up in the new TV room - Keiran's old bedroom... The desk looks ridiculously huge and... ostentatious...?  The desk was part of Keiran's bed-over-desk thingie and would not fit in their new room, so Amanda REALLY wanted me to repurpose it for a new painting station... Otherwise we'd be just tearing it apart and pitching it out.... So... GIANT PAINTING STATION FOR ME!? 


Saturday, 30 December 2023

In the afternoon, Keiran actually suggested playing Set - and I will never pass up an opportunity to play a game with either of the minions if they suggest it! The two of us played a game and Keiran won... They were off to a quick lead as my brain took a moment to catch up and remember how to play... but not quick enough..

Amanda got roped into the second game which Keiran just DOMINATED. Amanda did get two sets in the end, but about half way through said "thanks for inviting me to watch you play a game..." because she was so utterly lost!? 

She does do so very, VERY well at games that require planning (executive functioning) but just lost when it comes to pattern recognition - that's where the Autistic/ADHD weirdos in the family SHINE!! 

In the evening I finally got together with the online RPG group again and we played through one last adventure for the crew of the Æthelwulf this year. 

I will probably get to post ing a game report at some point... but that might not be until sometime in the new year! 


Sunday, 31 December 2023 

And that brings us to today, the last day of the month - and the year!?

I somehow got the WHOLE FAMILY to play games with me today... this might have been the only time this whole year... (I don't think I even got everyone to play on my birthday!?) 

We started off with a game of Splendor - which Keiran won (and they were VERY excited about that because of the fifty or so games we've played.. I think this was their second win!) 

Then we played the FASTEST game of Loonacy that we've EVER played - Keiran won in less than ONE MINTUE!? 

We played a considerably longer game of Lords of Waterdeep. Keiran played the Silver Stars secretly led by Larissa Neathal, Finnegan played the City Guard secretly led by Khelben Arunsun the Black Staff, and Amanda played Knights of the Shield secretly led by Nindil Jalbuck

I played the Harpers lead by Fiergeiron the Paladin

Keiran won this one too! Ending the game with 123 points! 

Finally we played another quick game of set... which Keiran ALSO WON!!! They ended with ELEVEN sets and I was next highest with six! 

And that was it for this month... and this year!? 

Usually at the end of the quarter, I look back on what I got up to... but as I'm going to publish a whole post looking back at the entire year in a few minutes, I'm not going to do that here. 

Off to a slow start, but I ended up getting in a few games over the Holidaze!


What have YOU been playing this last month?!