Filthy, Filthy

Hello people,

So once again real life has got in the way but last weekend that was all brushed aside as I spent both day playing Netrunner,aka Filthy Cards,  and thoroughly enjoying myself whilst I did it :)

Saturday was Dark Sphere's Regional with a trip up to Northampton on Sunday to catch up with Gaurdians of Tyr's 2016 Grand Tournament.

In total I played 10 games across the two days, didn't win too many, came away with an impressive haul of swag, including a wooden spoon, and as with Birmingham a reinvigorated Mojo. All good :)

To be honest that was pretty much my goal for the weekend as I'd realised that by not playing much recently I had slipped down the learning curve somewhat. Netrunner's curve is pretty steep so it was more a case of how far.

As such I took older decks, which have done decently for me previously. Other than a mild issue with Influence, oops, the only issue was going to me. I made a lot of mistakes over the weekend, I got swept repeatedly, three in a row at Northampton, but relearnt a lot from it.

I've been keeping up online and with something of a Eureka moment can see the benefit of more varied Runner decks, mine being more mono-themed and as such having less choices to make.

I also recently came across an interesting article about running Jank on Netrunners.co.uk which resonated pretty strongly with me and seems like a good, fun way to delve into the wider card pool.

First off , put into practice the relearnt lessons of how to play a bit better which means rocking up for Secret Weapon in Stratford on a Wednesday night on a more regular basis.

Oh, and stop running 4th click so much ;)

Playing the System

Hello people,

It's all been a bit overly X-Wing recently with an escalation league at the club and a third Regional and the Yavin Open up at Games Expo in Birmingham next weekend. Add in a bit of life and anything else has taken a definite back seat.

As such I went looking for some Netrunner yesterday to get me back into the game properly. As is so often the case there were clashing Spring Kit events at Dark Sphere and Lost Ark. In honesty Dark Sphere was always gong to be the bigger more competitive field but I just needed some games and I always enjoy Lost Ark. A slightly improved chance of coming hone with some alt art was also a factor ;) It also turned out that I had rail replacement on my line. Hindsight justification ;)

Rocking up it turned out I was half of the field for the day. Not an issue say I, more than happy to sit and play some games for the day. Unfortunately my opponent wasn't so keen. He was playing Teir 1 decks and didn't have too much issue seeing me off. After that he was more bothered about his swag and didn't fancy sticking around. To me that's all sorts of wrong in all sorts of way, at best pretty disrespectful to all involved,especially Lost Ark.

Picking up a couple of datapacks I chipped off with an alt art Leela and Political Operative. I don't buy alt art but I hardly feel like I "won" these. Sorting out various piles if cards I'm going to put together a Gang Sign / Leela deck I've seen about to kick myself back into action.

Positivity from negativity.....

It's only a GAME.....

.....so put up a real good fight!

A touch of deja vu on this one, on several fronts, as I'm tapping this one on the train to a casual Netrunner Day Job event at Loading Bar in Stratford. As previously promised to myself I've put together a fluffy Edward Kim deck and tweaked my Argus build to include some traps as I really enjoyed playing them last week at the Half Draft.

Despite being advertised as super casual I have my doubts that it will be though having discovered on Friday that most of the London scene are at another Day Job event in Brighton I feel far more relaxed.I'm not really looking to be overly competitive today, just get some games with different stuff, but I'd far prefer to be at least able to hold my own.

It's been a bit of a theme for me recently. It's my first X-Wing Regional next Sunday and it's kind of crept up on me to the point that I'm still debating what list to take. With Triple Jumpmaster dominating the meta there's several builds I just don't feel I can take. That in itself is an interesting reaction to me to the point that I'm close to just taking whatever I fancy getting some time with and view it as a day out playing games for the sake of it.

Being firmly ensconced in the competitive X-Wing scene that's a different tack from my play last year which was predominantly geared towards preparing for major events. 24th and 10th at UK and Scandenavian Nationals was the result, which I'm pretty proud of. This year so far has been about rounding out my play with different builds and ships. I impressed myself with Oicunn / Soontir recently and have enjoyed learning to fly the Phantom.

 

It's been really nice to take a step back a touch though at the same time looking to improve my play in a more indirect manner. Working my way up the Netrunner learning curve has been a similar experience, ditto Infinity, so why not keep on keeping on, especially as Ive been having a lot of fun doing so?

I suppose the honest answer is that of expectation, mainly that which I put upon myself, and my percived reputation within those gaming communities. I'd like to think that I'm known as a good player who will give a good game on a number of levels. Being part of a high end gaming group can magnify that at times.

Additionally, prize kit supported FFG Organised Play events are so prevalent now that they are the norm to the point of having become an expectation. If you want to run an event you need to have prizes. Having alt art cards and tokens don't create an arms race of Wizkids proportions but it's still there.

There have been a few store credit X-Wing events waving some fairly large amounts about. Some reports are that it's kept more casual gamers away, expecting an invasion of the WAAC pack. I feel that I can see both sides of it, most top end guys don't need the extra motivation, which kind of cuts both ways. I've recently heard of an event offering £1'000 cash which seems to be the antithesis of the reason I play games. For me personally it makes me feel uneasy about attending such an event, more from the point of the organisers motives rather than that of the players.

So, currently I'm on the train home and needn't have worried at all. The afternoon was pretty much a club night. We weren't charged the advertised entry fee but still got an alt art Political Operative, scarily apt.  The rest of the prize kit didn't come out and we organised ourselves with pick up games and plenty of teaching going on.

For myself Mr Kim did better than I thought he might whilst Argus needs a bit more focus. Even better I got to know a few more guys an locate a couple of regular groups.

To be honest that's the best result I could have had. Well pleased :)

The Other Side of the Fence

Hello people,

With the UK X-Wing community exploding over the inferred effect of Intentional Draws on competitive play and the "Fly Casual" Name and Shame backlash I felt somewhat inspired to muse upon the following.

In the past three weeks I've TO'd two events at Enfield Gamers. We ran X-Wing for 18 and last weekend 8 for Netrunner. Both were pretty casual events, as intended, though both featured FFG winter prize kits with a few extras added into the prize pool. I enjoyed organising and running both events and it was nice to get a different view of "competitive play".

So as much I've previously gone on about my outlook as a player I thought I should cover the other side of the coin. I'm going to cover two related strands; the event itself and the role of the TO.

With the ever growing popularity of X-Wing it's not difficult to find yourself an event most, or every, weekend. Many are are regularly run by groups / shops that now have an established reputation and quite often thier own player base and meta. Gaurdians of Tyr run a series of events throughout the year as a championship. Other are more one off and as such are often a touch more casual.

The Hobby attracts different people for different reasons and events / tournaments give the opportunity to realise those intentions. Myself I specifically differentiate between events and tournaments. They may coincide but they don't have to, at least for me. X-Wing is my stronger game and I attended four Store Champs this year with differing intentions. A couple I took my stronger lists too, others I took new lists to give them a good work out.

Back at my point I feel that an event is there to facilitate the differing intentions of those attending within a theme, i.e. having fun playing X-Wing. How each player achieves that is up to them, though preferably without impinging on other players too negatively.

As an aside an event can also promote The Hobby, the game itself, the store or club associated to it etc.

As such I feel that the role of the TO is to facilitate all of that not just to kerp score, enforce rules and make judgements. I also took on the role of compere / host as it's all part of the day out for people and hopefully builds the club's reputation. 

For both events the last thing I wanted was a Bye. As such I didn't play X-Wing but did with Netrunner to keep numbers even. I've attended a couple of events when the TO has fully competed, on one occasion CREATING a Bye, and another time coming first to take home the top prize. Hard not to go home with a sour taste as a paying player in those situations.

Today I was back as a player for a Netrunner Half Draft event. Pretty casual, great venue, prizes for all and plenty of games. What's not to like?

Happy Days :)

Welcome to Nosebleed City

Hello people,

Last weekend was another double event with Gaurdians of Tyr's X-Wing Store Champs on the Saturday and a Netrunner Winter Kit at Dark Sphere on the Sunday. The week off immediately afterwards is not entirely unconnected :)

Saturday I ran Vader Crack Swarm and felt the "click" that I'd been waiting for to really connect with it. I started on the top tables and stayed thier all day.

My brain finally meshed with the list as I realised the need to control the first engagement and fly the necessary approach to get it. In short after four rounds I was 3-1 up with very strong MoV, the loss genuinely due to horrific green dice.

As such expectation of making the top 8 cut reared it's unwelcome head with 2 rounds to go. I didn't feel pressure but suddenly it was a possibility.

Game 5 was against an Imperial Aces / Palp list that went on to final victory, the top 8 was stuffed full of them. A mis-set dial on approach knocked me off plan and I failed to recover sufficiently. Still a fairly close loss.

Going into the final game I knew I had to get a big win to progress. I also knew it would be the same for my opponent. Thankfully I was paired up with a good guy I've played a few times before so I knew it would be a decent game whatever the result. In the end a minor mistake on approach allowed dice to decide things against me. No complaints.

My opponent went through in 8th while I suddenly ended up 3-3. It really does get that tight up at the nosebleeds and it's a reminder that at that level the hours spent honing your list and play can make all the difference to tip things in your favour, assuming that's your thing...

Sunday I headed down to Dark Sphere for a Netrunner Winter Kit. I was surprised that there were only 12 of us until I was reminded that Leisure Games had run thier Store Champs on Sat. Oh and it was Mother's Day!

As such there weren't too many of the top end faces about but I pulled one of them in the first round. We'd played the Saturday before and split, both winning as Corp, and it was the same story again. He ran Jinteki Replicating Perfection and it's a match up I struggle with. A bit more learning required.

Moving on I got the rub of the playmat a few times and somehow won both ways rounds 2 and 3 to find myself on 10 Prestige. That was already my best result ever but suddenly I was in a final round shootout.

This turned some heads and once again invited expectation, mainly that I was going to get utterly hosed, but the potential was there and dealing with that is important. I've since found out that my opponent, who smashed me at our first event, is ranked 5th in the UK which I'm glad I didn't know at the time. That didn't stop him getting the lowdown on my decks from my first opponent who looked rather flustered went I overheard him doing so.

They didn't need to worry as his Noise / Virus deck steamed into my slow start and never took its boot from my neck. Against his Near Earth Hub / Astro deck I did at least play enough of a game to make him sweat, I rather enjoyed that ;), until he took the game to go undefeated for the day.

He was running two very strong decks and obviously had plenty of experience with them. We kind of chatted about the strength of NEH and how to counter. "I don't really know" was his main response. A couple of days later I realised that the mill effect of a Noise / Viral deck would cause it trouble....

In the end I finished 3rd and won myself an Anarch deckbox, which was hugely pleasing and something that will hold a special significance to me as a symbol of how far I've come on in the game, in the manner that I wanted to. 

For me, that's what it's all about. The vitory pizza was particularly tasty :)

Filthy, Filthy??

Hello people,


Last Saturday I spent the day down at Paradice Cafe / Warboar in Bromley. Now this is nothing new, in almost any respect, as I'm something of a dedicated regular to the X-Wing and Netrunner tournament scene. It's also an excellent geek venue and Nigel was playing in thier Armada store championship.


What was different was that I was meeting an old mate to catch up with each other. We're old gaming buddies from many, many years back having worked at GW together a previous lifetime.


We spent all day playing Netrunner, aka Filthy Cards, trying out decks for a set of upcoming events but it was more the setting to the day rather than the day itself. It was a good reminder of the social side of the hobby that can sometimes get overrun in the rush for the top tables at any given event.
It is after a major part of why I play the games I play, the community and the individuals within it. As I'm sure I've mentioned before I'm pretty anti WAAC whilst still wanting to play good, challenging games against good, challenging opponents. To my mind there's a fine line involved as much as it's each to their own.


The problem is that people often don't leave each to their own and WAAC but it's nature can easily stomp over good old fashioned fun as its louder due to its general insecurities. Having said that I can't resist an internal fist pump when WAAC comes a cropper and find's itself having a bad day of things ;)


In short it was a very good day out and doubly nice not to be keeping score of wins. That will come tomorrow as myself and Alex head up to Northampton for Gaurdian's Netrunner Store Champs. A 25% win ratio remains the target :)

Life on the NET # 8

Hello people,


So after a bit of a battering a couple of Sundays back I'm set to repeat the strangely enjoyable experience again this Sunday at Warboar.


Having spent some time analysing my previous performance I've made the following tweaks to my NBN and Kitt decksMy Making News NBN deck ran both NAPD / Astro-train and Scorched Earth to try and give multiple win options. I ran quite a bit of fairly porous ICE with the idea of counter-striking with the ScorchesAt the club this had worked fairly well. In the wider Meta it struggled to do either reliably.


A couple of Sundays back Runners generally kept Grips of at least 4 to deny me one scorch kills and the double never came up. In hindsight that's just common sense. Meanwhile my fairly porous ICE struggled to keep a well set runner out long enough for the train to ever reach the station.
Thinking back I didn't do much resource trashing, once again concentrating on my own game rather than disrupting the Runner.


In the penultimate round a first turn Account Siphon left me crippled and struggling from the outset, proving to be a pointed lesson in aggressive running against lighted ICEd central servers. As a result I will be running Sparks Agency on Sunday with the aim of taxing the Runner to the eyeballs. The Astros remain along with Global Food and NAPD but Beale is another option.


With Kitt I've really enjoyed the Shaper play style. Playing Gordian / Paintbrush / Medium has come pretty close for me but struggled against multiple central ICE which became very Click and MU intensive. I also ran Magnum Opus for alternative reliable economy but more than once it stalled me as I was constantly clicking through on it which felt very predictable.
With a few recent additions I'm going to switch over to R&D Interface, drop Magnum and include a wider suite of breakers with Clone Chips to recycle Self Modifying Code (finally cottoned on to that one). Hopefully that will free me up to play a less predictable game.....hopefully.


I'm still really enjoying learning the game. Last time out I played against a number of IDs I'd not seen in action before whilst slowly inching my way up the learning. Both of the tweaked decks are relatively untested but I'm still going for a target of four wins.


With another three events in three weeks at the end of next month I'll be looking to try out a couple more factions. Now that I've picked up all of the Deluxe expansions I've got plenty of option to try and hit that four win target but if don't............no worries :)

Life on the NET # 7

So it was the Gaurdians of Tyr Netrunner team championship on Saturday which was once again something of a step into the unknown and a huge learning experience.

 

As a headline I went 4-4 with two wins as Corp, both by killing the Runner, and two as Runner, one of which was timed, as in I was ahead when the round finished. I learnt plenty on both sides of the fence and was far happier playing a more focused Kitt Runner rather than a scattergun Criminal.

 

Once again my lessons were split between timing issues, what to do when for maximum effect, as well as facing new IDs and deck builds. A few times with Kitt I installed key programs to be used next turn only to realise that I'd just given my strategy away and my opponent a turn to prepare.

 

All but one of my opponents were helpful enough to answer my questions and explain what they were doing along the way. My final opponent had been to World's this year and continued to play in that vein. Fair enough, a lesson in itself as he crushed my Run, but all the more satisfying when I Scorched him into the floor 

 

As with the X-Wing championship the team format gave the day a less full on feel, at least at our end of the tables, and was just as fun as any other Gaurdians event. So another alternate art card, a few more possible deck tweaks and a bunch more games under my belt. Happy days :)

 

The day also brought my tourney / event to a close for the year. It'll be nice to play casual for a while, on all fronts, though I've already got plenty booked in for the new year!

Life on the NET # 4

Evening all,

Myself, Rich and Alex took our first step into the Netrunner tournament scene with an 11 man event down at Wayland Games yesterday. Unfortunately we all played each other and Alex caught a bye which limited our exposure to other players and decks somewhat.

For myself I had no expectations over getting in a decent block of games to assess my play and current decks. I'm fairly happy with my NBN Corp but far less so as a Runner wirth Gabe. Overall I impressed myself winning half my games, three with NBN and one with Gabe. Taking into account Strength of Schedule I ended up playing 7th overall with Rich 8th and Alex 6th.

Prize wise I came away with an alternate art Pop Up Window, participation prize, and a Criminal art box, as the TO had plenty of spares ;) More importantly I felt like I'd been competitive throughout with a bit of confidence in my NBN and a list of tweets for Gabe which have since been made. I also have a much better understanding of competition play. In my second round I first played as Runner against Jinteki Replicating Perfection. It was a challenge but I made a game of it, so much so that it ate up 60 of the 70 minute round which made the return set a totally different game which I was unlucky to loose. Big lesson on tourney technique!

All in all an excellent day out with a good relaxed atmosphere soon to be repeated :)

M-Athlete

Hello people.

 

Fair warning this is a musings type post. Might be best to source a beverage :)

 

Last Saturday I attended yet another X-Wing event. This one was an inter-club challenge representing the 186. It was a good day out up at Wargames Workshop in Milton Keynes. Including five 75 minute games, travel and breaks it was a 14 hour day. By game 5 I was flagging, same as everyone else, and was triumphantly exhausted during prize giving. No complaints though, quite the opposite :)

 

As a regular tourney player it's something that I'm used to and have learned a few survival techniques. I'm also very familiar with the inside of a gym and run a couple of 10Ks a week. The parallels are all there to be drawn.

 

For a tourney I'll make sure I get in a decent breakfast, often scrambled egg and bacon on toast. I've learned to snack small between games, peanut butter roll or fruit, and try to drink a bottle of water per game, especially as rooms full of gamers warm up rather quickly. I limit my lunch as I used to play poorly first game back otherwise, Circadian rhythem has an effect apparently. So hydration and regular snacking (non sugar to avoid rush and crash), the parralels begin to form.

 

Then, as I was contemplating this post I found this article on the Beeb about the physical effect of sustained mental effort. The article specifically looks at bridge, poker and chess but the same principles applying to any competitive gaming. The important word there is competive because primarily we all play games for fun and escapsim from real life. Competitive gaming offers a different edge to things, something I've rambled on about before an exacts a different toll.

 

With physical training repitition is key to build skill, endurance and stamina. Mental training, in the form of competitive gaming, follows the same mantra. I was interested in the article's claims that chess grand masters can burn 5000+ calories. The stereotypical gamer is either in need of feeding up or a pathalogical salad dodger, though I don't think the stereotype holds these days.

 

Another parrallel is the need for rest days / periods. With a decent number of events and competitions recently I'm beginning to feel the burn. As a release Thursday nights at Dark Sphere I've been playing much more casually. In a couple of weeks there's the Gaurdians of Tyr Team Touranament and I know a lot of people have been getting in plenty of table time for it. It's going to be an excellent day out but afterward I'm going to notch things back a touch. Tomorrow its Warboar in Bromley which many of us are using as an extended practice day.

 

With competitive X-Wing, there's more than one kind of STRESS but at the end of the day its all about the Pew-Pew ;)

Top Gun

Hello people,

 

Fair warning this is not just another musings post but also one in which I seemingly big myself up, so pay attention and acknowledge my awesomeness!! ;)

 

Returning from the X-Wing Scandinavian Nationals it has finally sunk in that I'm pretty good at this game and would consider myself an elite player. Without taking an acknowledged meta list and rolling average dice across the event I managed 10th, which is a very good result, predominantly through knowing my list and how to fly it pretty damn well.

 

I've rarely been a high end competitor with most of the games I've played over the years but this one's different. Even though it might not seem it from this post I'm generally far too modest to claim such status when it's appeared. This time it's different ;)

 

I do genuinely mean "appeared" because it was never an intention it just kind of happened though in retrospect I can see why.

 

As with any game I went through the three main steps;
1. Learn the mechanics
2. Learn the faction / army
3. Learn the opposing factions / armies

 

Sounds simple but with each step comes various levels of skill and expertise, deeper levels of understanding.

 

Learning the mechanics isn't just moving figures and rolling dice. At the top end it's also about scenery placement / interaction, deployment, opening moves as much as end game. Neglect the former and your less likely to be about for the latter.

Similarly learning statlines is merely the starting point for a greater appreciation of the synergies between troop choices and how they can combine to form an overarching plan and strategy. It's also as much about pre-empting your opponent as about planning your own manouvres.

As mentioned above this has been an almost accidental process for me and began by playing in a tourney at Dark Sphere. Realising just how close it was to work I started to turn up on a Thursday night. As much as anything that left Tuesdays at Enfield Gamers free for other stuff rather than near constant X-Wing.

 

 There are some very good players at Dark Sphere, predominantly 186 Squadron, and by playing and chatting with those guys on a weekly basis my own game came on in leaps and bounds. It was part osmosis but also that people took the time to discuss builds and tactics with me. From there I developed my own style which is all important as you'll fly best what suits you best.

 

Elite players and elite play groups can often attract bad press. Sometimes it's justified, most times it isn't. Being a very good player and being a WAAC (win at all costs) aren't the same thing. Sometimes they coincide but plenty of WAAC players aren't top players and even fewer are part of an elite play group for that very reason i.e. the inability to play nicely with others.

 

Getting to know the 186 guys they'll give you a hard game but not a hard time. The two are often confused and misinterpreted. I was invited to join after the UK Nationals and was very pleased to do so. It had as much to do with who I am and how I behave rather than how well I push plastic toys around a star mat.

 

Since that time I've experienced various negative comments and reactions to being a member of 186 but they've been outweighed by the positive. There are plenty of other similar groups about (Misfits / Vanguard) and they're all good guys. It's an undoubted truth that once you play at a high level you want those high end games, they're simply far more enjoyable.

 

Tournaments are one way to get that, another is to give newer players a leg up to the same level. The best way to do that is by giving them your best game....without being a dick about it and then chatting things through if they want to. 186 Squadron did that for me and now I'm more than happy to do the same, it's paying it on which us only right.

 

Others don't see or understand that. They see group like 186 in a tournament setting and don't see the rest. When they bitch they can sometimes get a, totally understandable, reaction.

For myself I'm proud to be a part of 186 Squadron and what it actually represents and will defend that to all comers.

 

Meanwhile I played Infinity Tuesday night as part of a club challenge between Enfield Gamers and Dark Sphere's Infinity guys. Jonny is obviously a very good player. Have gave me a good high end game but wasn't a dick about it.

Whilst gaving me a kicking across the table he explained what he was doing and helped me by talking through various tactical options. Whilst winning fairly easily he gave me some good ideas for what I'd do differently in terms of list, deployment and tactics. He didn't have to do that, he could easily have just crushed me, and my spirit, but made the choice not to. Elite player vs WAAC arsehole. Next time we play I hope I can return the favour and give him a more challenging game, we'll both enjoy it far more.

Awesomeness!! ;)

Scandi-licious prt 1

Hello people,

This was a mobile post from Nandos Gatwick south terminal as myself and Nigel set out to Copenhagen for the FFG Nordic Nationals. I've just noticed that it didn't publish so this is some 30 hours delayed.

Soon to join to a number of 186 Squadron for an international prize sniping sortie a number of the event logistics have crashed and burnt faster than a lone Academy TIE making a run for that small moon.

Meanwhile spirits remain high and more importantly I have themed luggage ; )

Updates as and when possible!

Little by Little

Hello again people,

No, not too much has happened since last time I showed you some actual figures. I've had some time but, in  honesty, haven't always made the best of it as the coalface has been somewhat flinty recently.

I have however finally come to the end of the construction production line as all of mine and Rob's remaining figures have been built and based. As with such finely crafted multi-part figures a few stray antennas and the like have detached themselves during the basing process but that'll take a few moments before a touch of undercoat provides a further amount of adhesive bonding.

That should be Wednesday evening before.....SEEMLESS SEGWAY....I disappear off to Copenhagen for the FFG Scandinavian Nationals.

I've played against foreign players but not as one so this should be an interesting experience and one that as such I shall chart via camera phone and data roaming, as long as it's not too wallet crippling. Myself and Nigel fly out Thursday lunchtime to rendezvous with about a dozen 186 Squadron ready to take on the best the Nordics have to offer.

The X-Wing isn't until Saturday but a few of the guys, including Nigel, are also competing in Armada. I shall attempt to make myself useful as required whilst also taking the opportunity to explore the event as well as the city itself.

Flying back Monday lunchtime I am intent on using what time off I have as best I might before the coalface beckons yet again....

It'll definitely be an experience! ;)

Old Beginnings

Hello people,

 

Yes it's been a while again for most of the same old reasons. Another reason has been that my laptop has, unsurprisingly, failed to sort itself out and so is currently at the mercy of PC World.

 

Yes I know but I'm immensely tech illiterate for a geek and it's the easier option. Having said that I have realised that if the situation is terminal replacing like with like might not be the best option. I haven't gamed on it for years so it's primary use is Internet,  email and occasional word processing. Surely a tablet might be a better option? I assume I can connect the right tablet to a wireless printer? Feel free to enlighten me :)

 

So, back at the point of the post I attended the X-Wing Nationals in Birmingham a couple of weekends back. It was my first proper weekend tourney for far too long and long story short I had a great time.

 

On the Saturday I went 4-2 with Boba Smurf to place 25th of 118 of which I'm hugely proud. All the practice paid off and with a  bit of luck I feel I outperformed the list which is testament to the balance and variety within the game.

 

On the Sunday I went 3-3 flying casual in the escalation event with a Soontir swarm that I learnt a good deal more about. The format also threw up some really interesting lists despite the much smaller field.

 

One downside was that by playing 6 games each day I saw nothing of Games Expo which was a shame though we had Infinity in with us on the Sunday which I strolled past a few times.

The other downside was drawing a few Win At All Costs  (WAAC) players,  two each day. I've found that these guys are definitely a minority within the X-Wing community and I suppose nationals were always going to attract them.

 

I don't feel there's too much to get funny about with X-Wing but there's still scope for quick rolling, nudges and bendy templates / arcs of fire. Otherwise there's the usual gamesmanship and general bloody mindedness ;)

What was slightly different was my second game on the Saturday saw me roll four double evades in a row with Boba at which point my opponent requested that I change my rolling technique. Apparently he wasn't accusing me of cheating except for the way he kept on about it. It has at least become a fun in joke for a couple of months :)

 

Two difficult games each day was hard work and did mar an otherwise excellent weekend. I won 3 of those 4 games but it felt so unnecessary. I have wondered if it's a tactic to frustrate people into making mistakes but each to their own. I was there to play my games in a positive manner and so was the vast majority of the field.

 

I've had the conversation with people that those affected with WAAC seem to have little else going on for them and it over compensation. It's almost a diagnosable condition but I'm not in healthcare at which point the short sharp shock method is my preferred option. Nothing rude but a couple of polite open challenges can work wonders.

 

It's hard work but to me if you don't challenge you condone. I've reversed a template placement, asked for dice to be left on the table for more than 3 seconds. Firm but fair. I imagine it's much like dealing with a five year old....... ;)

 

At the end of the day we all know they're out there. Let them have their version of OUR game but don't let them ruin YOUR game, YOUR hobby.

 

On that note I've really enjoyed stepping up my X-Wing game. Thursday nights at Dark Sphere have been a huge positive in so many different ways. To that end some of us will making the trip to Copenhagen for the Scandinavian Nationals and I'm definitely up for it :)

 

186 for the win ;)

A Mixed Bag

Evening people,

Despite a busy week I've still managed plenty of HOBBY with an evening of Halloween Zombie-Hulk Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers and another EotE session on Wednesday, combined write up next week.

This afternoon myself and Mr C went upto Marquee Models in Harlow for their STAW First Contact OP event. We've been before, a few months ago, when the turn-out was a bit low and there was a player of an ilk diametrically opposed to mine i.e. Mr Power-Git.

Game 1 was a decent enough with a relative Noob. Game 2 was Mr Power-Git, 90 point Borg cube, who I managed to beat after he misread one of his many upgrade cards. Despite fleeting heartfelt satisfaction, he didn't react very well, it was still a tetchy 20 minute game so not my preference. Game 3 I got hosed by the Tournament Organiser, 90 point Borg sphere, who had earlier given Mr Power-Git a bye so he could play......and win the event!

After all that I placed 3rd of 9, three places above Mr C if you needed to know, somehow missing out on one of the three prize ships in the pack......ermmm...???

Big bonus of the day was bumping into a bunch of guys who used to be my regulars during my time with GW. It was really good to catch up with them and chat NERD, which had all always been a big perk of the job. They play every other Sunday in Cheshunt so I'll drop in next week.

Whilst there I also took the "opportunity" to pre-order my Scum and Villany "investment". I also picked up a HWK-290.....and also a TIE Defender and TIE Phantom. They're fine because they'll let me cross-over with some Imperial Slave based lists. Maybe I could do with a TIE Interceptor??

I also picked up the EotE Imperial and Rebels and Scum and Villany Adversary Decks which are definitely made for my "freeform" GM style.

Having stocked up for the month it's brushes at the ready,..... at least until Farcry 4 hits the doormat!

Happy days :)

Books and thier covers...

Alex gave me my best game of the day!

Evening people,

Myself and Mr C went down to Tabletop Nation in deepest darkest Essex today for their latest STAW event.

There was a bit of a back story as a few us who have been pretty regular down thee for a while now have experienced a few "issues" recently, that I won't go into, that have kind of soured things. Part of that has been poor attendances.

Myself and MrC had outstanding tickets that we wanted to get the use from so went along more in hope than expectation.

A recent change to the Organised Play scene was the format of a 90 point fleet plus a 30 point blind booster ship, that I felt was a really positive move to break the power players grip on events.

In the end we had eight players, which was reasonable. The difference was that I had three good games against three guys. Chatting to Mr C over a sarnie we came to the conclusion that no matter how many bods turn up it's the quality and attitude of the guys that you actually play that make or break your event. 100 guys and you catch all the idiots versus half a dozen similarly minded compatriots.

Today I avoided the two obvious power list / players and somehow still managed to take second place, which was two places higher than Mr C (again) by the way ;)

Another big positive was that over lunch all the players came together and agreed for all future events to be played with ship faction-pure lists i.e. a mix of ships from different factions which are faction pure in themselves. Again, this has been a major issue of contention that many, including myself, have felt have been blighting and otherwise excellent game.

At the end of the event, with plenty of spare boosters to go around, everyone walked away with three new ships for the price of their three games. Can't say fairer than that really.....can you?

Big-ish Day Out

Hello people,

As previously mentioned I headed down to Tabletop Nation on Sunday to take part in their ST:AW Tholian Web event. Armed with my previous experience I took almost exactly the same fleet and trusted to that most fickle of mistresses; Luck!!

First off and most importantly I had three good games against three good opponents so results were less relevant to the enjoyment of my day.

First game was against pure Cardassians whose lack of manoeuvrability hurt them almost as badly as Barrage of Fire. Her Ladyship also smiled on me at every critical juncture. A whitewash followed and a place on the top table (an unusual event!)

Klingons on the starboard bow!

Second game was against Mr C's pure Romulan cloaked mine fleet which dominated the game from Turn 1 (the mines that is). Despite redeploying via Echo Shift I eventually had to turn into the mines to take on his big boys. Her Ladyship smiled again and I managed to do considerable damage before dieing a good death, several turns later than is predicted.

The Thoian Web closes!

Third game was against a pair of Borg spheres captained by the Borg Queen and Picard. They flew in such tight formation I thought they were holding hands! ;) Again I manoeuvred by Echo Shift but eventually had to turn in. Martok and his glass gun (Ch'Tang with Barrage)

died an inglorious death without firing and it was all downhill from there. I've worked out that you need to engage Borg at range but the scenario didn't allow. 

Star-crossed Lovers??

All in all a good showing as the scenario and Her Ladyship favoured me initially only to grow weary of my efforts and cast me aside ;) I did however manage to take Most Sporting with maximum points which is an event win all of itself, with Tholian OP prize attached.

The other bonus was that playing without Resources meant getting back to the core game which was particularly refreshing :)

To round out the day myself and Rich got in a game of Bolt Action playing envelopment, Commandos defending Estonian SS. Playing Envelopment the game became all about transports as I ran out my Bren carriers for the first time. With the updated rules I can run a pair as effectively one transport. Once we'd worked out the finer points in got a seven strong D Section, Lt Ponsonby-Smyth and the Flame thrower :)

In short I deployed badly (again) allowing Rich too many holes to run his jackboots at. First turn saw my Action Dice out of the bag first which allowed the SS to make their Hanomag charge up the centre, much to my chagrin.

Thankfully Her Ladyship returned at this point as the mortar team once again scored a direct hit and brewed it up, much to my relief! This did have the result of effectively catapulting a squad of Panzer-Grens up the table who duly scampered through. After that steady application of a mobile D Section mopped up ably assisted by the AEC, with their first PzIII kill, and that mortar again. 

As the vehicle thing is new to me I made some mistakes with manoeuvre but learnt hugely from them. A solid win, plenty learnt and damn good fun :) 

Really must decorate the mortar team, or at least finish painting them! :)

Hanomag-Gumball 1945

Mortar strikes.......again!

Herr Flamm strikes back.......again!

Shoot, Scoot and Shoot again :)

All Stirred Up

Hello people,

Not a lot of hobby-love to share thiss week until myself and Rich headed up to Milton Keynes for the Guardians of Tyr's Dreadball Tournament Season.
opening Round of

As previously I had two teams in mind in the Terratons, as a more challenging but rewarding team to play, or the Nameless as the stronger tourney team. Either way I was going to spend my extra 20MC on a Coach and a pair of Coaching Dice so, as I have before, I flipped a coin on it......... and came up Terraton.

Long story short I brought this home but still managed four good games out of five and a fun day.

As I've waxed before I really enjoy playing Dreadball, even when I'm not winning. I'm happy that I played pretty well, made a few mistakes and had my share of crap dice but no hosings. I also learnt a little bit more and once again came away re-enthused for a game that has to make it onto my all time top 3!

Chatting on the way home we both agreed that, like many systems, DB league and tourney rules can be abused, which doesn't put me off in the same way as with other games, BUT can be really awesome when played by good mates.

There was also a cherry to the cake when Robert, my Forge Father opponent with whom I shared and excellent game, offered me his prize for the day, the Azure Forest MVP chap, simply because he already had one. Nice touch that, one geek to another, even at a tourney.

Godd stuff :)

Getting a bit Punchy

Hello people.

LIFE has been getting in the way again but Saturday I managed a trip upto Wargames Workshop in Milton Keynes with Rich J and Shado for Gaurdians of Tyr final Dreadball event of the year. It was something of a typical event for me, haven't played in a while, list written on the day, just looking for a few fun games.

As posted sometime I had intended to take Veermyn to the next tourney and had worked out that my extra 20MC was all going on four skill upgrades. However, having read a blog the other day about how to get the best out of Orx and Gobbos I was somewhat torn as greenskins have always been my thing.

So rocking up bleary eyed with a large Costa in hand I flipped a coin.....Orx and Gobs then!

Main advice was not to be backwards with laying the Smack-Down, so I did and against my own expectation I did alright with 2 wins, 2 losses and just the wrong side of an almost draw. Almost all were pretty good games so no complaints. I almost took Most Violent Player with 7 kills, 5 in game 2 (sorry Pete) but an utter dice stuffing in game 4 put pay to that one.

My bonus 20MC went on an extra Guard and a Coaching Dice. After the event I'd definitely go for an offensive coach, almost everyone I played against had a coach and they're very effective. The day was run as a five game mini-league which had seemed a bit keen on paper but all ran smoothly enough on the day and helped give the day the softer competitive edge that.

So, good day out, learnt a few (toys) things and most importantly I came home wanting to play more of the game I'd been playing all day. Result :)

Copper Bottomed?

So, relatively recently home from the DB Copper-Bowl tourney at Tabletop Nation and a jolly good day out for myself and the Tohn-Gaah tribe.

Still somewhat fragrant from Saturday night's coats of varnish I nor they disgraced themselves amongst a field of 18 players. Experience levels were decidedly mixed, with myself towards the bottom end of the pool.

Firstly the full 10 man team nets me 20 Painting Points, the first for quite some time. Fair bit of work to get the scheme sorted and adjust down to to true 25mm but I'm very pleased with the final result :)

From four games of the day I came up with a close win, two close losses one of which was in overtime and one major ass-whooping when my dice finally gave in to the varnish fumes!

 

All the losses were against Veermyn, who I learnt a great deal, whilst also learning the limits of the Orx. I had a hard time chasing them around but ws able to do damage when I caught them.

Orx Gaurds being slammed in the back are VERY vulnerable, Veermyn less so.

I also learnt just how valuable Jacks can be but also how that one less dice, compared to Strikers, for most tasks can be crucial. Still who dares wins, my win against Humans came courtesy of a massively jammy 4 point strike in the final rush with plenty of exploding 6s!

Gobbo power, though the team is a real combined arms affair against the power of an Orx Gaurd. Fairly simple when you've only got two positions to worry about.

Much happier with my positional play throughout the day, clumping up players far less and producing a more zonal defence. Orxs seems to be happier as the Home team rather than chasing the game. Didn't go too heavily for kills but picked up a couple along the way without fouling.
Maybe something to explore but not really my style of play.

Tried a few things which worked, tried a few things which didn't. Learnt plenty about the game and the team :)

Finishing up two-thirds of the way down the table was happy enough for me. Got a win and was competitive for another two so pleased. I've always judged a tourney by gauging my enthusiasm for the final game and today I looked forward to it. The whole day left me keen to paint up my remaining teams and get them on the pitch.

As an unexpected bonus I picked up best painted.......well chuffed!

A few action shots to round out the post;