So lately things have been happening. Not many things, frankly. I've become boring in my old age. Hence, the recent gaming posts.
Last Saturday night, I didn't go to the ManaBar. I wanted to, but unfortunately I “require more minerals”. Heh, y' geddit? A game quote about going to a gaming bar? I lol'd. But yes, I had spent money on my GoCard so that I didn't get in strife about taking the train without paying this week which left me short for Geeky Drinkys with Stinky Geekys.
So I stayed at home and talked with Jenny ALL day and night, from 10am to 10pm, 8pm to 8am in Kalamazoo time. Yeah she was sleepy by the end of it, but we had a really good, much needed chat. It's been so long since we last did that. The best times I remember doing that was when we were both on holidays and we wouldn't stop talking for almost days on end. Eventually we would retire only to start up again until the wee hours of someone's morning.
Kinda reminded me of way back when, when me and the boys went down to the Bunker on Queen Street and we would hire out a handful of computers for 24 hours. We have some epic games going on there. We should do that again, except may be grab our towers and monitors, head to someones house, set up the network and game until there's nothing else to game. Shit, we could each get our xbox consoles along with monitor/TV and do a coop game for a whole day under my house. That would work out quite Grand. Play Borderlands and Run around Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot for a bit.
Also on Saturday, which interrupted my time with Jenny, was Dee moving in. We've been meaning to have Dee move in for months so that she could escape the tyranny of her parents and we would be alleviated of some financial stress (which I playfully say I'm happier about than her actual company. I'm such a stinker). All her gear was moved in a matter of... 10 minutes? A large old cupboard, a queen size bed and about a dozen moving boxes, milk crates and random gear was offloaded from her Dads Ute and her room was filled. The old school cupboard was the hardest part. We got to the point where the corner of the hall comes to Dees room and we got a bit stuck. I couldn't find a grip and was forced to try and hold onto the polished wood with my uncalloused, sweaty hands. And trust me, it doesn't work very well.
So with that in, all she's left with is organising her gear into something a little more aesthetic for someone's bedroom. Which will be nifty because we have an inspection on Thursday. I'm going to have to clean the red wine off the walls tonight with some spray and wipe, and do the Quarter-annual vacuuming of my room. I cleaned it up (mostly) the other night, so there's just some organisation of clothes and some gear that has been strewn about to put in their proper places.
Speaking of organising, I do have to make an order to the Privateer Press Store for some bits and bobs for my Man-O-War List.
Karchevs Legs
5 sets of Demo Corps arms if I can't get them from Humph (I should be able to actually)
1 Shocktrooper Halberd
I think there were some shoulderpads in there that were required...
And a Man-O-War Drakhun, with his dismount option
I also have to consider investing into some Man-o-War Kovniks (the guys with “Big Axe Little Wrist” disorder) and get them done up as well. And I still need to get the Bombardiers, but they haven't been released yet! UGH!
But future plans as they happen: Thursday night I'm headed out with the Jet Setter Michelle for a night of drinks while she's in town, and Friday probably for recovery. It's a public holiday on Friday, so it's a bloody Good Friday indeed! I'll definitely be spending time with jenny. She can watch me suffer under the evil after-toxins of alcohol that I will most likely suffer. Saturday... I don't know? I'm pretty sure I haven't got any plans, but I'll have to check with someone. Sunday will probably be at Mums for Easter, if we don't see a movie or not. I can't remember if Monday was a public holiday or not. If it is, I'll either talk to Jenny or do some work on those figures that I have, get the old paint stripped down so that I can put a new coat over them.
Oh yeah, I finished reading Tassie Babes, the book I started Wednesday night after Avenue Q. Entertaining Story of Hardship, and praise to this Stace chickie. One line that made me laugh out loud was “The Pope is Catholic, the Kennedys are a tad Gun Shy, and bears have been known to make potty in the woods.” Not sure why. I think it's the word potty.
Well that's about all for me, kiddilywinks.
29 March 2010
28 March 2010
Isometry
Since just before I posted the “% Completed” post, I began playing Final Fantasy Tactics. I knew the implications of neck strain and finger cramping and I was willing to brave the odds against my gaming digits and their capacity to play.
I like Tactics games. The isometric view to stare over the gridded battlefield so you can watch your numbered minions run across the fields like a variety chess pieces on a relatively pretty table.
I remember playing Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (Gameboy Advance), working my way up to a Knight class and owning the battlefield with a healing spell equipped along with a really strong weapon and just PWNING any silly bugger who came within range. And anyone who stood on the crenelations of a castle were unable to escape because I'd have a spellcaster of some sort with a teleport spell, sending them from ground 0 to level 50 in a moment so I could push the poor bugger on the edge down to the other melee attackers who would finish off whatever job was left for them.
Ah, to play as a God. Back then, I would level to the maximum by fighting random encounters which happened every 3 locales and could be any concoction of Pirates, bandits, or ex-militiamen.
I also remember Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (for the Gameboy Advance). While mostly similar to the game I'm playing on my PSP, which is a direct port from the PSOne Classic game with not even a handful of additions (Another Character, another Class, a few other bits and bobs), it's considerably easier than the Playstation Version and much more cartooney. It was still a good game, however I never really finished it as it got really repetitive and dull. /Shrug. That's just the way some games go.
But isometric games aren't limited to the Grid-locked tactical games. Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale are both examples of such games, taking the same angle however not sticking to any particular grid and players can choose to either take it by turns or let it all happen as it comes along. Both of them are based on the Version 2.0 set of Dungeons and Dragons system so each round takes up 6 seconds, and as I said you can take it turn by turn, 6 seconds by 6 seconds, and just figure it out as the encounter goes on.
Now, I couldn't really keep up with Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale, so I've placed them to the side for a later date when I can really sit down and try to figure out the game to a better extent. In the mean time I have Dungeons and Dragons Tactics, a video game version of a D&D 3.5 format. Grid, party members, class features and everything from the original 3 books: Players Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Masters Guide. This is a system that I understand and will be able to delve into with a bit more understanding when I get around to it.
But right now, I'm on Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. The problem I'm having at the moment is the Third mission. The Players start on one side and while the enemies (A bunch of Bandits and a Dog-esque creature) surrounding an Non-Player-Character who has been caught in something of an ambush. The player gets a moral choice: Kill them all, or save the dude. I've been saying “save the dude” cos I'm a Dorky Good guy at heart, but the problem lies in that the AI decides that the guy I'm trying to save wants to fight as well. The problem therein is that he's surrounded by about 3 guys and if he's hit 3 times, or 2 times with a critical hit somewhere along the line. So running further into the fray of bandits who are programmed to slit his throat, isn't a good idea. Especially since I can't get to him to restore his Health before everyone takes advantage of him like a prisoner without his soap on a rope.
I'm imagining that when I try this mission again, it won't happen as such. Fingers Crossed.
In related news: I got my PSP AV Component Cable!
Problem?: My PSP is too old a model. The connection would fit, no problems there, however the cord itself jutts out on the wrong angle and conflicts with the shape of the older model. So when they say it works for the PSP-2000 and PSP-3000, they really weren't joking.
It's a little stoopid that the Playstation Department continue to recreate and reinvent their consoles. It's one of the more frustrating things about their brand, you have to read the packaging for each different product in case you don't get what you want, unless what you want is actually quite simple: Plays the games and saves the saves.
I'll stop now before I get ahead of myself! I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation. I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation. I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation.
I like Tactics games. The isometric view to stare over the gridded battlefield so you can watch your numbered minions run across the fields like a variety chess pieces on a relatively pretty table.
I remember playing Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (Gameboy Advance), working my way up to a Knight class and owning the battlefield with a healing spell equipped along with a really strong weapon and just PWNING any silly bugger who came within range. And anyone who stood on the crenelations of a castle were unable to escape because I'd have a spellcaster of some sort with a teleport spell, sending them from ground 0 to level 50 in a moment so I could push the poor bugger on the edge down to the other melee attackers who would finish off whatever job was left for them.
Ah, to play as a God. Back then, I would level to the maximum by fighting random encounters which happened every 3 locales and could be any concoction of Pirates, bandits, or ex-militiamen.
I also remember Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (for the Gameboy Advance). While mostly similar to the game I'm playing on my PSP, which is a direct port from the PSOne Classic game with not even a handful of additions (Another Character, another Class, a few other bits and bobs), it's considerably easier than the Playstation Version and much more cartooney. It was still a good game, however I never really finished it as it got really repetitive and dull. /Shrug. That's just the way some games go.
But isometric games aren't limited to the Grid-locked tactical games. Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale are both examples of such games, taking the same angle however not sticking to any particular grid and players can choose to either take it by turns or let it all happen as it comes along. Both of them are based on the Version 2.0 set of Dungeons and Dragons system so each round takes up 6 seconds, and as I said you can take it turn by turn, 6 seconds by 6 seconds, and just figure it out as the encounter goes on.
Now, I couldn't really keep up with Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale, so I've placed them to the side for a later date when I can really sit down and try to figure out the game to a better extent. In the mean time I have Dungeons and Dragons Tactics, a video game version of a D&D 3.5 format. Grid, party members, class features and everything from the original 3 books: Players Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Masters Guide. This is a system that I understand and will be able to delve into with a bit more understanding when I get around to it.
But right now, I'm on Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. The problem I'm having at the moment is the Third mission. The Players start on one side and while the enemies (A bunch of Bandits and a Dog-esque creature) surrounding an Non-Player-Character who has been caught in something of an ambush. The player gets a moral choice: Kill them all, or save the dude. I've been saying “save the dude” cos I'm a Dorky Good guy at heart, but the problem lies in that the AI decides that the guy I'm trying to save wants to fight as well. The problem therein is that he's surrounded by about 3 guys and if he's hit 3 times, or 2 times with a critical hit somewhere along the line. So running further into the fray of bandits who are programmed to slit his throat, isn't a good idea. Especially since I can't get to him to restore his Health before everyone takes advantage of him like a prisoner without his soap on a rope.
I'm imagining that when I try this mission again, it won't happen as such. Fingers Crossed.
In related news: I got my PSP AV Component Cable!
Problem?: My PSP is too old a model. The connection would fit, no problems there, however the cord itself jutts out on the wrong angle and conflicts with the shape of the older model. So when they say it works for the PSP-2000 and PSP-3000, they really weren't joking.
It's a little stoopid that the Playstation Department continue to recreate and reinvent their consoles. It's one of the more frustrating things about their brand, you have to read the packaging for each different product in case you don't get what you want, unless what you want is actually quite simple: Plays the games and saves the saves.
I'll stop now before I get ahead of myself! I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation. I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation. I must not bore people by ripping on Playstation.
26 March 2010
% Completed
A global tradition of common gamer is a lack of completion. Whether it's a lack of interest or maybe a case of A.D.D., gamers have their games that they have placed money into and just haven't completed.
War game figures go unpainted; video game achievements and unlockables go unachieved and remain locked; Random mismatches of collectable cards collect their own sets of dust and compare size and origin of their particles, and trade for ones they want and don't want.
Occasionally you'll find when you go through a line up a sudden realisation that “Holy Crap, these dorks are out of their nerd holes”. But after you get past the shock of that and the B.O., you find that one of these guys is a 'completionist' whether to one particular subject or to all subjects.
All their War Dollies show their banners with pride; No goal in their video games were untouched, they killed all 5000 of each particular creature with each weapon and unlocked all content, such as behind the scenes content and Big Head mode; each set of cards are placed in their own special sleeves as to prevent a mixing of themes.
I'm not one of these people. I have many many figures unpainted, and a particular list that I have the figure for but haven't stripped down and gotten the spare parts for. I have several video games that I haven't contributed enough time to actually get anywhere substantial. And the only card game I would consider investing in is Fight Klub. Otherwise, I have Monsterpocalypse as my collectable game.
The video games has me Irked. I have all these games and I just haven't invested enough time, or any time, into them. My PSP is a good example. I have 5 games. Locoroco 1 and 2, Patapon, Final Fantasy Tactics and Dungeons and Dragons Tactics. I've finished Locoroco 1, got a few chapters into Patapon, and finished one or two levels of FFT and D&DT.
So earlier this week (or late last week, I forget) I bought myself the PSP AV Cables. One of the biggest problems I had was that playing my PSP would give me finger cramps, because I'm trying to hold it up so that I don't get the second problem, Neck Strain from having the PSP in my lap so that I don't get finger cramps.
It's a vicious circle. However if I get the AV Cables I can plug it into my TV and get neither problem! I was hoping I could find a solution to the problem over the net and found a couple of solutions, one of which was the PSP2TV. The problem with that? I need to pop open the PSP and install a particular chip to the hardware.
Fair enough, I can follow instructions and can unscrew the bastard without a problem and probably put him back together. But I still don't trust myself. A little more force than is needed and I've probably broken myself a PSP. And frankly, I don't want to fork out money for having someone do it for me.
Moving on before I start ranting about a UMD Drive and a PSP emulator for the PS3. Shit, have a Reverse Remote Play if you want!
Speaking of the PS3, I have only a couple of games that I haven't finished on there, and they're the downloadable games. They're good games, and I'd like to finish them but... I just haven't kept interest. But with the hard-copy games, I haven't collected all the items and whatever. I'm fine with that, though. They're good games and I really enjoyed them. But I just can't be stuffed going through and collecting all the Trophies and gear.
There's also the PS2 games. I've finished the Majority thereof, but I can't go back to them. My controller is gay and the console itself is noticeably dying. I've had this rant, so I won't go into it again.
So what's stopping me from getting back into these games? From finishing the small goal of “100% Complete”?
Well laziness will be my first answer.
War game figures go unpainted; video game achievements and unlockables go unachieved and remain locked; Random mismatches of collectable cards collect their own sets of dust and compare size and origin of their particles, and trade for ones they want and don't want.
Occasionally you'll find when you go through a line up a sudden realisation that “Holy Crap, these dorks are out of their nerd holes”. But after you get past the shock of that and the B.O., you find that one of these guys is a 'completionist' whether to one particular subject or to all subjects.
All their War Dollies show their banners with pride; No goal in their video games were untouched, they killed all 5000 of each particular creature with each weapon and unlocked all content, such as behind the scenes content and Big Head mode; each set of cards are placed in their own special sleeves as to prevent a mixing of themes.
I'm not one of these people. I have many many figures unpainted, and a particular list that I have the figure for but haven't stripped down and gotten the spare parts for. I have several video games that I haven't contributed enough time to actually get anywhere substantial. And the only card game I would consider investing in is Fight Klub. Otherwise, I have Monsterpocalypse as my collectable game.
The video games has me Irked. I have all these games and I just haven't invested enough time, or any time, into them. My PSP is a good example. I have 5 games. Locoroco 1 and 2, Patapon, Final Fantasy Tactics and Dungeons and Dragons Tactics. I've finished Locoroco 1, got a few chapters into Patapon, and finished one or two levels of FFT and D&DT.
So earlier this week (or late last week, I forget) I bought myself the PSP AV Cables. One of the biggest problems I had was that playing my PSP would give me finger cramps, because I'm trying to hold it up so that I don't get the second problem, Neck Strain from having the PSP in my lap so that I don't get finger cramps.
It's a vicious circle. However if I get the AV Cables I can plug it into my TV and get neither problem! I was hoping I could find a solution to the problem over the net and found a couple of solutions, one of which was the PSP2TV. The problem with that? I need to pop open the PSP and install a particular chip to the hardware.
Fair enough, I can follow instructions and can unscrew the bastard without a problem and probably put him back together. But I still don't trust myself. A little more force than is needed and I've probably broken myself a PSP. And frankly, I don't want to fork out money for having someone do it for me.
Moving on before I start ranting about a UMD Drive and a PSP emulator for the PS3. Shit, have a Reverse Remote Play if you want!
Speaking of the PS3, I have only a couple of games that I haven't finished on there, and they're the downloadable games. They're good games, and I'd like to finish them but... I just haven't kept interest. But with the hard-copy games, I haven't collected all the items and whatever. I'm fine with that, though. They're good games and I really enjoyed them. But I just can't be stuffed going through and collecting all the Trophies and gear.
There's also the PS2 games. I've finished the Majority thereof, but I can't go back to them. My controller is gay and the console itself is noticeably dying. I've had this rant, so I won't go into it again.
So what's stopping me from getting back into these games? From finishing the small goal of “100% Complete”?
Well laziness will be my first answer.
24 March 2010
Q can stand for many things
Last night, I saw the award-winning performance of “Avenue Q”. Well put your finger there and call me a little bit racist. I learnt that you can be as loud as the hell you want (when you're making love) with my Girlfriend from Canada.
Also, “The Internet Is For Porn”.
It was fantastic. The set was clever, having rotating apartment rooms and a Screen up above that shows reels of various educational clips. I could see everything from the 6th row from the front and I drank it all in.
At first I was a little sceptical when I saw it, figuring that it was going to be like Sesame Street and hide the actors. But that's what you get when you're as kulcha'd as I am. The Actors stood out Gaily and made whatever emotions that couldn't be made by the puppets that hey had on their hands, or two sets of hands in the case of Trekkie Monster and Nicky, but you still paid attention to the Puppets.
Each actor also had 2 puppets each (Except for the non-puppeteers), and occasionally both of their puppets were up on stage. So they got one of the other actors to come up with the puppet and the voice was still played by the original actor! So at one end of the stage is the puppeteer with one of their own, and the other actor would come on from the other side with the other puppet and move it's mouth while the other actor does his voice!
I was impressed, to say the least. I laughed so hard at the majority of the lines. There was a particular one I was a afraid of pissing myself but I can't remember what it was.
I definitely recommend it for those of you who like a good laugh.
Also, “The Internet Is For Porn”.
It was fantastic. The set was clever, having rotating apartment rooms and a Screen up above that shows reels of various educational clips. I could see everything from the 6th row from the front and I drank it all in.
At first I was a little sceptical when I saw it, figuring that it was going to be like Sesame Street and hide the actors. But that's what you get when you're as kulcha'd as I am. The Actors stood out Gaily and made whatever emotions that couldn't be made by the puppets that hey had on their hands, or two sets of hands in the case of Trekkie Monster and Nicky, but you still paid attention to the Puppets.
Each actor also had 2 puppets each (Except for the non-puppeteers), and occasionally both of their puppets were up on stage. So they got one of the other actors to come up with the puppet and the voice was still played by the original actor! So at one end of the stage is the puppeteer with one of their own, and the other actor would come on from the other side with the other puppet and move it's mouth while the other actor does his voice!
I was impressed, to say the least. I laughed so hard at the majority of the lines. There was a particular one I was a afraid of pissing myself but I can't remember what it was.
I definitely recommend it for those of you who like a good laugh.
22 March 2010
And now post 101
[8:19:53 PM] Jennicki: when i was a kid
[8:20:04 PM] Jennicki: a girl i went to school with was in a skiing accident
[8:20:12 PM] Jennicki: she fell and hit her head on a rock
[8:20:26 PM] Jennicki: and it hit her just in the right spot
[8:20:32 PM] Jennicki: it affected everything
[8:20:42 PM] Jennicki: she lost her motor skills and her memory
[8:20:46 PM] Jennicki: and it even changed her personality
[8:21:05 PM] Jennicki: she had to re-learn how to do everything from eating to tying her shoes to walking
[8:21:28 PM] Jennicki: and she went to a children's rehab center an hour a day
[8:21:34 PM] Jennicki: every day for a few years
[8:21:48 PM] Jennicki: and her parents maxed out on their sick time at work and couldn't take her every day
[8:22:01 PM] Jennicki: so all the parents at our school volunteered to take her on different days
[8:22:17 PM] Jennicki: and when it was my mom's turn, she asked me if I wanted to take the day off of school and go with them
[8:22:19 PM] Jennicki: so I did
[8:22:30 PM] Jennicki: and it was really an eye opening experience
[8:22:37 PM] Jennicki: watching kids struggle to walk and talk
[8:22:43 PM] Jennicki: anyway
[8:22:55 PM] Jennicki: there was a little girl there about 4 years old
[8:23:05 PM] Jennicki: she was in a car accident and had to use a walker
[8:23:25 PM] Jennicki: and she was re-learning how to walk again in rehab
[8:23:30 PM] Jennicki: and by midday everyone was beyond exhuasted
[8:23:50 PM] Jennicki: and Renee--the girl from the skiing accident--had a really close bond with this little girl
[8:24:06 PM] Jennicki: and the girl would climb in Renee's lap and they would just hold each other for a long time
[8:24:25 PM] Jennicki: and you could SEE the bond between them--it was really intense--they NEEDED each other
[8:24:58 PM] Jennicki: they would just re-charge and you could see the life coming back in both of them
[8:25:04 PM] Jennicki: it was a pretty amazing thing to witness
[8:25:17 PM] Jennicki: and lately that's how I feel with you
[8:25:37 PM] Jennicki: like I am just fading away until I talk to you again--I just need you to recharge.
[8:20:04 PM] Jennicki: a girl i went to school with was in a skiing accident
[8:20:12 PM] Jennicki: she fell and hit her head on a rock
[8:20:26 PM] Jennicki: and it hit her just in the right spot
[8:20:32 PM] Jennicki: it affected everything
[8:20:42 PM] Jennicki: she lost her motor skills and her memory
[8:20:46 PM] Jennicki: and it even changed her personality
[8:21:05 PM] Jennicki: she had to re-learn how to do everything from eating to tying her shoes to walking
[8:21:28 PM] Jennicki: and she went to a children's rehab center an hour a day
[8:21:34 PM] Jennicki: every day for a few years
[8:21:48 PM] Jennicki: and her parents maxed out on their sick time at work and couldn't take her every day
[8:22:01 PM] Jennicki: so all the parents at our school volunteered to take her on different days
[8:22:17 PM] Jennicki: and when it was my mom's turn, she asked me if I wanted to take the day off of school and go with them
[8:22:19 PM] Jennicki: so I did
[8:22:30 PM] Jennicki: and it was really an eye opening experience
[8:22:37 PM] Jennicki: watching kids struggle to walk and talk
[8:22:43 PM] Jennicki: anyway
[8:22:55 PM] Jennicki: there was a little girl there about 4 years old
[8:23:05 PM] Jennicki: she was in a car accident and had to use a walker
[8:23:25 PM] Jennicki: and she was re-learning how to walk again in rehab
[8:23:30 PM] Jennicki: and by midday everyone was beyond exhuasted
[8:23:50 PM] Jennicki: and Renee--the girl from the skiing accident--had a really close bond with this little girl
[8:24:06 PM] Jennicki: and the girl would climb in Renee's lap and they would just hold each other for a long time
[8:24:25 PM] Jennicki: and you could SEE the bond between them--it was really intense--they NEEDED each other
[8:24:58 PM] Jennicki: they would just re-charge and you could see the life coming back in both of them
[8:25:04 PM] Jennicki: it was a pretty amazing thing to witness
[8:25:17 PM] Jennicki: and lately that's how I feel with you
[8:25:37 PM] Jennicki: like I am just fading away until I talk to you again--I just need you to recharge.
21 March 2010
White Felt Facials
Here is where I wanted to get a photo of a naked chick holding the number 1 next to her boobs so I have something classy to say “100!”
That's right, 100 posts. Even I'm surprised. It's been a good 8, almost 9 months since I started on this hole and I've been digging my way to china with absolute drivel ever since. It's surprising since I have hardly any upper body strength since I stopped going to the Gym (Broke habit, and now I can't be fucked) and I'm usually a fairly quiet guy. Except when I'm a little drunky. I'm a pretty good drunky. Except when I polish off a bottle of Jack and Sprite, then after being hilarious and fun I get home and have a spew. Then I wake up and start watching Outrageous Fortune and have another spew after a couple of hours.
I'm still a little queasy.
Saturday Night I was interesting. It was Justins Birthday and I owed it to him to turn up because I had to bail on his New Years Party. I was squirting out me ring 'ole something chronic at the turn of the decade, so I figured it was a good idea to leave New Years to being at home. But I made it to Jub's birthday at least and it was pretty good.
As I was walking the 10 minutes to his place, I heard music in the distance. “There's Justins party,” I said to myself. As soon as I arrived, I walked up to Justin and said “It's easy to figure out it's your party when you have Britney Spears blaring.”
True story.
The night was pretty good otherwise. I wasn't my usual social self, making an arse and walking up to strangers, but I met some of his random mates and I made a great reputation for his fence. It's a great fence. It bows just that little bit to make you comfortable when you lean on it, and you can stare out to the crowd.
I had a couple of trepidations here and there. Two girls that were interested in me were there, but I figured that they were both pretty much over it. It'd been quite a few years since one and it'd been last year since I saw the other. So I figured they'd be over it, but you never know with people these days. A woman scorned an all that jazz.
But no, they were cool. I kinda shrugged off one and the other and I are on good terms as far as I know. She came out with her sister and sat down with us as I made a drunken call to Jenny. I let them say Hi and have a chat and whatever to her because, well frankly she has a cute American accent. I never really noticed it until Jeremy said “Man, she's going to have a ridiculously cute accent.”
Oh boy this toasted cheese sandwich might not stay down.
I think there's an obligation to bring her to the work Xmas party now if she's here early enough, so Game On. (I wonder what's going to happen for the work xmas party...)
So overall the night was good. The next morning I hugged the bowl for a bit on a false alarm, went and watched Outrageous Fortune, and a few hours later bolted to the dunny for another cuddle. I do warn anyone who gets me very drunk that I'm a violent spewer. I sound like I'm trying to squeeze my stomach out of my throat. It kinda terrifies me!
Next weekend I'm going to try and head to the The Mana Bar. I would've gone with Danika and a couple of her friends on Saturday night, but Justins party took priority, sadly. But this saturday coming, I'm going to play games with drunken people and get my arse kicked thoroughly.
But before then on Wednesday night, I'm going to see Avenue Q with Kel and Co. I'm excited. I want to see white felt facials and laugh.
That's right, 100 posts. Even I'm surprised. It's been a good 8, almost 9 months since I started on this hole and I've been digging my way to china with absolute drivel ever since. It's surprising since I have hardly any upper body strength since I stopped going to the Gym (Broke habit, and now I can't be fucked) and I'm usually a fairly quiet guy. Except when I'm a little drunky. I'm a pretty good drunky. Except when I polish off a bottle of Jack and Sprite, then after being hilarious and fun I get home and have a spew. Then I wake up and start watching Outrageous Fortune and have another spew after a couple of hours.
I'm still a little queasy.
Saturday Night I was interesting. It was Justins Birthday and I owed it to him to turn up because I had to bail on his New Years Party. I was squirting out me ring 'ole something chronic at the turn of the decade, so I figured it was a good idea to leave New Years to being at home. But I made it to Jub's birthday at least and it was pretty good.
As I was walking the 10 minutes to his place, I heard music in the distance. “There's Justins party,” I said to myself. As soon as I arrived, I walked up to Justin and said “It's easy to figure out it's your party when you have Britney Spears blaring.”
True story.
The night was pretty good otherwise. I wasn't my usual social self, making an arse and walking up to strangers, but I met some of his random mates and I made a great reputation for his fence. It's a great fence. It bows just that little bit to make you comfortable when you lean on it, and you can stare out to the crowd.
I had a couple of trepidations here and there. Two girls that were interested in me were there, but I figured that they were both pretty much over it. It'd been quite a few years since one and it'd been last year since I saw the other. So I figured they'd be over it, but you never know with people these days. A woman scorned an all that jazz.
But no, they were cool. I kinda shrugged off one and the other and I are on good terms as far as I know. She came out with her sister and sat down with us as I made a drunken call to Jenny. I let them say Hi and have a chat and whatever to her because, well frankly she has a cute American accent. I never really noticed it until Jeremy said “Man, she's going to have a ridiculously cute accent.”
Oh boy this toasted cheese sandwich might not stay down.
I think there's an obligation to bring her to the work Xmas party now if she's here early enough, so Game On. (I wonder what's going to happen for the work xmas party...)
So overall the night was good. The next morning I hugged the bowl for a bit on a false alarm, went and watched Outrageous Fortune, and a few hours later bolted to the dunny for another cuddle. I do warn anyone who gets me very drunk that I'm a violent spewer. I sound like I'm trying to squeeze my stomach out of my throat. It kinda terrifies me!
Next weekend I'm going to try and head to the The Mana Bar. I would've gone with Danika and a couple of her friends on Saturday night, but Justins party took priority, sadly. But this saturday coming, I'm going to play games with drunken people and get my arse kicked thoroughly.
But before then on Wednesday night, I'm going to see Avenue Q with Kel and Co. I'm excited. I want to see white felt facials and laugh.
16 March 2010
Restoring Faith
Last night I got a simple question from one of our new local players, Lee.
“Do you believe that Hordes is Overpowered against Warmachine?”
It made me think for a moment. Is it really overpowered?
“No. It just has a different play style than what Warmachine is.”
“Oh good man, that has restored my faith.”
Turns out the Skorne list he has been taking, which he has been very successful with, is considered overpowered by the Local Meta. Mostly because it's a very successful list and, while the opposing player is told about the method beforehand, they don't quite picture it in their head properly and fail to counter it.
The entire list mainly revolves around Epic Makeda, the Paingiver Beast Handlers, Molik Karn and getting Molik Karn close to the target Warcaster or Warlock. Makeda casts the spell “Leash” so that Molik Karn moves up to Makeda when she finishes her activation, she then moves her SPD and casts “Road to War” which gives +2 movement to figures within her control area. The Paingiver Beast Handlers use “Enrage” on Molik Karn to give him a +2 bonus to Strength and allow him to charge for free. Molik Karn then gets thrown a good 11 or more inches across the board nearing the target with a charge, making his attack against something else if the target isn't quite within range (Usually he targets something he believes is more likely to be within range of charge). With his initial attacks, which he has two of, he can move an additional 2” per successful hit.
If he reaches the target he has up to 7 attacks (2 Initial Attacks, 4 for his base Fury stat and +1 Fury for his affinity with Makeda) with a MAT (Melee Attack) of 7 against average defences of 15. If he hits, his attack is POW 15, rolls 2d6, an additional 1d6 for Weapon Master, and he may choose to boost the damage for another 1d6.
In Warma-hordes (Our portmanteau of both games) 1d6 has a hefty effect on the game. That can be 1 or 2 of 6 columns of damage to a Warjack. For Molik Karns attack on 2d6, he has a ~42% chance of hitting the defence 15. If he were to boost beforehand, his chances increase to ~82%.
Now, assuming the armour value of 15 again on the target, average damage can be 10-11 before boosting which he must declare before the roll. If he does boost, it goes up to 14 which leaves most Warcasters and Warlocks on very little health. This is only average rolls, however. The chances of rolling better, or worse, are always present.
Molik Karn also has an ability called “Future Sight” where if the player dislikes the roll he may choose to boost his attack and/or damage AFTER the roll has been made. So if he rolled really well and were a few hit points short of executing the target, or one or two points off equalling the targets defence, Molik Karn can generate a Fury point to boost the roll, have his cake and eat it right then and there.
And yes, he can probably kick the ever-loving crap out of your Warcaster/Warlock by second turn if you leave a decent enough lane for him to take advantage of.
What's so wrong about this? You spend a few resources for something that may or may not work. You can do the same with Epic Caine, who gets Line of Sight against a target by moving his 7 inches and has a RNG of 12 on his pistols, pops his feat and does incrementing damage with a RAT of 9, 6 focus, an additional focus from the Squire and an additional attack from Reinholdt (I'll have to check if this is possible, I think Reinholdt has the attached rule). Up to 10 shots, starting at POW 12 and each further attack increases the POW by 1. And then let it sink in that average rolls of 7 will kill Karchev.
Great Bears of Gallowswood have a very high damage output. If they come into contact with just about anything, and especially if they have a damage boost from their Warcaster. Butcher gives Fury, +3 melee damage; Irusk gives Battle Lust, Additional die on melee damage; Vlad gives Signs and Portents, an additional die on damage but remove the lowest of the roll.
Magnus the Traitor casts Snipe on one of his two Renegades. The closer one fires first at the target, or something close to the target and knocks down everything within a 4” diameter. The second Renegade, who is further away and now has the addition of Snipe, then fires at the now knocked down target and deals a significant amount of damage to the target. This is boosted by Dougal Macnaile, who increases range AND damage.
Okay, so that last example isn't as effective to a Warlock as it is to a Warcaster. But it sure as shit will scare him.
That's the thing, there are assassination moves for all Warcasters, and there are always ways to get around it. I could list many 'casters/'locks that are designed to be assassins, and other people can too, and each one has a counter measure. Some are difficult to counter, such as Epic Caine. If he has LOS to a Warcaster or warlock, they're most likely dead. Stealth isn't even a guarantee as there are things in his army that can negate it for the turn, which is just enough time to perforate them.
Kaya the Moonhunter, Epic Kaya that is, has an assassination move that involves her Character Warbeast, Laris. You cast “Spirit Shift” and place Kaya within 2 inches of Laris, then you whack away at whatever it was you wanted to kill.
It was worse in MK1. She used to gain +1 MAT and STR for each enemy figure within her melee range, and each hit would generate an additional attack for free. Topped off with Lightning Tendrils from Krueger, which used to simply add 2” melee range to melee weapons, and you have a king-hit from any poor bugger who decided to screen himself with an entire unit. And if you decide to keep yourself away from everything, you're either too far back to be helpful or you've made yourself vulnerable to the rest of her army.
Cryx are great spellcasting assassins. Deneghra is the first example. She features in the Cryx Battlebox and is a very nasty caster. All she requires are bonejacks with arc nodes, and she has 3 in the battle box! She pops her feat which lowers all stats by 2, particular ARM and DEF, within 14 inches of her then she casts her 2 focus spell multiple times at the target through the arc node. Most likely, the figure will be dead.
Darius had a similar assassination play in MK1. Darius would be fielded with 3 Centurions, who were disgustingly efficient in MK1, along with a Journeyman who was present for Arcane Shield, a tradition that will never get old. Darius would cast a spell that would give +2 Armour and cannot be moved or knocked down, and figures base to base can't be moved or knocked down either. Then the Journeyman would cast Arcane shield, which gives +3 armour, on one of the base-to-base Centurions. Darius would follow up behind these three figures, who cannot be charged because the Polarity Shield ability was passive, and he repairs the warjacks via Halfjacks, who restore 1 damage point, or by his feat, which restores all damage to the offending Centurion. Centurions also start off with a high armour of 21, so with two warjacks at armour 23 and 24 it makes for a very tough nut to crack, and he will most likely win a stand off between whoever.
Now, the assassination move. It's simple: You load up a Centurion with 3 focus. You then use your crane, which lifts up figures from Knockdown within 2” of him, then one figure can be placed anywhere within 2” of Darius. The figures took free strikes until Privateer Press Adjusted it *Shudder*. The Centurion would then charge the target Warcaster/Warlock, with an additional die to it's attack rolls because of Full Throttle, which also gave the figure a free charge, and the Centurion would hit with it's P+S 18 spear.
This can't be done any more because Darius got the shit nerfed out of him, and so did Centurions to a relatively lesser degree.
So I'm lost on the argument that the “Molik Karn Slingshot” is overpowered. Can you get around it? Yes, and it's quite simple. Block off any paths to your caster! It's a live and learn effect. If you've been hit by it before, then don't let it happen again. The only reason I got hit by it so hard was because I forgot that the Great Bears don't charge at SPD+5, so I only had 1 of 3 get into melee range, and miss on the backswing attack.
So don't complain about Hordes being overpowered. You got hit by a valid tactic. So don't let it happen again!
“Do you believe that Hordes is Overpowered against Warmachine?”
It made me think for a moment. Is it really overpowered?
“No. It just has a different play style than what Warmachine is.”
“Oh good man, that has restored my faith.”
Turns out the Skorne list he has been taking, which he has been very successful with, is considered overpowered by the Local Meta. Mostly because it's a very successful list and, while the opposing player is told about the method beforehand, they don't quite picture it in their head properly and fail to counter it.
The entire list mainly revolves around Epic Makeda, the Paingiver Beast Handlers, Molik Karn and getting Molik Karn close to the target Warcaster or Warlock. Makeda casts the spell “Leash” so that Molik Karn moves up to Makeda when she finishes her activation, she then moves her SPD and casts “Road to War” which gives +2 movement to figures within her control area. The Paingiver Beast Handlers use “Enrage” on Molik Karn to give him a +2 bonus to Strength and allow him to charge for free. Molik Karn then gets thrown a good 11 or more inches across the board nearing the target with a charge, making his attack against something else if the target isn't quite within range (Usually he targets something he believes is more likely to be within range of charge). With his initial attacks, which he has two of, he can move an additional 2” per successful hit.
If he reaches the target he has up to 7 attacks (2 Initial Attacks, 4 for his base Fury stat and +1 Fury for his affinity with Makeda) with a MAT (Melee Attack) of 7 against average defences of 15. If he hits, his attack is POW 15, rolls 2d6, an additional 1d6 for Weapon Master, and he may choose to boost the damage for another 1d6.
In Warma-hordes (Our portmanteau of both games) 1d6 has a hefty effect on the game. That can be 1 or 2 of 6 columns of damage to a Warjack. For Molik Karns attack on 2d6, he has a ~42% chance of hitting the defence 15. If he were to boost beforehand, his chances increase to ~82%.
Now, assuming the armour value of 15 again on the target, average damage can be 10-11 before boosting which he must declare before the roll. If he does boost, it goes up to 14 which leaves most Warcasters and Warlocks on very little health. This is only average rolls, however. The chances of rolling better, or worse, are always present.
Molik Karn also has an ability called “Future Sight” where if the player dislikes the roll he may choose to boost his attack and/or damage AFTER the roll has been made. So if he rolled really well and were a few hit points short of executing the target, or one or two points off equalling the targets defence, Molik Karn can generate a Fury point to boost the roll, have his cake and eat it right then and there.
And yes, he can probably kick the ever-loving crap out of your Warcaster/Warlock by second turn if you leave a decent enough lane for him to take advantage of.
What's so wrong about this? You spend a few resources for something that may or may not work. You can do the same with Epic Caine, who gets Line of Sight against a target by moving his 7 inches and has a RNG of 12 on his pistols, pops his feat and does incrementing damage with a RAT of 9, 6 focus, an additional focus from the Squire and an additional attack from Reinholdt (I'll have to check if this is possible, I think Reinholdt has the attached rule). Up to 10 shots, starting at POW 12 and each further attack increases the POW by 1. And then let it sink in that average rolls of 7 will kill Karchev.
Great Bears of Gallowswood have a very high damage output. If they come into contact with just about anything, and especially if they have a damage boost from their Warcaster. Butcher gives Fury, +3 melee damage; Irusk gives Battle Lust, Additional die on melee damage; Vlad gives Signs and Portents, an additional die on damage but remove the lowest of the roll.
Magnus the Traitor casts Snipe on one of his two Renegades. The closer one fires first at the target, or something close to the target and knocks down everything within a 4” diameter. The second Renegade, who is further away and now has the addition of Snipe, then fires at the now knocked down target and deals a significant amount of damage to the target. This is boosted by Dougal Macnaile, who increases range AND damage.
Okay, so that last example isn't as effective to a Warlock as it is to a Warcaster. But it sure as shit will scare him.
That's the thing, there are assassination moves for all Warcasters, and there are always ways to get around it. I could list many 'casters/'locks that are designed to be assassins, and other people can too, and each one has a counter measure. Some are difficult to counter, such as Epic Caine. If he has LOS to a Warcaster or warlock, they're most likely dead. Stealth isn't even a guarantee as there are things in his army that can negate it for the turn, which is just enough time to perforate them.
Kaya the Moonhunter, Epic Kaya that is, has an assassination move that involves her Character Warbeast, Laris. You cast “Spirit Shift” and place Kaya within 2 inches of Laris, then you whack away at whatever it was you wanted to kill.
It was worse in MK1. She used to gain +1 MAT and STR for each enemy figure within her melee range, and each hit would generate an additional attack for free. Topped off with Lightning Tendrils from Krueger, which used to simply add 2” melee range to melee weapons, and you have a king-hit from any poor bugger who decided to screen himself with an entire unit. And if you decide to keep yourself away from everything, you're either too far back to be helpful or you've made yourself vulnerable to the rest of her army.
Cryx are great spellcasting assassins. Deneghra is the first example. She features in the Cryx Battlebox and is a very nasty caster. All she requires are bonejacks with arc nodes, and she has 3 in the battle box! She pops her feat which lowers all stats by 2, particular ARM and DEF, within 14 inches of her then she casts her 2 focus spell multiple times at the target through the arc node. Most likely, the figure will be dead.
Darius had a similar assassination play in MK1. Darius would be fielded with 3 Centurions, who were disgustingly efficient in MK1, along with a Journeyman who was present for Arcane Shield, a tradition that will never get old. Darius would cast a spell that would give +2 Armour and cannot be moved or knocked down, and figures base to base can't be moved or knocked down either. Then the Journeyman would cast Arcane shield, which gives +3 armour, on one of the base-to-base Centurions. Darius would follow up behind these three figures, who cannot be charged because the Polarity Shield ability was passive, and he repairs the warjacks via Halfjacks, who restore 1 damage point, or by his feat, which restores all damage to the offending Centurion. Centurions also start off with a high armour of 21, so with two warjacks at armour 23 and 24 it makes for a very tough nut to crack, and he will most likely win a stand off between whoever.
Now, the assassination move. It's simple: You load up a Centurion with 3 focus. You then use your crane, which lifts up figures from Knockdown within 2” of him, then one figure can be placed anywhere within 2” of Darius. The figures took free strikes until Privateer Press Adjusted it *Shudder*. The Centurion would then charge the target Warcaster/Warlock, with an additional die to it's attack rolls because of Full Throttle, which also gave the figure a free charge, and the Centurion would hit with it's P+S 18 spear.
This can't be done any more because Darius got the shit nerfed out of him, and so did Centurions to a relatively lesser degree.
So I'm lost on the argument that the “Molik Karn Slingshot” is overpowered. Can you get around it? Yes, and it's quite simple. Block off any paths to your caster! It's a live and learn effect. If you've been hit by it before, then don't let it happen again. The only reason I got hit by it so hard was because I forgot that the Great Bears don't charge at SPD+5, so I only had 1 of 3 get into melee range, and miss on the backswing attack.
So don't complain about Hordes being overpowered. You got hit by a valid tactic. So don't let it happen again!
15 March 2010
Jenny wants me to do a comic.
Now, I've mentioned that I wanted to do a comic of some sort, most likely to put up on the web. I'm no artist. If anything, I can write an interesting story for it. I can kinda draw. It's nothing Marvel or DC worthy, by far. I can do the occasional doodle (hehe, child) and that's about it, and I enjoy doing doodles (stop being a child) because sometimes they're good. Unlike the melting head the other day. I ended up drawing in a microwave on the original copy and gave the head a reason to melt.
I can figure out a comic to draw. I'd aim for 18 pages, with an interesting storyline. What storyline, I don't know. I really haven't gotten that far in thought, but she wants me to do it.
I have a bunch of A2 paper that Aaron stole from his work and I can use that to draw something up, and the computer works well to organise things for me. I can have the Openoffice doc out and I can read from it when I can. If I have my glasses on, I can read it from the floor.
I dunno. I could do a fanfic story; I could write a Sci-fi Story; I could write a horror story; I could write a fantasy story. All of it a-typical and probably a little boring, but it'd be done, but in the reverse form of James Camerons Avatar, where the story is better than the prettiness. It won't be the wittiest comic on the planet, whoever knows, but it'd be something I can definitely be proud of. And I can put it up on Deviantart.
Heck, if I want to do some random sketches, I have some art books that I haven't done anything with so I can put some frames in that. I can do some old school art layering and draw the character on one page, trace it onto the a2, then draw the background on another page and then trace that around the character.
And to top it off, if I want I can buy the drawing plaque that Richard bought ages ago and use that to do any digital touch ups that can be done.
The only thing I really need is a desk. And I mean a proper desk. Not the flimsy piece of crap that I have at the moment that keeps rocking the monitor as I type because I moved it out of the stable position I had it in before I checked the red wine spillage against the wall from last night when Mel stumbled over, pissed as a fart, while attempting to talk to Jenny (she was, by far, not prepared for that).
I mean a desk covered in leather, or polished wood, something smooth and larger than the A2 paper so I can sit the pile of over 100 pages that I have to tool around with and make the blasted thing. Something that I can sit two lamps so I have a good workplace with great lighting for my figure painting, and have the computer or PS3 playing music or DVD's while I knuckle down and concentrate (background noise does make for the best concentration).
I dunno. I will probably get to work on this after Gencon. The desk will have it's chance, but in the mean time I'm going to see a woman about a storyline.
I can figure out a comic to draw. I'd aim for 18 pages, with an interesting storyline. What storyline, I don't know. I really haven't gotten that far in thought, but she wants me to do it.
I have a bunch of A2 paper that Aaron stole from his work and I can use that to draw something up, and the computer works well to organise things for me. I can have the Openoffice doc out and I can read from it when I can. If I have my glasses on, I can read it from the floor.
I dunno. I could do a fanfic story; I could write a Sci-fi Story; I could write a horror story; I could write a fantasy story. All of it a-typical and probably a little boring, but it'd be done, but in the reverse form of James Camerons Avatar, where the story is better than the prettiness. It won't be the wittiest comic on the planet, whoever knows, but it'd be something I can definitely be proud of. And I can put it up on Deviantart.
Heck, if I want to do some random sketches, I have some art books that I haven't done anything with so I can put some frames in that. I can do some old school art layering and draw the character on one page, trace it onto the a2, then draw the background on another page and then trace that around the character.
And to top it off, if I want I can buy the drawing plaque that Richard bought ages ago and use that to do any digital touch ups that can be done.
The only thing I really need is a desk. And I mean a proper desk. Not the flimsy piece of crap that I have at the moment that keeps rocking the monitor as I type because I moved it out of the stable position I had it in before I checked the red wine spillage against the wall from last night when Mel stumbled over, pissed as a fart, while attempting to talk to Jenny (she was, by far, not prepared for that).
I mean a desk covered in leather, or polished wood, something smooth and larger than the A2 paper so I can sit the pile of over 100 pages that I have to tool around with and make the blasted thing. Something that I can sit two lamps so I have a good workplace with great lighting for my figure painting, and have the computer or PS3 playing music or DVD's while I knuckle down and concentrate (background noise does make for the best concentration).
I dunno. I will probably get to work on this after Gencon. The desk will have it's chance, but in the mean time I'm going to see a woman about a storyline.
11 March 2010
Pretty sure i love these magnets.
Yes, it totally looks like it's screaming
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08 March 2010
So much Love that I'm Vomiting Rainbows
Credit: http://thndr.deviantart.com/art/Vomiting-Rainbows-37182140
Today, the 8th of March, marks the 12 weeks that Jen and I have been together. This is a little funny because, for one, we've been counting; for another, it's been 84 wonderful days; and lastly: she has never really celebrated anything in her relationships. So she was extremely excited when I said her to “Happy 1 Month, babe” to her. She was even more excited when, near the end of January, I told her that she'll be receiving a present on the 12th February.
For the few weeks beforehand she couldn't figure it out, always wondering and questioning what it was. It didn't help that every time she asked, I was trying to confuse her.
“Can I plug it in?”
“You can, but it won't have the same effect.”
It's true. You can plug a Rose into a power socket, but I doubt it's going to turn into a night light.
For those thinking “Why did he send it on that day?” I'll answer you now: If you had the chance to let your girl show up all the obnoxious cows that she knows at work by saying “MY Partner did THIS for me!” and not having any ammunition to fight back with something, then give her a valentines present before she goes to work so she can show it off.
Bonus points for being 14,000 Kilometres away.
Unfortunately the bastard florists don't deliver before 7am, so while we were talking before she went to work I ended up telling her what she was getting. I could hear her face flush red as her tears wanting to escape and give me hugs of Love.
She really appreciated it and I'm glad I made her freaking life there. It's good to know someone is happy because of you, and she reminds me of this every day through tears and laughter.
It's the little things that really bring out an emotion in someone. The so many months that come before August will be difficult. I know her history, and I know she has conflicting feelings regarding me and some of my friends, but we're working on that. I don't want to break her trust, and I don't plan to. I have my reasons for hiding her from certain people, rather petty things I'll agree, and I know it breaks her heart, which is why today it broke out to some of the workmates that I do trust to an extent that I'm with her.
She is the most amazing thing to happen to me, and I don't want to lose someone like that. She wakes up at 5:30 in the morning to talk to me. She sends me texts of gibberish in her sleep like "i gyve upi sop mduhvhs uwb" and "Iiikwjiwx ! Jinzhz" and "O ovr you yoo.nany" because she falls asleep curled up to her phone after talking with me while I'm at work. And as much as I may ever want to work, and there have been days that I really should've, I always continue to message her. I love her giggle; I love that she smiles at my lame little jokes; I love that she thinks more of me every day.
August is too far away. But I'm getting more and more excited every day. And then Xmas is just around the corner.
07 March 2010
Day two of the Family reunion
The morning started at ten-hundred hours, just as any Saturday should, and I picked up the phone to call jenny. I wanted to call her last night, but catching up with cousins and listening to the old fella's talking made me lose track of time. By the time I realised what time it was, Jenny would've already been on her way to work.
After a good half hours chat, I decided to get out of bed. Mum, Dad, sister and I were to go out to the shops to pay for some dinner and some desert. But after getting fed up with waiting for Mum and Dad, who were chin-wagging until the cows come home, Taleah and I were on our way out when Mum stops us and says that she's coming with us.
Another 10 minutes later, were on our way out. “Does anyone want to stop at the Big Banana?”
“Yeah sure.”
We rolled up and I quickly caught a Happy Snappy of the Big Banana, a damn side better photo than my attempt at the Big Prawn, and rolled on in to have a look through the souvenir store before heading to the eatery. Sadly the menu wasn't the best, and because this was my breakfast I didn't think getting icecream would be a good idea unless I had Pancakes or Waffles.
The service could do with a little work as well. We were given our number on a stick, and we waddled off to an outdoor table so Mum could have a few smokes in the shade. The system they have , which we eventually figured out because the lady who served us didn't warn us, was a Number Callout. They flash the number of an order on a few displays around the restaurant and you run up to the counter to pick it up. The problem with that was that they were understaffed that day. One cook and one waitress, and one girl working the ice cream parlour, so they were run off their feet and most people didn't get their orders for about a half hour. We had made one order, paid separately, however when we went to get it only mum and Taleahs order was done. I asked where mine was and she said “keep your number and we'll buzz you back.” Sure enough, 5 minutes later, my burger and chips were done.
We rolled on to Coles after that to get the desserts. I picked up a pair of cheap thongs, which said they were 11-12's but were too small for me, and we got stuff for pavlova, such as whipped cream, kiwi fruit, a punnet of strawberries, and a tin of passionfruit juice; we also got stuff for a caramel tart and a pecan tart. Mum also picked up a dragonfruit, which looks cool but the taste was really something to be desired. It tasted like really stale jelly, like how you chew on it and it's still all chunky and yuck. Then add seeds to it. Not my cup o' tea. Mum ended up eating it with the remainder of the whipped cream and I'm not sure if she got through it all.
For the rest of the day, I kept to myself by continuing to read Pratchett's “Making Money” while messaging Jenny through the day. Taleah was getting a little annoyed at my messaging, saying that I was being unsocial, but the folks were all enjoying their time chatting away about whatever. Apparently there was a dispute with one of my uncles/Cousins (I'm not sure who) who took over Grandpa's Farm and when my Cousin Greg asked to see the monument for his kids to see, he was denied regardless of the lawyers putting under contract that the family are free to see the monument under acknowledgement that they were doing so, whereas the rest of the territory is his to do whatever with. I didn't get all the details, but I knew that we were getting denied something of our heritage because someone doesn't like someone else.
So about 5:30 in the arvo crept up and I started having a few drinks. Aunty Cheryl showed Grand-Aunt Peggy, Mum and Dad a DVD that had a slide show of her daughters wedding, who couldn't turn up for some reason and Nicole was really sad because she hasn't seen her Aunty Cheryl (who is my mum) or her Uncle Bob (My Dad) in a really long time.
Then we headed off to the BBQ area for dinner. Sausages were cooked up and I continued to drink while talking to my second-cousin Taytum (Pretty sure that's how you spell his name). He's a pretty cool kid. He likes his games so we were chatting away about what games he likes and some anime, and some of each that he should consider looking up. I recommended to him Vagrant Story because it may be his sort of game, something to really make him think. I did warn him that it's hard to pick up a hard copy of it and that he should just download it from the PS3 network. I also noted that he's a budding musician, particularly of Guitar, and recommended the anime Cowboy Bebop. He was rather surprised that the predominant music theme was Jazz, so I'm betting he'll get a good kick out of it.
Taleah had a good time as well, she got rather drunk and she had a little trip to the beach with my aunty Carol and Judy and they drenched her. Later on she got on the pillow trampoline that the camp-site have and bounced on there with my second cousins, who were all under the age of 5 or 6. The little girl with her is also called Taleah and all weekend they were calling each other princesses. Twas very cute. For the rest o the night, after a sudden shock of a days energetic exercise, she could be heard for a mile around complaining about her sore legs.
After the barbeque, Greg and Craig had set up a small campfire to the side of the site and the cousins had all sat down to wait out the night. Craig had a shirt on with “Federal Police. Now give me all your drugs!” and he was taking it to full advantage. Teens were taking the path up to the beach, where apparently a party of about 100 or whatever were just drinking and smoking, and Craig was asking if they had anything on them. AFAIK he didn't score.
I missed out on this part, because I was getting tired so I went back to the cabin, but a fight had broken out. The Camp has plenty of the locals run through and use the Public fridge at the BBQ area. The family, which numbered at about 30, have claimed the small sheltered area and we just refused to move. So when a few kids turned up at about 1:30 to go through the fridge, the cousins told them to fuck off.
“Oh we put a six pack in here earlier.”
“No you fuckin didn't.”
“We haven't seen you here before. We were here all day yesterday-”
“No you fuckin haven't. Our family, all 30 of us, have been here since Friday afternoon and we never seen you.”
The details have been a bit sketchy otherwise, but Police came eventually and apparently Craig was hit in the face twice by a midget.
That was day two. Overall a rather entertaining day and night.
After a good half hours chat, I decided to get out of bed. Mum, Dad, sister and I were to go out to the shops to pay for some dinner and some desert. But after getting fed up with waiting for Mum and Dad, who were chin-wagging until the cows come home, Taleah and I were on our way out when Mum stops us and says that she's coming with us.
Another 10 minutes later, were on our way out. “Does anyone want to stop at the Big Banana?”
“Yeah sure.”
We rolled up and I quickly caught a Happy Snappy of the Big Banana, a damn side better photo than my attempt at the Big Prawn, and rolled on in to have a look through the souvenir store before heading to the eatery. Sadly the menu wasn't the best, and because this was my breakfast I didn't think getting icecream would be a good idea unless I had Pancakes or Waffles.
The service could do with a little work as well. We were given our number on a stick, and we waddled off to an outdoor table so Mum could have a few smokes in the shade. The system they have , which we eventually figured out because the lady who served us didn't warn us, was a Number Callout. They flash the number of an order on a few displays around the restaurant and you run up to the counter to pick it up. The problem with that was that they were understaffed that day. One cook and one waitress, and one girl working the ice cream parlour, so they were run off their feet and most people didn't get their orders for about a half hour. We had made one order, paid separately, however when we went to get it only mum and Taleahs order was done. I asked where mine was and she said “keep your number and we'll buzz you back.” Sure enough, 5 minutes later, my burger and chips were done.
We rolled on to Coles after that to get the desserts. I picked up a pair of cheap thongs, which said they were 11-12's but were too small for me, and we got stuff for pavlova, such as whipped cream, kiwi fruit, a punnet of strawberries, and a tin of passionfruit juice; we also got stuff for a caramel tart and a pecan tart. Mum also picked up a dragonfruit, which looks cool but the taste was really something to be desired. It tasted like really stale jelly, like how you chew on it and it's still all chunky and yuck. Then add seeds to it. Not my cup o' tea. Mum ended up eating it with the remainder of the whipped cream and I'm not sure if she got through it all.
For the rest of the day, I kept to myself by continuing to read Pratchett's “Making Money” while messaging Jenny through the day. Taleah was getting a little annoyed at my messaging, saying that I was being unsocial, but the folks were all enjoying their time chatting away about whatever. Apparently there was a dispute with one of my uncles/Cousins (I'm not sure who) who took over Grandpa's Farm and when my Cousin Greg asked to see the monument for his kids to see, he was denied regardless of the lawyers putting under contract that the family are free to see the monument under acknowledgement that they were doing so, whereas the rest of the territory is his to do whatever with. I didn't get all the details, but I knew that we were getting denied something of our heritage because someone doesn't like someone else.
So about 5:30 in the arvo crept up and I started having a few drinks. Aunty Cheryl showed Grand-Aunt Peggy, Mum and Dad a DVD that had a slide show of her daughters wedding, who couldn't turn up for some reason and Nicole was really sad because she hasn't seen her Aunty Cheryl (who is my mum) or her Uncle Bob (My Dad) in a really long time.
Then we headed off to the BBQ area for dinner. Sausages were cooked up and I continued to drink while talking to my second-cousin Taytum (Pretty sure that's how you spell his name). He's a pretty cool kid. He likes his games so we were chatting away about what games he likes and some anime, and some of each that he should consider looking up. I recommended to him Vagrant Story because it may be his sort of game, something to really make him think. I did warn him that it's hard to pick up a hard copy of it and that he should just download it from the PS3 network. I also noted that he's a budding musician, particularly of Guitar, and recommended the anime Cowboy Bebop. He was rather surprised that the predominant music theme was Jazz, so I'm betting he'll get a good kick out of it.
Taleah had a good time as well, she got rather drunk and she had a little trip to the beach with my aunty Carol and Judy and they drenched her. Later on she got on the pillow trampoline that the camp-site have and bounced on there with my second cousins, who were all under the age of 5 or 6. The little girl with her is also called Taleah and all weekend they were calling each other princesses. Twas very cute. For the rest o the night, after a sudden shock of a days energetic exercise, she could be heard for a mile around complaining about her sore legs.
After the barbeque, Greg and Craig had set up a small campfire to the side of the site and the cousins had all sat down to wait out the night. Craig had a shirt on with “Federal Police. Now give me all your drugs!” and he was taking it to full advantage. Teens were taking the path up to the beach, where apparently a party of about 100 or whatever were just drinking and smoking, and Craig was asking if they had anything on them. AFAIK he didn't score.
I missed out on this part, because I was getting tired so I went back to the cabin, but a fight had broken out. The Camp has plenty of the locals run through and use the Public fridge at the BBQ area. The family, which numbered at about 30, have claimed the small sheltered area and we just refused to move. So when a few kids turned up at about 1:30 to go through the fridge, the cousins told them to fuck off.
“Oh we put a six pack in here earlier.”
“No you fuckin didn't.”
“We haven't seen you here before. We were here all day yesterday-”
“No you fuckin haven't. Our family, all 30 of us, have been here since Friday afternoon and we never seen you.”
The details have been a bit sketchy otherwise, but Police came eventually and apparently Craig was hit in the face twice by a midget.
That was day two. Overall a rather entertaining day and night.
06 March 2010
05 March 2010
Day One of the Family Reunion
It started off as any normal work day. My alarm went off at 6am, I turned it off on my phone, and went back to sleep.
0650 rocked up and the alarm went off again, a method i'm using to get me off to the station on time! It doesn't work very well, but it's the effort that counts.
0650 rocked up and the alarm went off again, a method i'm using to get me off to the station on time! It doesn't work very well, but it's the effort that counts.
Anyway, I turned that off, sat up in bed... And remembered that I have the day off. Today is the day I head to Coffs Harbour with the sister, mother and father.
The next couple of hours were hazy. I continued t drift in and out of sleep, messaging Jenny as i go, before my sister messaged me to pick me up. Fair enough, she's the one giving me a ride. I'll put my washing in, since i forgot to do it last night, and she will come round with her new Mac computer and I'll see if i can fix her Internet problem. No Dice, so she'll have to figure out what to do at the shop or at Optus.
So we wait around for about two hours before i get my clothes in my bag and we head to mums. Dad hadn't been there for very long, but he'd gotten himself into the salami and cheese sandwiches and called up the doctors to organise a cardiology report with our regular GP. Apparently his work asked dad about his medical history and dad mentioned the heart surgery from the mid 1990s (i think it was 96).
"SIX?"
"That's right, six bypasses," dad replied solemnly.
"And you're still smoking?"
"Yep."
"Well i'm fuckin' well standing you down until you get a report saying you're fit to drive!"
Dad is getting on in years, hitting the big 60 in November, and boy did he show it on the way down. It's bad enough he sounds like he's always talking through a sock, but that's mostly because he only has one actual tooth left in his head. On the way down though, we were driving through Brisbane, Mum with Dad in his Fairlane, and me with Taleah in her "Fuck off Yellow" car that i've forgotten the model of. Seriously, it's like having a Hazard warning on her car, but it's on the wrong car!
Taleah and I were commentating his driving skills and how he's swerving all across the road and having a hard time picking a friggin lane! And when he did have the lane, he kept braking when the next car was a good 150 metres away! Talk about driving like an old man!
So Taleah set him straight at the first rest stop, where we had a feed.
One thing you can always say about Dad was that he has a good sense of humour. Taleah told him how it is and he laughed at her. Doesn't help is that she can't be taken very seriously half the time, but hey.
I'm so glad that I was driving with Taleah though. I was worried about mum and dad tearing each others heads off. But after the stopoff, a few klicks down the road Taleah says "Did you see what mum just did?"
"No, What did she-" I look at the car ahead and there's mum leaning back up in her seat from what looked like Dads lap.
"HOLY SHIT! Mum shouldn't be doing that! He shouldn't be able to get the ol' fella up!"
Laughter ensued through the better part of the trip. Every time there was a town name came up we'd look at each other in surprise and say "OOO BANGALOW!"
Some of them are real corkers and, being such children as we are, there were plenty of sex jokes going around.
At one stage, there was a fairly solid block of traffic. Taleah turned to me and said "Matt, why is there so much traffic on the road? Why does this have to be so gay?"
"Well Taleah, there were two cars up the front. They were about to miss their turnoff so they slowed down, hence slowing down the rest of the cars along the highway. At first glance the cars look like they're in a massive orgy, people just keep coming and going and getting 'Bumper to bumper', wink wink, and hence why the highway is one big euphemism for butt fucking."
Finest call I made for the day.
At one stage, around Ballina, we performed what seemed like an elaborate U-turn around town, and Taleah and I were wondering if dad had gotten a little senile!
"Does he know where he's going? We're going towards Grafton! Isn't that friggin inland? coffs Harbour is on the coast! At least I'd assume so because it's called a Harbour!"
"I'd laugh if dad started driving back up to Brisbane," Taleah joked.
"Nah, we're not. We're headed west."
"... How do you KNOW that!?" in genuine surprise.
"Well... The sun rises in the east and sets in the west..."
"Oh... Well i didn't think to use the sun, did i!"
The night ran on and we finally arrived at the Emerald Beach Caravan Park, where we're staying. It was like 7 or 8 o'clock, Nsw time, and we were pretty knackered, but we spent out time seeing all the cousins and uncles and aunties (why doesn't my phone know the word Aunties?) and the boys and girls were segregated. The boys had planned to go fishing and see what they catch wherever they wandered off to. I didn't go, i hung around to listen to Dad, Uncle Colin and Cousin Craig just talk about trucks and this one stupid bastard servo halfway between Mt Isa and darwin who charges a shit tonne of money for fuel and is friggin rude to his customers when they don't suit him. Dad stopped off there once to top off his truck, the bloke was charging $2.10 a litre and dad went go to pay with his Company card, but he said "Oh i don't use that fuckin thing, all a bunch of bullshit!"
"Well that's the only way i'm paying, i'm not using my money to pay for company fuel."
"You can't fuckin walk off!"
"Well you accept my company card then"
"Ah the piece of shit, won't accept it!"
Eventually dad talked him into using it by having him call the Mob that the card is through and having them tell him to use it!
"Fuckin all right, but don't you fuckin dare come here again."
"Don't have to worry about that."
It's probably one of Dad's tall stories but it got some shock and awe.
Eventually taleah came round and saved me from the pair of them and took me back to the cabin. We sat outside and talked about the books we're reading before giving up on waiting for Dad to come back.
Conveniently, after i got out of the shower, there was dad passed out on the double. After squeaking onto the bunk bed, i slowly drifted into lala land feeling bad that it was too late to call Jenny.
02 March 2010
Subterran Uprising Rising Oppression
http://www.monsterinsider.net/2010/03/01/subterran-uprising-rising-oppression/
Now, I may be a little late for this. No doubt that I am, this was posted a couple of days ago and other site would already have their fanatical write ups done as well. But this lot has got me a little excited.
Keeping with Tradition, the two new monsters strut their stuff with nigh-incomprehensible names. So I'm going to go with names that suit the two of them. For our new friend Hammerlak-Korssivik, I'm going to stick with the nickname they gave him: Clamps. Anyone who has seen enough Futurama will be able to appreciate it.
The short write up gives a brief overview of his abilities and, as anyone would guess from the concept art, he has Burrow. I imagine he's a gigantic worm underneath all that Biometal so things like Sprint and Sidestep would make sense for his ultra form. He's a wriggly little bugger and I hope he has a high enough defence to really take advantage of Sidestep. The only confusing part would be Super Stomp on his Alpha form, but that's only because I take the title too literally. You kinda need feet to stomp, so I imagine he spins about on the spot and hits everything. It's better than Slugbutt who can't spin around very easy, let alone jump on the spot.
Sidestep: If this figure is missed, you can move it 1 space in any direction, including diagonally.
Sprint: Advance this Figure up to 3 spaces, even if it has advanced this turn.
Super Stomp: if this mosnter makes a Stomp Power Attack, gain +1 P-Die for every building destroyed and every enemy unit crushed.
Then there's our second new best friend: Blastik-Rukivall. I have no idea what to call him, and I don't want to say much more on the drill coming out of his crotch plate. He does have 2 heads, however, so I'm thinking something about giving him a thought process. Self-debater? Wait, that might not be appropriate.
I'll sort his nickname out later. We'll just call him the Super-Blastard for now. This Gears of War wannabe, running around with a heavy gun and a chainsaw, Tears through town with his Blitz ability shooting two buildings at once. This is great although not as nifty as the 7pm Nun-chuck Express, Garuka. Garuka has the advantage of netting more power die out of hitting two buildings, AND if he hits the right buildings he can regain health. The Super-Blastard won't net the same Power Die, however will disrupt more things than his other Happy Cave Friends.
His Ultra form does a Gakura as well with the Demolish ability on his blast attack (Or so I assume). With the high defence monsters floating about, they begin having a hard time trying to hide from him while in the midst of buildings only to take solace in that “There can't be too many buildings in the end for him to damage me with!” I'm not sure whether he still has Blitz or not, but if he did that might be a little too crazy. It'll certainly get the job done quicker.
Blitz: After the attack, this figure may advance up to two spaces and make another attack of the same type against a different figure.
Demolish: Target 1 Enemy figure adjacent to target building hit suffer a damage point.
To join the Super-Blastard on his reign of destruction are the new Blastard unit, the Grinder Tank which makes use of the Marker ability, nifty for all those Blast attacks that you really want to hit but haven't hit because of unfortunate dice rolls. Also with it's Defence of 4, it gives good reason to stand back and fire away while securing buildings. The only problem will probably be their speed and probably their range, which won't be particularly long or fast.
Marker: If an attack misses, re-roll the attack.
And lastly is the Oppressor, a funny looking little figure that apparently is another brawler with Burrow and can abduct figures. Judging from the concept art, I imagine him to be likened to a woodchipper. Which is really sad for the Terrasaurs if you think on it too long. Those poor Carnidons.
But that's all we have for series 5 in regards to fiends to date. I may go back and look at the new buildings... Maybe a post about the Voltron Gear coming... But first I should finish off that other blog about mixing units!
Now, I may be a little late for this. No doubt that I am, this was posted a couple of days ago and other site would already have their fanatical write ups done as well. But this lot has got me a little excited.
Keeping with Tradition, the two new monsters strut their stuff with nigh-incomprehensible names. So I'm going to go with names that suit the two of them. For our new friend Hammerlak-Korssivik, I'm going to stick with the nickname they gave him: Clamps. Anyone who has seen enough Futurama will be able to appreciate it.
The short write up gives a brief overview of his abilities and, as anyone would guess from the concept art, he has Burrow. I imagine he's a gigantic worm underneath all that Biometal so things like Sprint and Sidestep would make sense for his ultra form. He's a wriggly little bugger and I hope he has a high enough defence to really take advantage of Sidestep. The only confusing part would be Super Stomp on his Alpha form, but that's only because I take the title too literally. You kinda need feet to stomp, so I imagine he spins about on the spot and hits everything. It's better than Slugbutt who can't spin around very easy, let alone jump on the spot.
Sidestep: If this figure is missed, you can move it 1 space in any direction, including diagonally.
Sprint: Advance this Figure up to 3 spaces, even if it has advanced this turn.
Super Stomp: if this mosnter makes a Stomp Power Attack, gain +1 P-Die for every building destroyed and every enemy unit crushed.
Then there's our second new best friend: Blastik-Rukivall. I have no idea what to call him, and I don't want to say much more on the drill coming out of his crotch plate. He does have 2 heads, however, so I'm thinking something about giving him a thought process. Self-debater? Wait, that might not be appropriate.
I'll sort his nickname out later. We'll just call him the Super-Blastard for now. This Gears of War wannabe, running around with a heavy gun and a chainsaw, Tears through town with his Blitz ability shooting two buildings at once. This is great although not as nifty as the 7pm Nun-chuck Express, Garuka. Garuka has the advantage of netting more power die out of hitting two buildings, AND if he hits the right buildings he can regain health. The Super-Blastard won't net the same Power Die, however will disrupt more things than his other Happy Cave Friends.
His Ultra form does a Gakura as well with the Demolish ability on his blast attack (Or so I assume). With the high defence monsters floating about, they begin having a hard time trying to hide from him while in the midst of buildings only to take solace in that “There can't be too many buildings in the end for him to damage me with!” I'm not sure whether he still has Blitz or not, but if he did that might be a little too crazy. It'll certainly get the job done quicker.
Blitz: After the attack, this figure may advance up to two spaces and make another attack of the same type against a different figure.
Demolish: Target 1 Enemy figure adjacent to target building hit suffer a damage point.
To join the Super-Blastard on his reign of destruction are the new Blastard unit, the Grinder Tank which makes use of the Marker ability, nifty for all those Blast attacks that you really want to hit but haven't hit because of unfortunate dice rolls. Also with it's Defence of 4, it gives good reason to stand back and fire away while securing buildings. The only problem will probably be their speed and probably their range, which won't be particularly long or fast.
Marker: If an attack misses, re-roll the attack.
And lastly is the Oppressor, a funny looking little figure that apparently is another brawler with Burrow and can abduct figures. Judging from the concept art, I imagine him to be likened to a woodchipper. Which is really sad for the Terrasaurs if you think on it too long. Those poor Carnidons.
But that's all we have for series 5 in regards to fiends to date. I may go back and look at the new buildings... Maybe a post about the Voltron Gear coming... But first I should finish off that other blog about mixing units!
01 March 2010
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