The Dramatisation of Conflict

D&D has gotten a little... Stale, and our DM has gotten a bit burnt out.  So it's been a point of fact to discuss alternatives.  One alternative I suggested was a Theatre of War Campaign. We've all played the Iron Kingdoms Wargames and we all have our different factions.

But after thinking about it for a second, we came across a problem: Not all of us play Warmachine.  Some of us play Hordes, and the Theatres of War we have available are each designed for the two games.

I plowed on with the idea though, tackling the other big problem we have: the Theatres of War are designed for a previous iteration of Warmachine.  There are a few things different betwen the two systems, but nothing that can't be fine tuned over time.

But I've gotten my first draft of changes up, along with variant ideas, and posted them up on their own little blog.  If anyone wants to put their two cents in, throw it up in the comments.

http://dramaofconflict.blogspot.com.au/

Jennicki In Brissy - Day 1 - 27 May

In the two years and seven months that I have known Jenny, I have never seen a smile as big as hers. And I can remember the smile from when I first met her in person. She was smiling ear to ear. This time, her head was close to falling off.

That's what you get when you spend 12 days in a country you have been dreaming of since you were a kid. And I feel like AM the luckiest guy in the world to be part of her motivation to follow through on the act, and to escort her around Brisbane with the help of many of our friends.

I'll never forget waking up at Sparrows Fart o'clock on Sunday and getting myself dressed to pick up Jenny from the Airport with Mum. The trip was entertaining in itself. Mum and I driving down the highway, little idea what we should be looking out for, when suddenly I looked ahead and said to Mum "The Gateway Bridge, it's a bit close isn't it?"

Sure enough, it was. So over we went, and down the other side, through the e-toll gate and over the overpass, and back through the e-toll gate and then back down Southern Cross way, which Mum actually recognises.

That was when I started to Panic. Jenny was going to be at the airport, wasn't she. She was going to be waiting around looking for me and starting to think "He has forgotten about me and abandoned me" or something like that. She's going to be freaking out.

But no, it was half seven when Mum and I arrived. I bolted straight to the gate while Mum waited in the loading bay, the both of us thinking she will be fine waiting for a half hour or something.

A few minutes later, Mum calls me. "I can't wait in the loading bay, what should I do?"
"Go park, Mum"
"I don't know where it is!"
"There are signs, Mum. Should be one just as you leave the loading bay, or just as you come back in."

Sure enough, she quickly got her parking spot and joined me at the gate. Jenny hadn't come out yet, and it was past 8. I was panicking again. Have I missed her? Did she come out and I can't find her in the throng of people here? Or is she still in there and is lost since it's a very different place to America?

Turns out, her and the rest of the plane were held back, Quarantined, so to speak, because someone was Ill on the entire 14 hour flight from LAX. (One could not blame them. The smog will take your childrens lives, given the chance.)

Clever old me decided to make the announcement on Facebook that Jenny was finally here, and that she was Quarantined for a little bit.

Little did I know, that offhand comment caused a flurry of laughter and, more stressfully, worry. Jennys Mom and her Brother didn't quite understand the little joke, but luckily were easy to relieve after I told them what had actually happened.

It was a nice Sunday, and Jenny had about 3 hours sleep over the past 24+ hours. I had only had about 5 hours myself, which usually puts me into Zombie mode if it weren't for my excitement. But Jenny and I got to mine, I introduced her to the house we would (mostly) be staying at, and we crawled into bed for a couple hours of nap.

She couldn't sleep though. Why? Because she thought that someone was whistling outside the window.

"What?"
"Can you hear it? Someone's whistling!"
"I don't know wha-"
*Bird Whistle* (I'll get back to you on what bird it is)
"Ohhhh, that's a bird, babe."
"REALLY?!"

Back in the 'Zoo, you don't get that sort of background noise. I always knew something was off when I visited there, just something niggling in the back of my mind that something was missing that made Kalamazoo different, but little did I suspect that it would be the bloody birds.

Little did I realise before that day was that there was a festival on at Mcpherson Park. Every fourth Sunday of the Month the Miniature Steam Trains start running on the rails that were set back in '94, and the B-Ridge Central Lions Club run them along with a bunch of stalls and, much to my surprise, a concert stage. I thought it was perfect for such a nice day to go for a walk and get some lunch, since it was about 1pm before Jenny and I got up from our Nap.

It was an easy choice: Go to the Fish and Chip shop. Jenny wanted to try more fish, and she hasn't really had something like Fish and Chips before. Luckily, the shop around the corner from my mums place has the BEST fish and chips I've ever come across. And Jenny Agreed, between nibbling on her Crumbed Cod and taking photos of the Steam Trains as they circled around us.

She also took photos of all the unfamiliar birds, such as the Dumpster Ducks and the Willie Wagtails, to the Butcher Bird and even the Pigeons.

"Cool Tree!"

But on top of increasing her knowledge in Ornithology, she also dabbled in Botany starting with our own local plantlife. Gum Trees, Paper Bark trees and this one tree that I just couldn't Identify, though I think it's a small Paperbark with a bush that started growing at the base of its trunk. Cool though, and it's been there since I were a lad.

The sun beating down, Jenny was getting hot and cooling down when the wind blew her way, while I got a little chilly but braved it as best I could. We continued walking around, finding more interesting trees, houses and even got a few shots of Lorikeets as we followed the footpath around my old Primary School.

Now I wasn't sure if we were allowed, I don't think we were, but I stopped her for a moment to ask if she wanted to have a walk through the School. She was very keen, and very surprised.

"Why's that babe?"
"Well school at home is very enclosed, we have everything inside a building and it's not often that we go outside."
"Is that because only about 6 months of that time it's safe to go outside, and three of those months are School Holidays?"
"Exactly, so seeing your - What is it? Tuckshop? - and everything so open and in the sun, it's really amazing."

There you go, kiddilywinks. Appreciate the sunlight.

Mum gave us a mission before we had left. She wanted me to get ingredients for Dinner: A stuffed potato. I told her to write down the list of things we need because I'm either A: Bound to forget something, or B: get everything.

We slowly weaved through the aisles as she took photos of interesting things, and we discovered something as she took a photo of me holding a packet of Meat Pies.

"Matt holding his meat...pie. Meat pie."

*Jenny makes sound*
*I look up at her*
*She takes photo and starts laughing*
"Oh my god, I'm sorry!"
"For what babe?" I'm a little clueless
"I make that sound at Taz too when i want to take a photo of him."

She assured me that I'm not a puppy dog (though I do like a good petting) and she promised not to do it again. (She still did it though)

After that funny little episode at Woolworths, we got home and I gave Mum the groceries for her to start dinner. So she started it all off, and look at everything in front of her and thought 'There's something Missing'.

"Matt?"
"Yeah, mum?"
"Did you remember everything?"
"Pretty sure I did"
"What about Potatos?"
"..."
"Matt?"
"I'll be back in a few minutes, Mum."

I got a Gal from Kalamazoo to Visit Brisbane

Jenny's first Crocodile

Okay, I'm a bit late (three weeks) with writing up my post about Jennys arrival to Australia.  Frankly, it's been difficult to really get it down.  Even Jenny is having similar problems, worrying that she might not be able to express how amazing and fulfilling the experience was, even though some (if not all) have had a similar experience attaining your life-long dream.

That's what Jenny did and I feel proud that we got in as much as we did in the two weeks that we had.  By the end of it we were basically running on empty, but we had fun meeting people and showing her some cool things here in Brisneyland.

I would like to thank everyone for their help and support.  Mum for cooking for Jenny and I, Monster Yuppy and Birmo for chauffeuring us around some of Brisbane's hotspots and giving both of us a History lesson, Kel and Tash for joining us for Dinner, Erin for showing us an awesome Thai restaurant, James and Adam for the tour around Surfers Paradise, Stacey and Kenny for housing us and helping me entertain Jenny, Girl Clumsy and Dan Beeston for joining us at Movie World and having us giggle our heads off at Impro Mafia...

And to everyone who turned up to the Lock'n'Load Bistro on the Saturday night, Thank you so much.  Jenny was extremely humbled to have met so many people who were there to see her, especially the half dozen or so who came interstate for the night.

There hasn't been a day that I haven't heard my Fiance say "I miss Australia" since she returned to the 'Zoo.  Thank you all again.

On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness

Penny Arcade are one of the longest running gaming webcomics in the world.  They've built up a name using big words and satire to most, if not all, extents.  So after many years of drawing and building up their little animated world, and toying with the ideas in the back of their heads, they naturally made a game.

It's not an easy game, by any sense.  It sometimes take a little while for one to figure out what they should be doing in the game, but it does eventuate with entertaining cutscenes, familiar cameos, and a ridiculous storyline.  Oh boy is it ridiculous.

They released Episode 3 recently and were forced to change the style of the game from a Cell-shaded 3D graphics game to a classic 8-bit RPG format.  And frankly, I'm only a little surprised they didn't do that in the first place.  Were I in the position of Penny Arcade Aristocracy, I would have requested the suggestion of changing formats of each Episode.  A game about a Gaming Celebrant should celebrate Formats and their Generations.

Which is why I'm happy for Episode 3 to have changed the style.  I appreciate that they kept with the RPG format they intended, though I would be interested to see more.

Late to the Avengers Party

Lets face it.  Hulk is a Bully.

Most of my friends have gone and seen Avengers, and are foaming at the mouth at how awesome it was.  Even those who tend to be a bit picky with their movies enjoyed it.  Some even created an alternative story to appease those who thought it was a little lacking.  To them I say "There were Five Movies leading up to the film.  There's your in-depth story."

The stories of Nick Fury and Co?  I reckon that can earn a movie in itself.  A prequel covering the story of Hawkeye and Black Widow?  Sure.  I could totally dig that.  Even if I'm not a Gushing Fan of Scarlett Johansson.

Oh, what's that?  Sacrilege?  I should be burnt at the stake for committing such heresy?

Well throw me in water and see if I float, but I'm not a gushing fan.  Sure, she did a good job as Black Widow.  But I didn't care if I saw her arse completely covered in leather, as it was, or in a string bikini.  I was more excited seeing Gwyneth Paltrow in a pair of denim shorts.

Moving on before I get too distracted, the flick was fantastic.  Great Lines, Great emotion, and Great answers to interesting matchups.  There were fights EVERYWHERE.

So everyone who wants to go see it, but isn't sure whether they want to go see it?  Put it this way: if you enjoyed the other five movies, Iron Man 1 & 2, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, or Thor, then you will LOVE this movie.

May 15th

May 15th has been a big day for a lot of people, especially for Video games.  It's a long awaited continuation of a wonderful series, coveted as one would the holy grail.

That's right.  It was the day and release of...


Sonic the Hedghog 4, Episode II.

...

What?

Sixty-Two Damage

So.  We have a good idea what Colossals do.  And also some more stats and features of my favoured war machine of the Motherland, Conquest.

Lets start with his stat line.  As far as what has been spoiled, he has the same Speed and Armour as a Juggernaut coupled with the health of two Berserkers. (Do your maths, and yeah it's true)

Health is a somewhat funny subject.  When an attack damages a Colossal, first you have to determine your position to the Colossal.  If you're to it's left you deal damage to the left grid, and vice versa.  If you're standing in both, or you're in it's back arc, you can choose which grid.  Then when one grid is full, it goes over to the next grid starting on a d6, meaning you don't start straight from column 1.

If the damage doesn't have an origin, for example Fire Continuous Effect, then you randomise which grid it is (eg: 1-3 left colum, 4-6 right column) and then apply damage as normal.

Systems work the same as any other Warjack, but the Left and Right Systems apply to all the weapons on that side, Melee and Guns included.

Sidenote: Just realised that Critical Amputation from the Destroyer's Melee attack can get FANTASTIC Milage out of these guys.

As for damage, he can deal a pretty good amount.  Colossals start off with a Melee Range of 2".  Always.  I'm suspecting the only exception is the Kraken has up to 4" during his activation.  On top of that, each weapon has its own melee range which halves the front arc.

His fists are the same power as a Juggernaut with the Butchers Fury Spell.  Since he has two of them, it's madness.  Given his full compliment of focus, which is the same as any other Warjack, he can make a Behemoth feel a bit weak at the knees.  It's not often the Behemoth can stand next to a Warjack who can deal the same amount of Raw damage to a Juggernaut as he.

After that, there are new Power Attacks for this giant Warjack to perform to get the best benefit during his turn.  One is a Thresher Style attack, using one weapon and attacking everyone within melee range of it.  The other option is a swat style attack, where a model in melee range gets slammed.  No run up like anyone else would need, just backhand the target.  Which is easy with the Giant Fists he has.

But wait, THERE'S MORE!

He has guns.  You would think there's 3 guns, but you'd be wrong Right.  The underslung cannons are a duo with an interesting rule

We'll start with the Main Cannon, because that's a F-off cannon that starts off with +1 Range, AOE and Power over a Destroyer Bombard, with the additional benefit of Critical Devastation, Throwing[?] all models under the AOE away from Conquest.  That's a very awesome cannon.

[?] - I don't have the rules for the Mule on me, but I think it's a throw.

The underslung guns are a different story.  To start, as I understand it, they're just like Hand Cannons with the AOE of a Bombard, and a special ability called Creeping Barrage.  Rather than a normal ranged attack, place an AOE 3 within 12" and anything that enters/ends its movement in the AOE suffers a half Power Damage roll.

Board control?  Hell yes.  It may not be too threatening, since it's 7 off the dice against Winterguard or the like, but it still makes your opponent second guess his motives.

But if you didn't want to lay your templates, you can make an attack against someone.  Then do it again.  Because rather than one shot against a model, you get two.  Two entirely different attacks against the same target.  Whether you can redirect this second attack, or it automatically misses, I dunno.  But that's still awesome.

To top off his Board Control he doesn't suffer any forced movement, and can't be disrupted, both per standard Colossal Rules.  So once he's there, he won't be leaving until he's destroyed.

Overall, is this fella worth the same as a Behemoth and a Berserker?  I'll probably have a better idea if I put him on the table, but I'm pretty convinced so far that this fella will be super-fing-awesome.

Just for a little size comparison.