Final Post of 2013...

... end of the year anyways.

Well, 2013 is coming to an end, and it's the time of year many people make new year resolutions.  I am NOT one of those people.  Instead, around this time I like to look back on the year from a geek perspective, and try to predict/plan where I want to be (geek wise) in 2014.  Sort of a "what am into, what is on my radar" type of post.  If you're interested in where I may be heading in the next year, then keep reading...

This Geek's Week..

The REAL reason I fly Imperial...

- Worked some more on my Flames of War Germans (LW).  I've got to add the decals and do a bit of weathering to the leader of my 1st Panzer IV platoon, then he should be all finished!

- Played some Skyrim with my Ka'Po'Tun proxy-dragonkinght character.  I really enjoy playing him thus far, and I think he'll carry over into ESO pretty well.

- Played some War Thunder.  They've done a "christmas challenge", with the prize being 1 of 2 planes.  So far I have managed to complete all the tasks thus far.  Some were a bit tough, taking quite a bit of time (the "kill 10 German planes, when no one was playing germans because of it), others were insanely easy, completing themselves in 1 or 2 games. (Like shoot down 10 planes while flying Italian planes, or bomb 10 ground targets.  Easy.)

- One of the priests at my church is also an avid gamer, and invited me over to the Rectory for some games.  We played a game of Summoner Wars, followed by me teaching him X-Wing.  We played a quick intro game, followed by a 75 pt game.  I played 3 of the 181st Interceptors vs an X-wing, Y-wing, and A-wing.  It started out rough for me, 2 of my interceptors got within a single damage from dying within the opening turns.  He nabbed one, but afterwards I started dodging heavily.  I took out the x-wing, then heavily damaged the Y-wing before the A-wing took out my 2nd interceptor.  Then it came down to an untouched Fel vs an untouched A-wing.  They danced around for a bit, lots of dodging before Fel swooped him and blew him out of the sky with a massive range 1 attack.  He really liked the game, and it sounded like afterwards he went out and bought 3 starter sets!  

Stepping into Flames of War...

Hobby wise lately, I've been working almost entirely on my Flames of War stuff after having it sit on my shelf for a few years.  I've always been fascinated by history, but lately I've been bitten by the WWII bug much harder than ever before!  Seeing as I'm also not really playing any other gaming systems at the time of writing this, I've started to make FoW more of a priority.  Here are some of my initial plans for Flames of Wars...

This Geek's Week...

- Been playing a bunch of world of tanks, and I really do not know why.  I'm starting to feel like I really just...do... not... like it.  Not entirely sure why either, just something with the overall gameplay doesn't sit well with me.  That, and all the prototype, blueprint only, experimental tanks that you are required to progress to something you actually WANT to drive.

- Ran Sajan through the final scenario from the 2nd adventure deck, "Angel in the Tower", and once again, it was super easy.  I started at the clock tower, cleared that.  Then, took a breather at the temple.  Finally, I went to the Shrine to Lamashtu (which must have secretly been beneath the temple) for the final confrontation.  With plenty of cards left in the blessing deck, I took my time.  At one point, I had my hand all full of junk that I had picked up at the temple, and used an early fight to clear my hand, letting me redraw into a bunch of blessings.  I took a few hits from encountering blessings, but was able shrug most of that off by gaining the encountered blessings.  Once I found the Villain, I had a hand with 3 blessing in it.  I used one blessing to get past the first check, and then used my last 2 to get past the second check.  Easy-peasy, and  I took her mask as a trophy!

- So War Thunder dropped patch 1.37, and in general, most players are raging.  They rearranged and simplified the tiers, bringing 20 tiers worth of planes down into 5, and now people feel they are constantly outclassed, or that the matchmaking is screwed up.  It doesn't bother me really, I've got my bf 109's, so I'm happy.  Yes, I'm going up against planes that I normally would not have, but I'm having no issues dealing with it thus far.  I did however have to give up HB and go back to playing AB.  They also changed how planes are modifications are researched.  Again, a lot of people are raging, but meh, I'm fine with that too.  That said, I did encounter a pretty bad graphics issue.  I managed to figure out that it was a Dx11 issue, so I was able to roll it back to Dx9, which solved the problem.  I've been having a pretty good run lately on both my Germans and my US planes.

- Picked up the Summoner Wars Master set, along with the Phoenix Elves/Tundra Orcs box.

- Worked on painting some of my FoW PZ IV H tanks...

- Rolled up a new character in Skyrim.  Essentially I made a Skyrim version of the character I want to play in ESO.  The Dragonknight class in ESO is based off the martial arts forms from Akavir, and on that continent exists a race called the Ka'Po'Tun, the Dragon-Tigers, cousins to the Khajiit.  While I may not be able to represent a true Dragonknight in Skyrim,  I can still toy around with playing a Ka'Po'Tun (Khajiit), and a Ka'Po'Tun can fit into the role of a dragonborn.  It should be fun...

... and with that, I just want to wish a Merry Christmas to all my readers!  (and a happy New Year too!)

This Geek's Week...

This is my new mascot...

- Played a bunch of War Thunder, as usual.  Mostly I've been playing Historic Battles, but I've played a round or two of Arcade as well.  I much prefer the physics of HB, and the differences in planes that it creates.  Arcade lacks a lot the physics, making planes fly a bit oddly, and giving an advantage to turn fighters, and a bit of a disadvantage to BnZ/Energy fighters.  BUT, Arcade does let you repsawn, and games are much quicker.  While I do not feel that I'm  all that good at the game, I do routinely sit among the top 3 in HB, while I'm often mid or low in AB, which is odd, as HB is supposed to be harder.

- Ran Sajan through "The Cult Exposed" scenario, with the help of my 3 yr old daughter.  (She picked the locations to explore, flipped the blessing deck, and rolled all the dice)  It was extremely easy to play solo, and I encountered pretty much zero resistance.  I stick by my original opinion that Sajan may be TOO GOOD, especially solo.  I'll keep running him through the rest of the second adventure deck, and once complete, I'll probably start an "alt character".

- My daughter decided she wanted to play X-Wing, so who am I to say no?  She decided she wanted to play as Luke Skywalker, so I played as Fel since he was similar in points.  I chose all my maneuvers first, then I let her choose her own moves, with only the slightest bit of coaching, so that I made sure she was able to at least return fire.  It started out, I took off a shield, she put a damage onto me.  Then, we circled about, I rolled for damage in range band 1, getting all hits, while she rolled blanks.  Needless to say, that was unexpected!  I expected to be slugging it out, with Luke having the advantage due to shields.  She wanted to play again, but this time wanted to use Han solo in the Falcon, while I chose Boba Fett.  I figured this would work out better for her anyway, due to the 360 firing, she was free to move however she liked.  We traded a few shots, but she lost interest part way through, and we never finished.  Oh well, she is only 3 after all...

- Played a few rounds of World of Tanks.  As usual, dominating in my tier 2 Panzer II, but getting rolled in anything tier 3 due to matchmaking.

- Worked a bit on my flames of War Italian infantry platoons, Panzer IV H's, and a unit of Panzer III's, although I doubt I'll ever use the III's. (or any of my FoW stuff for that matter)

Dreadball Orc Team: The Giraffes, Giraffes, GIRAFFES!

My 2nd Dreadball team: The Giraffes, Giraffes, GIRAFFES!

"Super Spicy Rooster Sauce Co", corporate sponsor for "The Giraffes, Giraffes, GIRAFFES!" would like to introduce you to their latest venture into the sport of Dreadball, as well as a bonus coupon offer:  "Buy 1 pallet of Super Spicy Rooster Sauce, get the 2nd pallet at FULL PRICE!"

This Geek's Week...

Not Geek related, but SKC won the 2013 MLS Cup in a pretty epic fashion!
Way to go boys!  SKCTID!

- Finished up "Anzio" by Lloyd Clark over Thanksgiving break.  It was a good book, and gave me plenty of insights into the Allied invasion of Italy, which I'm hoping to use as some background info and inspiration in Flames of War.

- Picked up "Master of Devils" by Dave Gross, the second Pathfinder novel featuring Jeggar and Radovan.

- My Orc Dreadball team is now fully painted!  I still have not been able to get in another game after my initial one several months ago, and as such, I don't plan on picking up anything else for dreadball until I manage to get in more games.

- Conducted a BGG trade.  I traded my copy of Antike Duellum for a brand new copy of Medwar Sicily.  I was never able to get in a game of Antike Duellum, as it is a 2-player game, while Medwar Sicily features some solo play.  I shipped my game, so hopefully everything goes smoothly on the other end as well.

- Trying to get a hang of piloting my BF 109's in Historic Battle mode in War Thunder.  It's sad to say, but I'm so much better flying US planes.  I WANTED to be almost an exclusive all german player, but it's hard when I struggle in my 109's but excel in other nations.  That said, tanks are coming to war Thunder pretty soon, and man, do they look SEXY!  I can't wait to get in the seat of a Panzer III or IV...

- I've also been playing several games of the Pokemon trading figure game with my 3 year old daughter.  We don't have many figures, just enough for a 6v6 game, but she really seems to like it.  The game's ok, but it's a start at turning my daughter into my own little future gaming buddy! 

- Played a few rounds of World of Tanks.  It's funny, because I hop in my Panzer III (tier 3) and get thrown into matches from tier 3-5 and I die usually before firing a shot.  BUT, when I hop in my Panzer II (tier 3) I get placed in tier 2-3 match and score 4 kills and top score.  It's just a bit odd....

- Worked on some Flames of war stuff.  Some panzer III's and IV's, but I also started working on some troop platoons for my Italians.