What a Cowboy game July 12th

 

The attackers advanced along the top of the table from left to right

So, our regularly scheduled game day was cancelled as the venue was still drying out from the Canada Day floods. As a result I decided to try and get a What a Cowboy game played at my place. While four people initially said yes, by game day we were down to 2 players and me as ref. Thankfully the players were from different factions so that part of it worked out.

The game was set up and prepped for the ambush scenario. The attackers had to get a mule across the table, the defenders had to stop them. A note about all our games, I tend to set a time limit of six turns on the games. At the end of six turns we roll a die, if a six is rolled the game ends if not then another turn is played. At the end of this 'extra' turn we roll again and the game ends if a  five or six is rolled. We keep rolling and keep increasing the result range. The idea is that it inspires players not to waste time but to get on with the mission. The variable nature of the last turn adds some tension.

The defenders made certain to place a sniper high up guarding the 'north' passage.

The attackers move in force along the northern edge the defenders have a henchmen gang and one other defender on the ground

Tuco pushed past a fellow gang member to try and stop the attackers

Meanwhile one of the deployed defenders desperately tried to get across town to join the fight

Things do not look good for the attackers as the defenders move to cut off their escape route

But good shooting by the attackers pin a number of defenders and drop one of their number

The sniper failed to halt the attackers, and they manage to advance the mule almost off the table 

More defenders fall

In the end it was a very near run thing. The mule was left untended but the defenders failed their morale test

It was a very good game that went right down to the wire. The defenders were whittled down and forced to flee, but had they stood they may yet have prevailed as they had more men around the mule.

The next couple of games are going tough for the gang that were the defenders. The attacking gang has managed to gain enough experience to raise most of not all of their members to Gunslinger status. I see a lot of henchmen in the defenders future.

Boardgame night, Dragons Down

 

So, we finally got this off the shelf and onto the table. It is a reworking of the old Avalon Hill game, Magic Realm. This edition is very shiny, lots of large tiles, poker chip size tokens and fancy accessories.

For our first game we decided to play the introductory scenario using just the mountain tiles. I bought the fancy edition that comes with metal coins, fancy character boards and weighted chips. 

I was the Human barbarian, while the other player chose a Dwarf knight.

As for the game it was a mixed bag. The game was fun to play but we had some issues with the rulebook. Nothing so serious that it ruined the game, just sometimes a challenge to locate information. We started late so by 1 Am we decided to call it and we both retired our characters after about 18 turns. We both had fun and will definitely try this game again, soon.

What a Cowboy gaming weekend part 2

 

The old mission was the scene of our second game. These are Crescent Root buildings that I bought some time ago. We used the rescue scenario for this game, the defenders had a hostage hidden in the small building near the church the attackers/rescuers game in from the right side.

One of the attackers has made it into the building and has the hostage in hand

The battle to free the hostage was very intense with much exchange of gunfire. while the attackers made it into the building the defenders took position at the window looking into the building and shot any and all who dared enter.

There was also a running gun fight on the elevated walkway, with Doc managing to eliminate two of the defenders. In the end, the defenders were able to hold on to their captive. 

Our third game took place on Sunday and featured a mountain! The scenario saw the attackers trying to burn out the defenders. 

So, my Viking/Neanderthal heritage comes back to bite me!

 

So, for awhile now I have had a weird growth in my right hand that sort of resembled a swelling but was not a swelling. It was/is a tight blister looking but rather solid mass that was beginning to impact my ring finger. It was making the finger curve inwards, somewhat, but was also making my hand start to contort. In fact I now do the 'Vulcan' live long and prosper hand sign  while my hand is resting.

On Monday this week I received a call from the plastic surgeons office at the General Hospital to book me an appointment for Wednesday. Having been referred to them for a while now, I lept at the chance.

It never occurred to me to take a before picture of my hand gut I did take one after the visit, as it worked out that it was not just a consult but turned into an action appointment. So my hand was numbed (surprisingly the needles somewhat hurt) Then the doctor stabbed my hand repeatedly with 3 or 4 other needles. 

You can see the stab marks!

It seems that what I have is, I kid you not, Viking Disease (formally known as Dupuytren's contracture) It is a condition where the connective tissue under your palm's skin thickens. It causes nodules and tight cords that permanently bend your fingers—most commonly the ring and pinky fingers—toward the palm. The condition is genetic, primarily affecting people of Northern European descent over 50. It causes nodules and tight cords that permanently bend your fingers—most commonly the ring and pinky fingers—toward the palm. The condition is genetic, primarily affecting people of Northern European descent over 50. Apparently it has been studied a bit more and it seems to go back beyond Vikings to Neanderthal days! 

The puffy bits have gone down a bit, but the hand was not that nice looking even before the procedure.

There is no cure as such, all they can do is break up the fibrous growths/hardening or in extreme circumstances remove them through surgery. My procedure was the breaking up one, quite amusing as you could hear and feel the popping  as he plunged the needles into my hand again and again. So much fun. Happily the injection kept the pain away, unhappily by the evening the injection had worn off. 

So this whole thing put a bit of a crimp in my hobby plans as I had planned to do quite a bit of work on my wild west stuff. Fortunately by Thursday night the pain had receded  enough to allow me to tackle some projects, so in the end, not much time was lost.

For now the problem has been abated but it will return. Apparently, some of my hobby activities can cause this to return quicker as can my diabetes, oh joy. Guess maybe I should do something about that last thing...

What a Cowboy gaming weekend part 1 of 2

So, on day one we had four players, two per side with four tables set up in advance. The first game saw the attackers looking for the one mule that had the precious cargo of gold dust. Rough terrain and plenty of trees offered lots of terrain to hide behind and some hazards to slow up movement.

We made the mules mobile targets, moving in a random direction at the end of each turn. The river was difficult terrain while the ford operated as a minor obstacle.

Board game night

 

So, we played a trio of games on Monday, including a first go at Thunder Road Vendetta. We also brought out some other fun games that do not make it to the table often enough, Zeppelin Attack and The Cards of Cthulhu.

All these games are lightweight but lots of fun, and quick to play. It had been a while since we last played The cards of Cthulhu and we foolishly thought we could play it without reviewing the rules in detail. As a result we cheated ourselves a bit, making it a bit more difficult for us to win, but win we did, no no harm no fouls.

Zeppelin Attack is a  deck building game of two fleets of zeppelins duking it out. It was a battle of my ice commander vs a simian mastermind. Tracking ones score as the game is possible, but neither of us made any effort to do that. By the end of the game we both thought that the other player had won su we were bot wrong.

The start of the race after all vehicles have had a chance to move

So, the game started off well for me (I was the blue team) but I made a few crazy decisions, fun ideas but still a little mad. I got it into my head to try and take out some of the enemy, and some of my own, by racing to the forward edge of the board. Once one vehicle exits the map via the front of the lead tile, the rear tile is removed from play taking with it any vehicles left on it. In this case the small vehicles of both teams were removed.

Brilliant right!?! So when my medium vehicle got shunted off the board I decided to try that stunt again to even up the odds by removing my opponents medium car. Well, I had the movement that I needed to do this all I had to do was navigate through one perilous area. It worked out to be an oil slick which caused me to careen off the map! Bereft of vehicles, that was the end of my game.

Boardgame night

 

Well, it started off as a tough fight, but in the end we were able to defeat the two Fey enemies. It is often a tough choice to go with the Sentinels team as they have low hit points and we often get quite pummeled by the villains. I used Ra and Fanatic from the original box, it has been a while since I used them, they really do perform differently than the new definitive edition. I had to get used to this change as I have been playing the new version a lot lately. 

We also played Invincible the deck building game. I really do like this game, not certain why as it is an odd game, but it is fun.

What a Cowboy!

 

A test of a soon to be played campaign. This scenario had the attackers coming in from the right with a plan to burn down the large building, it did not go well.

 

Defenders defend the objective (lucky deployment)

Boardgame night

 

So, we had one of our rare losses of Sentinels of the Multiverse the other night, it wasn't even close. We went up against Apex and his werewolves and just never stood a chance. In retrospect perhaps we should not have selected two werewolf heroes...My two characters Ra and Tempest were the first to fall, then Alpha leaving Haka as the last hero standing. Thankfully we decided at this point that there really was no chance of winning and ended the game. 

The worst part, for me, was that I was able to reduce Apex down to 1 hit point before that card you see poking out from under his card healed him. That may seem like it was close, but it wasn't he was never going to down. Not certain what we needed to do to put him down for good, but we were not the team to do it.

We also played a couple of games of Star Trek. It is a lightweight game, but one that I am beginning to enjoy more with each play. (and not just because we won)

What a Cowboy!

 

Well into the game, approaching the end showdown.

After a game of Midgard my two evening players sat down for a game of What a Cowboy! It was a simple showdown scenario, each player had three characters, a Legend, a Shootist and a Greenhorn. It was pretty mush the first time for both  players and they picked it up very quickly.

Emmitt (in red shirt with rifle) trying to use the covered boxes as cover from two enemies, while Paden, behind the wagon tries to support Emmitt as does Jake(blue hat).

Unfortunately for Emmitt, Paden's aim was not so good and Emmitt falls to friendly fire.

Once the dust cleared after a furious exchange of gunfire only the enemy Greenhorn was left while Paden and Jake were okay.

It was a fun game. There were plenty of Bonanzas called out, a trick shooting attempt and a lot of shooting. All casualties were caused by the Silverado gang including a civilian, a Shootist and two legends including their own Legend Emmitt!

We got most of the rules right this time and it was enjoyable. I hope to get a campaign of it going in the near future.

May 30th second Midgard Heroic battle game

 

Empire initial deployment

So this was a repeat of the Bloody Beck scenario but with both armies having only 350 points and two players. I had reduced the point total from the earlier game as we only had two players and the games was starting around 5:30-6 pm and we did not want to go too long. That would not be a problem!

Once again Orcs took advantage of the uncontested areas and sent their cavalry charging across the shallow river

Fortunately Empire cavalry had arrived on the table in reserve

In an unexpected move, the Empire sent their hand gunners across the river!

The hand gunners eliminated one skirmish unit, but failed to wound the Orc Army Commander, then the Giant attacked!