Happy New Year!

Sure, my Command Post had a lot to deal with in 2019, so I didn't blog as much as I wanted, but I got to roll lots of dice and get plenty of miniatures on the table, like this pack of Ogres at MillenniumCon. Here's to more gaming in 2020!

Christmas present

I asked for (and received) the excellent board game Terraforming Mars for Christmas. It's a card-driven game that also uses a map of the Red Planet so players can track their progress in making the world suitable for human settlements.

Players act as corporations over a span of generations, accumulating resources and taking actions to increase three environmental factors (temperature, oxygen, and surface water) to Earth norms. This game is very thematic, with actions such as dropping a comet on the planet to add oceans or using orbiting mirrors to increase the temperature. It's a fun game, and I even got my wife to play!

What did everyone else get this holiday?

Pics from MillCon day two

The first full day of this year's MillenniumCon had plenty of eye candy. There was the World War II game which spanned several tables (above) and this Wings of War setup with bombers and escorts (below):

There was a nice Stalingrad setup for Bolt Action:

And a western town for Fistful of Lead:

As well as this sci-fi terrain for Gates of Antares:

A great freighter centerpiece for modern-day Spectre Operations:

And some 3-D terrain for good old Melee:

I also ran my two games; more about that later.

MillCon loot

I was parsimonious at the game convention this year, buying just two items for myself: This scatter terrain from one of the vendors, Black Site Studios, and a Marvel Heroscape set at the flea market.

(Apologies for the upside-downiness, but I don't know how to fix that.) Anyone else make out with some good loot from a recent game convention? Did you spend a lot or a little?

First day of MillCon

MillenniumCon began on a Thursday this year, with all the games immediately getting filled before I could register. I went anyway, just to hang out and see some gaming buddies.

This Napoleonics game was being set up, but it's not scheduled until tomorrow. These miniatures are some original lead minifigs.

There was also a gladiator game being run. I didn't know that they fought giraffes in the coliseum. Looking forward to playing some minis tomorrow.

Ogres in progress

Some detailing for my plastic Ogres, which I may or may not use for my Monopolis game at MillenniumCon this weekend. They look a helluva lot better with just a wash, compared to right after I had basecoated them. Looking forward to some minis gaming at the convention. Anyone else on here going to be at the con this weekend in Round Rock?

GK replay

After reviewing feedback from my gaming group, I ran a refight of my Galactic Knights convention scenario, appropriately tweaked. By designating the starting points for all the ships, I took away a player decision point but enabled the action to start quicker. It also put forces in position where interesting things would happen.

So we had ships attacking transports, ships defending transports, and ships trying to capture other ships. The players tried to play to their assigned scenario objectives, which were at least in theory achievable.

In the full convention game, with individual players for each force (we doubled up in the playtest), the interaction between "allies" with disparate goals can produce some unexpected results--and as the game master, I love it when player surprise me.

I'm looking forward to running this at MillenniumCon, and let me again recommend that you playtest your convention scenarios.