Friday, May 30, 2014

My Friday Night (two new games)

Typing this offline to upload later...

Vanessa had a little "going away party" for a co-worker tonight. Since it was all girls, she suggested I go to the local gaming store to hang out. "D" had brought "Shadows Over Camelot" - a nice board game - to play. There were seven of us and it was my first time to play it. It was great! Had a lot of "bits" and pieces and good interaction with the other players. It's a Co-Op game, except for the hidden "traitor" that is randomly assigned...

Well, the traitor came out and we lost as a group, but I was somewhat impressed with the game!

Kat said, "want to see Dice Masters?" I knew I had a little time, so I let her demo it for me. It was a pretty cool game! Pros - dice. Lots of dice. :-) I like randomness in my games along with strategy (see Car Wars and X-Wing) and I like rolling dice, so this seemed like a natural fit.

Another Pro - the game mechanics are simple to learn while still allowing for a good depth of play and stragy.

Cons - it's another CCG type of game. :-( You buy a starter set for about $15, then 2 card boosters are $1.99. I have grown tired of games with "chase rares" and such. That's another reason I like X-Wing and have grown VERY disenchanted with Magic. Kat (and the two guys playing next to us) said that even the commons can be great cards, so just because it's rare doesn't mean it is a game winner. And the fact that you still have to roll the dice in the game and get the right results means it's not just "whoever spends the most money is going to win." Yes, it's a Con overall, but one that's offset by the randomness factor.

I don't know that this is necessarily a Con, but it's Marvel. That's not a "bad" thing, but I'm a DC guy myself. My team had Green Goblin, Captain America, Professor X and another one that I can't remember now. I was playing against Gambit, Magneto and two others that I forget. I did win, and not just because of it being a demo, but because I started aggressively and Kat said she's more of a defensive player. This, coupled with my good rolls while she was "building her army," let to my victory.

All in all a good game, and a good two player game that takes a minimum of space. If you like rolling dice, you'll probably like this game!



Thursday, May 29, 2014

Studio Bound

I know it's been a while since I posted a blog post. I've been busy. :-)

Hopefully you know that I had a successful Kickstarter and I am going into the studio day after tomorrow (Saturday May 31). Well, tonight was "maintenance" night at The Picking Porch...

I changed the strings on my Takamine. They weren't that old, but I wanted them to be their best for the studio so I put on new ones. My little travel guitar had strings that were VERY worn, so I put the Tak strings on it. :-)

Then I changed the strings on Vanessa's bass, and I dressed the neck as well. WOW! Made a HUGE difference!

I also need to change strings on my Alvarez, but that will come later... I have an idea for the strings that are on it now - a little something special for Katie...

I've been busy since my last post in other things too! I'm still playing bass and singing with Pure Country, and we have our next gig Saturday night. I have also started my own band - we are using the name Bare Basics. It's a three piece country band and we had our world premier this month at Cayce, Kentucky. It was a great time!

Last Saturday I played a solo gig at Coffee in the Attic in Covington. A GREAT place to play and sing and I had a WONDERFUL time!

Well, that's it for now. Say a prayer for me this Saturday as I try to do my best on this CD. And if you're a backer and reading this - THANK YOU! If you're not a backer and you'd like to get a CD, you can pre-order for $10. Heck I'll even cover the shipping. :-)