'Twas 2 Nights Before Christmas And Dice Through The House...

I have been running a D&D campaign for my boys for several months now. It began with the Fifth Edition Fantasy modules put out by Goodman Games (both short, excellent adventures!) and have continued on into a dungeon of my own: The Lost Halls of the Steelhand Clan.

Max is running an Eldritch Knight named Major Orchard. 

Jasper is running a Dragonborn Wizard named Captain Teamat.

I am running an NPC dwarf cleric of Clanggeddin, Kardrell Stormpeace. 

All of the characters are currently 4th level.

Wow! Are we having fun. Fun is what D&D should be. 

Thanksgiving Games

Conquest Over SurfMonkey

 

Last Tuesday SurfMonkey braved the cold to attend our monthly game night. I had just received my second copy of the Warhammer 40k Conquest LCG. We separated and organized the cards from both sets.

From there we built a deck each. SurfMonkey went with a Chaos/Dark Eldar deck while I went with a Space Marine / Astra Militarum build.

I won 2 of 3. All games were close. And FUN! 

Looking forward to playing again. 

Hey, Chummer. SurfMonkey and I Went on a Couple of Shadowruns and Traveled to Some Planets for Some Conquest

SurfMonkey brought Shadowrun Crossfire to our monthly game night. I really liked the game and look forward to playing it again. It is difficult, though! After four runs, my mage finally survived for 1 point of karma. Looking forward to playing it again. 

Next up was my newest acquisition, the Games Workshop licensed Fantasy Flight Living Card Game: Warhammer 40,000: Conquest. This game replaced Warhammer: Invasion in Fantasy Flight's LCG lineup. 

Though I was unhappy to see W:I go, I am happy to say this game is a worthy successor.

The flavor and theme are exciting, the game mechanics are nothing original and borrows mechanics from several of FFG's LCG lineup. The mechanics do, however, meld into a fast, furious, and fun head to head experience. 

SurfMonkey and I both really enjoyed our battle and are looking forward to more games of it. 

That's all for this month. Up next: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skulls and Shackles. 

SurfMonkey Brings the Age of War and Sentinel Tactics While I Brought the Coin Age.

SurfMonkey came over on Tuesday for our monthly game night. Now, to clarify, SurfMonkey and I have been sitting at the same game table over the past couple of months, playing Dungeons & Dragons. As fun as that is, of course, it was great to break out some board games. 

                                                

After a teaching game of Coin Age, we played the cool little dice game, Age of War. Fantasy Flight Games!

                                                                                              

 Sentinel Tactics is a nice hybrid between a board game and a mini game. I enjoyed more than most minis games. For minis, though, I will always go back to my Ganesha Games: Song of Blades and Heroes, Mutants and Death Ray Guns, BattleSworn, and now Power Legion! But, I will say I did enjoy playing superhero battles on the hexes. And hey, it's the Sentinels universe. Can't ever go wrong there!

Finished out with a second game of Coin Age. I really like this simple but deep area control game that travels anywhere. Good game!

That's all until next month. In the mean time, SurfMonkey and I will be playing more D&D. If you haven't checked out the 5th Edition of the world's greatest role playing game, do yourself a favor and do it. 

The Source of it All

Over the past couple of months, something magical has happened. A lifelong gaming wish has been granted by Wizards of the Coast. That wish was for the perfect version of D&D to be published. Now, I have played Dungeons & Dragons in most of its versions and editions since I was 12. It has been a defining force in my life and probably has had as much an impact on who I am than any other experience. There have been other RPGs; I have even designed a couple of my own. However, D&D was my first and now my greatest gaming love.

This edition is everything I have ever wanted from D&D. Great mechanics, bounded accuracy, theatre of the mind: A busy DM's dream. Wizards are wizards, clerics are clerics, so many options for any style of play, gorgeous art, and pure, unadulterated fun! 

I have only one quibble: The artwork of halflings is not to my liking and borders on offensive for what they have done to my beloved hairfoots. But, I am hoping the portrayal of them evolves back to the halflings of yore in future adventures and supplements. 

In July, the Starter Set came out.  

In August, the Player's Handbook. I have played the game with the former students (and SurfMonkey) at our FLGS. 

I have played with the Red Dragon Gaming Society who is poised to finish the Lost Mine of Phandelver and begin the epic adventure path, Tyranny of Dragons. I have even recruited SurfMonkey into the Society of the Starshield. 

But most importantly, I have been running a campaign for my boys. "Dad. Can we play some D&D?" Music to my ears. 

When I am playing D&D, I feel like I have finally come home. Music to my soul.

Legendary SurfMonkey Comes to the City of Heroes and Meets the Duke

Last night was our monthly game night. SurfMonkey brought over Legendary, Marvel Dice Masters, and the Duke. We started with Legendary as it has a monstrous set up time. We played through and were beaten down by Mastermind Kingpin and his cronies. The game is a solid one, but I still struggle with the theme. It just doesn't feel superheroey to me.

Striving for a more immersive superhero experience, we busted out my new demo decks of the lost CCG City of Heroes, based on the old MMO of the same name. I played Positron and he played Synapse for the first game. Synapse barely came out on top. Then we switched decks and Synapse kicked Positron's butt soundly. I am really starting to get a feel for the game. Too bad the cards are not widely available. I am enjoying the decks I do have, however. I like the game quite a bit.

The final gaming experience of the night was The Duke. I ended up winning both games. In the second game, however, SurfMonkey was hampered by a sleep deprived brain and was defeated quickly and efficiently. That game is awesome.

As a side note: I know I said we were going to finally break out Mage Wars, but we decided more research was needed. I now have the Force Master deck to peruse for a future duel in the arena.

Until next time, good reader, keep on gaming.

SurfMonkey Mania

SurfMonkey came over Thursday night for our monthly game night. This night was particularly busy as the boys joined us for a few games at the beginning of the evening. While SurfMonkey and Max played Star Realms, Jasper and I played some Vanguard!

Then we played a game of Sentinels vs. Kismet (Setback's nemesis). In the end, we kicked her butt. 

After the heroes took down the supervillainess, we continued superhero action and played a couple of games of Marvel Dice Masters, using a roughshod draft mechanic. 

We split our wins. 

We finished out the evening with a head to head battle of Star Realms and then played a co op vs. the Nemesis Beast. We took it down!

Overall, a great night of gaming. Next month: We brave the arena and finally break out Mage Wars!



Summer Gaming with the boys: When not hanging out with SurfMonkey, the boys and I have been revisiting some of the great games.

In the Sentinels game, Plague Rat defeated us. Next up: Ambuscade invading The Block.

Journey Into the Star Realms and a Return to Savage Worlds

Over the past couple of days, the boys and I have been playing through a Savage Worlds fantasy adventure. Max was playing a fighter named Indy Knight while Jasper was playing a saurian fighter known as Kobold King.

King Phostos hired them to find and rescue his son from the Lost Labyrinth where the young man disappeared while investigating reports of orcs in the vicinity. 

The heroes with some last minute help from more of Phostos' agents, defeated the evil mage Feltran, capturing him and rescuing the prince.  

Also, since Origins, Max and I have been playing a lot of Star Realms both head-to-head and Co Op. On our Con exclusive play mat! Good times.