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.  

Our Origins Journey: 2014

My birthday weekend was one for the history books as Max, StormBringr, and Kato Katonian piled into StormBringr's Tesla S and headed for the second largest gaming convention in the country: Origins! This trip was the three big people's second trip to the convention and Max's first. It was an amazing time. We met up with Feecha and Joe for dinner on Thursday night at Easton, then played games in our hotel room. As we stayed at the Hilton across the street from the convention center. That is the only way to go. We were able to get way more out of our time at the convention because of our close proximity.

Food at the North Market and Barley's was amazing. Can't wait to eat at either of those places again! 

We got to meet Issac Vega, Sam Healey, Ryan Metzler, Rob Dougherty, Darwin Kastle, Vito Gesualdi, Tom Vasel, Mike Selinker, Mike Mearls, Rodney Thompson, and Colby Dauch.

We also met up with Shaftshooter on Saturday!

The following is a pictorial history of our time there:

Feecha bought us breakfast Sunday morning, and we made our way back to the North. A grand time was had by all. 

SurfMonkey and I Master Some Dice With Superheroes and Fly Into the Star Realms

For our monthly game night, SurfMonkey and I rolled out Marvel Dice Masters. Both of us have increased our collections since our last run at this game. Before we began play, we exchanged dice and cards to fill out our forces. 

The games were fast and furious. I won the first one on a tactical error on his part. He finished me with overwhelming force in the second game. The rubber match belonged to the Green Goblin and his sidekick minions which swarmed SurfMonkey by surprise. 

After the match, we pulled out Star Realms to finish the night. After some back and forth action, SurfMonkey ran me out of the sector. 

Good times all around. 

Looking forward to next month and seeing which games we decide to bring to the table. I have a feeling it may involve dice, cards, and superheroes. 

Excelsior! True Believer! Marvel Dicemasters is here! And it is Glorious!

SurfMonkey brought over WizKids' brand spanking new game designed by Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang (designer of Warhammer Invasion!) and broke it open. The rules and set up are easy, and we were rolling dice and hurling super heroes at each other before we knew it. 

We began with the First Game setup then graduated to the Basic Game setup for four more games! SurfMonkey had ordered hand made Marvel dice bags and had custom game mats printed up. His accessories were awesome! Way to bring the bling!

The game is similar to Quarriors in that you buy dice with resources rolled by the dice you have, but really, the comparison ends there. The rest of the game is more Magic the Gathering than Quarriors. You recruit the superheroes you have brought to the fray to fight against the team your opponent brought. Yes, we are playing hero vs. hero in most cases (the boosters that are sold for the game have villains). However, think Contest of Champions comic mini series if you have a hard time wrapping your head around why Spidey is fighting Cap. 

The theme is a tad weak I admit. Each player begins with a certain amount of life. Whose life is it? Are you an entity bringing the heroes into conflict or are you a representation of the morale and will of your team? I guess in the long run, it doesn't matter because the game is fun! 

Since Wednesday night, I have bought 2 starters and 15 boosters at my FLGS and Target.  I have played a game vs. Maximan66 with my dice. I will be picking up many boosters in the future. But the game hasn't grabbed me like Vanguard did. However, I see it rolling in my future for some time to come.