Flames of War, plus, Tigris & Euphrates... BattleLore!

Prepare, all, for more magnificent display of my potent ability to generate titanic blog conversational silence! And witness my dynamic attempt to amend my style accordingly... :) Prepare, ye crickets, for my creative can of insecticide.

First, some stuff about ShawnCon II...


Flames of War -

I wasn't a party to it, but apparently the Flames of War demo at ShawnCon II was a big hit. Lets see if we can get some conversation started on this front (no pun int... aw hell, it was intended). I need to participate in a game myself. I dislike being on the outside looking in. It appears to be a good time, fare not too overcomplicated to be a hang out and beer out game. There's so much going on that the strategy is surely there.

Who wants to weigh in with their experiences, either at ShawnCon II (Ken, Bryan) or in their other forays (Devon, Shawn)? I'd like some recorded back and forth. I know Ken was very impressed. He wants to do a KenCon I very soon.

On a Flames of War side note, Shawn's lovely idea to have background sound was a hit. It inspired me to pick up the rest of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack (copy to iTunes, resell...) for use on War of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (I have the deluxe edition, Dan, with twice as many characters), or even fantasy-themed games like BattleLore (our attempt to play LotR music last Thursday was stamped out by conversational Michele).

War of the Ring -

While Flames of War was going on, I was in a two player game of War of the Ring. It was looking very satisfying. A newbie was crashing his troops with futility against my walls of Lorien, and I was finally feeling able to forget my overconfident defeat at the hands of the vile Devon! :) But two players wasn't very social, and the still impressed opponent bailed, jealous of the 6 people playing Flames of War. Curse you, Flames! You burn the pubes from my very testicles! :)

Anyway, I'm dying to play a real 3-4 player game of War of the Ring, to make it more social, and get people over its complexity hump. With more play under my belt, the rule sets multiple targets for competition, and it's balance, looks very promising.

Next, some stuff about... after ShawnCon II...

Tigris & Euphrates -

We've finally made some headway here, with Bryan, Devon & Ali now having a decent idea of how to play, and not too far from having a beginning sense of the depth of quality. I was worried, after playing two player games with Devon, then with Shawn, that the... thin... spanking nature of that method vs. AnonAmos would flounder. I only meant to teach the rules there. There's so much more going on in 3 & 4 player games, without the game becoming all about who has the biggest kingdom, and the desperate tile discards to win desperate internal conflicts.

And Shawn just said that he's interested in playing again, to get a better sense. Dan & I are pleased. Dan's the only one, so far in the year and a half or so since I've been running games by email through BGG, that has consistently played and been able to finish games. If only Shawn could figure out why his computer won't let him play it online. Jay had the same problem... in spite of his love of the game.

What are people’s thoughts on the game?

BattleLore -

Excellent playtime with BattleLore last Thursday. We broke out both Shawn's &, uh, Devon's copies, combined the boards, and played a makeshift "epic" battle. The landscape wasn't masterfully designed for gameplay, and many of the special hexes (like the fortress, the thieves' den and the real use of the pentacle) weren't in play. And with limited units and command hands, movement and action was restricted. But it was a cool overview. And the whole "lore" aspect for magic is a great addition.

For anyone not there, Devon, Dan & I pulled out a human and dwarven victory over the humans & goblins (of Shawn & Ali). If I do say so myself, my web spell to prevent Shawn's heavy unit from crushing Devon's heavy unit was the linchpin of domination!

On the docket soon... a go with Memoir '44, which Devon has played, and which Shawn and Bryan really want a trial go at. Not that it'll hold up well once Tide of Iron is released in April... :)

Online Paintball Resources

So, a few emails have gone back and forth over the last few days regarding the upcoming paintball season. One item that I think is very exciting is that Devon and Bryan recently walked the land below Devon's, and they are discussing setting up a paintball field there.

I realize this is a bit off topic, but that is most excellent.

When I lived in the Burlington area, I was really into paintball, and I am looking forward to getting back into it with the gang here. One thing, I am going to have to pick up a new marker, becuase I sold all my gear when I moved here 3 years ago. Anyway, Dan was asking about online resources for paintball gear, and I thought it would be useful to post some here:

http://www.pbreview.com/ This is a site that has reviews of markers and gear. I don't really know how valid the reviews are, and they seem to skew high, but it may be a good place to start getting feedback on a gun you are looking at picking up.

http://www.xpaintball.com/ This site is a good one for buying markers, gear, and paints. I've used them before, they seem to have good prices, and a great selection. A great place to get base level pricing on gear or guns.

http://www.tippmann.com/ I admit it, I am a HUGE tippmann fan. my last marker was a 98 custom. This is a bulletproof, solid, and very upgradeable marker. Great for a lower cost rec baller, who wants to throw it in a closet after playing every week and not worry about it. Anyway, tippmann has a nice forum on thier website as well.

http://www.ebay.com This is a great place to shop for used gear and guns.

For those of you just getting into Paintball, I hope these resources are helpful. Bryan has a ton of paintball experience, so would be a great resource to tap, and I am looking forward to talking to him more about his suggestions for markers, etc.

One thing I am trying to figure out right now is what type of gun to get? as for price range I gues I am looking at "the high end of the low end", and will probably try and pick up a used marker. My fallback position is a Tippmann 98 Custom, but I really like the A-5's and hear they are fast. I think I lean towards a mechanical, rather than and Electonic marker (call me old fashioned), althought Smart Parts has come out with a very highly regarded lower range marker called the Ion.... it looks really interesting, and is electronic. I may check those out.

Secondly, though, I like milsim guns-- there are a couple options in this category, but they get more pricey than what I am probably willing to pay. I am a big fan of woodsball and recball over speedball (a waste of paint, IMO), but dont want to compromise looks of a marker over performance. When I had my 98 C, I upgraded it with a closed bolt, drop forward, and good barrel and had very good luck with it.

So, for anyone else out there with paintball experience, what are your thoughts? Any good sites to add to the list? Any gun reccomendations? What do you like to play?