Reaching the Top

On May 16th, Samantha Larson achieved her goal: she reached the top of Mount Everest. Larson is 18-years-old, the youngest foreigner to reach the top. Samantha made the climb with her father. It was the last of the so-called "seven summits" — the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents — all of which they have climbed.


In this time of constant bad news, how wonderful to read of this accomplishment (by a blogger no less). Check out Samantha's blog and first-hand account here. This serves as a good reminder for all of us to never stop reaching for the top.

Mission Never-Ending

.

It was apt that the Democrats sent Bush the war funding bill on this, the fourth anniversary of his over-eager victory march and press opportunity. And, sadly, equally apt that he would veto it.

There's no great psychological analysis to be done here folks, the motive is simple: in football terms, our President is running out the clock. To watch troops leave Iraq sans "Mission Accomplished" would be for the man to admit defeat, to admit that the advice of his star-headed neocons was wrong, and to admit that the biggest decision of his presidency was the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history. He simply won't let himself be saddled with that sort of legacy.
Instead he'll do what they often do, pawn it of on the next guy. A word of advice: observe what an incoming president inherits. Does he enter office with a surplus, or with a deficit? With America respected in most of the world or hated? Pay attention, and remember who did what. It'll help you make sense of things in the long run, because there's an amazing amount of people with pretty crappy memories, and many are part-time pundits.

Some in Washington has gotten the message of reality, even as they run the spin cycle full tilt on the public. A translation: when a Republican senator utters the words "mistakes were made" regarding this war, it's code for "we fucked up royally, so royally in fact that even though it's our policy to never, never admit mistakes, there's simply no hiding it"—but even then the very prose deflects blame onto some unknown third party. Not "I was wrong" not "Bush was wrong" but simply acknowledging the horrendous mistakes in the barest of terms, as if they occcured in a vacuum. Nice try though. If things had gone the way they planned and expected, they'd be crowing off the rooftops, not palming of lame apologies masked as acknowledgments of a war gone poorly.

Being a patriot is tough. There are sadly those who will attempt to wrap that flag around your eyes and stuff it in your ears to block out reality. But true patriots do more than mouthe the words. They worry about the care the troops receive after they arrive home wounded (physically and otherwise), they don't dishonor our nation's heritage, and they think before they act because all actions have consequences. I fear this country will be paying the cost of the "Mission Accomplished" for years and years to come.

I hope and pray we can bring home all our troops safely, and soon.

Goodbye John

John Inman, 71, died today. I'm greatly saddened at the loss of such a talented, funny man.


The actor is best known for his hysterical portrayal of Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, a sales associate at Grace Brothers Department store in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? John's emotive style and comedic timing were great, and he conveyed things purely through his eyes or the use of a pause to the perfection of many funny scenes. His scenes with Dick Lucas (Trevor Bannister) and Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sudgen) were especially good.
John died after a long bout fighting Hepatitis A. He will be greatly missed by his long-term partner Ron Lynch, fellow comedy actors, and many fans.

Truth to Power

Here’s to Chuck Hagel, senior Senator from Nebraska, a Republican, for having the guts to buck his party line on the recent Iraq resolution. Senator Hagel blasts all his colleagues in this wonderful clip.


Timothy “Chuck” Hagel has recently shown a rare spirit in Washington, putting the lives of Americans and the truth above his own political salvation and false nuances of the sort both parties have become so well versed in. Senator Hagel, sir, I salute you.

Five Minutes to Midnight

Today scientists will update the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock, a symbolic construct designed to reflect how close the world perches to total annihilation. Perhaps it’s ironic that, 60 years after the Clock’s conception in 1947, we are right back to where we started … a mere 5 minutes to midnight. The clock has changed times over the years, but we’re almost as close as we’ve ever gotten.

No great statement or moral here. Only the hope that, together, the people of the world can reverse the course we’re on. Maybe we can buy a few minutes more.

Talking Points

On this cold and growing ever colder January evening, I’m steeling myself for the President’s speech tonight. At this point, tuning in is like waiting to get struck with a cream pie – it’s like a bad joke you can’t help but turn away from. We’ve been promised a rhetoric-free speech, but...

I’ve decided to keep a quick tally and keep score:

• Uses of the word “victory” = –5 points per instance
• Uses of the word “success” = –5 points per instance
• Uses of the word combination “victory/success in Iraq” = –5 points points per instance
• Reminders of the danger we face if we leave “without achieving victory” = –10 points*

• Admitting mistakes made already in Iraq = +5 points per mistake (+10 if he admits personal responsibility)**
• Stating specific goals or strategies, beyond the obvious (improving Bagdad security, etc.) = +10 points
• Stating promise to end war before he leaves office = +20 points

*It's a valid point that leaving Iraq in the throes of a civil war is dangerous, but the neocons should have thought about that when they hatched this war.
**I expect that, quite early in this speech, we’ll hear a frightfully rare admission of mistakes made from Bush — it’s required to build any credibility whatsoever for the speech — so I’m basically starting him out ahead here.

A negative score and he fails. A positive score he passes and I’ll score it a good speech (never mind the idea that a surge will actually do anything, but that's a subject for another post). I’ll keep score and meet you back here later.


Alright, I'm back ... and here's the score:

• Uses of the word “victory” = –5 x1 = -5
• Uses of the word “success” = –5 x1 = -5
• Uses of the word combination “victory/success in Iraq” = Ouch! –5 x5 = -25
• Reminders of the danger we face –10 x5 = -50

• Admitting mistakes made already in Iraq = (A big hit for Bush here!) +10 x1 = 10
• Stating specific goals or strategies = (general goals mentioned only, but I'm feeling charitable) +10 x1 = 10
• Stating promise to end war = +20 x0 = 0

Grand Total = –55 points
We'll give this speech a score of lame.

Sorry folks.
It's worth noting that the name of this new White House initiative has been titled "A New Way Forward"; the name of the last plan was simply "The Way Forward" ... what's next? Let's see, Yet Another Way Forward, A Way Forward That's a Bit Saner, A Way Forward After I'm Outta Here, the mind boggles at the possibilities.

Happy Holidays!

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2007!


You can read a bit about the holiday’s traditions and history here.

If you aren’t big on holidays, you can get your Festivus pole here.




Ho ho ho!

Comfort Food II (and healthy too!)

Sorry I haven't posted in a while ... the holiday time gets a bit nuts. Perhaps I'll be better come the New Year.

A few weeks back we decided to cook up something a bit more healthy—a nice salad topped with sliced chicken. In addition to the grilled chicken flavored with red pepper and grilling spice, we threw in some red onion, diced tomato, and sliced avacado. Dinner cost us less than 5 bucks, and it was pretty healthy besides. Yummy.

Boardgame Night Recap: World Domination

Saturday night Schizo, Larry, and I met for a good round of Risk 2210. This was the first time I remember playing with only three people (we had a last minute cancellation), and the lower number of players made for an interesting dynamic.

We also played using fan-made simulations of two of the Hasbro Frontline expansions, these being add-ons for R-2210 that were distributed as tournament prizes but never officially marketed or produced.

The first Frontline expansion presented a new playing board of Mars and two moons, to be used in place of the regular Earth and Moon playing boards. The second Frontline expansion added a new commander—the Tech commander— to the mix. The Tech commander adds a variety of new, weird cards to the pool, with new cards that allow energy investment (with a random payoff), the ability to move through an area with a devastation marker, and similar rule-bending weirdness. The majority of the cards involve energy-related plays.



The third expansion, and arguably the most popular, presents Factions. Each player now begins with a slightly different set-up: number of energy chits, type of commanders, number of moon bases, etc., and each gets a unique power. The Havoc faction, for instance, starts with a mere one energy but gets a Nuke commander (in place of the Diplomat) and has the ability to draw three nuclear cards at the start of that player’s turn, examine them, and play one immediately for free!

The fourth and last expansion to the Frontline promotion was “Invasion of the Giant Amoebas” and offers a scenario that involves landing and breeding aliens that infest the board and are immune to command cards.

The guys were game, so we tried using the Tech Commander and Factions expansions. (Two of the six factions get a tech commander to start, so the second and third expansions fit together well.) We randomly determined starting factions—Larry drew the Havoc (Nuclear Anarchists) faction, Schizo the Silicon Knight (Technologists), and I the Fusion Conservancy (Conservationists). My power involved gaining a tech commander and getting an 20% energy bonus at the start of my turns. Schizo too got the techie, as well as the fearsome ability to choose and play certain cards from the discard pile.

Play was fast and aggressive, except for one turn in which everyone seemed content to solidify their holdings. I usually end going for the western half of the map, but my random starting placement put a majority of my men in Asia (a rarity for me) wih a few others scattered on all the continents except S. America. I loaded up troops in three spots in Asia (including the Middle East, in case Larry actually took Africa (a move I would later be thankful for) and I placed a moon base next to Europe to help prevent incursions from that quarter. Finally I placed two small heaps of men in North America, so Schizo wouldn’t simply roll over the continent.
Schizo, true to form, went after and quickly secured Europe and began with a majority in America as well. He also began by placing additional troops in America, but made only small forays there for the next two turns.
Larry seized Australia and Africa on the first turn(!) and soon moved to dominate South America (a continent that eventually changed hands three times). This was scary; he literally controlled most of the southern hemisphere.

As the game progressed, America soon stood at an impasse, with three colors (most Schizo and I) present. I desperately tried to seize and hold Asia (something that proved as difficult as expected, despite a fortuitously placed devastation marker) and Larry easily grabbed all of South America, marking him as a front runner. I was largely unable to defend Asia against multiple attacks, due in part to lousy defending rolls on my part, and I had to sit and gaze helplessly at the largely defenseless America. By Turn 3 I was the dark horse, and only my 2-point Moon continent saved me from ruin.

At this point we all had barely used our special abilities, and I began to purchase cards in earnest, using my extra energy to good effect. We all used missile strikes to good advantage, especially when striking a country inhabited by a single commander (basically instant, unstoppable death for the commander). I bagged a large number of commanders, taking three from Larry in one turn. Meanwhile Larry spread into the uninhabited sea areas (giving me extra Asia entry points to worry about) and used his bonus nuclear cards to create havoc. Schizo sent his own contingent to the Moon to attack and nearly eliminate mine and also pushed hard through America and into South America (failing only to take Argentina).

The endgame was marked with large pushes by all players. I used a special card to swap bid places with Schizo, getting my fourth and fifth turns back to back. This was a huge risk (no pun intended), as going first the last turn leaves you completely at the mercy of the players to follow. My gamble was to cash in on a complete Asia (something that wouldn’t stay intact for long), buy plenty of cards, and ravage the globe. If I hit the other guys hard enough, they wouldn’t have the troops or energy to respond with much force. An existing treaty with Schizo prevented Asia-to-Europe conflict, but a strike via Africa was possible… I pored troops through most all of Africa and also rampaged through America, carefully leaving chokepoints of troops at the obvious Asia entries. I also killed Larry’s naval commander in an attempt to prevent sea entry and seized a small sea area.

Larry responded in kind, taking back pretty much all of Africa, restoring his naval commander, and easily slicing into lower Asia—so much for holding Asia! Schizo also did well, killing off my key commander holding the Middle East and taking back much of America. My death traps slowed him but didn’t stop him from taking many countries. When the smoke cleared Schizo and I were tied for points, with Larry coming in third.

It was a great three-player game. The night also featured a bout of dice weirdness, in which Larry and I, rolling dice to determine who went first after a tied turn bid, rolled six-sided dice and tied four times in a row. I enjoyed the Factions experiment—hopefully next time we’ll use our powers a bit more. Risk 2210 has easily proved to be the best Risk update IMHO, lacking the randomness of Risk Godstorm or the unexciting nature of Lord of the Rings Risk, and I look forward to our next encounter on future Earth!

Victory?

Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Exit Polls

It's over. The Dems came through, and their victory march delivered a strong message to Washington.
It was a long night for most newscasters, and I understood. As expected, a few Senate races are nail-biters (and Virginia is still up in the air as I write this, although AP has declared Webb the winner). We'll just have to wait and see.

Me, I already happy that that crazy, looping biorhythm that is American politics has swung up again. A decade from now the people will probably get tired off it all again, and another cry of "Throw the bums out!" will be heard across the country, but for now it's enough to see Carl Rove and his hyper-partisan, 51% style of campaigning thrown for a major loop. He didn't see this one coming, at least until it was too late.

For now I will bask, pleased that the Congress has turned in a new, less fanatical (if possibly more gridlocked) direction.
I hope the President has the wits to work with his new Congress, a Congress that will actually implement that rather quaint custom of oversight.
I hope all the mandate-braggers of 2004 put this election in their pipe and have a good pull.
I hope we all, even me, realize that politics is politics but we do have soldiers at risk and we need to pull together if we are to get out of this Middle Eastern mess.
I hope we heal as a nation.

I hope.

The Final Push

It's Election Day, time for the final push, and the time to see our democracy in action.
It's exciting. I love watching the results, much as others might watch a horse race or a sporting event, but beyond the mere sport of it, the very Americanism of it all, lies the stakes—Iraq, our foreign policy, our security, and our very rights as Americans—the stakes simply couldn't be greater.

The usual negative nonsense has appeared on television, just like clockwork. The movie-style announcer voices, the grainy black & white, mugshot-like photos, and the awful smears. We've struck a new low this year, on both sides. Some of the worse spots I've seen, no great surprise, slammed the Democrats. In Tennessee, Corker ran an ad (quickly yanked but endlessly replayed for free over the next several news cycles) that suggested that Corker’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Harold Ford, who is Black, chases after White women—a blatant play on the last lingering racism in the area (although most Tennessee folk quickly rejected the ad, bless their hearts). Another choice ad attacked a Democratic House candidate in New York for calling sex lines with taxpayers’ money (in fact, an aide misdialed an office number by using the wrong area code and hung up immediately, costing the tax payers a whopping $1.25 for the error). And so on.

Now it’s down to the wire. I’ve already voted and served my civic duty, and I can only sit back and wait for the exit polls to come in. Control of Congress hangs in the balance, and by this time tomorrow I’ll know the story … the suspense of it all!
Will the country get a new direction? Or worse gridlock in Congress?
Will we get some real oversight and direction in Iraq? Or yet more of the same profiteering and ignorance in the face of reality? (Sorry, my biases are showing.)
Only time will tell.

God Bless America!

Gen Con Sunday in Pictures

Sunday was a whirlwind, our last day at the Con.

We arose early, hurriedly packed, and raced over to the Convention Center. Our first stop was the Miniatures Room. Many folks had departed. but there were still plenty of gamers left and lots of awesome dioramas.

We hit the dealer room yet again, picking up the creepy art collage we had purchased earlier and checking out a few of the newer boardgames. I also dove headfirst into boxes of obscure game supplements, while a stood patiently by. Some many bargains, so little time!

There was definite “Sunday atmosphere” on the floor, and most of the dealers seemed low-key, somehow chatty yet tired and looking forward to the chaotic roll-up that was to come later that day.

I stopped by to take a good look at the awesome (and awesomely expensive) Ptolus book. It was beautiful and had the highest production values of any gaming book I’ve ever seen. Sue & Monte Cook were there, so we chatted with them for a few minutes. Monte is evidently a Spock’s Beard fan, and my ‘Beard t-shirt was a big hit. A meanwhile chatted with Sue about editing. (It seems most “designer wives” end up handling some editing duties one way or the other.) Both Monte and Sue were great to meet.

Our next stop was Atlas Games, so I could pick up my copy of Gloom. We bent Michelle Nephew’s ear for a moment and she was very nice and willing to chat. At one point she was demonstrating Gloom for a would-be customer, and every several minutes this guy would swoop past the booth and grab one of the Gloom demo cards sitting out on the table. I watched amazed as this goon zipped by at least three times, picking off a card (they were there some people could see what the game looked like, not to be taken) each time. Dude—just buy the game, for crying out loud!

Ratatosk’s Final Booty List
• Battlebox accessory (Fiery Dragon)
• Dungeon Crawl Classics #31:The Transmuter’s Last Touch (Goodman Games)
• Dungeon Crawl Classics #35: Gazetteer of the Known Realms (Goodman Games)
• Gamemastery Item Pack cards (Paizo)
• Gary Gygax’s Hall of Many Panes (grabbed for $10) (Troll Lord)
• Gloom game (Atlas Games)
• 1 size 2XL “Roll the Dice … It Builds Character” T-shirt (a present for Markus)
• Larry Fine sticker (Stylin)
• Some cool Q-Workshop dice (half presents for the Willster)

And some used items (basically all in new condition except I4):
• Ravenloft, Silver Anniversary edition (TSR)
• Module I4 Oasis of the White Palm (TSR)
• Dragon magazines # 297, 310, 326
• Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (a snap at $18) (Wizards)

Soon it was near time for my signing, so I hustled over to my booth and sat behind the draped table for about 45 minutes, talking to customers. It was very cool being on the other side of things for a change and talking to people about my adventure was great.

Dice city!


Soon after we both beat a hasty exit and fled for the airport. (There I grabbed a bright red “INDIANA” t-shirt as final memento.) I spotted a group of people near our designated gate, sitting on the floor and playing Shadows Over Camelot in a last ditch effort to squeeze yet one more game in. Sitting a few rows ahead of us on the return flight was Chris Doyle (author of Goodman’s DCC #7: Secret of Smugglers Cove and ENnie-nominated DCC #11: The Dragonfiend Pact)—little did the passengers know they were surrounded by adventure authors! Less than two hours later—our flight was early this time—we were back safely in New Jersey; it was over.

Gen Con Saturday in Pictures

Saturday morning we were knackered and we overslept somewhat, and then got to a late start because, idiot that I am, I misplaced the seminar tickets I had picked up the day before. (It turned out I needn't have worried, as reported online the seminars are basically walk-in affairs and even the popular Paizo seminars could be entered with nary a glance at a ticket. Much ado about nothing.)

After a quick bite we headed off to our first seminar, Paizo's "Writing for Dungeon Magazine" seminar. RPG companies take note, this is how it should be done. Erik Mona, Publisher of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, ran a tight, well-orchestrated event. Moments into the seminar he laid out the plan, telling the attendees exactly what to expect, and then he and his staff went by the numbers, beginning with explanatory stuff for the newbies, giving advice, running through a collaborative workshop exercise, and finally answering questions. It was informative, professsional, and fun.

The next seminar was hit and miss, the subject being tie-in writing. There were some good, experienced writers at the table, but between the tired between-author quips and ego-stroking the point sometimes got lost. These authors were giving their time to teach others, and I really appreciate that, and it shouldn't all be deadly serious, but people are there to learn first and foremost... not be entertained (which most of us were not) by endless joshing among the participants. 'Nuff said.

At this point, after a good 3 hours of seminars, A and I exited the Hyatt and walked down to the Indiana State Museum. It was already hot, and my ever-heavy backpack was thumping against my back in a steady rhythm. We checked out a few sculptures outside the nearby Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and then walked into the museum proper, following a state-by-state walkway that lead finally to Indiana as you reached the door. The welcome cool air washed across us as we stepped inside. The museum was small by our jaded New York City standards, but it contained a lot of cool items and was heavy with Indian artifacts and Hoosier lore. A history timeline of Indiana started literally with the forming of the Earth and fossil records, so these Indiana folks are thorough, I'll give them that! I marveled at the ancient arrowheads and we got a kick out of a 1980s memorabilia section that included a Mac Plus computer in with the Pop culture tidbits.





After we ducked back into the convention center for another run-through. As we exited the Dealer Room, we stopped by a large display of card houses. A young gal, barely visible behind the towers of cards, invited me in to aid the construction but I declined, fearing that one poorly timed sneeze on my part would cause a disaster.

I discovered later that at a certain time that evening a mob armed with coins would gather, pelt the card constructions until all were flat, and the coins are gathered for a local childrens' charity.

We finally staggered over to The Ram for dinner. The place was mobbed but the atmosphere was there—Return of the King was blasting at full volume from the large sports screens, to the delight of most of the diners. The place was draped with banners from Wizards and Privateer Presss and they even feature a fantasy-themed appetizer menu during the weekend. Props to The Ram for rolling out the red carpet for Gen Con attendees.

Smackdown!

Standard fair warning: This blog is my opinion, and sometimes things get political here. I respect your opinion if you don't agree.

I'll really want to get back to my Gen Con postings before my memory dims, really I do, but the pre-election b.s. is really flying and the constant warping of reality is beginning to bug me. I feel obligated to add my 2 bits, you know?

Dig Bill Clinton fighting back in a recent FOX news interview ... love it.

Here are some great, well-researched books about just how incredibly fucked up this war effort has been, from the initial selling of the war, to the bad planning (what there was), and the associated corruption:



Okay, enough politics! I'll try to be good and hold myself back next time.

The current score:

Spinning 9/11

Standard fair warning: This blog is my opinion, and sometimes things get political here. I respect your opinion if you don't agree.

Last night sadly marked yet another attempt of Bush to sell his failed Iraq policy. Despite the White House claims to the contrary, the "non-political" speech last night was just that, an 18-minute speech of which barely 2 minutes addressed the tragedy and heroes of 9/11 and the rest of which continued and summarized a series of recent speeches in which Bush has tried to bolster the sagging support for his war in Iraq.

I couldn't say it better than MSNBC, so I'll quote them here:

"The power of his rhetoric is in marked decline, and that's no reflection on the quality of what he says, which is still very high," said Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a neoconservative scholar who has been sympathetic to Bush's anti-terrorism policies. "There's a desire in the country for more deeds, not more words. . . . We are losing a war right now, and there is no way to get around that."

Three previous times in the past 18 months, as public opinion has slipped, White House officials have announced that Bush would embark on a renewed effort to explain and defend his Iraq and anti-terrorism policies. None produced a lasting positive effect on how Americans view either the president or his policies.

This Administration, worried sick about the upcoming November elections, is trying desperately to connect Iraq to the overall war on terrorism, the only strong point the Republicans have left (unless they drag out flag-burning again). Most of the public wisely isn't buying it. The Administration has demonstrated a stubborn adherence to a failed policy began under false pretenses and their failures are manifest even to the blind or hopelessly partisan at this point. They hope to shape the argument into, as one Republican strategist put it, “do you believe we’re at war?”—but the true question is, “do you approve?” Do you approve of an America in which you are branded unpatriotic for questioning the actions of your government? Do you approve of an America that condones torture, secret prisons, spying on its own people, and a complete lack of oversight? Do you approve of the current conduct of our leaders, the level of honestly versus obfuscation they have displayed, their promises kept, and their demonstrated competence?
Only you can decide that. It is your right, and I’ll not brand you “un-American” regardless of your opinion.

I urge my readers to listen to Keith Olbermann’s special comment in full.

Dick Cheney stated to Tim Russert this past Sunday on Meet the Press that, knowing what he knows now about Iraq, he would do it all again, the same exact way. If that doesn't frighten you, I don't know what will.

9/11 Five Years Later

Today all of America came to grips with the still-fresh memory of a national tragedy. The wound is still fresh, and the pain still great.

Tempted as I am to launch into a discussion about foreign policy and decisions made by our leaders, I don’t feel this is the proper time.

I can’t bring myself to speak about world unity either. My desire for peace and understanding is great, but I’m also realistic, and as the famous quote from former British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston goes, “Nations don’t have friends, nations have interests.” It’s sadly true, and don’t fool ever yourself into believing otherwise.

I don't claim to be impartial; I worked within sight of the Towers and I recall my horror from that day still. My brother, a fireman, was there the day after the event, breathing toxic fumes while unearthing grim artifacts. My then next-door neighbor, a loving father and all-around nice guy, parked and then stepped out for a bagel and just missed being crushed to death along with his car. He spent that night wandering in his backyard in shock, trying to make sense of it all.
I myself was lucky to not have been directly affected, indeed barely touched by the event, and I am eternally grateful for that.

Today I have but one wish: I wish peace to those that were hurt or lost someone in this event, and I hope such a thing never occurs again.

Gen Con Friday in Pictures

Friday was busy indeed.

We grabbed a quick free breakfast with the other chowhounds at the Embassy, and quickly headed over the Exhibition Hall.
Folks were flowing through the Hall easily and it was actually cool inside the massive space. I took this as a good omen. I spent the next few hours with A wandering up and down the rows, checking out the various booths. We paused for a quick demo of the latest Ticket to Ride boardgame at the Days of Wonder booth (they don't take unsolicited submissions anymore, damn them all to Hell!), perused the latest Osprey books at their booth, examined assorted minis, and marveled at all the varied Cthulhu merchandise.




I wandered amid the booths in a near daze, surrounded by hordes of gamer geeks happily hip deep in their element. Some vendors had set up gaming areas, particularly for the board games (there's no better advertising than watching other folks obviously enjoying a game) and tables of gamers played away, seemingly oblivious to the throngs of customers streaming around them.


Afterward we worked our way over the Art Exhibit (Jeff Easley was there sketching away—how cool is that?), and soon fell in love with a morbid collage print by Rick Sardinha. It wasn't really for sale, but was basically hanging as an example of non-fantasy work, but after a bit of conversation we made arrangements to pick it up toward the end of the show, glass and all. (This is not to say I don't like Rick's fantasy work—especially his awesome blue dragons—and we had sympathy for a man that drove all the way to Indy from Rhode Island!)

A dead guy plays a few hands of Award Show (Twilight Creations):


A highpoint of the day was having a book signed by Ed Greenwood (author and creator of the popular Forgotten Realms setting). He wasn't hawking a thing, merely signing whatever folks brought up, and I was embarrassed to only have a book that he co-authored for him to sign. All the same, he was quite cool and rather funny. (The rather serious-minded fellow just before me dropped off a mysterious manilla folder with "Ed Greenwood" scrawled across the front and said, "My friend made me promise to deliver this to you, he wants you to read his thoughts on some matters." Ah, the price of fame.) Down the desk from Ed sat Eric L. Boyd and Steven Schend—all the great 'Realms minds in one place!


For dinner we struck the Rock Bottom again and were promptly recognized by our waitress from the day before. Alas, they were sold out of the ribs!

Surviving the Con

Well, it’s over. We survived Gen Con 2006, and it was great.
Rather than making a mondo-post, I’ll post a summary of each day separately.

Let’s start with Thursday night.

Our late-afternoon flight out of Newark Airport was a nightmare. I’ll spare the gentle reader most of the details, but the London business meant that the morning of our departure we suddenly had to leave behind all the travel-size cosmetics and such we had purposefully purchased ahead of time. No shampoo, toothpaste, hair gel, deodorant … you get the picture.

Fearing the long security lines at the airport, we left early, very early. We ended up zipping through security and having nearly 2 hours to kill in the airport. (We also spotted Lee Iacocca standing on the sidewalk a few feet away, thanks to A's sharp eyes, but that's another story.) We then boarded the plane and sat there on the tarmac for 2 and a half hours before the plane even took off—for a less than 2-hour flight! At one point, after an hour of taxiing around the runways, an exasperated passenger across from me asked the flight attendant for a status update. “Well, we’re number ten, and there’s a 7-minute space between flights. Do the math,” came the brusque reply.

Eventually we landed in Indianapolis and a quick taxi ride brought us to Embassy Suites. My expected arrival time of 5-o-clock was shot to hell; it was now 7:30 and we hadn’t eaten since grabbing fast food in the airport at 1-o-clock. So much for my industry party that began at 7:30! Down the street from our hotel was the Rock Bottom Brewery. There we grabbed dinner, including ribs to die for. We resolved to return.

Downtown Indy was nice; elevated walkways, plentiful microbrew restaurants (I made a private note of the location of The Ram, a place known for its Gen Con attendee -friendly atmosphere), and friendly folk. Everywhere milled many young people, many of them bearing backpacks, costumes, or other assorted gear that marked them as fellow gamer geeks in town for the Con.



We eventually arrived at the party at nine-thirty. The party was held at Jillian’s, an eclectic place that I described that night as “a Chuck E. Cheese’s for adults.” I embarrassed myself “shooting” pool and we chatted with our host and assorted folks including Andy Barlow (miniature sculptor for Magnificent Egos, etc.), Luke Johnson (Etherscope developer), Todd Rooks (tournament GM extraordinaire), and his friend Brett.

It was well after midnight when we headed back, but the halls of Embassy echoed with the cries of gamers. (My mind instantly harkened back to the "old days" when I used to spend a full weekend playing D&D with no thought of sleep...) Youngsters!

My Tarot

So here's how I did:

You scored as XI: Justice. The blindfold arbiter weighs the evidence and passes judgement without fear or favour. There can be no appeal. Justice is not necessarily the same as Law. True justice seeks out the spirit of the law, not just its letter. If a law is bad then true Justice will set that law aside. This is the sacred responsibility of those given the power to judge. If well aspected in a Tarot reading, this card can indicate settlement of disputes, the achievement of a just outcome. If badly aspected this card can indicate corruption and failure of justice.

XI: Justice		88%
II - The High Priestess		69%
0 - The Fool		69%
XIII: Death		69%
X - Wheel of Fortune		56%
XIX: The Sun		56%
I - Magician		50%
XV: The Devil		50%
VI: The Lovers		50%
VIII - Strength		44%
III - The Empress		44%
XVI: The Tower		44%
IV - The Emperor		25%

Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Hmm.

That's all for now. I'll post something(s) regarding Gen Con 2006—which I recently and happily attended—when I've got more time. Stay tuned.

Boardgame Night Recap: Night of the Green Knight

We tried out Warrior Knights last night, and found it to be a great game, even with only three people. We all found it incredibly intuitive after a while, and the color-coded cards and bits really help on that end. A good, multi-dimensional game that forces you to keep several plates spinning in the air at one time (so to speak) if you wish to claim victory. As Giles Pritchard says in his review of the game at boardgamegeek.com:

One of the things everyone I have played Warrior Knights with has said is, ‘there is so much going on’. A difference that is important to raise at this point is the gulf between ‘so much going on’ and ‘a lot to take in at once’. Many heavier Euro or American wargames fall into the category of being rules heavy and quite counterintuitive, having read about some of the issues people had with the Warrior Knights rules on the Boardgamegeek I was concerned that it would have those same issues. Warrior Knights is not a lot to take in at once, but there is certainly a lot going on.

Especially fiendish are the mechanisms related to the Head of the Church and Chairman of the Assembly positions. To utilize these positions at maximum effectiveness requires lessening your hold on the position itself. For instance: if you are the current Head of the Church, the position allows you to spend your faith tokens to vastly alter events to your favor (or against the interest of another), but by lowering your number of faith tokens you increase the chance that someone else will become the Head of the Church! This leads to a delicate balancing act.

Now on to a very brief recap:
This was a very pacifistic game—there were almost no player-on-player attacks until the very end of the game. (Having only three players admittedly made it easier to stay out of each other’s way!) Instead, we roamed about and used the siege attack to take most cities, trading speed for safety.
Schizo immediately grabbed the Chairman of the Assembly position and maintained a steady death-grip on the position, using it to net himself a huge number of noble offices by winning numerous tied votes. He didn’t lose the job until the penultimate turn, when Larry (in an attempt to gain two medieval pensions, no doubt) held down the job of both Head of the Church and Chairman of the Assembly! I myself held the position of Head of the Church a few times, only to end up a “double heretic” at game end! Call it my fall from grace.

Militarily Schizo got off to a slow start, while Larry and I netted a couple of cities each. A law that granted 10 gold to each taking of an overseas city helped keep Schizo and I rolling in lucre much of the time, and we all learned (through one devastating Wages phase) to keep enough money around to feed our troops! All three of us had got so caught up investing (read: betting) on overseas trade expeditions that we left dust in the treasury!

Other amusing occurrences included Larry’s seemingly perpetual state of poverty, my cursed luck in general, and a triple-whammy of three revolts (two off which struck a very poor Schizo).

The end-game came suddenly, as we all realized that there was only a turn or two to go and money soon became almost meaningless. Despite his enormous success in the Assembly, Schizo was somewhat behind on influence points, so I concentrated my attacks on Larry and made a late-game assault on his stronghold. Alas, the stronghold held (by tying an incredible 4 victory points!) and Larry went on to win the game (by one point, grrrr)—the nobles shall clash again soon and the fate of the kingdom shall be decided anew, I promise!