Silly Thanksgiving Project

In the US, the Thanksgiving holiday is about a week away. 

I have some time off from work so I should be able to fit in some games. The question is "what should I play?"

The answer came in a roundabout way.

• I'd like to play some Dominion of.
• I should get Pilgrims involved.
• Pilgrims vs. Indians? Too obvious. Besides, the holiday celebrates an instance of cooperation between the two cultures. Shouldn't they work together?
• WAIT. What if ...? No, that's too crazy.

So I'm going to do it anyway.

Many years ago, my LARP group did a silly Thanksgiving themed scenario - we fought fire-breathing dire turkeys! Let's do the same.

I decided to make some one-off special counters, incorporating a variety of Thanksgiving foods. I grabbed some icons off the web and got creating.

Here's what I have so far - dire turkeys, pumpkin chuckers, and potato heads.

The potato heads are melee infantry, pumpkin chuckers are artillery, and I will likely use the tank stats from Dominion of the Trenches for the dire turkeys. I want some skirmish infantry - thinking cranberry or corn shooters.

Creating the Counters

I'm not sure if I'll keep the counters after the game, so I plan to take a simple approach to making them. Instead of using Litko plastic bases, I will likely just use cardboard. I have a load of Amazon and Chewy boxes lying around to scavenging won't be an issue.

The Opposition

I will use my generic counters, specifically the black faction, for the Pilgrims. I may give them some Indian allies using brown.

The Scenario

Who knows? I'll whip something up.

Nocan Season 6 Underway

Gaming proceeds slowly.

After the Dominion fantasy battle, I've been focusing on Nocan and his arena adventures. I have begun season 6. It's taking me a while to finish because Nocan is doing well. Shocking!

I'm going to save the detailed results for a later time so I can have all the matches in one post. But I'll leave you with a preview.

Nocan (right) finds himself pitted against a novice dwarf axeman. As a veteran, Nocan has a sizable advantage (no pun intended).

The first pass. Nocan charges. The dwarf's axe hits Nocan and forces him to stumble. But Nocan relies on his experience-honed reflexes to get in a head hit.

Score 2-1 Nocan.

Nocan uses a reroll to increase his damage.

Second pass. Again Nocan grabs the initiative. This time, both get in head strikes.

Score 4-3 Nocan.

Nocan chooses not to use his last reroll, saving it for the last round.

What happens in the final pass? I'll save that for the full season results.

Thank You Veterans

God bless our veterans!

Hold the Line!

The Hyenid War - Part 3

Returning to my LARP's fantasy world.

Background

After the disaster in the desert, the Empire scrambles to defend the heartland of Palmyra. It scrapes together some auxiliary cohorts supplemented by one legionary cohort.

The hyenids pursue into Palmyra.

Battle of the Little River

The Imperials set up defenses at a small tributary of the mighty Kemi River.

The Empire (red, bottom) sets some archers and the auxiliaries behind the river. The legionaries guard the right flank.

The hyenids include some archers (left), and beasts of war (right) along with regular warriors.

The archers (left) take each other out. On the other flank, the legionaries halt the beasts but are too decimated to continue the fight.

The hyenid warriors rush across the river and slaughter the auxiliaries.

The Empire is defeated!

What Next?

Technically, the hyenids win the campaign. However, I'm thinking they should try to sack the capital of southern Palmyra. Stay tuned!

Still Messing with LARP

I'm still busy with LARP so no new games.

I added an update on my LARP armor experiments.

LARP Project

Rather than playing any games last week, I've been piddling around with a LARP project.

If you are interested, read more here.

Maybe I Spoke Too Soon

Last week, I went on about my increased output of posts, largely due to the Dominion of series.

Well, I may have spoke a little too soon. My production has dropped off considerably. Throughout most of this year, I have had a backlog of posts, which I space out through the month. Right now, I have nothing in the tank.

What factors are causing this drop-off?

1. LARP

LARP season has returned and I find myself dedicating more free time to LARP preparations.

For example, I worked on the helmet and shield (not pictured) for my death knight NPC.

I also spent time working on scenarios for this season and prepping other NPC costume bits.

2. Crash and Burn

Starting in July I got caught up in a Voidfighter bug. I played some aerial games in anticipation and then planned a project after the rules came out.

But it was all short-lived. The rules failed to hold my attention and the project slipped into oblivion.

3. What Next?

Similarly, my engagement with Dominion of has faded. Don't get me wrong, I still love the rules. I just don't know what I next want to do with them.

• Previously, I went all-in with ancient battles, playing all 36 of the scenarios in the expansion.
• I also did Lexington-Concord and Bunker Hill.
• I played a few 19th century campaigns (Austro-Prussian, Austro-Italian, and Russo-Turkish) using Spear and Bayonet. I could upgrade to Bismarck, but I'm a little variant'ed out.
• I have one campaign, set in my LARP's fantasy world, but it's not gripping me.

I just don't know what era or campaign I should game next. Nothing is grabbing me at the moment.

Going Forward?

I'm using Nocan as filler, but that is not enough. From my experience, however, these doldrums don't last forever. I just need to ride it out.