First adventures in DC Online.  First impressions leave me thinking DC worked very hard to get this right and they succeeded, in my opinion, on almost every level of what makes a good MMO.  Some of the complaints I've heard echo more of why I got tired of other MMOs (WoW, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Eve).  DC is quick adventure, great gear, excellent pacing while leaving player options wide open.  I haven't experienced much of PVP, but it looks good so far.

First Attempt at Painting Miniatures

I worked on a practice mini from Jason.  We are working toward painting a set of MERCS minis and I wanted a first go at something with which we weren't going to play.  This guy represents that first foray into the process.  The use of the black wash worked well, I thought, to add to the leather gloves texture and make the outlines look heavy and worn.  Just getting started with the process and going mostly on just what I've seen elsewhere so I'm sure I'm making some mistakes, but I hope to improve through the process.

Call of Cthulhu

Played my second game of Call of Cthulhu the LCG with Linds.  It's terrific fun with clever mechanics, great Lovecraft inspired art and intense gameplay.  I lost the very first play out of the box as Linds proved the master tactician.  I clutched the win tonight from an 0-2 deficit in which I almost lost by a card two or three times.  It really brought the tension of the Arkham Horror game with it.

Fantasy Flight: LCG Mini-Site

Fantasy Flight has put together quite the theatrical promo/demo which actually does an adequate job of conveying the core concepts of the game and introducing a majority of the rules.  The LCG (Living Card Game) is FFs way of taking a collectible card game and encapsulating it into complete playable chunks.  It takes the random collecting out of it and replaces it with more disciplined card management and balanced play between two people.

Print and Play: Arkham Express

Detectives going about their work.

Arkham Express game layout.

Monsters are getting thick.

 This is my first attempt at a Print&Play board game.  I chose Arkham Express to make as a birthday present for Anthony who is currently deployed in the Army over in Afghanistan.  Just got word that he received it recently and enjoyed it.  Game design is by David Willem and I heard about this permutation from the Print&Play podcast at http://printandplay.blogspot.com/.

Brett, who is a board game connoisseur par excellence, added this to my repertoire as a means to add creativity to the hobby as well as titles to the library.  Most P&Ps are not available commercially and therefore offer that extra special get to the collector.

I enjoyed playing the tester round (solo) of this game enough to contemplate crafting one for my personal use, however that might diminish its uniqueness.

The mechanics are solid and offer enough variety and fun for a small group as a diversionary lark.  Dice are rolled and results kept or rerolled similar to Yatzee.  The die results give the player the actions they are allowed to take that turn.  The terrifying twist is that, unlike Arkham Horror, once the investigators close the requisite 6 gates Cthulhu must then be fought for the win.

Trying

I guess I just don't know how to use Blogs.

Downtown Sacramento Monuments

"First come nature that creates
and is not created.
Then comes nature that is
created and creates.
(Produces sensible world)
(Which you must feel)
Then comes nature that
is created and does
not create (in-sensible world)
(which you cannot feel)
(but must know or acknowledge)
(by invention or imagination)
Then comes nature that is neither
created no creative
in whom motion of things
is search of manifestation
(or is it perfection)
is terminated.

The Baked Potato

Really enjoying the quality of the meal that is Baked Potato. Having them cooking downstairs and I can smell them up here. Delicious. Savory. Should be ready soon :D