Catching Up and Change is in the Air!

I haven’t posted anything in some time, why? I’ve got a new(ish) job!

I say ‘ish’ because I’m still working at the same place, I’ve just changed role, though I’m still doing a bit of my old job, as there was nobody available to take over. Currently, I’m on a casual contract but I’m putting in full time hours, which is why I haven’t been posting anything – I haven’t had time.

I’m working a bit of an odd day at the moment. Start at six in the morning, finish at eight (that’s my old job), then I have breakfast, walk the dog, and back at work for ten. I then work until I’m done, so far that’s been around five or six.

I’m used to doing some hobby stuff during the week, usually writing up a Blog post or taking photos, leaving the weekends for a bit of painting and the odd game or two. Now I find myself short on time and something has to give, which has been posting. Where I’m going to go with this I’ll come back to shortly, as there’s something I want to catch up on and share with you all first.

UKGE

Friday 2nd of June saw us making our way towards the UK Games Expo and what a great time we had. The week leading in was half-term and the first half-term in a long time where I found myself working whilst the rest of the family were off – how strange it was. Still, I’d made sure l was off for the EXPO.

It was Yasmin’s second visit to the convention. Her first was 2021 when COVID restrictions were in place, we all had to wear masks, and the EXPO was quite small, so she was really looking forward to this one.

We live just 40-miles away from the NEC but the journey took us over 2-hours; the traffic on the M6 was heavy and slow moving, mostly due to the frustrating variable speed limit – 40, then 60, then 40, then 50, then 60, then 40, changing every half-mile or so for no apparent reason – I’m sure someone is watching on the cameras and having a good laugh to their self!

More queueing to get into the NEC car park, which was busier than I’d ever seen it before for the EXPO on a Friday. This was followed by a lengthy wait in yet another queue to collect our tickets. I never get this bit. We book our tickets online but still have to wait in a queue to collect them with others who are buying theirs at the show – booking online gives you no advantage. No, I just don’t get it. Everything else I’ve been to where I book tickets online either allows you to print them out like a day before, or you get in a pre-booked only queue that sees you processed quite quickly.

Anyway, that’s all the negatives out of the way, the EXPO this year was the best I’ve been to so far, we had a wonderful time.

There were lots to see and do and unfortunately for us, not enough time in the day to do it all. We’d have liked to have taken part in some demo’s, especially of a Vampire based card game that caught Yasmin’s eye. Indeed, we spent a good 20-minutes chatting to the person manning the stand, but they currently had a demo taking place and we were going to go revisit later – it never happened!

Yasmin spotted Skyrim: The adventure board game on Modipheus’ stand and that really caught her interest. Unfortunately, they hadn’t got it set up to demo, as their main focus was on their other Elder Scrolls game, A Call to Arms, a skirmish game. Yasmin is a massive Skyrim fan and she’s spent many an hour scouring its world for adventure, and so she was really keen on us getting the game. However, it was priced at a whopping £160 on Modipheus’ stand but I had seen it for a lot less on a traders stall, somewhere in the halls.

I was a bit on the fence. I’d seen a single review of the game and, whilst they thought the game could be very good and a true representation of the video game, they couldn’t get to grips with the rules. They claimed them to be unplayable, a complete mess, and gave up on the game.

In the end, by the time I’d been talked into it, we couldn’t find the game for sale anywhere else, and I wasn’t going to fork that much out on a game that might not be any good.

So, what did we buy. Well, there were a lot of traders and some fantastic bargains to be had this year, which harks back to when I first started attending – latter years haven’t been so good in the realms of bargain hunting. I immediately snatched up a copy of Marvel United and The Crew: Mission Deep Sea.

Marvel United is a fast paced co-op game that makes a great filler. It’s really easy to play but offers enough of a challenge to keep you interested. Plus, the variations of Superhero and Villain give a wide arc of replayability just in the base box. There are lots of expansions, all reasonably priced, and so this could be a game we spend a lot of time with (We have actually played a couple of games and were delighted with how it plays). Of course, it also has some rather nice miniatures, if you’re in to the Chibi look that is. I’ve never been keen on the look, myself, and yet, as soon as I had them out of the box, I wanted to paint them, they look great!

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a co-op trick-taking game that sees the players working through a vast variety of missions. Haven’t played it yet but I’m hoping it will be something Due likes.

A few other games followed. The War of the Ring, second edition, a game I’ve always wanted to play and was extremely happy that, after watching a review with Yasmin, she announced she’d really like to play it too. I’m currently reading the rules to this one. It’s a massive, highly thematic, war game that features asymmetric play where one player controls the good guys, the Free Nations and the Fellowship of the Ring, whilst the other (bound to be Yasmin), leads the forces of evil trying to defeat the realms of good or snatch the ring from the Fellowship to win.

Root. Another game I’ve always wanted to play, and again, Yasmin was all for it after watching a review – I think it was the cute meeples that did it. More asymmetric play and a game that’s going to take some investment into learning properly, but we’re all for it. You could describe the game as another war game, but with a little more to it than that. It’s a battle of the wilderness between its many inhabitants, such as the Cats, Fox, Rabbits, and Birds. It’s a game that’s best with three or four players, but we don’t mind, and are aiming to eventually buy the expansions that automate the factions.

We picked up Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, which we knew we’d enjoy because we both like the game Pandemic as well as the theme of Cthulhu. Having managed to play a couple of games I have to say we were right. The Pandemic mechanisms hold the game together but there are enough differences to make the game feel quite different. It’s also tough to beat, at least on first impressions. I mean, we’re old hats at the original game and I’d like to say we’re pretty good at it, so I thought we’d do better than we did in our initial games. I’m glad, though, that we didn’t, as the challenge should make us want to play the game even more.

We finally managed to grab a copy of the last Mansions of Madness big box expansions that we needed for our collection – yes, more minis to paint. We got it for something like £25, which is an absolute bargain considering other stalls had it up for over £60!

It adds more of the same, which in my book is a good thing – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, just add more! We’re waiting for the summer holidays to play this one.

All the time we were there Yasmin was going on about the Bring and Buy – she loves a good bargain. I’d never ventured in before, as I was loathe to join the massive queue that always curls its way around the wall. After much curtailing I eventually succumbed and we joined the end for 20-minute or so wait, but boy, was it worth it.

The Bring and Buy was like an Aladdin’s cave, full of wonderous things. I could easily have walked out of there with a trolly full, as it was, I could just about carry what we did buy.

It could be seen as a bit of a gamble, buying second hand games. What’s the contents like? Are the cards grubby and bent? Are all the components intact? Is anything missing? Is that wine spilt on the board? I needn’t have worried, at least with our purchases.

First up, I pounced on a game I’d wanted to play since I first saw a review of it back in 2018, Thunderstone Quest. I picked up the box with a grin and then promptly put it back down again, as just behind it was another copy, only this time it was the Kickstarter version in a much larger box. I had to have it.

Next was Chronicles of Crime 1400, spotted by Yasmin, as she hunted the lower shelves. For just over a tenner, we had to have that, especially as it looked brand new. It’s a game Sue and Yasmin really enjoy playing together – I’m not wholly a fan – and so it was a no-brainer.

Legends of Andor was quickly added to the pile, as was Mage Wars Arena, a game we were both keen to play. Much more could have been added to the pile: Mage Knight, Core Space, Imperial Assault, Gaia Project, Mystic Vale… all were on our wants list, but Thunderstone Quest weighed a ton and money was now getting short, so we called it a day.

We left the NEC after spending eight great hours there and immediately started talking about next year. Yasmin wants to go for two days, as she’d really like to spend more time around the demo’s and playing games. I suggested we could stay over at the Hilton, where the Expo expands into. I’ve looked into it, but most rooms have already gone, leaving just the more deluxe ones. I’ll think about it. At least next month I should get a full wage packet and might be able to stretch to it.

We also know that we’ll be spending a lot of time in the Bring and Buy and Yasmin even said she’d start saving up – words I never thought I’d hear!

But what condition were the games in when we opened them up, I hear you cry?

Well. All were complete and most were in excellent condition. I say most. Thunderstone Quest was the exception…

Lifting the lid, I was somewhat taken back. Everything was in its original packaging. Indeed, the game had never been played. The card decks were still sealed, and everything was pristine. I was a very happy man (boy at heart!).

Times, They Are a Changing!

Okay, back on a serious note.

As I said earlier, working full time now has left me with just a few hours over the weekends free for my hobbies; painting, gaming, and Blogging, something has to give.

You can see where this is leading, can’t you?

Blogging came about because of my hobbies. With no gaming or painting there would be no Blog.

At the moment I have around 10-months to run on my WordPress subscription, so that’s how long I’m giving myself to try and make something worthwhile work. For now, I’ll be reducing down to a minimum of posts, probably just a monthly roundup. I’m not very good at writing in short burst, I like to sit down for a couple of hours and bang on with a post, that way I can get into a flow, so one weekend in a month dedicated to Blogging might produce something decent.

I’ve still got a lot to say. Plenty of painting in work to talk about, lots of new games ready to play and give my first thought on. Indeed, I wanted to revisit the reviews I did five years ago, as well as getting back to writing new ones. Unfortunately, I have a whole host of minis to paint too. I do have lots of games, new and old, that I really want to play. And, of course, there’s Yasmin, who’s really looking forward to kicking my butt at Root, to think about. I can’t do it all and I think it’s obvious where my priority, and my heart, lies.

So, we shall see what happens over the coming months, and if I can get back to posting decent material on a regular basis, then I’ll continue, but sadly, I’m not holding my breath. Either way, I will make efforts to keep up with what everyone else has been doing, as I’ve let that slide too over the weeks. The gaming community means a lot to me and that’s something that I’ll always be involved with, no matter what happens in the future.