Memories of a Traveller

[Location: Observatory Hall, Orbital Cluster Philip Augustus, right above the Mediterranean.]
[Previously: At a Company reception, several underlings were talking about holiday destinations when a Big Boss arrived and not only interrupted the flow of the conversation but re-routed it into current politic affairs.]

[Big Boss monologuing] - The vote this weekend is critical, not only for the affected country itself but also for the Earth Union. The Union cannot afford to lose a member, any member; otherwise other countries of the Union will also be attacked the same way and they will have also to leave the Union, making the Union weaker not stronger. It is not that the Union can expel a member, but a country can always left. The real problem is the current government. I really hope your country [Big Boss pointing to one of the underlings] is not going to vote for Permane. They are the same and then your country will be the next in the list...

[The pointed-to underling looks to Big Boss with a distant expression on the face]

[Big Boss first confused, then annoyed] What's the matter? you don't think so ?

[underling] It doesn't really matter. It is pointless.

[Big Boss, surprised] Pointless? What do you mean?

[underling] Five years and six and a half month for today, a real First Contact will take place. Two years and three months after that precise date our species will be on the brink of extinction.

[Big Boss, scoffing] You believe so?

[underling] No. I don't believe so. I know. I was there.

[Deathly silence]

Fly casually

or why I should stop playing x-wing competitively.

Background

Last weeks I have been reading the meta, tinkering and testing my dual phantom plus Soontir list for the regionals which had been the main focus of the last entries on this blog.

Regionals are gone now and everything seems quiet in the western front (actually there is a second regional at the end of this month, but that is another story).

Also this last week, my local group was considering to play a Epic Game. They wanted to go for 200 points each players, tournament style and four players.

Here, I was the calm voice saying things like: we have never done it before, we have limited experience with the CR90 corvette and all that energy stuff, maybe 120 points per person with a lot of time for the game will be better, we play quite and nicely, relax, checking the rules, discussing the game as it progresses and so on. So, I was the calm down voice.

What happened? Well...

Reality

We prepared the teams, discussed strategies, met for the game, did the set up, took some pictures, set the dials for the first round and I managed to destroy the whole mood of the game and ruin the whole concept.

Rickbane and me we were playing imperials, Rombic and darth messenger were playing rebels. As more experienced player, messenger was in charge of the CR90 corvette and Rombic was playing the normal rebels ships, which included an Prototype A-wing (PS 1) and three other craft with PS 2.
The four ships were deployed in formation and he wanted to move them a 2 turn, all of them and made then focus. However, with all the talking and the fact that he was having another A-wing which was supposed to do a 3 turn, he put the two dials of the A-wings on a 3 turn, which will disrupt his formation.
When he was revealing the dials he was saying aloud his intentions, namely all 2 turns and focus, but the dial was showing a 3 turn. We pointed this to him, he turned the other A-wing dial and surprise it was also a 3 turn, however he just keep doing the intended 2 turn which was fine, we were playing casually and for fun, right ?

Not really...

He had moved already other two ships after the "misplaced" A-wing, I was still talking about something else or about this particular movement when something, I don't know what or why just snapped in me. I just turn to him and said something like:
sorry, you need to move back those two other ships and move the A-wing a 3 turn which is what is in the dial, so is the rule (yes, the rule, the tournament rule) and, by the way, I am serious about it.
Death silence for a second.
Mood completely spoiled and the whole idea of the game, learning and having fun gone; just because of me being a [please insert here appropriate insult].
Maybe it was the fact that I played a tournament the weekend before, that I am having some stress in my life at the moment or that I am completely out of my mind, but the truth is that I was completely out of line.

Yes, sure, a few minutes later, during the second round, a little voice in my head said to me what a moron I was and I apologized to him, and he was so nice not to hold a grudge about it and the rest of the game was (more or less) fine and that they win and destroy my two ships before the fourth round (I think this was karma coming back); but that is not the point, those are amendments which needed to be done after my performance.

My point

I am trying to learn from this and trying to learn to fly casually and no be a moron with/about this game. Hope you never encounter someone displaying out there a behaviour as stupid as the one I did.

Fly casually and see you around.

Star Wars X-Wing Miniature Game - Unboxed and 1st impressions review

Well, after listening to the d6generation podcast I was were enthusiastic about this new game, so I ordered the basic core box and this is what I found inside :)

Three very nice ships: two Tie fighters and one X-wing. Contrary to what I was told, the material allows for deformations of the models and actually the X-Wing four cannons are not perfectly straight but I can life with it.
The ships are supposed to fit into a plastic peg which goes into the base. Those pegs are cylindrical and with the corresponding holes for the fitting, which are not round but have wedge shape so that the pegs do not rotate when mounted. This translate in that the ships can also not rotate over the base.
This should no be a problem BUT the X-Wing is not perfectly aligned with the orthogonal position, so any person will instinctively try to fix it right by turning (when we try the game, after assembling the ships it was precisely that what my friend and opponent for the game tried). Luckily he knows how delicate this join points / pieces are and did it carefully and realized his error on time, but imagine the opposite and you have a broken ships or peg. The second is not so much of an issue, the first, well...
I think this is a particular bad design point of the ships, which on the other hand look very nice and detailed.
I do not see the need of a fixed peg which can not rotate. I think this complicated the components without offering any substantial advantages

Further components:

 And all the pieces on the table :)

1st impressions

The rules:
They come in two sections. Basic and Advance rules. The basic rules are really basic. I would not play with only them, they are too simple and the game offers nothing in terms of excitement or tactics at this level.
The advanced rules are a bit more complex but not very good. I will explain.
The ships can not collide with each other. The movement is performed using templates which fit into the base of the ships and it is very fluid and easy, however if two ship bases overlap at the final position of the ship moving, nothing really happens except that the moving ship "breaks" and stays just before the other ship, in base contact and they can not declare themselves in attack.
On the other hand, there are rules for obstacles, such as asteroids, whereas if you fly through the obstacle (the template overlaps with the obstacle) or you finish your movement in the obstacle, the moving ship get an attack of 1 dice.
The reasoning for the non-collision of ships is that the space is 3D and big enough for the ships to maneuver so that they do not collide, this reasoning seems not to apply to the obstacles.
I see the point of the obstacles as an interesting feature of the game (and needed) but then, why limit it to other obstacles and not extend that also to ships.
Maybe I would like to ramp with my Tie fighter the insidious X-Wing. But, this is alas not possible with the actual set of rules.
Also, the game is supposed  to represent 3D combat, however the rules are totally 2D. There is no indication of different levels of altitude, so all the ships are flying on the same plane.
I know this game is based on the previous Wings of Glory, but I cannot recall if that game was having altitude rules. If not, why no one bothered including them here ? If yes, why they removed them?
I know that it is very difficult to represent 3D on a 2D board, but this game not even tries to do that, it just ignores it.

The Core box:
Not enough. Just so simple. The box is 30 €, it is true, but with three ships it feels a bit short. We got the impression that at least another core set would be needed to start to enjoy the game and to see some tactical challenges.

The Missions:
We play the first mission, the escort of the Senator twice, changing sides.
The scenario is very neat in terms of winning of losing it, as the movement of the Senator ship and the attack of the Tie fighter are borderline in terms of who will win. Actually in our game, the Rebel won once and the Imperial the other.
However, the X-Wing which escorts the Senator is pointless. It has more shields and hull that the Tie fighters, so it is very difficult for the Imperial player to destroy and for what reason? The objective of the scenario is clear, destroy the Senator ship. So, the Imperial player will launch both Tie fighters against the Senator and disregard the X-Wing.
If the X-Wing makes a wrong turn it would be out of game as it takes ages for it to turn back into the combat and obviously, the Senator ship would not wait for it as two Tie fighters are just pounding on him.
So, basically the Senator runs forwards at maximum speed and the X-Wing try to destroy the Tie fighters which by ignoring him can concentrate fire on the real target.
If the X-Wing destroys a Tie fighter and being honest, he can do one Tie fighter per turn with a bit of luck, nothing really serious happens. At the end of the turn, the Imperial player gets another Tie fighter as reinforcements coming from his boardgame side which is the same side the Senator has to go.
So, think about this, the Senator is running towards the direction from which one the Imperial reinforcements are coming !
Therefore if the Rebel destroy a Tie Fighter, another exactly equal appears in a better position as it would be directly in front of the target to destroy.
Now, tell me, why will the Rebel player try to destroy Tie fighters ? Just to avoid two of them firing to the Senator, yes, point given, but that would only be so if the X-Wing manages to destroy one Tie fighter, each and every round.

The second mission is Lucke Skywalker trapped inside of an asteroid field waiting for four complete round before being able to activate his hyperdrive and scape in the fifth round.
At the beginning I was very excited because we were using some of the characters from the movies with better stats, but it does not matter if you are playing with the core set.
In the first mission, the Tie fighters are on the hands of Academy pilots which are both equal and with pilot skill lower than the Red Squadron pilot of the Rebel player. So Imperial moves first and attack last.
In this mission, the Imperial have again two pilots with pilot skill lower than the Rebel pilot, only difference being that the imperial pilots have different skills and one goes before the other, but again both go before the Rebel pilot and attack after.
Yeap, true, they have special skills and so, but it feels a bit too short again.

My final impression ?
Well, I am disappointed. The reviews I read and specially the podcast crew, they were all very excited about the game, the rules, the scenarios and so on, and maybe they are right, maybe the game is great, but with the Core set you do not feel it so, or at least, I do not feel it so.
But, even if I would have two core sets, two advance Tie fighters and one Y-Wing, the 2D rules would be the same and I cannot see me expending around 100 € in miniatures for a rule set which is below optimum.
Maybe if there would be a More Advance Rules, then maybe...

Also, the FAQ is already there and a lot of people apparently were discussing what my opponent in the game calls "millimetre discussions". That is, when you start arguing about the relative position of a ship based on an accuracy which is far beyond the experimental error of the game.
You are moving not so heavy items over card board templates with your hands !
Of course it is not possible to make machine precision movements. Of course, it would be never possible to move a ship in a crowded area of the board without disturbing the others, specially when the template has to go over those other ships.
Therefore I found funny that one of the FAQ was about how to use the range ruler, if its broadness was used for the measurement or not, so that you can add one or two more millimetres to the arch of fire of the ship. I find this ridiculous.
In the first game we play, after two movements, there was one situation where a Tie fighter was dubiously able to fire against the X-Wing. My proposal was to use a dice, my opponent says, "no, too much dices is no good, we will give the advantage to the attacker always". We could also have given the advantage to the defender. That is not the point, the point is that some people need a ruling about one millimetre (!?)
Anyway, it was not my intention to criticise anyone.
Coming back to the game.
It is a nice game, but with several shortcomings. The rules could be better and it looks like just an excuse to collect Star Wars miniatures. This last is not so bad if you are a Fan boy (which I am) but still.
Maybe I am just tired of investing money in games to which I never play...


Update: I almost forgot, I was so in a disappointed mood and maybe a bit depressed too that I just decided to invest my money in people instead of in plastic and so I visited the Extra Life Charity Event under the sponsoring from Craig Gallant (from d6generation). Here the link just in case you decide to give away some money to help some Children's Hospitals:
http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=34681

Zero Tolerance

This blog was actually intended to deal only with hobbies and similar stuff, non with "real life" concerns (apart from the cooking recipes) but, sometimes, real life just makes you (even more) to be somewhere else (in time and space).
From a English language news source in the Netherlands (source)
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Problems with Poles? Report them to us, says new PVV website
 (Wednesday 08 February 2012)
Geert Wilders' anti-immigration PVV party has launched a new website where people can report complaints about central and eastern European immigrants in the Netherlands.
'Do you have problems with people from central and eastern Europe? Have you lost your job to a Pole, Bulgarian, Romanian or other eastern European? We want to know,' the website states.
The website is illustrated by newspaper headlines such as 'Wouldn't it be better if you went back?' and 'Eastern Europeans, increasingly criminal'.
Insight
PVV parliamentarian Ino van de Besselaar told the AD the aim of the site is to develop proper insight into the 'problems caused by central and eastern Europeans in terms of crime, alcoholism, drugs use, dumping household waste and prostitution'.
The results will be delivered to social affairs minister Henk Kamp. Questioned by Nos television, Kamp refused to condemn the PVV’s campaign, saying it is up to individual parties to decide what they do.
Discrimination
According to media reports, the Polish embassy in the Netherlands is 'not pleased' with the initiative. 'Insulting party initiatives do not contribute to calm discussion,' a spokesman is quoted as saying in the AD.
Last year, the Polish ambassador to the Netherlands Janusz Stanczyk said the attitude to people from eastern Europe 'borders on discrimination'.
Over the past year or so, local and national politicians have called for action to curb the 'tsunami' of Polish and other Eastern European workers in the Netherlands. Social affairs minister Henk Kamp even called for jobless Poles to be deported, even though this is impossible under EU rules.

(© DutchNews.nl)

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This is Europe today...

Doctor Who Experience

Great Experience !
Really, one of the best things to do in London those days.
The setting is everything you would have expected. The entrance to the show lies on the way of the TARDIS where you are received by the very enthusiastic crew. The waiting is not a big deal as some real size models of events in the Doctor Who universe are around to keep you busy.
One inside the show, you will see a short film before entering the crak in time and space and try to help the Doctor to escape out of the Pandorica.
The experience is really interactive since the very first moment as the Doctor is really talking to you, as part of the audience in your way through time and space, wherein and wherewhen you encounter several iconic moments of the story.
After the show, there are some exhibitions rooms, one dedicated to the Doctor, one to the Companions and one to the Adversaries (they call them Monsters, but I prefer the term adversary as more neutral :D )
In the room dedicated to the Doctor (depicted) you can see all the incarnations of the Doctor as well as read something about his character and mood under such incarnations.
The Companion's room shows all the past Companions of the Doctor as well as reproductions of the TARDIS and some footage from the old TV Series.
The Adversaries section can spoil you some of the more recent episodes (2011) as the accompanying text details the outcome of some episodes.
Here you will find also a projection room where you can watch some of the "how it was done" of the last season episodes.
At the end there is, of course, the shop where you can buy some nice merchandising, including DVDs and books.
A very thrilling experience for all the family.
Enjoy !

Apple?, Maybe not, thanks

Maybe I am unlucky with their products but so far Apple scores really low in my personal list of useful and reliable things.
First Apple device I got was an iPod Touch 32 GB. Nice thing, still working, no problems at all. 1 point for Apple.
Second product was the iPhone 3G, the same, still working, a bit slow nowadays with the last upgrade of the software but still functional. Another point for Apple.
Third item, a MacBook pro. Nice thing, quite fast at the beginning, quite slow now with the Snow Leopard last upgrade, but already once in the repair service. The Nvidia fatal error. Dead Nvidia graphic card. Luckily it was still on time to enjoy the extended warranty. Quite annoying that a product so expensive and not over used breaks after less than three years. Minus one point for Apple.
Fourth was the Apple TV. One of the worst things I have bought in my life. Continuous problems with the synchronization with the iTunes, specially after ANY update, either of the AppleTV or of the iTunes. Really hate the thing. Minus one point for Apple (actually it should be more minus points, but I try to kept this rating non-emotional).
Time Capsule was the fifth and the last Apple product I got so far. Very nice and useful toy, even if I was having some issues with the connectivity of mac and PC on the same wifi, however two weeks ago it decided to die. One day it was plugged but switched off. According to the apple forums, it seems to be a failure of the power source due to overheating. The problem is well-known and apparently solved in some Time Capsules, but not in others. This time the serial number of mine is not in the "lucky" range for the repair action. The thing was two years old. Again, quite annoying that something so expensive and which supposedly will keep my data safe as backup device, breaks suddenly without any warning nor apparent official repair options (according to the apple forums they usually offer you a discount in a new one and even AppleCare does not cover the Time Capsule). So, another minus point for Apple.
Total score: -1
Sorry Apple,

Xmas jobs

 

 

 

Bad Evil Distillery

Last week we were in Scotland for a short holiday. The country is great, full of nice people and beautiful places (also the other way around ;D ).

The idea of the holidays was to spend a long weekend in Edinburgh (Military Tattoo included) and surroundings, therefore our time schedule was a bit tight.

Thursday was the visit to Castle Rock (wiki), an impressive construction and view point of the city. Friday was the free walking tour in Edinburgh (Official Site) and a comedy show (Pappy's All Business).

Until that point in time everything was smoothly according to the plan.

Saturday was a very compact day. The idea was to pick up a rental car in Edinburgh at 0800 and head for Loch Ness to be back in Edinburgh the same day late in the evening (well, night). In the way to Loch Ness we intended to visit Stirling, Callander, Glen Coe, Fort Williams and Fort Augustus (south end of Loch Ness) and back over Perth to the initial city.

Along the trip we wanted to visit the Ben Nevis Distillery (Official Site) which should be open until 1600. So we hurry up to be there with plenty of time to be able to visit the place, taste some whisky and buy some bottles. We were serious about buying as in our group there were two persons who actually love whisky and who actually planned their holiday's luggage letting some extra empty room for the bottles. According to the webpage of the distillery, the place should have been fantastic and the visit to the place should have been one of the nicest moments of the trip.

That was the Theory. Reality was a total disappointment.

We arrived there at 1500 (sharp) but the only lady there promptly informed us that even if it was one hour before closing time, it was not possible to visit the place anymore but that the shop and the visitor centre were, of course, still open.

According to the webpage:


"After your experience with Hector, a conducted tour of the production areas by a trained guide concludes with a complementary 'tasting'.

After your tour around our distillery why not relax with a refreshment or if you are hungry, try some of our delicious home cooking in our coffee shop and restaurant. It will be an unforgettable treat."



However, there was nothing there to drink or to eat. Even the tasting was impossible, because as apparently they do not have a "Pub licence", they are not entitled to serve you alcoholic drinks. I was not aware that you would be punish in the UK by offering alcohol for free inside of a building to an adult person. But, of course, if you were part of a group, then the tasting was included in the visit (?!)

Incidentally I must say that such a group happens to arrive at the same as us, therefore all the attention of the only lady there was focused on this group with total disregard to our small group (only six of us) and a poor couple which was waiting in front of the desk to buy some souvenirs or some bottles, what exactly I don't know.

Briefly said: If you are in Scotland, enjoy the country, but don't waste your time with this distillery. It is not worth of your time. There are more pleasant things to do in Scotland that to be disregarded by a mindless minion.

Obviously, our two whisky lovers were totally sunken by the "unforgettable experience!".

However, the day after we visit The Scotch Whisky Experience (Official Site) which was, by far, a better place.

Goal !!!!

The Forest

This story is the result of a proposal to write a very short story of less than 300 words with the only premise of the title being "The Forest". Hope you like it.

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It is dark now. 

I canʼt see them, but I can hear them. 

They are close now. 

I told them, told them it was not a good idea to come here. 

Too far away. 

But they never listened to me, except maybe Mike. 

Yes, Mike. 

Mike always listened to every one, even me. 

Good fellow, Mike. Yes, good fellow. 

But he was the first one who died. 

Actually, he didnʼt die. 

He was killed. 

Killed by them. 

They killed him. 

Damn forest! 

I told them we were too far away. 

Not even the GPS signals reach so deep in the forest. 

Anna tried to get some reception to determinate our position. 

The idea was to find the river. You find the river, you find the exit. 

But, they didnʼt listen to me. 

I told them. 

But anyway, she tried to climb up the damn tree. 

She broke her legs. 

Ok, maybe only one of them, but that was bad enough. 

We tried to help her, to carry her, but she was too heavy. 

We let her there. 

They got her. Damn it! 

I cannot stop hearing her cries. 

They got her. 

They killed her. 

But, they didnʼt stop there. 

They kept following us. 

They kept getting us. 

They kept killing us. 

Now it is dark. 

I am the only one left. 

I think. Not sure. 

Too dark to be sure of anything. 

Only thing sure, they are there. 

I canʼt see them, but I can hear them. 

The river. 

I have to find the river. 

It is close. 

I know. 

I can hear it. 

But, it is so dark now...

Groningen

Green Biker

Princess of Norway

The King of Skandinavia (2)

The King of Skandinavia

Happy Easter !!!

Minoes

Murcia

The Castle

Homer !!!