Store Tournament Report – Edmonton, Alberta area - 22 March 2014

Eight players showed up at Gamers Alley in Sherwood Park (just outside of Edmonton) to play in what might be the first Netrunner tournament in the area. Not sure why we are so slow in getting organized, as Calgary has had a few already. Hopefully this will be the start of a more active tournament scene.

This was not a store championship. Being that this was the first tournament in the area, we were a bit unsure if there would be enough interest. I think there was enough interest to warrant FFG prizes and perhaps store credit for our next event.

As there were no prizes, I decided to just play the maximum amount of matches, so the tournament was 4 rounds, no cut/elimination.

Identities

We had a bit of an unusual mix of identities. Shaper was most popular, representing half of all runners (2 Chaos Theory, 1 Kate and 1 Kit). Three players stuck with criminal, surprisingly all Gabe and one lone Noise. 

Android: Netrunner - Fan Fiction - Mr Smith Goes To Weyland

Smith surveyed the Security Operations Room. It was as he expected it. Rows of technicians hunched over their workstations, centered around a large screen at the front. All of them human and in no way similar to each other. Sometimes you could tell who you were working for just by looking at the staff. Everything looked state of the art. To be expected when working for Weyland Consortium. They had the money and were not afraid to spend it to protect their interests. A very young and inexperienced looking man approached him. He looked like the picture you might see next to the definition of Easy Mark in the Anarch hacking bible.

Dale: Good evening. You must be Mr Smith. My name is Dale. I am the junior Security Officer assigned to assist you.

Smith: Is this your first time, Dale?

Dale: I have observed a number of operations, but this is my first time acting as the junior security officer.

Smith: Is one of your family members someone I should know? You're not related to the Chief Security Officer here at Weyland?

Dale: I graduated at the top of my class and I can assure you I am fully trained and ready to provide advice on what tools we have available.

Smith: I hope you are. Without someone to watch over you, you are going to have to be very good if you want a long career at Weyland.

Dale: Yes, sir. We have all the usual tools at our disposal...

Smith: Skip that. I read the briefing. Tell me about the hacker.

Battlefield 4 Announced (with trailer)

Battlefield 4 has been announced for fall 2013.

Here is the 17 minute gameplay trailer:

Android: Netrunner - A Study in Static Card Spoilers

The next Netrunner Data Pack, A Study in Static,  is due out this week, but the cards have been leaked on Board Game Geek. This appear to be legit.

Check out this post for the pictures of all the cards (scroll down a bit).

A easier way to view the Study in Static cards at CardGameDB.

First Deluxe Expansion for Android: Netrunner

Update: More Card Spoilers in this thread.

The first expansion for Android: Netrunner was just announced in this Press Release from the Fantasy Flight website.

Called Creation and Control, this expansion adds three new Shaper and HB identities, such as this one for  HB:

Custom Biotics and the Effects of Influence

Would your business plan benefit from extra influence with outside corporations? Haas-Bioroid’s Custom Biotics division believes that influence is the key to success. More open to the exchange of corporate data than other Haas-Bioroid divisions, Custom Biotics leverages its influence within the industry to gain access to the most powerful and efficient ice, upgrades, assets, and operations developed or implemented by NBN or The Weyland Corporation. However, the division’s work in fields that approach Jinteki’s areas of expertise have led to a tense rivalry, and the two are not currently exchanging data or ideas.

And "Kit", a new Shaper identity:

Rielle “Kit” Peddler, the Puzzle-Solver

Each piece of ice is built differently, but most fall into one of three archetypes: sentry, barrier, or code gate. Accordingly, runners learn how each of these strings of code tend to function and develop proper counter measures. Sentries are the most aggressive of ice, and runners typically develop icebreakers that permit them to slip past the sentries or “kill” them. Barriers stand between runners and their goals and must be broken or “jumped.” Finally, code gates work like miniature puzzles. They modify a runner’s approach toward a server, and unless a runner can “solve” the puzzle, the run is wrested away from the runner’s control. But what if you could see the underlying puzzle in any piece of code? Then, like Rielle “Kit” Peddler, you might be able to use fewer tools to successfully navigate corporate servers, thus limiting the amount of time spent building your rig and increasing the amount of time you spend running.

The expansion is to contain 55 new cards with three copies of each for a total of 165 cards.

In addition to the identities, that leaves 49 other new cards, twenty-seven of which will be neutral. Interesting additions to an excellent game.

Release date: Q2 2013

New Upgrade for HB from Creation and Control

New Shaper Program from Creation and Control

Noobs and Noob Play - Session Report - Android: Netrunner

This session report is for two games played on 26 Feb 2013. Both players were new to the game and these are the first games using our own built decks and with a proper understanding of the rules. Each player has only one Core set and we each took a turn playing the Corp and the Runner.

First game: Kate vs NBN (Me)
Second game: Noise (Me) vs Weyland

I will describe the second game first as it was a bit of a blowout, while the first game was very close and could have gone either way a few times. At the end of this session report, I will also put out some lesson I learned so that you, gentle reader, will not make the same mistakes.

Session Report - BSG Exodus - Aborted 7 Player Game

This 7 player game was played on 16 February 2013. From the Pegasus Expansion we used Pegasus but did not use New Caprica. From the Exodus Expansion, we used the Conflicted Loyalties and the Cylon Pursuit board, but not the Ionian Nebula. We played without a Cylon Sympathizer.

The players, in turn order:

Baltar (President)- Nate
Anders (CAG) - Kyle
Helo - Cody
Cally - Dimetrios
Leoben (Cylon) - Tim
Dee - Mike
Tigh (Admiral) - Me

Just as in the show, I am one of the Final Five. Finding this out will result in the other player being executed. 

Blog Post by Jon Shafer Designer of Civ 5

Follow this link to a post by Jon Shafer from his blog about the design of Civ 5. This is a very open and self critical reflection of the good, the bad and the choices made in the development of Civ 5. Public honesty like this is a rarity.

Of course, this is serving to promote his Kickstarter for a new game in development, At The Gates, but is still a good read.

Android: Netrunner

I recently decided to get into the card game Android: Netrunner. Card games are popular at my FLGS, with Magic: The Gathering being the obvious choice. Anyone familiar with the collectible card game scene will know that M:TG is so popular that it has laid waste to all the other collectible card games, some with very popular IP's, that have tried to compete with it. For those not in the know, if you want to play some type of collectible or limited card game, if it is not Magic, it might be difficult to find other players. 

While I do play some Magic, (I have to, it is so popular) I don't like the way collectible card games are designed to milk the customer. Constant releases of cards, new decks every 3-4 months and the random nature of what cards you get make it more of a pay to win type of game.

Hegemonic Kickstarter Update #14

With 5 days to go, the Hegemonic Kickstarter has reached its $55k stretch goal.

If you enjoy 4x Space Board Games and want to be one of the first to play this game, head over to their Kickstarter page and make a pledge.

Hegemonic Kickstarter Update #12

With nine days to go, Hegemonic Kickstarter has hit the $50k+ mark. This means that the Arbiter button will now be included. This is the first of the exclusive goals.

For me, the most important stretch goal was the $45k one, which is the layered board that prevents the movement of tokens on the player board. This is a big pain in Eclipse, so that goal is appreciated.

The next goal I am eager to see met is the Fringe Houses goal. this should add additional character to the game. This goal is met at $55k, and should be met quite easily.

The next goal I want to see is the locking hexes (you can tell, I don't like pieces to move). This is the $100k and the final goal. I don't think this is likely to be met in 9 days.

If you like 4x space board games, go give the Hegemonic Kickstarter a look. Except if you are in my game group. I am hoping for this to be another one of my "great finds".

Next Gen XBox and PS4 Spec Rumours

Here are the latest rumours about the specs for next gen Microsoft and Sony. Theses are supposedly coming out of  CES, so perhaps they have more wieght.

Next Playstation: 1.84 teraflops run time capability, 4 GB ram (1 GB for system OS, 3 GB for games).

Next XBox: 1.23 tereflops run time capability, 8 GB ram (3 GB for system, 5 GB for games).

Link to original article.

Mental Illness and Violent Video Games

This topic has been in the media a lot lately.

This article is by someone who suffers from bipolar disorder and has played video games since the beginning.

Great article. Read the whole thing.

Hegemonic Kickstarter Update #7

Here is the latest update from one of the games I am supporting on Kickstarter.

Yippy! We've made our next stretch goal of player aids added to the game! Thanks for the support. Now we need to push for the VERY important double-layered player boards to keep those damn tokens from sliding all over the place by mistake.

We're still waiting on the review videos but that should give this campaign a kick.

We are still projecting meeting at least 50K and maybe hitting plastic at 80K if everyone helps with the push.

While player aids are nice, I really hope they meet the $45K goal. I think the layered board is going to be the most handy stretch goal (although the plastic pieces and the locking board are also pretty neat).

If you are interested in Kickstarting Hegemonic there are only 18 days left.

Another Kickstarter - Battle for Souls

Here is another Kickstarter project I have been considering throwing my support behind: Battle for Souls.

It looks interesting and there are some game mechanics that I find interesting for my own projects.

Using Kickstarter

Lately I have been looking into Kickstarter. I am thinking about using it for a project I am working on, so I thought I would check it out first. 

I decided to support a few projects, both of which are board games. Games are one of my areas of interest and the subject of this blog, so it would be natural for me to look in that area. I did not find anything in the area of video games I was willing to support. 

The two boardgames I am supporting both look very complete and are, I think, a  safe bet to be published. I am a little more cautious about video games. Even a well known video game studio, at the peak of its popularity and with all the money in the world, can screw up a great franchise at the last minute (I am looking at you Bioware and Mass Effect 3). So I will be very cautious about supporting video games.

I will update the projects I am supporting on an irregular basis.

One is already completed but there is still time to support the other:

Tomorrow: an apocalyptic nightmare

Hegemonic

Check them out.

Session Report - Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients - First Play with Expansion

This 7 player game of Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients was played on 12 January 2013 and was our first play with the expansion, although every player had at least one game with the original. We used the simultaneous turn order and added a house rule of extending the game by one turn, making a total of ten turns. The players were:

Planta – Green

Orion – Black
Mech – White
Rho Indi Syndicate – Gray
Yellow – Draco
Eridani – Red
Exiles – Purple (Me)

The guy who bought the expansion originally put it on layaway last week because his wife said their budget could not afford it so soon after Christmas. As I predicted, he couldn't wait and took the hit with his wife, probably taking the money out of the kid's college fund or some other equally unimportant area, in order that we could enjoy this game. Needless to say, most of us were keen to give it a try.

We set up the board using the 9 player third ring, placing 2 of the new ancients to fill in the gaps of the two missing players. Starting with Planta and going clockwise around the board, the player order was as follows: Planta, Orion, Mech, Rho Indi, Exiles, Draco, Eridani.

Thunderstone Impressions – After one play

I had the opportunity to give Thunderstone a try the other day. Thunderstone is a deck building game similar in play to the most well known deck building game, Dominion. There is the similar game mechanic of buying cards and building your deck. Thunderstone is difference in that it has a fantasy theme, where players use their cards and heroes to go down into the dungeon and kill various monsters. Each monster is worth a certain number of points and the player with the most points when the Thunderstone is revealed is the winner. The artwork is good and the components of suitable quality, similar to Dominion.

A Few Good Boardgame Links

Here are a few interesting links all related to boardgames:

3 Player Eclipse Session Report - A nice report with pictures.

6 Player Battlestar Galactica Session Report from Japan

Tomorrow: An Apocalyptic Nightmare - A Kickstarter board game project

Moral Conflict 1941 - What Axis and Allies should have been?

Halo 4 Release Party

I am off to my first ever release party at my Friendly Local Gaming Store. I am not sure how these things work. It's a small store so there won't be any swag. The owner, Matt, will probably have something Halo related up on the monitors until midnight. 

I am not sure if I will stay for a bit after midnight or rush home to try it out.

With a Metacritic score of 89, here are a few reviews to whet your appetite:

IGN gushing Halo 4 Review

Forbes less than gushing Halo 4 Review

GameSpot Halo 4 Video Review

GamesRadar video and written Halo 4 Review