Year: 2019 Page 5 of 6

It’s Creeping Close

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On 17th September 2019

In Blog

Company of Legends is now less than two weeks away, so here is nervous as owt Michael for the next two weeks as he gets everything ready for it and finishes painting the last of the new scenery.

Also I did an interview with The Imperial Truth about it, so expect to see that soon!

What I am Modelling

It’s been a slow week, mostly been dealing with other stuff but I did get one model painted, X-102 from Combat Arena.

I also primed my 1000pts of Legio Custodes for the Adeptus Terra Zone Mortalis Challenge, it’s not a lot of models really, only eight in fact.

Right now I am working on Sector Slytherin with Megan, the Ruins just need a wash on some pipes, the Manufactorum needs its final details and the Adminstratium is about 60% done and should be finished tomorrow.

This leaves two sets of Sector Sanctoris Ruins and the three Imperial Sector buildings to do.

What I am Reading

I finished The Bone Desert and it was a really good book, very enjoyable, so thanks Robbie.

Then I read One, Untended by David Guymer and that was also a pretty good read, lots of action and a great short story.

I have also quite quickly devoured Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World, really loved this, once again Black Library just Knock it out of the part when it comes to audio dramas, plus Brian Blessed just embodies Gotrek.

What I am Playing

I haven’t played anything this week, for shame, but I am playing a game of Adeptus Titanicus at Battle Bunker on Wednesday.

What I am Backing

Nowt right now, but I am looking out for project 100!

What I am Cooking

Still not been capable of cooking, apart from putting sausages in the oven, but I wasn’t able to take them out and finish them 🙁

What I am Spending

I bought a few things for Company of a Legends, but that’s not my money so not a huge great big deal!

We got the chocolate bars, which have been subsidised by one of our generous sponsors, we got Twix Xtras in both milk and white chocolate, and Snickers Duo, I also got the required lanyards, photo frames for the certificates, just got coffee to buy now.

For next year we have purchased some Hive Walls from GameMat.eu, two sets of them so that we can offer Zone Mortalis games on two 4×4 tables, I also got a set of Necromunda Bulkead Doors to compliment these as well.

For myself, I finally ordered Kill Team Elites, also Palanite Enforcers, their dice and cards for Necromunda and a few Space Marine Heroes from Series 2.

Planning A Trip To Warhammer World

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On 11th September 2019

In Blog

Lindsay’s office is in Nottingham, right behind Warhammer World, and she is not afraid to tell you that working alone at home has some mental health implications.

Earlier this year I gave up my having my own studio room to move downstairs to share what is now the office with Lindsay. There were two reasons for this, firstly it means that the room that used to be my studio is now a spare room for when nephews and nieces want to stay over. And secondly it means that most days for a good part of the day, Lindsay has an office mate in the form of me and sometimes Megan.

But one thing we agreed upon, was that at least once every six months, we would go to Nottingham so that Lindsay could have a couple of days working at her office with people, and me and Megan would go to Warhammer World and play.

Sounds like Lindsay is getting a raw deal, but going to the office does a lot for her mental health and really give her a boost, this year we have been bad and there was too long a gap since our last visit, but this next year we will be better.

We get there Thursday the 14th November, we go that day because Lindsay has a late start, so we get kicked out just before Warhammer World opens and me and Megan will be playing small games, so Combat Arena or Gorechosen, Gretchinz, Lost Patrol, Combat Cards, Kill Team, Underworld etc.

And then on Friday, when we will be getting an Uber over, we are going to play a game of 40k, Megan is gonna take her Blood Angels for which I have challenged us to paint a couple of new units at least, and I will be taking Death Guard, for which I need to paint a bit too.

And then we shall take a slow journey back up on the Saturday. We have a favourite Travelodge, I mean there aren’t many hotels in our price range in Nottingham that can sleep three people in one room, and there is a nice little pub next door that serves a decent breakfast, so we should be ok for that.

So what I need to do after Company of Legends, is prioritise my painting a bit better, I want to get Nikis Death Korps all done by Christmas and I want to paint up a lot of my Death Guard, so I am gonna have to make a good plan to do it all.

What I am Modelling

Scenery was the big thing for most of the end of last week, I painted, with Megan’s help, a second Bastion for Scottish Graham’s box of scenery.

Then I did a few little bits of scatter terrain, some Promthium Barrels, Ammo Crates etc.

This was followed by the last part of Scottish Graham’s terrain, a Sacristan Forgeshrine.

And my final piece of terrain for the week, a final Haemotrope Reactor, this one was for my box of scenery from Conquest and I used some Grey Knights Steel and in general did a bit more with this piece.

I then started work on my characters for Combat Arena, starting with Neyam Shai Murad and Gotfret de Montbard.

My plan with the rest of the week is to finish the Combat Arena fighters and do some work on Sector Slytherin.

What I am Reading

I have been managing to do a little Reading each night, the reading goals on iOS 13 are surprisingly encouraging.

I finished Farsight, and then read Fire and Ice by Peter Fehervai and swiftly moved on to Aun’Shi by Braden Campbell.

All of which I really enjoyed and to get more T’au goodness I have purchased the T’au Empire Legends of the Dark Millennium book, it contains stories I have already read, but the rest I don’t own at all so it’s good.

But because I was no where near my bank card and Black Library still doesn’t take PayPal, I instead started on The Bone Desert by Robbie MacNiven in preparation for the new Gotrek stuff coming out this weekend.

What I am Playing

I have to played anything this week sadly, but I aim to change that in the next couple of days.

What I am Backing

Nothing new, and haven’t had anything arrive this week.

What I am Cooking

Still having trouble with making anything beyond a microwave meal, seriously sad that I haven’t been capable of cooking anything for over a month now.

What I am Spending

I was quite lucky and won an eBay auction for the Horus Heresy Age of Darkness rulebook for £15 and it’s still sealed in its box.

I did place a small Forge World Order, I got some paint that I had ran out of or had dried up, and the Reaver Titan Warp Missile Rack, and Warlord Titan Macro Gattling Blaster for Adeptus Titanicus.

I also put in money towards getting a Now TV stick for Lindsay’s grandad, we are changing to Sky Q and he has been “borrowing” our multiroom box for a number of years now so he can enjoy the sports, and that’s coming to an end, so we have dropped sports from our package and are subscribing to it on Now TV for him.

A Few Things To Listen To

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On 6th September 2019

In Blog

Seeing how in the recording for the next episode of Edge of Empire, I had my taste in nerdy music revealed, I thought why not share a few of my favourite geeky songs, specifically for Chris and Graham.

https://youtu.be/wL6XdsBFBvM

So yeah this is the kind of stuff I like to listen to a lot!

What I am Modelling

I started by getting some of Nikis Death Korps of Krieg Done in the form of the Thudd Guns and Heavy Mortars and their crew.

I then started to crack on with the scenery we got from Scottish Graham, first up were the Promethium Relay Pipe’s.

Then a pair of Haemotrope Reactors and Thermic Plasma Regulators which went to my Sector Mechanicus Killzone box.

Going back to Scottish Graham’s stuff, I then did some Thermic Plasma Conduits and another pair of Haemotrope Reactors

Then I did a few bits of Aegis Defence Lines, a pair of Vengeance Weapons Batteries, and a Bastion.

For Graham’s tables, all I am left to do is another Bastion, a Sacriston Forgeshrine and a few little bits of scatter terrain.

What I am Reading

I haven’t done much reading this week other than the Nighthaunt Battletome.

What I am Playing

On Sunday I played at the South Tyneside Heresy event, and I had a very good day.

I took Word Bearers and my lists can be read here, it’s a weird setup, you can take a Lord of War, but only in a single game, so very unusual.

My first game was pretty good, was an ambush deployment which is always a nightmare and I managed to roll to not go in the centre, instead my opponent, a lovely Solar Auxilia player was subjected to that.

My Word Bearers did some Deamon summoning and I kinda swamped his deployment zone with wave after wave of Plaguebearers and Bloodletters, which allowed me to nicely win the game, but I struggled against his armour.

The second game was against a Salamanders list, that was tough, I would have got my Glaive out, but the terrain on the board was way too dense to even allow me to think about that.

It was mostly infantry, with some Jetbikes, but no matter what I did I just couldn’t overcome his forces, and he did end up the best loyalist general.

My last game was against Graham, which was a lot of fun, again biggest issue was my lack of anti-armour, and his Firedrakes ripped apart the Glaive.

So overall three good games, but I really need to sort out some reliable anti-armour for the Word Bearers.

On Tuesday I played a game of Adeptus Titanicus against James, I lost, again, but I went in very much the underdog with only 1700pts to his 2000pts.

The Acastus Knights are really powerful, so you won’t be surprised to hear I have myself bought some!

What I am Backing

Fiasco has successfully funded, which is great, and I am backing the Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2 quickstarter, which is my 99th backer project.

Also my stuff from Cognition Volume #1 project arrived, and I am very happy with that.

What I am Cooking

Not a sausage

What I am Spending

Probably spent a bit too much!

Popped into Forbidden Planet and bought myself a few issues of Warhammer 40,000 Conquest, specifically an issue containing the Thermic Plasma Regulators and some issues with the Haemotrope Reactors, and then I went to Travelling Man and grabbed my monthly paint restocking, and the Kill-o-Meter for Warhammer 40,000 Munchkin.

I also bought the new Kill Team Starter Set, specifically because I needed five Reivers, and some more Fire Warriors and the terrain is going to join the original Killzone Sector Mechanicum to hopefully make up a full table of that terrain, along with a pair of the Haemotrope Reactors and Thermic Plasma Consuits.

I also bought Combat Arena from Barnes and Noble, I really love Gorechosen and a 40k version is right up my street, plus the models look great too, and that turned up in record time considering it came all the way from the US.

Gah The Heat

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On 27th August 2019

In Blog

The heat is literally making it impossible to do anything, my body isn’t built for hot weather of any kind, at least not without copious amounts of ice cream (thanks diabetes) and access to a swimming pool!

I have been having a lot of issues sleeping, damn brain weasels keeping me awake and attempting to get again put a story on to paper, I am not good at writing, but I always feel like I want to write a story. Sometimes I consider fan fiction, but I really don’t have the confidence to do that.

And to top it off, I woke up quite ill today and that’s thrown everything into chaos because I have stuff I want to do.

What I am Modelling

This week I finished off the Wall of Martyrs Killzone along with the two extra Defence Lines that came with Advance Team Starpulse and the Exalted Scythe, so that’s another half of a table for Company of Legends done giving us 10 tables we can put out right now.

The club wants to play Warcry today, so I painted up my Iron Golems, but the girls have forbidden me from going because of the ill.

What I am Reading

I have finally finished The Beast Arises, it’s taken me years to get through this series as I have been reading it in a very much on again, off again way, but I am glad I have read it now.

The last book The Beheading was really good, Guy is an excellent and stupidly fast writer, the only thing I disliked about the book was the big time jump, that felt kind of jarring.

I am now going to read some T’au stories to get me in the mood for doing my T’au Empire army eventually, so I have started with Farsight by Phil Kelly.

I also listened to the audiobook of Claws of the Genestealer by Cavan Scott, and that was actually pretty good, the Warhammer Adventures stories are perfect for the audience they are aimed at, and full of excitement. And in this one, the characters have gotten a bit more development which is good, you can only do so much in a kids book, but they really have crammed a load in there. I have now moved on to its sequel, Secrets of the Tau.

What I am Playing

My last game was Catch the Moon, I even wrote a review of it that you can read here, I am thinking of going back through my collection and reviewing everything I have, apart from promotional items.

What I am Backing

I have caved and backed Fiasco, I wanted to go all in and get all four expansions, but money is an issue, so we are only backing on expansion.

Yesterday we worked out my total spend on Kickstarter and it comes to £3602 since 2014 including shipping, which isn’t that bad, I mean it’s only £720 a year, so not terrible right???

The most I have thrown at a single project was £190 and that was on the Alhambra Mega Box Designers Edition, with every expansion ever made, plus a bunch of new modules and the Alhambra Special Big Box, interestingly enough, that’s due for delivery hopefully in the next month!

What I am Cooking

Ready meals don’t count

What I am Spending

I bought myself some paint but other than that not a lot.

Catch The Moon Review

By

On 26th August 2019

In Board Games Reviews, Reviews

So I think I am going to try and write a review for every game in my collection, so what better way to start than with a game that isn’t actually in my collection!!!

The copy we played with actually belongs to Megan’s mum, we played it at the UK Games Expo earlier this year and upon describing it to her, Jane insisted we bring her back a copy, which we duly did.

The Jist

Catch the Moon is a dexterity game by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez in which you start with a nice plastic base, into which two sets of straight ladders are inserted. You will be using these as a basis to stack other Dalí inspired ladders

You then roll a custom D6 which will produce one of three results, either you need to have your ladder touching two and only two other ladders, or one and only other ladder, and the third result is that your ladder be the highest in the structure.

Simply enough, but if you fail then you revive a teardrop token, any ladders which fall, you remove from the game, and the player that caused them to fall gets a teardrop.

The game ends when the last teardrop is taken or you run out of ladders. If the last teardrop was taken, the player that got it, is immediately eliminated, and the winner is the player with the fewest teardrops remaining.

This is a bit hash, I have had no teardrops, then gotten the last one and been eliminated, allowing Lindsay with two teardrops to win. But when checking around for other reviews, particularly Tom Vasel review from the Dice Tower, I have to agree, it’s only a short game, so it’s not like you put hours into something only to lose to a silly rule.

Components

The plastic base is great sturdy and just what you want, the dice is lovely and warm feeling, but the ladders do feel a bit flimsy.

But I would counter that same thought, because whilst not being the most solid material, they need to be light so they can stack easily, so I would say they are right for the game.

Look

There really isn’t much in the way of artwork, the cover of the box is beautifully illustrated by Emmanuel Malin, but other than that and the instructions, there isn’t a lot to really talk about.

What’s Good

To be honest, I love this game, it’s simple and what you get at the end is a unique piece, almost like a work of art.

What’s Bad

The elimination of the last player to take a teardrop isn’t great, but honestly, that’s kinda clutching at straws to look for a fault.

Final Score

I feel confident in giving this game a solid 7 out of 10, I want to give this an 8, but it still leaves me wanting something with more meat, but then I do prefer more in depth games.

That said, this will not be a bad addition to anyone’s game collection, and it’s going on my buy list!

Game Details
NameCatch the Moon (2017)
ComplexityLight [1.00]
BGG Rank [User Rating]2627 [6.75]
Player Count (recommended)2-6 (2-4)
Designer(s)Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez
Artists(s)Emmanuel Malin
Publisher(s)Bombyx, Asmodee, Asterion Press, Hobby Japan and KOSMOS
Mechanism(s)Dice Rolling and Stacking and Balancing

Last Day @ WorldCon and the Return to Blighty

By

On 22nd August 2019

In Blog

Day 5 of WorldCon and by this point I was barely functioning!

We decided that we would use the Luas for the last day and it was only a 10 or so minute walk (with frequent eat stops) to the Smithfield station, and we only had a short trip to the CCD, but boy was it packed.

When we got to the CCD we headed straight up for the Library Bards concert and that was amazing, utterly loved it and it was a real highlight of the Con.

After this we had Games for Science with Steve Jackson and Tom Lehmann which was very good, although I was disturbed part was through it because there had been a small fire in our apartment and we were going to have to move room when we got back, thankfully none of our stuff was damaged.

Then I went to a panel on 2000AD the Irish Connection, which I hoped would touch on things like Murphyville, but it mostly just covered Irish artists and writers for 2000AD which was still pretty good.

Then me and Lindsay met up for Holy Forking Shirtballs – The Good Place Panel, and thanks goodness I had an access sticker, because it was a very popular panel, which doesn’t surprise me as the show is brilliant, but me and Lindsay were able to get in which was great.

The we did a two hour shift on the Glasgow 2024 fan table and had many a fan come and offer pre-support or become a friend of the bid, which was great, I have a lot of confidence that Glasgow will win. And I managed to with great difficulty get into the DeLorean for a photo.

And sadly at this point it was time for the closing ceremony, which was very very emotional, amazing speeches and performances and when James handed over the gavel to CoNZealand it put a lump in your throat.

And this we headed away from the CCD for the last time and it felt very sad to leave our home for the past five days and see our little village being dismantled.

We did want to do the Dead Dog Party, but figured we needed to get back and move room plus we couldn’t really afford the drinks.

So instead we headed to O’Connell Street and had a Supermacs for tea, followed by a trip to Dunnes to grab a few bits for people who wanted us to bring them home, specifically Rock Shandy for Paul, Jane and Rob.

Then we jumped back on the Luas and walked back up to Thomas Street, which was very hard and I had to stop a ton of times, but once we got there we saw that the Spar has disappeared during the day, and realised we forgot a present for George, so we walked down to Tesco and grabbed him a bottle of whiskey, before going back to the hotel and moving room, and then we settled down and read before sleeping.

Return to the North East

The next day we managed to sleep in and miss our taxi, but thankfully we were able to get one very quickly, and we getting through security was a breeze, so we had a Burger King for breakfast and then boarded our flight back to Newcastle, which was sadly very uncomfortable for Lindsay.

But we landed safely and were picked up by Paul and Megan, who literally had to be prised off me and Lindsay when she gave us a hug, so we headed home, to find out that there had been a small fire at the BT exchange which means we are without internet again.

I phoned Sky who have agreed to compensate us for a months worth of broadband, plus helped us cut our bill down and moved us onto Sky Q for free as compensation.

So exhausted I headed up and had a bit of a nap, after which we went to the Beefeater for tea before popping into see Megan’s mum who had just had a knee replacement operation.

So action packed few days!

What I am Modelling

Obviously I have been away and my painting had been a struggle before that, but on Wednesday whilst Lindsay was away at Megan’s parents working because we had no broadband at home, I picked up my paintbrushes to try and get myself back in the zone by painting some scenery, these are big chunky bits that’s don’t require detail.

After any long break from painting I find it difficult to get back in the groove because my hands really do get very bad, so stuff like this is helpful.

Anyway I painted a Wall of Martyrs Defence Line and a Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker.

What I am Reading

I have a lot of recommendations of books from WorldCon, but first I want to get through The Beast Arises, and have gotten half way through Shadow of Ullanor by Rob Sanders, which is really good so far.

What I am Playing

I haven’t played much at all this week apart from a play test of Cthulhu Dice 2nd Edition and a couple of games of Timeline Inventions, one of which I won and one of which I lost.

What I am Backing

At the moment I am backing Munchkin Parhfinder 3 – Odd Ventures, but I am having to do it in a way that sees the game shipped to a friend in the US for them to forward it on to me as Steve Jackson Games are stopping supporting international backers, which is sad.

We are taking a good look at backing Fiasco and I will be honest, it’s likely to happen.

What I am Cooking

Nowt since I got back from Dublin.

What I am Spending

Apart from a few presents in Dublin, nowt.

  • Current State of Projects: Rest of Killzone Wall of Martyrs on my desk

Penultimate Day At WorldCon

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On 19th August 2019

In Blog

Sunday was a wonderful day, absolutely amazing!

We managed to get a bus to the CCD reasonably easily, and made it to our first panel which was How To Start A Podcast, which have me some interesting insights which will hopefully let me make improvements to Edge if Empire.

I then attended a panel on Social Media Marketing Tips And Tools, which I admit was a filler panel, but I did learn some stuff which I can apply to the podcast.

We then got into queue for Polyamory In Theory And Practice which was really good, but it was in a small room and they could have filled it three times over, few little bits I disagreed with, but mostly very good.

Then I went to Game Writing And The Story which was a bit meh, I mean it had some good stuff in it, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.

We then had a wander round the hucksters room and saw the DeLorean kitted out as the one from Back To The Future and had lunch, Lindsay had salmon pho and I had a cheeseburger.

And then we headed up for other panels, I went to The Audio Acting Bug to try and pick up tips to improve CoL audio recordings, and I did learn a lot from it.

After that I went to The Evil of Gaming and got Tom Lehmanns autograph, and well it was obviously a very timely panel!

I then did an hours shift on the Glasgow in 2024 fan table and it was a bit slower than other days but still busy.

Then Lindsay convinced me to join her in a panel called Ships Ahoy, which well, I don’t need to go into in any great detail, but it was hilarious and I ended up very very red after it, and now Megan and Lindsay are threatening to write slash about Edge of Empire!!!

We then went to the France bid party and they had good food there, it was really nice, and the bus seems pretty good, there was however some unpleasantness and we ended up on a table with an extremely racist American lady, and my own microaggressions made the lovely non binary black person were we sad with very upset.

We did catch up with her, I apologised and we sat and chatted for nearly an hour and a half and she opened my eyes to a lot of stuff.

They were an amazing person and I hope to see them today at the con before they head off back to London.

We then went to see The Doubleclicks in concert which was absolutely amazing, I have wanted to see them for years, and I am so so glad that I have finally done so and crosses something off my bucket list.

The whole room loved the songs, and the sing along to Noting To Prove was very moving, and yeah it was a real highlight and on of my favourite concerts of all time ever. Lindsay had some tears over Sensitive Badass.

And then we were able to get a selfie with Laser, and I think I have managed to help convert Lindsay into a fan of theirs.

We then got a taxi home after spending a bit of time in the game room with our friend Clare from the Clockwork Tea Party and had super noodles for tea, before falling into a very deep sleep!

Saturday at WorldCon2019

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On 18th August 2019

In Blog

Saturday at WorldCon was a lot less busy than Friday, but the place was a lot more crowded as weekend visitors were able to attend.

We missed yoga again to have a lie in again, but we started with a panel on the History of Tabletop Gaming with Steve Jackson and Tom Lehmann which was a lot of fun.

Then I attended a panel on Patreon: The Evolution if Supporting The Arts, which was moderated by one of my favourite authors Jaine Fenn, which was very helpful for Edge of Empires Patreon.

At this point it was my turn to do a shift on the fan table for Glasgow in 2024 which got us a few friends signing up, which was nice.

I then decided to skip the Inclusive Game Design panel because I just wasn’t feeling it as much of the participants seemed to be video games people.

So instead I wandered through the hucksters room and then took a walk across to Point Square for George RR Martins autograph, as a person requiring access I have no complaints as I was allowed to go to the front of the queue and didn’t have to wait long at all, I only had 30 seconds which him, but he seemed very nice.

I wandered back to the CCD and tried to get into a panel on Tabletop RPGs As Inspiration For Creative Writing, but sadly I couldn’t get in, so me and Lindsay hung out in the bar instead, before doing another shift on the Glasgow fan table.

I then did a panel on Audio Dramas and Radio plays, with Phil Foglio which has really got me interested in doing some short audio dramas, cause I have ideas, but just have always never thought I could do it, but to hear how people are saying that anyone can do it, well it has me inspired!

At this point me and Lindsay went to help out set up the Glasgow in 2024 party, where there were Tunnock’s Caramel Waffers and Teacakes, samples of various whiskys (a very limited supply) and Irn Bru.

The look on some people’s faces when they tried Irn Bru for the first time was priceless, some loved it and some hated it, was cool talking to lots of people and telling them all about Glasgow and how it would be a great place to hold WorldCon in 2024, and people were very very positive about it.

Lindsay started to get overwhelmed after an hour of the party, so we decided to make our way back to hotel, where we yet again had nesi goreng (what can I say, it’s cheap and has vegetable, carb and protein), before turning in to sleep.

Day 2 at Dublin 2019 WorldCon

By

On 17th August 2019

In Blog

Day two was better in many ways than day 1, primarily because Lindsay didn’t get a migraine, yay!

We started by getting a bit confused about buses, you see the Google Maps information for buses in Dublin is utterly useless when it comes to what stops they use, and we ends up walking to a stop a bit further away because we knew the bus left from there whereas the stop that Google Maps told us about had no information at it at all and said it was a put down stop only.

But we now know where the right stop is after asking the driver.

We missed Accessible Yoga sadly, but I arrived int one to get into line for signups to Kaffeklatchs, but I missed out on the one I really wanted to do by one space, because the git right in front of me signed up his friend despite it being only one signup per person, so was very annoyed by that, especially as the people manning the signup tables shrugged their shoulders when I made them aware.

But what can I do, anyway I made it to my first panel which was Making the Transition from Player to Games Master, and I got a lot of useful information from that, and I followed this up with The Impact of Kickstarter on the Gaming Industry which was really good, but sadly in the panel Steve Jackson said that it’s likely that SJG will stop offering their Kickstarter projects outside of North America, which would b devastating if they did that before Car Wars.

Then we walked off to Point Square for some seminars over there, and it’s not the easiest walk in the beating August sun, but we got there and found a great waiting area for people with access stickers, which was great, Lindsay did a panel on women in STEM and I did one on Webcomics with some amazing comic creators including Tamsyn Muir and Phil Foglio.

We then took a Luas back to the CCD to try and get into the interview of Parris McBride and George RR Martin, but we didn’t get in I am afraid, but that was alright, we just decided to go do our souvenir shopping where we got presents for Megan, Paul, Mary and Janes boys.

We did manage to get into the Steve Jackson interview, he is a guest of honour and the first from the gaming industry ever, so it’s a big deal, and it was great hearing him talk about how he got where he was, and the background to the Secret Service raid on his company over a GURPS supplement.

Then we got into a panel on the Representation of Marginalised People in Gaming with Laser Malena-Webber from the Doubleclicks, and Tanya DePass which was brilliant, I am very passionate about representation in games, because the same white European troops get very dull in games, and I am really desperate to see games with big influences from outside Europe.

Then I went to a panel on Modern Alternatives to Classic Boardgames, which was alright, but it was a bit simplistic for me, I was hoping for something that goes beyond 101, but it was very much a 101 to board gaming panel.

I managed at this point to have a seizure and had to be helped by first aid, it was very very very mild, I think it was because the panel room was facing the sun and it was quite low and in my eyes, but I was fine.

This was followed by a bit of a let down in Introduction to Grimdark, the discussion was good and interesting, but half the panel had no idea about what Grimdark was with one panelist’s having never heard of the term before, and the moderator had no voice, which meant that the panel was a bit unfocused, but still the discussion and book reccomend and the were good.

We then had a sandwich for our tea, and I had a good sit down after my seizure to kind of recover, so it was a bit of a worrying time because Lindsay was being very worried about me.

Then had my best event of the day, Romance Plot or Not, which was a blast, we were supplied with four ridiculous romance story plots and had to guess which one was a fake, and my team finished fifth which was cool, and as a result of that Lindsay wants to read a book featuring a bad boy biker, who just happens to be a werehedgehog!

After this Lindsay went into a panel on Sex Positivity and I went to some parties, the DC party’s was cool, the China party was very good, Frances party was kinda dead and the Japan party was also quite good, I may have eaten lots of snacks!

Then we had to rush off for the bus back to the hotel and we ordered in a spice box for tea, which was really good, and then at about 01:20 we went to sleep utterly exhausted!

Dublin and WorldCon

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On 16th August 2019

In Blog, Uncategorised

Me and Lindsay flew out to Dublin on Tuesday for WorldCon, which is the convention of the World Science Fiction Society, and is a pretty big deal, it’s also where the Hugo Awards are handed out.

So Paul kindly dropped us off for our flight on Tuesday morning and the first thing we do is grab a bottle of Rock Shandy each, which is a Dublin favourite of ours, it’s a combo of lemon and orange pop, the only issue is that lemon and me don’t get on, it causes a reaction in me that whilst not quite an allergy, raises my temperature, makes me feel sick and makes my temper fray, but damn that stuff tastes good!

We then went straight to Bewleys for lunch, which is an amazing tea house on Grafton Street, we had mushroom and tarragon soup, I had mine with an open sandwich and Lindsay had here with a scone and it was a most delicious lunch when paired with a cup of Irish Afternoon tea.

We then headed to our hotel, well it’s actually just some student accommodation but it’s nice enough, but warm and the bed isn’t quite a double, but comfortable.

We had a pizza for tea, a large one with sausage, egg, bacon and mushrooms on it, after popping into Lidl for some supplies to make sarnies with.

The next day we headed into Dublin in the later morning where we registered for the Con at the CCD, then we took a slow walk into the city, with lots of stops for me, and we called Megan to have a chat with her and take a photo of a DART for Paul.

When we reached O’Connell street we went to Supermacs for our lunch, we both had 5oz bacon and cheese burgers, Lindsay had hers with curry cheese fries, I had mine with garlic cheese fries, and it was really nice, much nicer than a McDonalds.

We then walked to Games Workshop via Forbidden Planet, because you know, we have to find a Games Workshop wherever we go!

The we walked down to Bewleys for an afternoon tea and then to Dunnes to pick up some Rock Shandy, Taytos and Cadbury’s Mint Crisp to take home to the UK, then back to the hotel where we chilled out, even popping up to the roof top terrace where Lindsay attempted to do some of her daily exercises and we had nesi goreng from Lidl for tea.

The next day we made our way to the CCD by bus and began the day with some Accessible Star Trek Yoga, which is a lot harder than it sounds. After that we attended a panel on Liking Problematic Tings and then a workshop on an Introduction to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, which I have yet to play properly.

Then we had a little break where Lindsay went to the quiet room because she had a developing migraine and I did an hour on the Glasgow 2024 Fan Table signing up people as pre-supporters and even a few friends too.

After that I went to the gaming room and talked with my Asmodee friends who are there doing some demoing and playing of games, and pretty much all of them I have worked with before, so that’s cool.

And I also got to playtest the next edition of Cthulhu Dice with Steve Jackson, who also signed my autograph book and copy of Munchkin Warhammer 40,000, so I squeed a bit at that!!!

At this point Lindsay is very unwell and she decided to remain in the quiet room, I then attended a Podcasting panel, at which one of the panellists recognised my voice from Edge of Empire and complimented our shows quality, and considering that he is a pro-podcaster, that made me blush a lot!

After that we headed back to the hotel, Lindsay was really unwell and needed to sleep, it’s a little trek for the bus stop back so I didn’t want her doing it alone.

She then zonked out, so I went and grabbed us some bits for lunch the next day, had Lidl nesi goreng again and then read for a bit.

She is feeling a lot better today as we sit on the bus on the way back to Con, so hopefully today she will last longer.

I am having a great time in Dublin!

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