Brick Bungalow

Hopefully we close on our new house this summer. If so I've got designs to replace our grill and smoker with a large clay pit.

I like the option of taking random skills for a lower spp threshold. One thing I got really bored with was the virtually identical skill progression of any team that wanted to stay competitive. Hopefully this means we will see a more interesting mix of team concepts. Bashing might be slightly less effective but its impossible to say for sure without figuring out the total synergy. More hybrid teams is cool. More teams in general.

For the smoker

Den of Thieves was a great heist movie. Totally implausible and ridiculous but in an entertaining way. You can tell the director had watched Heat and Bullit and Usual Suspects multiple times.

Today is another batch of hot sauce. One roasted garlic bulb. One raw garlic bulb . Ditto for ginger root. One bunch of cilantro and these orange peppers with a name I can’t pronounce. Probably do some mole enchiladas.

Tonight I made some chorizo tortas with elote and pico de gallo. I want to expand my repertoire of mexican street food.

Ive tried lots of things but this is a new one.

Was this a thread already? Anywho, I've been out of the loop for a minute but a new edition has me intrigued. According to some leaked images the statline will change. As will a number of things in the post game sequence. Players will have a passing attribute which will make passing and especially throwers more significant. Armor is now a target. The impact of that isn't clear to me. Skill ups have more scope now. You can spend points early for less choice and benefit or hoard them for better options. This is all tentative I imagine until the real release. Mostly I'm excited for new miniatures.

Also, if you have a grill with a thermostat you can rig it up as a smoker. Smoked chili peppers are a game changer.

One of my roommates has been supplying us with wild game. Best bbq ever.

Next up is an elote cheesecake.

With the restrictions on restaurants and bars I've had to do more cooking at home. When the weather gets warm I tend to avoid using the stove. So, bbq season. I've been practicing with both the grill and the smoker. In particular salsa. I just polished off the serrano pineapple. Not its time for bird chiles and mango. Anyone else taking advantage of quarantine to try new recipes?

The premise is that a medieval japanese village is being encroached upon by evil spirits. The players each take the role of a mystical samurai warrior trying to defend their home. Each samurai has a particular color and associated special ability. The village consists of nine tiles each with a special ability arranged, at random into a square. Each side of the square has a color that corresponds to one of the samurai. The spirits are represented by a deck of cards including a boss card that is inserted into a specific position. The other cards are random. The spirits also have colors which determines their placement. Spirits have an array of attributes that often work in conjunction with each other. One spirit is drawn at the start of each players phase. Without going fully into the turn sequence the game is one by defeating the boss spirit after having survived all the preceding spirits. They tend to overwhelm the board pretty quickly and players will need to cooperate closely and make calculated sacrifices in order to keep from being over run. I've played two games so far. Given the level of randomization, difficulty scale and synergy I think the replay value is pretty high. Cool art too.

Sort of. Each wrestler has a unique 'crowd pleaser' action they can perform in any given turn. I figure this represents things like entrance theme or signature dances or whatever shtick is associated with that character. Many of the special moves also obligate you to roll for crowd reacts. This is good silly fun but its also essential strategy. Crowd pleasers give you access to special team bonuses. They are also the healing mechanic of the game and the way that you can remove negative effects in time to save a wrestler from being eliminated.

Reading the rules now... It seems pretty well written. There is a strong emphasis on initiative. The best moves require coordination and manipulation of bonuses. The special dice allow for some highly volatile swings in fortune. More so than games with traditional dice. Pretty much every convention of professional wrestling is present. Not simply present but balanced in function and utility. Using the ropes and turnbuckles is essential. Showboating for the crowd is also required. There is a nice mechanic for representing the difference between heroes and heels. There is a shade of games like robo rally in that a carefully planned strategy will need to contend with chaotic changes. I'm pretty excited to try it out.

I'm bringing rumbleslam! Who wants to wrastle!

It's a bit similar to blitz ball. I'm reading reviews. I'll most likely pickup the starter and bring it down.

Anyone play this? Wrestling has an interesting prehistory at Ordofanaticus. Maybe it's time.

Do particular strategies start to emerge? I didn't really appreciate the possibilities during the first game. A few things occur to me now. -The police are not to be avoided. Especially mid to late game. Paying the fine is easily worth the protection this affords. Keeping ones corruption low for the privilege of moving the officer to ones most lucrative racket is well worth it. In most cases. -Gambling is better that it appears on first pass. The average payoff with the available rerolls and bonuses should meet or exceed the other rackets.

Anyone want to get snacks first?

For the first time in quite a while

I'll be there!

I'd attach them with rocks intact but then add some subtle details to suggest integration with the bases. Angular chips of plasticard. Maybe a piece of broken pipe. Less is more in these situations. It's also helpful to add just a touch of scattered debris elsewhere to sell the concept. Or not. I actually think those bases would look terrific with some organic details for contrast. You could leave the rock. Add a few more rocks. Maybe some flowers popping up through a crevice in the plating. I really appreciate when bases are detailed to a high standard with their own color scheme.