Yet another game, using an Amazon gift certificate (thanks, Howard) that I didn’t realize I got for my birthday. Stupid spam filter.
There’s a few expansions for this game, so I picked up a couple:
I get to play the SAS.
… So Little Time
Mutants and Masterminds
Today my gaming group began a new role-playing campaign, using the Mutants and Masterminds game system.
We spent a couple of hours creating characters, with me doing it hesitantly, since I was running the campaign.
I decided to make a ‘Crime Fighter’ type, since I wanted to make a Shadow/Crimson Avenger/Green Hornet type. That isn’t what I ended up with.
The following is a result of the die rolls generated as I used the quick-start character creation system:
Dark Avenger: Your life changed in a single, horrifying moment. Since then you’ve trained your body and mind to become an instrument of vengeance.
I need to come up with what that traumatic event was.
Incredible Presence: You are physically impressive or otherwise intimidating. You are also a natural leader.
Okay.
Sleuth: You’re a student of observation.
Scientist: You are a trained scientist and capable of inventing gadgets of your own.
Cool.
Acrobat: You’re a trained acrobat, capable of incredible feats of agility.
By this time I figured that I was going to have a Batman-esque hero. Or maybe Blue Beetle II/Nite Owl.
Avenger: You’ve trained yourself in a number of useful skills.
The advantages given here totally makes this guy like Batman (Streetwise, Intimidation, Vehicles).
Investigator: You’ve studied investigation and other forms of observation.
Next, this character ended up with Gadgetry, granting him a Headquarters, and a further roll granted a Combat Suit.
I figured that this would be an animal based hero, and that animal would be…
ENTER… THE KOALA
I made him about the same size as me (5’6″, 160 lbs) and spoke with a raspy Christian Bale voice as we played.
We decided that the super team would use this character’s HQ as their base, the Koala Den, located around Yerba Buena Gardens in the South of Market area of San Francisco.
We haven’t come up with a super group name yet. And I may do a little fudging and grant everyone some equipment, like Koala-rangs for my character.
Fun times ahead.
The Completist
Sometimes I hate myself for being one.
I recently started going back to my older non-sports tabletop board games, and found myself reading up on the rules for Starfire, 2nd edition.
This was the first boxed version of the game, which I originally picked up in high school. Before this I owned the 1st edition of the game, which came in a ziplock bag, along with it’s two supplements (Starfire II and Starfire III: Empires). I sold those off to friend.
Anyways, I picked up the first expansion/supplement for this edition, New Empires, back in the day.
I never played it, since it was more of a strategic-level empire building game that really needed a second player to get the most out of it.
There was a third product in this line, before the third edition of the game came out, but I never bought it. Until now.
I didn’t buy it back in the day because by that time my group had moved on to role-playing games and Warhammer 40K. So even though I rarely played this with friends, this, and Star Fleet Battles, went into the ‘did not play’ category of games that I owned.
I would occasionally see this product on shelves in the late 1980s, but at the time I wasn’t interested in it and it went out of print. But because of my recent interest in old games, it popped up on my radar again.
Enter eBay, and sellers who sell factory-sealed editions of out of print games. I probably spent about 2-3 times the price of this thing was when it first came out, but at least I managed to scratch that itch that is my curse, the game completist.
And regarding that third and later editions: yeah, I bought those, too, but 3rd edition was a bit complicated with it’s own set of supplements. The game later spun off from Task Force Games, became 3rd revised (bought), and finally 4th edition, which I also own, but never even punched the counters. 1st/2nd edition were the most playable (read: simplest) version IMHO.
And I own the PDF of the 6th edition, Solar Starfire. They went with electronic products starting with the 5th edition (Ultra Starfire) which I didn’t buy.
Enemy fleet on scanners – ARM WEAPONS!
RPGs
Phantom Leader Unboxed
The package arrived at about a quarter to 1pm.
I’ll post my 1st play through as soon as I read up on the rules
Uh oh…
Overboard
Check Six!
For some reason I felt the need to pick up something that brings me back to the original tabletop gaming that I used to play, in my early teens: historical wargaming. I had a few Avalon Hill games that I played, namely War at Sea and Victory in the Pacific. Through high school we mostly played Star Fleet Battles, moving toward RPGs during senior year. But we did find time to try games like Top Gun and Flight Leader.
The big difference back then was that the wargames were rarely designed for solitaire play, and when I didn’t have anyone to play with I ended up playing both sides of a conflict.
In the past few years I had bought a tabletop modern aircraft wargame which used miniatures, but once again I had no one to play with, so I just painted up a bunch of the minis and left them in a storage box somewhere in the house.
Finally, I came across this:
I’d been eyeing Phantom Leader and Hornet Leader for a while now, along with a couple of submarine games (U-Boat Leader/Gato Leader). I finally chose this one because I remember the F-4 Phantom as the cool looking fighter jet of my youth. Both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds used them for their airshows back in the day.
Unlike my old standby, B-17: Queen of the Skies, these games have a political factor in each mission. If you bomb too big a target, politics may slow you down and limit the number of potential targets in later missions, but if you don’t strike hard enough, you could end up losing the campaign and the war.
This game should arrive sometime this weekend. If I end up liking it I may pick up Hornet Leader later.
Birthday Week Highlights
Saturday, February 18th: PARTY!
Sunday, February 19th: NBA All-Star Game (boring)
Monday, February 20th: Holiday, saw The LEGO Batman Movie, picked up Mansions of Madness
Tuesday, February 21st: breakfast with Dad at Gunther’s, dinner at Dave and Busters with Dad and Rob and Annie and Jen and Rubin (and families)
Wednesday, February 22nd: started to feel congested in the evening, played day two of the 1917 MLB season (6 games)
Thursday, February 23rd: BIRTHDAY! spent the morning and afternoon downing generic Mucinex, while watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and Superman: The Movie, dinner with Nels and Glenn at Izzy’s (San Carlos)
Friday, February 24th: still a bit cough-y and congested. Ran errands. Played Mansions of Madness.
Also watched the usual TV shows over the week, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is still my favorite this year.