FFG World Championship

Last weekend, I drove a total of 1500 miles to go to the Fantasy Flight Games World Championships. I got a free pass for the weekend, since I won the North American Championship for Warhammer: Invasion. That combined with them interviewing me and even inducting me into their Hall of Heroes (Yeah, a boxing pose, they edited down the picture I sent). This of course stroked my ego enough to drive all that way to attempt to become world champion.

Part of the deal for driving that far, was to drop Krista and the girls off in Wisconsin to see her parents, which added an hour or two each way, but was well worth it for the girls to see Nana and Papa. Once I dropped them off and caught some sleep, Friday morning I drove the rest of the way and got to Roseville, MN in the afternoon. I grabbed a sandwich at Quizno's (shout out to Tom who was awesome there) and then went over to FFG's Event Center to learn Netrunner, another card game I wanted to play in the Worlds, since I'd drove all that way. Problem is I barely knew the game and had to borrow decks from a friend. After a quick refresher the tourney started and they stuck me at the feature table with Nick. Nick was a great guy, we had a good time, and the *TV crowd (that's right, I was on TV!) even caught us making a mistake in the game play. Nick got the victory that round, but as the day progressed I got a little better and ended up finishing 15th overall, which wasn't bad for my 12 games of Netrunner.

The Feature Table

Saturday morning, after some eggs at the Remigers, I drove and met Sarah and Ryan for some Starbucks. It'd been at least a couple years since we've seen each other and it was great to catch up and meet their awesome boy Zeke. Now with my chai tea drank, my friends hugged, it was time to get down to business for the feature of the weekend - Invasion!

Zeke and I

I played several warm up games with Brian (a guy who I met online before the weekend) as he tried to get caught up on Invasion, similar to how he caught me up on Netrunner the day before. It was great fun meeting him and playing cards over the weekend. Of course, I also played some against Steve from Louisville and his crew, while Leon and I discussed the merits of Blue and Pink Horrors (that's geekspeak for...well...nevermind). Then around 4pm the tourney began for real.

One side of the Event Center

The other side of the Event Center

I got a bye, along with all the other regional and national champions, played Brian some more since he was using my High Elf deck, and then finally got to play my first round. I played Rick, who was from right there in MN and sneaked a victory against him, making me 2-0. Next up was Christian, a German card player, who from talking to him has been to the US several times thanks to various card games and tournaments he as one. He played excellent, defeated me soundly, and moved into the Top 4. Next up was Brian, a guy I'd met at GenCon and who'd been really welcoming me to in Minnesota as he is a native Roseville player. We were both playing similar decks and this was by far the most fun round for me, as it was played as Invasion should be played, smash mouth and lots of attacking. I was able to get the win against him, which propelled me in the Top 4! I'd lose in the semi-finals to the eventual tournament champion and called it a night.

For making the top 4, I got an uncut sheet of cards (cheap guy that I am, I cut it up to use the cards), and some cool plastic capital boards. The next morning, I had some great breakfast with my cousin, met his girlfriend, and said goodbye to them and my aunt and uncle and hit the road for Wisconsin and then Indiana. It was quite a trip, had a really fun time seeing family and friends, and making some new friends while competing in a game I've really come to enjoy!

Capital Boards for Invasion

*By TV, I mean justin.tv which apparently has a bunch of stuff that nobody watches on it, but it is TV, it is live, and I was on it.

Every 100 Games Series - Quo Vadis?

My 3,500th game played was Quo Vadis? and here are my thoughts on this game. First off though, let's get the obvious question out of the way, what exactly does Quo Vadis mean? It is a Latin phrase that means, where are you going? A very apt title and question for this game, because the game is all about trying to get into the Senate of Rome.

Components
This is a pretty old game and so the components aren't from this era of awesome quality. The box itself looks more boring than a 2-hour meeting at work discussing required training. The board itself is also very drab. The representative pieces however, are very unique and interesting. They are really tall plastic pieces, with wide bases, which makes for some easy moving and seeing who is where. Too bad they don't have green or I'd be even more excited about them.

Game Play
On your turn, you can do one of three things. Place a representative in the bottom row of the board, move a representative to the next level of the board if you can get enough votes, or move Caesar who goes between two levels. Caesar allows you, if he is still there next time around, to move a representative without enough votes (though you don't score points when you do this). When you move up a level, you get the points in-between those levels.

Strategy
The whole game is about negotiation and working with the other players. Trying to get as many points as you can, while not giving away all the points when you "buy" other players votes. I've found that just being willing to vote for someone is important, as you get a VP for that every time regardless, if you don't trade it away of course. At the same time, it is always good when you are able to position yourself so that you don't need the votes from others and can just move your representative up a level based on your own votes.

Yeah, I added the tie. Thought he should have to wear one, since he is going to the Senate.

My Thoughts
This 20 year old game surprised me. I first played it at Geekway to the West in 2012 and immediately looked to trade for it. Now that I own it, I'm really glad I do. I enjoy negotiation games, even though because I'm loud and in your face about them, I tend to lose them a lot. This game plays very quickly, it has the nice twist that many Knizia games do by eliminating anyone that doesn't get into the Senate, and yet it still gives you quite a bit of control if you position yourself accordingly. This is one that'll be staying in my collection. The only real downside to this one, in my opinion, is that it doesn't play 6 players.

My Recommendations
Deep Strategy Gamers - You are probably going want to look elsewhere. I consider myself a strategy gamer, but that is just part of the games I play, so I'm okay with this one. But if you want a deep game about getting into the Roman Senate and making this big huge plan and seeing it come to fruition, this isn't for you. You have to depend on others so much in this one, that one person getting upset with you or making sure you don't win can destroy all those beautiful plans.

Lifeboats Fans - Lifeboats is a negotiation game where players vote each other off the boat and into the sea. It is a game that you have to warn the players that everyone will still be friends afterwords. Quo Vadis? doesn't make you warn others to still be friends. Both games give a lot of similar negotiation, but for some reason not voting someone into the Senate seems less mean than voting to send someone to swim with the sharks. I say this to say, I like both games about equally, but if you hate Lifeboats like games, you should still try this one, because it isn't as mean.

Quiet and Shy Player - This isn't the game for you. You have to talk, you have to try and convince your buddy to give you the lift you need, and you have to be willing to trade something for that. Just sitting there quietly and not doing anything but trying to move your pieces will not get you any enjoyment out of this one.

Non-Trading Monopoly Player - You know who I'm talking about. That person who won't accept Baltic Ave for Park Place, because they hate trading or negotiating at all. Not that they don't act like they enjoy negotiating, they do, but they never actually will come to any type of an agreement. Nothing is a good enough deal for them. The point of this game is to make deals and so don't play this game with those that won't make deals. This is what makes the game fast and fun.

*Every 100 Games Series - Back in March of 2006 I began tracking each session of the various board and card games I play. I soon got the idea to write a review on every 100th game I played, one because I like writing reviews, and two because it is interesting to see what game I review next. You can find a list of all of them here: http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/66896/every-100-games-series-reviews

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile. I don't really have something specific to write about, so let's just do some bullet points.

• Since winning the North America Championship for Warhammer: Invasion (a card game I play), I've been waffling on whether to attend the World Championship, but I'm thinking now that it is an opportunity I should take. Won't be a yearly thing, but I'm sure it'll be fun to do. We even had 8 people at our last Invasion Night here in Indy. Thanks to Meetup.com. If you've never been to that website you should check it out.

• We're back on Wednesday nights with Youth Group while Kaylee and Ella are attending Cubbies & The Kids Room. It's been nice to get back in the groove for that. I taught the other night, didn't do too well, but still enjoyed it and hope God used it somehow. The small group of guys that I'm leading are real fun too, with Freshmen through Seniors in it. I'm excited to see how they grow and change over the year.

• Kaylee and Ella are playing more with each other. Kaylee especially tries to include Ella in a lot of things such as taking a "nap" on the welcome mat on the front door or playing Barbies. Speaking of playing Barbies. I did that.

• It's cold enough now that I think I'm done fishing. Didn't get to go as much as I would've liked to this year, but what year do I? The times I did get to go were fun and I did catch a couple nice small mouth, which just makes me happy. Next year, I'm for sure going to go more on the White River in Noblesville. I want to at least try it.

• I was going to cut my hair, Krista said I shouldn't. Usually I do what I like with my hair (read buzz it), but since she asked me not to I think I'll relent this time. It's getting a bit longer. We'll see how long this lasts. Maybe long enough for dreads? 

• I've made an Essen Resolution. That's something I just came up with. I'm only going to purchase 2 board games and 1 expansion for a year. That's right, until next October not many new games. If I can trade for games, that is fine. If I can sell games, then use that money to purchase new games, that is fine. I just don't want to grow my collection much more. Running out of room and not getting to play everything as much as I'd like. This of course doesn't include Invasion expansions, which is starting to become a separate hobby of its own. I make the rules for Essen Resolutions, so don't judge me.

• I listen to Talk Sports Radio more now than I listen to Country Music Radio

• I'm reading in Acts right now, read about Ananias and Saphira, the people who held back money from the church. Then read Acts 5:13 which says, "Yet none of the rest dared join them (the church), but the people esteemed them highly." My thought on this is how serious this was taken. Joining up meant a lot and people respected those that did join, even if they themselves weren't willing to commit. Just interesting.

Okay, that is all the random catch up stuff. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog reading.

Family Strategy

Strategy is a word I like. Maybe it is because I've studied business much of my life. Perhaps though, and this is why I think I like it so much, is because I'm a board gamer and you often need to have a good strategy to win. I think strategy can be used in more than business and games though, I think it can be used in family rearing and growth as well. As matter of fact, I think it is something that is required if you want to succeed in leading your family.

The other day I was talking with a buddy about what we want our kids to eat. I said, "red meat off the bone!" of course. No seriously.

The point is that we were talking strategy in how to raise our kids healthy. Krista and I try to discuss family goals at least once a year such as what improvements we want to do with the house, what things we'd like to buy, what activities we want the girls to get into, where we'd like to go, and then most important how we are going to make those goals happen. That is where the strategy comes in. We'd like Kaylee & Ella to grow up learning the Bible and participating in activities with others their age in order to make sure they are ready to join teams later in life. So we've enrolled Kaylee in "cubbies" at church. Ella...well she still slobbers and snots a lot, so we've got a strategy of having a snot rag around.

Do you have a family strategy? I think similar to the 5-year plan you hear about in interviews or the business plan you need to write in order to get a loan, family strategies should be an important part of our lives each year. They not only help you define what you are doing as parents or spouses, but they also help define what you need to do as an individual to contribute to that family strategy. I'm guessing, and hoping, that as the girls get bigger they'll want to have input in these family strategy discussions. No, they won't be making the decisions, but the more we get them involved in the strategy the more they will likely embrace it and run with it (see what I did there, a strategerized even that).

For now though, it's Cubbies, snot rags, and surviving the bed time break downs.

The Assumption of Mary

A while back, because I like to try and stretch myself and I enjoy theology, I borrowed the book A Year with John Paul II: Daily Meditations from His Writings and Prayers from the library. Figuring I'd read a bit about this Pope, who I of course new a little about, but has always represented the Catholic church in my mind.

There were some really good things in there, such as the ultimate goal of a Christian is holy living, because Christ is holy. I agreed completely with that. Then there were some things I disagreed with, such as during the Eucharist, the bread and wine actually being the flesh and blood of Jesus and not just a symbol of it. Then there was something new I learned about, which is the Assumption of Mary.

You can get a quick overview of this event here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_mary. Yeah, I know Professor Van Kuiken, it's Wikipedia, but I'm not writing a paper for you - which means it'll have to do! Basically, if you like me are too lazy to click links, the Assumption of Mary is the Catholic claim that the Body of Mary (Jesus' mom) was taken up into heaven. This was a completely new claim to me upon learning about Assumption Day, which is in August, and learning what it was all about. There are different schools of thought, one that says she was taken up pre-death, while others saying it was post-death.

Now at first, I thought this claim was ludicrous, but now that I've had a month or so of thinking about it and talking to a devout Catholic friend about it, I'm not so sure. Miracles have happened in the past and continue to happen today, so why not this miracle? The first and foremost thing, whenever I'm discussing theology, is to be sure I attempt to check it in scripture. The Assumption of Mary, simply put is not in scripture. So that immediately takes away the factness (my spellchecker is saying this is not a word, but I disagree) of it. However, something I've really thought about this past month, is that just because something isn't fact doesn't mean it didn't happen. What I'm saying is that, just because I didn't tell you in my blog that my favorite color has changed to green, doesn't mean that my favorite color isn't green.

So this is where I fall on the Assumption of Mary, it could've happened. We know of 3 times in the Bible where someone was assumed into heaven: Enoch, Elijah, and of course the person the whole point of the Bible is about Jesus. So, from that, I know that this is something that does have precedent. There are many miracles that aren't recorded in the Bible, at least from Jesus' works (John 21:25). So I'm thinking it isn't much of a stretch to imagine others weren't recorded, even though they easily could've since the Assumption of Mary would have happened even before 90 AD (estimate) when the last book of the Bible was written.

Whats the important take-away from this? Well, for me there are two. First, don't just write something off because you've never heard of it or doubt it happened. Second, don't glorify something so much that isn't in the Bible and part of God's Word. Even though I think it is possible the Assumption of Mary could have happened, that doesn't mean I worship Mary. I don't put Enoch anywhere near the level of Christ. I don't put Elijah anywhere near the level of Christ. Both of these assumptions are in scripture. Mary, even though she was obviously a follower of God, may have been assumed to heaven. However, if it did happen, the whole reason it happened would've been for the same reason Enoch & Elijah's fancy trips to heaven happened, to bring Glory to God. Not to bring glory to Mary. That would miss the point.

As always, when I write these theological posts, I'm writing them from the layman's perspective of one that doesn't have their profession as a professor of theology or pastor or priest. So, go do some research yourself, but being the do-it-yourself type person I am, I'd say that even if I was able to devote my full time to theology.

Every 100 Games Series - Andriod: Netrunner

My 3,400 game played was Andriod: Netrunner, which is the latest Fantasy Flight Games Living Card Game, in the vein of Warhammer: Invasion, this game isn't a gambling game similar to Magic or my favorite Lord of the Rings: Trading Card Game. However, it used to be in 1996, when it first came out. FFG now has the license and has changed it into, the much better format, of the Living Card Game. So here is what I think:

Components
I can't say I've ever said anything bad about an FFG game's components, they are just absolutely great! the cards are very sturdy, the artwork is excellent and thematic, the various tokens are extremely thick and well done. I think everything makes sense with how they've laid out the cards, which is important in these types of games where everything is on the cards and needs to be quickly assessed.

Game Play
Netrunner is a card game, where two players each have a deck of cards that they play against each other. One player plays as the Corporation and the other player plays as the Runner or Hacker. So I imagine something like a big heist movie, where the little smart guy is trying to get into the big bad corporation's computer system in order to shut down the security or change traffic lights for a clean get away. The goal of the game is to get 7 points, or if you are the Corporation empty the hand of the Runner, or if you are the Runner empty the deck of the Corporation. The Corporation essentially builds different servers and protects those servers with defense cards. The Runner then attacks those servers, trying to defeat the defense cards that are there, and then claiming the reward that the server has at the end to score points or in some cases be surprised and punished. Because these cards are originally played face down, the Runner really doesn't know what to expect until they go into the server for the first time.

Strategy
What is very interesting and unique about this game is the complete difference between Runner and Corporation goals and game play. As a Runner you get 4 action, the Corporation only gets 3. As the Corporation you get to draw a card every turn, the Runner doesn't. The game just plays very differently for the different players, which I think makes the strategy of this game have a much higher threshold to obtain. By its nature, an LCG will have plenty of strategy, at least in the deck building portion of a game. Having two different decks, both a Corporation deck and a Runner deck, I think will compound this deck building strategy. In the game itself, the strategy is much more on how well you bluff as a Corporation and choosing the right servers to deal with as a Runner. This of course, will be set up from how you've built your deck.

My Thoughts
As a big Warhammer: Invasion fan (as of this writing I've played over 250 games of it), Andriod: Netrunner seems more complicated and more intimidating than Invasion. The two deck system turns me off, at least as a competitive player. The reason being is the time I'd have to invest to build two good decks. A lot of times, the drain that people talk about in these games is the money drain, but for me there is also the time drain. I'm a board gamer first and foremost, so I can only invest so much time in learning about the different cards and the different types of decks and would have to do this both for a Corporation deck and a Runner deck. One thing I did find interesting, is that according to what Corporation you chose, the number of cards and the number of cards from different factions that were in your deck changed. I thought that a very nice touch on the deck building portion of the game.

Now, as to what I think of the game itself, right out of the box and not from a competitive standpoint, I liked it. I enjoyed the two games that I played of it and how thematic it really felt. The sneakiness of the bluffing really makes the game feel like a Corporation trying to hide those important assets. The games I played lasted around 45 minutes, but just like any game with lots of text, the more you play the less you have to read and know what things do. We had a few rule questions, but not too many.

My Recommendations
The CCG Player - I'd say this is a must buy. As I said before, I'm primarily a board gamer, but if I was a CCG player I think this is right up their ally. A lot of deck building strategy, a very thematic feel, and a less expensive option than Magic or WoW: TCG.

The Dominion Player - Not so much for this person. Even with the pre-constructed decks, this is feels like it is a few steps up Dominion lovers, who only love Dominion. There are other card games out there that would help them work there way up to enjoying this, but this isn't the starting step.

Ameritrash Players - I think these people will love this. I do feel that this is the most thematic card game I've ever played and theme is what the Ameritrasher is looking to see. Some of the really powerful cards are great smack down fun. I almost won my second game on turn 2, with a hidden card that the Runner thought was important to get and yet turned out to almost destroy him.

Myself - Yes, I'm making a recommendation to myself. As an Invasion player, do not purchase this game. The game is a good game, you like it, but you only have so much time and money to invest in LCGs, since you are a board gamer at heart. You've already heavily invested in Invasion, so that is where you should stay. However, if you could time travel and have the choice to choose between the two without pre-investment in one or the other, then it might be a tough choice.

Dreaming About Turtles and Laptops

So I was 35 minutes late to work today, because for some reason I shut off my alarm. I'm glad I did though, because in that time I had a dream. Now this isn't an MLK dream, but an actual dream while sleeping a la Jacob from the Bible or somebody from Inception. More likely Inception.

I was at a river, a rushing river, and I feel like there were other people there. For some reason there was a huge log that this river was rushing into. It was a big, black, gnarly (I like spelling that word) log, that was as big as a house with a large black hole. Occasionally, birds that were in the duck/goose family would fly into this hole and come back out with a turtle in their beak and fly away. Not sure why they were doing this, but they were.

After awhile, one of these birds came out with a pretty large turtle in it's beak, which must've meant the bird had to be large. I don't remember, so quit asking me how large! This turtle was about the size of a turkey carving plate during Thanksgiving. I decided to catch it. Don't know how I did, whether I caught the bird first or just sweet talked the bird into dropping the turtle, but eventually I did catch it. Even avoiding getting bit in the process.

Once I had that turtle out of the bird's beak, I realized there was a laptop strapped to its back! That's right a regular old laptop, not an iPad or whatever you Android users say is equal to an iPad, but just a regular old flip up the screen and start typing laptop. Somehow I found videos on this laptop of people dancing and singing. I don't know what they were dancing too, probably something by the Black Eyed Peas, but it was there. Don't ask me how the laptop survived in the log, on a turtle, then being carried by a bird in it's beak, but it did!

I then was magically transported, you know how this works in dreams, to a log cabin where I tried to get the turtle to be still so I could get my friends to record a video with me on the laptop. First, I don't know who my "friends" were, but since it involves turtles and laptops I'll assume Sean Chambers was one of them. Also, I hear you asking now, why did you leave the laptop strapped to the turtle? Again, I don't know. Perhaps it was important to the turtle to remain with the laptop. Perhaps, and I'm stretching a bit now, the laptop was his shell. Either way, at some point my dream ended with my futile attempt to get my friends to record on the laptop that was strapped to a turtle.

So I was 35 minutes late to work today...