What price survival?

Throwdown round up
I've been under the cosh of the annual D.I. (Depressive Incommunicado) in recent weeks, hence the bloglag. There's been a healthy diet of gaming all the same, as site-visiting readers attentitive to my 'Recently played games' sidebar gadget already know. I won't be revisiting all those games but, for the record (naturally enough):

• Badger and I played 3 games of Memoir'44:

1. Sainte-Mère-Église x2.
2. Utah Beach.

• Andy, Donald, Gav and I played 6 games:

1. Chaos in the Old World (unfinished).
2. Carcassonne x3.
3. Battlestar Galactica.
4. Settlers.

Score
Andy Erm, no.
Badger Nope.
Donald Nada.
Gav 3 (2x Carcassonne and 1 Settlers).
Me 5 (BSG, Carcassonne and 3x M44).
:0)

Getting down to business?

I'm still working on my setup for that game of TS@VASSAL. This isn't because the rules are particularly difficult- they're not, as is evidenced by the mere 8 pages of actual rules in the 28-page rulebook, a whole page of which furthermore is devoted to components and setup; no, what's holding me up is the complexity of the gameplay resulting from the essentially simple elements. In other words, there is a lot to think about! For the benefit of readers, let me explain how the game works.

The world of Twilight Struggle
The world that was the superpowers' playground during the Cold War is depicted in Twilight Struggle on a map which divides the globe into 6 regions, each showing the most important countries in that region. The mapboard also features various information panels and record tracks as you can see.

Just filler... No, really!

My network of Kremlin-directed infiltration cells intended to exploit the immediate postwar instablity at the heart of Europe is not yet fully in place- curse those petit-bourgeois prevaricators! (AKA. I haven't worked out my TS@VASSAL setup.) Meanwhile let me share a real life culinary 'adventure'.

Food, glorious food!
For all its run down and impoverished realities, Glasgow remains the truly cosmopolitan city it was in the heyday of its imperial splendour (although why tourists visit it in such numbers still perplexes me I have to confess). A food lover living in the West End, I'm particularly fortunate: the cuisine of the world is pretty much on my doorstep; between delis and ethnic grocers, there is a frankly bewildering variety of exotic foodstuffs to intrigue the eye and tantalise the palate.

Purposive random interjections

So, following the recommendation of RD/KA!'s first fan the Gnome, I recently took to using the social bookmarking site StumbleUpon. I like it. I don't expect it to replace well organised bookmarks, but I find it much better than email for swapping links and Donald and I are already using it regularly for that purpose. Here are a couple of neat sites I've Stumble[d]Upon.

Drawtoy
DRAWTOY VS. BYOKAL, to present the full title as it appears on the app, is a simple way to make interesting patterns. If you like kaleidoscopes (and who doesn't?) then you can easily enjoy literal minutes of amusement with this before it wings its way past you leaving perhaps the lightest of touches (or more?) on your memory (or not!).

Getting cyber on yer ass!

CC@VASSAL?-: not yet
Site-visiting readers alert to the sidebar content might already be asking themselves what and why questions about the new links recently added under the cybergaming heading:

• ACTS.
• VASSAL.

Cybergaming? Not computer gaming as such, cybergaming uses ICT to faciliate playing boardgames via the web, using apps typically requiring ownership of the boxed game. Regular readers might remember VASSAL, where an fB friend and fellow BGGer and I last January played what was my first turn of transatlantic Combat Commander.

Space Hulk - The 3rd Wave #1. "In the beginning was the Hulk..."

Unparalleled enthusiasm untrammelled?
Andy 'ported in Friday to deliver the preorder perk- two 3rd Edition Space Hulks over which to gloat while the shelves were being filled for Saturday's store launch: my own Hulk the 5th; and another for that friend who's been waiting long enough for his promised set to've had time to abandon all hope at least twice already. Now it's finally a blip on his radar!

Another big box brimful of brilliant bits and bobs!

Confession time

In the- "eh'm, you've only got yourself to blame" department: I must confess that my confidence in my freehand and greenstuff skills was simply overwhelmed at the prospect of a set of Legion of the Damned terminators; the craft required- above left, remains beyond me. I just couldn't face those flames and bones.

Mounting anticipation

Another downswing is upon me painfully suddenly, so my recent gaming has gone unreported. Meanwhile, here is the latest update on the game currently at the top of my 'must buy' list.

GMT Games' August update last week confirmed my speculations about the possible release date for Chad Jensen's new WW2 tacsim Fighting Formations: Grossdeutschland Infantry Division: there is no sign of the game as far ahead as February 2010. Grognards eagerly anticipating this new release were recently consoled by series developer John Foley's announcement that the playtest rules are available for download.

Old hands might remember that I was first alerted to Combat Commander when I happened by accident across playtest rules while browsing GMT's site (where I'd gone in search of info about a reprint of Ivanhoe IIRC). As I write the FF P500 stands at 535 preorders; I wonder if the availability of the rules will mark a significant increase in those numbers? In the meantime, I'm looking forward to see the new game's systems laid more bare. ;)

Related@RD/KA!
- Fighting Formations preview #1: Some background
- Fighting Formations preview #2: The frakkin' game!