Thursday, May 13, 2010

"You're A Gamer" ... "No I'm Not"

Hey Everybody,
Wow it's been a long time!! I want to apologize, but I'm not going to. Going to school full time, working part time, and dealing with everyday life has the highest priorities. However, I've been thinking about what to write about and the first thing I want to cover is my husband's dream of making me a gamer. He is totally convinced that I'm a gamer, I on the other hand, don't really care about being a gamer. Yes occasionally I'll play Xbox, Viva Pinata and Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise are my favorites, but most of the time if I play a video game, it's during the same time that my husband is working on a game. Zelda on the Wii is one example. During his duration of playing, I would play too, but only to get help solving puzzles and such. Once he beats a game I'm done playing it because he doesn't want to help me any longer... "You need to figure out how to do it on your own," he says. So I always give up. Lego Batman, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars is super fun too, but I never play by myself. I always join in with my husband until he gets "annoyed that I'm way too focused on gathering coins and don't keep up with him." He tried to get me into Warhammer 40K, but I found the rules way to difficult to remember and still haven't mastered identifying each type of army... Black Orcs are the exception... I only remember that particular army because I told my roommate that his Black Orcs were cute because they looked like hippos. It was a joke, but the joke still stands each time he pulls them out of their box. My husband tried to get me into all sorts of games, whether they were on the Xbox, Wii, or the computer. Needless to say I was never interested. He is now bringing home card games and board games. And I like them!! Maybe I am a gamer after all! So before this post becomes too long I'm going to say... tune in for my next post when I explain my reaction to Munchkin!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Being the Better Gamer




Recently, within the last few months, I had the opportunity to play in two tournaments.  My LGS is small, and the tournaments had a max player count of 10. In each, I was presented with the option to be either “that guy” or be the sportsman.

 In the first tournament, I ended up in a draw for second (there were only 1st and 2nd prizes).   The TO gave us a choice: roll off for 2nd, or have our HQs battle.  I had a Daemon Prince with Mark of Nurgle and Warptime while my opponent had a Warboss with Attack Squig, ‘eavy armour, and Power Klaw.

Which would you have done?

With the decision left to me, I chose the roll off.  Although I had a much better chance of taking 2nd with the HQ battle, the prize would have been bittersweet, and it would not have been a satisfying result.  Unfortunately, I lost the roll off, but I don’t regret my decision in the least.

The second tournament presented me with a similar outcome.  In my final game, it was Guard vs. Guard.  A slight odor had accumulated in the LGS from the bodies of the gamers, and Febreeze™ was used to clear the odor.  Unfortunately, my opponent was allergic to the active ingredient in Febreeze™ and rushed outside to clear his lungs, unable to re-enter the building and finish the game.

The game looked like this.  Final turn, he has last turn.  I’m up 2 to 1 on objectives.  If we end the game, I get 2nd. If he plays his turn (an impossible feat due to the Febreeze™) he could kill one squad holding an objective, tying the game and costing both of us 2nd place, kill both squads holding the objectives, giving him the win and 2nd place, or manage to kill neither, giving me the win.  Again, the result was left to me to decide.

Again, which would you have done?

I analyzed the table.  How did I feel his turn would have gone?  I couldn't tell, and it depended entirely on the dice.  So I conceded the battle, giving him the win.  Why? Same as before, the prize for 2nd would have been less than fulfilling and those models would have reminded me of my decision for as long as I owned them.
My point here is that as gamers, we should always be willing to give up a prize for the good of the hobby, and the good of ourselves.  We always hear about those cutthroat players that take every advantage possible, even if it requires grinding their morals into dust.

If you are ever presented with a scenario like this, think about your choices carefully, and don’t act on impulse; you just might surprise yourself when you make your decision.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Sons of Medusa Terminators



I am not a good photographer.

This is, essentially, my first test image with my new, scratch-built light box.  I took the image with flash, as I don't have enough light and I get some pretty strong shadows from my light source.  You can see the shadow caused by the flash of the camera, but it's not as bad it was before.

There's not a lot of detail, I don't consider myself a good painter, and I haven't done any conversions, but it's a good start. For those who want a better look at one of the models, here's a close-up on the sergeant.
As you can see, I haven't done any detail on the face. I don't feel comfortable doing that kind of detail yet, but I think I'm going to attempt it with my Scout snipers. Hopefully I can get more painting done on my Sons of Medusa, as these were painted 4-5 months ago. Again, questions, comments, and concerns are always welcome.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Opener

Ah, the beginning of a new era. Welcome to Zijan's general gaming blog/future podcast. I've got a few ideas in the pipe, but for now I simply want something here to welcome anyone stopping by. I'll try to keep this regularly updated, but as this is a free-time project, other things (like life) will take priority. Here's to a new era