March Digest #3

World of Warships (PC Gaming)

Upskilled my Seasoned Japanese commander to 21-points yesterday (Thursday). Helped across the finish line by expending some Elite Commander XP (ECXP). Played him exclusively on the Eastern Dragon, a Mogami-class heavy cruiser that's been fun to play. And which is probably one of my favourite Japanese cruisers to play at the moment. With that done, I'm now transferring in my Kitakaze commander who's on 17-points to continue its commander upskill grind on this fun ship.

With the special bonus missions for Narai and M. Colonna over, I will be substituting other premium ships for the commanders to slow grind. For the Italian 18-point commander, therefore, his new ship will be Optio. Not yet decided on what Pan-Asian ship I will transfer the Rong brother to but I may employ a battleship this time.

Update 15.whatever. Sabaton-themed. Heard the name but don't follow the music. Will adopt a wait-and-see approach. A lot of other "new and fun things" happening that frankly I can't be blowed explaining in depth. If interested, read the Devblog. 

The European battleship line (Thor) is now out of Early Access. Yay. More new ships for the port fleet.

Next Lunar tokens mission activated yesterday. And the slow grind to Tempesta Nera resumes. 

New Event Pass with Fiume the halfway reward. From all indications by a couple of WOWS YT streamers I've viewed, the ship is worthwhile. Really? Like the other worthwhile ships of that ilk? Unfortunately you have to unlock Level 2 to access it. Costing 3000 doubloons now. Previous Event Passes cost 2500 doubloons so this is a price hike. Still no final reward apart from continually foisting useless camo. Come on, WOW! Two ships are better than one ship and a couple of camo.

Changes to Battle settings. Incorporating what were formerly mods into the game now. Wow! (mock surprise).

More carrier changes being introduced. They don't affect me nor do I care. Only play carriers when specific event missions require it, and only at the lower tiers. 

Ship rotations. Doesn't affect me as I have all of them except Belfast '43. Incoming lot I also have. 

For one week, commander skill redistribution will cost nothing. Nada. Zip. Free. Open till 18 March. This will be appreciated. Congratulations WOWS on providing something useful. POST EDIT: Offer expired because I was too slow to join in time.

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With the European battleships coming out of Early Access I was settling down to grind out the remaining four (already acquired Yavuz, Tegetthoff, Chios through Early Access) today. Took me only a few games to realise it was easier to just outright buy them and save me a few hours. So I paid the requisite Free XP and credits to acquire the T6 Laudon, the T8 Enigheten, T9 Gustav Den Store, and the T10 Thor. 

Played each ship a couple of times. Liking the Swedish GDS. Wanting to play Thor if I can in Asymmetrics because I think she will go well. But then the wait time is quite long so I dropped a couple of tiers, switched to a cruiser, and got in pretty quick. 

As for the others from this new addition, for now they'll join the rest of the port princesses as they're all tech tree line and not premiums. Which means I can't captain upskill grind in them. Unfortunate.

Spending 3000 doubloons for Fiume seems a reasonable price. So I will do that. Anything else is a bonus I guess but not worth caring about. It's the ship that's got my attention.

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Last night I saw a noted YT streamer raving on the new Sabaton camo. Had to agree but it's all the better if the player is a good one. It just looks sad when the player is not.

Anyway, pulled out a couple of ships with awesome-looking (to me at least) camo - the CLR versions of Zao and North Carolina. I was distracted at times because I kept admiring the camo. Both ships performed well in their individual games.

I can understand why WOWS decided to make perm camo a valued item for purchase and acquisition. Don't agree with their decision but I'm no business man. Preferred the earlier days of yore when camo was tied directly to economic bonuses. Mind you, not all camo released these days are works of art and worthwhile. But with the Sabaton camo - both designs - WOWS did very well.

Took out my Yamato after applying the metallic Sabaton camo earned through one of the gift crates. Forgot how potent this battleship is. Almost shed a tear in appreciated fondness. 

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Today, after a long day grinding, I finally earned the Tempesta Nera, the R.Lauria clone. Was three steps away when I finally decided to exchange my steel for coal to advance two of those steps. Had miscalculated the exchange rate. Hence my initial aversion to claiming it. But when I realised my error, I gladly spent the steel needed because it wasn't doing me any good just sitting there; put it to good use.

This left me with the last and ultimate step to my reward which I was able to pay for with Lunar tokens once I finished the final mission task. But it was a tough ask (sort of): earn 36 million in Potential HP damage. Up until today, playing 95% in Co-Op, I had only reached over 16 million. Decided to knuckle down and finish the final 20 million by the end of today. 

Bit of a challenge as I chose to do it mainly in cruisers, two in particular - Mainz and Optio. 

The task itself is simple: become a target magnet for enemy ships who will focus fire your ship. This meant sailing straight into gunfights. But avoid being actually hit (potential = not being hit but targeted). Not blind YOLO (because you're in a cruiser after all and you don't get a heal) but carefully pick approaches, stay back, use cover, etc. In the end I managed it but the session ended up taking eight hours!

Tempesta Nera smacks hard enough. In the two quick "celebratory" games, she did okay. Both games scored kills. Played her as recommended: hang back and snipe. Just another ship to add to the port fleet.

There are two more missions to go for the Nian Paradox event that offer a total thirteen thousand Lunar tokens. Which means I can, if I want to, pick up one more ship. Problem remains which one.

Reached the halfway point in the latest Event Pass. Which means I am now eligible to claim the Tier VII Fiume. However I have to unlock the second level by spending 3000 doubloons. But I am in no hurry at the moment. 

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Might as well take advantage of the Nian Paradox event. Steel ain't doing much good so exchanging it for coal so I can acquire a couple of more ships (planned) - Danu and Desert Storm. 

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SurrounDead (PC gaming)

Finding the wiki the other night really put a dampener on continuing with this game. I may return to it at some point but now it's no longer a focus. Really disappointed with myself for succumbing without thinking.

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After getting over my disappointment (skipped a day), I've returned to the game. In review, the character I've stuck with since discovering the location and setting up of a base in the Pine Road cul-de-sac suffered from a couple of problems:

1. Location. Set in the eastern section of the game map, the base was some distance from the Valley Safe Zone and the stationary traders - Materials, Medical, Bookseller, Equipment, Supplies, Black Market. Sure, there were the occasional mobile traders - Ice Cream man, Military man, and the Wandering trader. But their appearance was randomly determined by the game so they were unreliable. Don't forget the few other static traders such as Trader Joe. Having access to a motor vehicle is therefore essential. 
2. Mobility. Tied to location, it's essential to have wheels when based far from sanctuaries. But wheels require maintenance (knocking over zombies is fun but damages the vehicle) and refuelling. Distances are covered faster though and that's a plus. 

Therefore I've started a new character and he's now placed his base close enough to easy-access the Valley Safe Zone camp AND Buck's Gun shop ON FOOT. He's managed to clear out the infestation at Buck's Gun shop ON FOOT. Now he can return for weapons to use or trade-in.  

Once he's completed his base, he will either go hunting for a suitable vehicle from Mike the Auto trader over at the bridge or scavenge for one. I know the location of the blue Utility truck from my other main character. And it's not far away from my new base.

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Yeah, the blue Utility truck wasn't where I thought it would be. Will try another location, closer this time. 

The Hostile Scavengers are quite hostile. Barely escaped with my life when I thought to take on a group not far from the Police station across from the bridge. Rudely reminded they can shoot. Got two though. Nowhere near ready to take on the Coyote paramilitaries.

Hunt the next few days will be to find a vehicle so I can expand my scavenge range.

Also sorting out appropriate weapons to carry. Opting for a shotgun as my second weapon; that part is fixed. But am needing a high powered semi auto as my primary. One with lots of ammo carrying capacity. Which means either a 60 or 200 round magazine weapon.

As for handgun, the special Glock might suffice. Currently trying out a 9mm 15-round handgun, but am needing lots of magazines. The heavier calibred pistols are fine but not for dealing with hordes. For that, I prefer my machete which does well if I'm attacked simultaneously by three or four. Good thing with a machete: it never runs out of ammo!

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Shottie good but constant reloading means good for small groups, not mass hordes. For larger groups I use my 308 with the 60 round mag attached on semi because I can do head shots. Pistols are useful as a self-defensive weapon but not for assault. For those melee situations where you take the offensive I like using either the machete or tomahawk. Grenades are a good option area cluster weapon. 

Second location for locating a vehicle did not pan out. May have to visit Mike the Auto trader and buy one. 

New base camp on the ridgeline taking shape. Sticks out like dog's balls but thus far no bandits or Coyote assaults. From my location I can access the Valley Safe Zone is one side in a few minutes and Buck's Gun Shop and Cafe on the other. Going to build up from the ground an elevated decking using the modular system of construction. Still awaiting the Tomahawk missile system mod to appear. 

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March Digest #2

PC Game - SurrounDead

Got a few Access Keys (Level 0 to 3 inclusive - left to right, as shown below). As yet haven't found a use for them given I'm preoccupied with setting up my base to my specs. However, I have learned they are for very important quests/missions.

There is also an All Access key card but I've yet to come across it. Not that it will be easily found. Nor am I actively seeking it.

After clearing one of the cities on the South Coast, opposite the oil rig in the bay, I spent the rest of the session building a more secure base. Set up a generator so I have light at night. Spent a fair time working out how to align the modular system of construction. The advice given by the Steam Community wasn't exactly clear (to me) so I struggled for a bit until I got the hang of it. Even got a bed set up. Lol.

Will check out the haunted lighthouse at night.

Using lockpicks is so far proving disappointing because I keep breaking them. So I just a crowbar to break open when it is an alternate option. As I did in the locked building down the street. Found some good stuff when I broke in. 

Briefcases hold access key cards. But such cards are found anywhere, often in out-of-the-way places like in an abandoned church atop a hill overlooking one of the main towns.

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Winter has arrived finally.

Down the road found an isolated farmhouse with an empty bunker. Figured to set up a more secure second base.

Ran across a fixed-location trader, Trader Joe, located not from this bunker. Like the isolated bunker, he's off the main road down a dirt road. And he's got a little secure compound surrounded by secure fencing. Entrance is through a shipping container. Keen to learn to modify such containers so I can do it for this new bunker location. 

Picked up a buggy just north of my first base. Stopped to help some friendly scavengers and there was the buggy. Repaired it. Fuelled it. Drove it back to my base. 

Damn! Just found the Surroundead Wiki. And the Interactive map marked with every location on it. Damn, damn, damn! Was having fun not knowing and endeavouring to find out for myself. Damn damn damn. Fun spoiled now.

End of this game for me. 

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March Digest #1

World of Warships

Thursday means the next Nian Paradox weekly mission (#3) is now active. 

Highlight however was the release of the Finest Hour collection crates. Which means I can finally complete the collection and obtain Conrad Helfich, the Dutch Unique commander. That just leaves the Commonwealth Unique commander left to go. 

Also begun today was the Battle of Java Sea event. The prizes are four historical warships that took part in the engagement - Minegumo, Yudachi, Jupiter '42, Perth. Obtaining these ships relies upon having large quantities of special tokens especially for this event. Fortunately for me I already have all the ships -  so I can relax and concentrate instead on the Nian Paradox event.

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Becoming dyslexic but more a case of laziness again. Swapping numbers around seems common for that allowing a known condition getting the blame for something it's not responsible.

Finished the last mission task in the third mission set for the Nian Paradox mission event. Still playing the three recent fleet additions - Eastern Dragon, Nian, and M. Colonna. Gets tedious at times. Playing with a few live players but most are BOT players. When they are live players, I try to support them where possible, otherwise, I just do "my own thing."

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Got Conrad Helfrich today. Resisted the temptation to exchange steel for coal (why would I when steel is very hard to come by ordinarily plus I can earn the coal through the daily crates). Yet to decide upon which ship will receive him as captain.

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New PC Game - Surroundead

Saw a new Jingles playthrough vidz today. New zombie survival game - SurrounDead. Was hooked within the first minute and immediately bought it on Steam. Kind of reminds me of the Stardew Valley in that it's the work of one developer. Been around in Early Access since 2022. Constant updates. And fairly popular with many - a blockier graphical version of Day Z.

You start alone, without any clues, and just with a knife. Everything has to be scavenged. And don't take on the zombies unless you have a more potent weapon than a knife. Backpack helps. So does GPS to help with position location and navigation. Semi auto weapon much better than a knife.

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Frustrating part about this new game is that you're presented with several options from time to time early on but for some reason (not skilled up enough) you cannot access them due to malfunctioning mouse (middle mouse inoperative).  For example, recently happened upon a working golf cart on the second day with one of my characters. Aside from its excellent use as a mower-down-of-zombies-at-speed, I cannot access the other options other than (1) jump on. The others - (2) access storage, or (3) push require a functioning middle mouse. 

One of my earlier characters struck paydirt by basing close to multiple military drops. Food supplies, medical, equipment and weaponry - all kept showing up on my GPS map locator. Accumulated so much that I didn't know what to do with them. At peak, I had two fully packed day bags (supplies and food), two standard Coyote backpacks full of equipment, weapons, amoo, three large Coyote backpacks (much the same), an Alice pack (same as the Coyote bakcpacks, two military chests with assortments of long calibre weapons, a large quantity of jerry cans of fuel in my hidey spot. But upon return one day, all the backpacks and fuel were gone. Learned my lesson: store them away. Don't leave them lying about unsecured as they will eventually disappear.

I thought bandits had raided my base but that's not so. The military chests with weapons were still there as were the other immovable objects (small and industrial generators plus crafting bench). But anything else not nailed down and could be picked up that was of value was gone. At least they left me the camp lantern and sleeping bag or are they just part of the furniture landscape? Dunno.

Managed to kill off the lunk of a Zombie boss at Whitewood. Massive monstrosity that made me take him out safely from long range. Why get too close when good old 7.62 fired repeatedly will do the job for you. 

The cop car on the bridge will respawn new loot every day. So, if you camp on the bridge, you never short of ammo or medical supplies although what spawns daily is randomly determined. 

It's the same whenever you stay in one location for too long: while crates will spawn new items daily unless you have the appropriate storage crates, you will lose those items. Found that out (again) when basing myself in an abandoned building.

When you run out of food or water, your health seriously declines to the extent that if you don't feed or water yourself, you die. 

Melee combat can be hit-or-miss depending on the weaponry. Not quite mastered the mechanic which seems lacking to me. Oh, and don't linger around a dead zombie too long after downing them. Some have a habit of exploding like the acidic ones which can add more damage to your already depleting health. 

If the zombies and bandits is not enough, then the local wildlife - wolves and bears - will pop up at unexpected moments to keep you on your toes. Spotting them before they attack you is the fun part. Have not run into poisonous snakes...yet!

Will give the game another week to master. Can'd do much until I replace my mouse.

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Kind of getting the hang of this game. When you die though, unless you set it up, you lose the settings of the last save as in what was prevalent at the time of your death. So that when you reload the last save, you lose the conditions prior to your death. Which means, for example, if you've stumbled on several military drops and for some reason you end up dying, those military drops will have disappeared when respawning.

This time round however I got quite lucky with a new character and spawned far to the east of the sanctuary - where the friendlies meet and trade - in a small deadend street neighbourhood called Pine Road. 

Previously, I've nearly always started the game either to the west or southwest of the main sanctuary (shield symbol on the map above) where its friendlies and traders. 

What was really fortunate though (godsend actually) was stumbling upon the construction site at the end of the street where they'd boarded up the stairs so you can safely hide from the zombies by climbing over the barrier (they can't). Vacant first floor meant I could plant as many tents and thus store my loot safely (see photo below). To ease the worry, I placed a sleeping bag and got some shuteye rather than wait the night out which is both slow and stressful.

Pine Road is just a cluster of three residences and the construction site. Two of the residences can be accessed with daily random loot spawning.  There is also a military grade lockup for which you need bolt cutters. Meanwhile the third house is totally boarded up and inaccessible...for now. 

Managing this time round to remember to dump all the unnecessary stuff at the traders. Made easier by finding and fixing up a car (my first car) so I am more mobile this time round. Fixed it up completely and fuelled up at the POL just outside my door. 

However, the frequency of running into more and more bandits is increasing daily, especially along the sealed roads. So far, I've eluded them while managing to knock off a couple for having the audacity to run my car down. Got myself an AK for that. Old skool shooter that I am, nothing like the hitting power of a 7.62 round. Easily penetrates a lead plate at 200m in real life. Imagine what it does to a human head at 50m?!

For the zombies I have an AR-15 and a shotgun. So far I am preferring the shottie because it's a guaranteed killer being an area weapon.

The amount of loot accumulates fairly quickly. What with scavenging and military drops, it all adds up pretty quickly. And the variety is quite staggering from industrial generators to chainwire fencing blocks.

Not so fortunate this time round with coyote backpacks. Coping well enough with just a couple of duffle bags however. Unfortunately haven't yet figured out how to drink the liquor yet. It won't go into my medical bag but is sold by the medical trader. 

Certain items are useful for storage such as security containers, tool chests, and so on. Which saves on save. Even the good old leather wallet has its uses. Cash is still the main form of barter. Thankfully smart phones are considered junk. 

Sleeping bags are useful for allowing your character to skip the night fandango. If no sleeping bag however unless you can find a sleep posey, you're stuck being awake all night. But in summer it can stay semi light for a while. Only gets really dark at certain times. 

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Upgraded my little yellow putt putt vehicle for one of those grunty 4WD utility trucks (blue and white) after I drove at night with lights off and ran over a trash pile and got stuck. Found the new vehicle at the crossroads not far from where I was stranded. Popped into Mike the auto trader for fuel and repair kits.

Boss Zombies yield a trove of military weapons and better quality equipment. It would be a fool to tackle one in a melee however; quickly learned early on to stay at distance and use high-powered rifles to chip away at their high health pool cost. 

Combined with knocking off Boss Zombie is clearing an area of Infestation. Have to take out the numerous infected zombies before tackling the main Primary Infestation area. And then the inevitable attendant Boss Zombie. 

There was one at the Lonely Farm not far from my Base - a bullet round away in fact. Did not know it was there until I went exploring one day. 

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Scored a second truck tonight when I was scouting up north (beyond the radiated zones). Had to hump it on foot though after first dropping off my blue truck back at base and then backtracking to the location of the second vehicle. Went the direct route while skirting a couple of no-go areas (contaminated checkpoints and the unexploded nuke) along the way. Got there without too much trouble, and relieved to find the truck still there. 

Homebase is slowly getting crowded. Using tents to store all the loot gathered. Lots of crafting needs happening to have a secure base though - doors, walls, etc. 

Just crafted a construction bench (on the left) eventually after being sidetracked by all the loot collected. Just need to add the deconstructing workbench so I can obtain more raw materials. 

Realising that the longer you leave it, the more numerous the hostile bandits will spawn and thus make your continued existence a misery. So it pays to take them out whenever you encounter them. Just the other night, on the bridge south of Whitewood, I scouted out around ten of them just milling about close towards the police station. Took out several before getting wasted myself. You could tell they were hostile because whenever there is a newly placed burnt out vehicle within their circle you know they're in the area.

Taking out the primary infection is only possible once you've eliminated ALL the secondary infection locations. Just follow the tendrils spreading from the main infection zone. Of course, you also got the zombie hordes that spring up out of the ground to contend with. And then there's the fearsome lunky Zombie Boss itself. Relentless bastard.

Positively ID other humans before opening up at range. Simple mouse cursor hovering will inform you if they're friendly or hostile. They pop up from time to time.

Now that I'm more mobile, I've been doing the tiki tours around the map and identifying the various locations. Along the way I ran into the military trader who is always mobile in a well armoured and protected vehicle. 

There is another scavenger friendly zone north of the main sanctuary. It doesn't have traders and looks more permanent with concrete barrier surrounding a firewatch tower. It does have a turret auto gun at the entrance which is something. Hoping to find others in my travels west toward the port cities. 

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Glitch with the Humvee, getting in. So I left it where I parked it. Long walk back to base. I still can access the yellow truck I switched with. 

Started building perimeter around home base after watching a YT vid on base building and suitable location. Where I am is outside the coverage done by the YT vid so I'm pleased I have free rein. No clear design regarding perimeter, just winging it at the moment. Can modify later on. 

Crafting a deconstructing workbench is a godsend as far as I'm concerned. Helps to clear the clutter as well as provide much needed raw materials.

Needing new mouse as current one has broken middle mouse. Which prevents me from scrolling through options and refining placement of items. No rush though as priority is saving up for my dart board.

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Retrieved the Humvee. Glitch temporary. Operating fine. Picked up an ambulance as well. Base attracting other friendly scavengers. Wonder when the bandits will show up. 

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Every town seems to have an underground train station. Once you descend the stairs, ensure you have a torch or night vision goggles for exploring. 

Picked up a third vehicle, an ambulance vehicle. Stocking up each vehicle with equipment and supplies in case I get stranded. On the hunt for a tank now. Know a truck was available but I got sidetracked and then killed. When I respawned, the option was gone. 

Towing a vehicle. Haven't had to do so yet. Got stuck a few times. Discovered it's easy to just keep pushing the vehicle as many times as needed to dislodge it and thus reclaim it. 

Slowly checking out the eastern side of the map (below shows the mid eastern section). The sanctuary is more or less central in the map. 

Periodic supply drops are coloured coded with smoke: green for military weaponry and equipment, blue for food, red for medical. Places of interest are denoted mustard yellow. They range from former survivor camps to helicopters downed. Up to you whether you investigate or not. They change from time to time. 

Those places marked in white are permanent once discovered and investigated. 

Infested areas (zombies) are marked in red nuclear symbols. They too change from time to time. Guaranteed to find a zombie boss (and attendant hordes) as well as special loot boxes in these locations. Primary and secondary infection areas yield loot that's worth the effort. Zombie bosses definitely yield useful weapons and equipment, also worth examining. Unique loot boxes are as their name implies though what exactly is part of the discovery fun. 

Nuclear-contaminated areas are marked in green and tend to be avoided when traversing on foot. Better to drive through if possible. 

There is also the icecream van guy (got a goofy looking clown mask). He is a special trader with some really good stuff (unique weapons and so on) that appeared out of nowhere one day. Like both of the military and wandering traders he roams all over the map never staying in one spot for too long. The funny thing is the front of the van has been modified with a couple of menacing ram prows. The sight of it playing Greensleeves coming at you is both frightening and funny.

Oh, one other thing. Accidentally ran over the wandering trader one day outside the sanctuary. Wondering if he respawns or is permanently killed off.

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Ran into Coyote soldiers today. Two groups. Managed to kill the first group but was unaware of the second group not far away. Happened while I was trying to wipe out the primary infestation at the shipping port not far from Gladevale Military Base.  

Had run-ins with the Coyote para-military before. But every time I try to question others about them, I get no help at all. 

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Cannot stop collecting things. In this game, it's vehicles...lol. Picked up a yellow Charger with black racing stripes (opposite my character shown below) while cruising past Chester Lake, north of my main base. Picked it up because it's the same model as Mike the Auto trader. Still on the lookout for a tank.

Was at the port for most of today's session struggling to knock off the primary infestation. Got the Zombie Boss, Captain Phillips. But then another Undead Big Boss spawned later while I was about dithering killing both secondary infestations and the primary one. Swarms of zombies kept appearing from everywhere.

Figured out that if you get stuck with your vehicle, as you do from time to time (as shown below), the best way to extricate yourself, apart from pushing it (which is slow and laborious and not guaranteed it will work anyway) is to just exit the game and reload the last save. Of course if you get yourself into such strife as below and then the game auto saves, then you're up the poverbial creek without a paddle...sort of. If in Settings, you chose to autosave the same file, then, yes, you're buggered. But if if you checked to autosave a new save every time, then you're okay.

Knocking over zombies causes wear and tear on your vehicle. It's definitely fun and saves on bullets but eventually you're going to have to repair the damage done.

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Other PC Games - Wanderburg

Seen this fun-looking game thanks to Flambass. Downloaded the DEMO version for now. Yet to play. Fun is main word to describe what I've seen so far. As games should be.

I play PC games for fun so why bother looking for them when I have my favourite YT streamers do the job for me. Thank you sirs.

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February Digest #4

English Civil War

WIP so far...excuse the doctored photo. Removed the background to just focus on the models worked on today without the usual workbench mess. Models are based for Victory Without Quarter with a slight modification regarding figures per base. Noted commanders on round bases. Other commanders and couriers/aides on single bases.

Top left corner: King Charles I with two aides/couriers. Top centre/right: Prince Rupert and his Lifeguards bodyguard unit. Bottom: part of the baggage train with handlers. 

Not much done, I know, but it's something. Really cannot explain my current apathy towards miniatures painting. It was never relaxing nor was it a passion to be honest: it was a necessary step in getting minis tabletop. More interested in the history and narrative behind the minis. 

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World of Warships

The Nian Paradox event grind continued today with the unlocking of the 2nd mission series. At the end of completing all the mission tasks, Kiberpankov was earned. Completing it now unlocks the final Stage III with the Tempesta Nera (R. Lauria clone) as the final reward.

Liking Eastern Dragon, the Myoko-class heavy cruiser, a lot after playing it daily since acquiring it. Its poor torp angles are offset by its quick-firing accurate guns. Its torps are strong enough to sink a battleship but getting them off requires some astute handling. And playing it mid range makes good sense because doing so helps preserve its survival. 

Even though cloned, these ships (Eastern Dragon => Myoko & Narai => Tiger '59) offer the opportunity to learn how to play them to get the best out of them. You either love or hate Narai. I'm in the camp that doesn't mind it; in fact, I like it. But only when it's played carefully...like 10km behind all the action. Lol. 

M. Colonna is slightly better than Narai and Eastern Dragon. But not by much. It hits hard when it does get the opportunity, but as my recent experience in Asymmetrics showed, it's no good against stronger ships with better guns. 

For now, while the Nian Paradox event is active, I will complete the various mission tasks using these three ships. Two of them (Narai and M. Colonna) offer the 200% economic bonus reward for just playing them for at least another two weeks. And the cost of playing E. Dragon is more cost effective - economic bonus-wise - than running the supership Satsuma. 

Hope to upskill at least one commander to 21 points by event's end. Fingers crossed that I stay awake while playing.

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Jigsaw Puzzle

Online jigsaw puzzles are fun and for the most part relaxing. Noticing some odd things though. In the past I tried to use Screenshot save (PRT SC) on my PC rather than in-game through Steam. Each time however, it wouldn't let me. It kicked me out into the main menu. However, tonight after this puzzle below, I saw my PC had managed to capture a flat black screen captioned with the words (PORN)...

Laughed at this reveal but then it got me to thinking... as to why are there no porn puzzles? Anyway, this one was a bit challenging. But once I got over half done, finishing got easier.

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February Digest #3

World of Warships

The Nian Paradox event commenced today. Focus will be on going for Tempesta Nera, which is a clone of the steel ship R. Lauria. No doubt, a great many others will do the same - a free steel ship is definitely desirable and worth the chase. On the way, you also get to pickup Kiberpankov, a clone of the Soviet cruiser Dimitri Pozharsky.

WG throwing lots of "confetti" our way in relation to this new event, dazzling you into spending real money on their sparkling goodies. 

New Event Pass is offering only one vessel - Eastern Dragon as halfway reward. Happy to go for that.

Picked up the Tier IX Pan-Asian premium battleship Yimeng for free. Part of the free gifts thrown our way. Got lucky: it was part of the free Fire Horse permanent camo bundle. Obtained from the single Defenders of Order crate which dropped the Nian Treasure crate...and voila! 

Played Yimeng several times. It has a couple of gimmicks including torpedo protection that reduces all torp damage by 70%. Unfortunately it only lasts for 10 sec so activate it just as torps are about to hit.

Guess I used up my lucky quota obtaining Yimeng because I reviewed the process in pursuing the Tempesta Nera. The event itself has seven weekly missions offering a quantity of Lunar tokens, the currency for the Nian Paradox event. Which means I will be playing at least six of those missions in order to reach my quest. 

The remaining seventh mission tokens can go to one of the other parties - Shamrockville - with one of the rewards being Danu because it'll be all I can afford with the leftover tokens. With the Lunar tokens, you can't really switch sides unless you have a swag of Lunar tokens. Your best chance was in the Lunar Trials (Update 15.0). 

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While the Surcouf is out of reach to me (not enough resources) the two ships I did acquire - the Thai cruiser Narai and the Italian battleship M. Colonna - are proving to be quite satisfactory. Playing in Co-Op, that is. Learning to play to their particular strengths while minimising their faults as much as possible. As a result, enjoying playing both ships in PvE mode. 

When I took M. Colonna into Aysmmetrics however to fast track earnings for the Event Pass I soon found her to be outmatched and out of depth. And her brawler prowess in Co-Op was sorely exposed when tackling greater numbers of opponents all at once. The US tortoise Colorado in particular proved her nemesis every encounter. Once the exhaust smoke wears out, being stranded in the midst of a group of accurate firing BOTS can provide some very excrutiating moments. 

Still my goal for entering Asymmetrics was quickly achieved and now I'm just one phase away from the E. Dragon reward. Could easily spend doubloons but I can just as easily play for her tomorrow and thus save myself one thousand doubloons.

The Unbreakable Front battle mode has returned with some changes. Never played it and don't intend to any time soon. Some complaints I've read by those seem to prefer the earlier iteration of this PvP battle mode.

Operations has been revamped too although I haven't tried it yet.

Some have discovered you can't complete some of the Nian Paradox missions in Asymmetrics which is a pity. But WG don't like to make it easy for its playerbase. 

Example: In the Nian Paradox Mission 2, there is one quest that requires you to be in the top five in any ten matches played. Well, you can guarantee achieving that in Asymmetrics as there are only five of you anyway. So play five matches and you've completed the task. Easy peasey. But WG doesn't like that idea. There are no shortcuts in the salt mines or desolate gulags of Siberia. 

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Eastern Dragon is an interesting ship. A Tier VII Myoko-class heavy cruiser, its frailty is exposed in its weak armour, slow turret traverse, poor torp angles, slow torps, and slow ammo switching. A mid-range shooter that is not good at all in close combat encounters. 

Played it first time today after finally claiming it in the Event Pass. Stayed at mid-range where its guns accuracy came to the fore sinking two destroyers in quick succession. Because I had chosen the gun feeder skill (recommended) on my commander, I was able to switch from HE to AP fairly quickly and in time to take out an enemy cruiser. Used her slow torps in area denial, scoring hits on an enemy cruiser and battleship. Three kills on its first outing made me smile. 

I did switch out the original commander and installed Takeo Suzuki instead. Suzuki I am grinding to 21 points. He's currently on 20 points but his inclusion helped to make the first engagement a pleasant experience.

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New Project

Started a Foreign Legion fort for whatever reason decades ago. Almost finished it but then I lost enthusiasm because I kept over-complicating the design within. 

Now I want to make things worse by creating a small desert village to complement the fort. Started working on the buildings last night based on an original outline sketch done months ago. I am opting to expand the design and layouts of the various buildings and structures within a basically open layout. The real test will come in actually constructing the various components.

Below shows the original sketch layout done months ago. It's layout and components within will change as I get "creative". 

Below shows a sketch map created the other day showing a crude landscape layout. Include contour intervals. Shows the relationship between each component to one another narratively.

Building up to become a campaign but indeterminate as to the period. The obvious choice would be World War II. At a stretch it could even be set in Europe during the Interwar period.

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Peterbilt 359 assembly drama continues

Changing the design after watching a YT streamer reacts to some Australian road trains. That video made me realise my original final design is crap. So I am opting to go with a more straightforward simple design. It even passed the wife test. Below is a graphical sketch. Final reveal will vary slightly. Cheers.

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February Digest #2

English Civil War

Spent some time tonight working on the Royalist Horse list. Having to scrounge for figures to comply with the original listing but finding there are now shortfalls somehow. So some changes required...that's if I can't find enough figures soon.

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Unfortunately the original list is out the door. Discovering I stuffed up the original order means there is a considerable shortfall so I'm having to reduce numbers on a few 'large' units such as Prince Rupert's Horse. And changing the composition by standardising Royalist horse units to one stand of two figures throughout - heavy and light. 

Some painting work done earlier today on Cary's Horse, Prince Maurice's Horse, King's Lifeguards, and the two Lifeguard units for the Princes, and Northern Horse. Having to scrounge around for spares to fulfil Queen Henrietta's Horse. 

Some more painting done with the baggage train tonight. Slow progress because I'm out of touch with model painting at the moment. Plus, it's no longer the passion it once was but still a mildly interesting and often occasional exercise in time wasting. Says a lot about my enthusiasm these days regarding this hobby.

Water cart, stores wagon, and gunpowder cart (bottom left). I think I'm missing something for the ammo cart. Will probably modify it to make sit higher whatever it was. And the mule train. King Charles I, accompanied by his two aides/couriers, are overlooking the scene but unaffected by the activity happening. 

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Did some work on command figures tonight as I got into the workbench pretty late. Namely worked on Rupert and King Charles with his two aides/couriers. Not much progress made really but sufficient for the time spent. Still more work required however - flocking, and a great deal more detailing for all four figures if I want to make them acceptably presentable. Hopefully I can have something to present for this month's hobby achievements over on Oz Tabletop Forums. Doing so will provide a bit of incentive to clear my to-do list.

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Vietnam War campaign

Action at Ca Bong or "Boom, Boom, You're Dead!"

Operation Black Bottle began just before dawn as three companies from the 1st Battalion, 54th Infantry, 9th Division began their northward push up the Song Hoa river. 

Leading the way is Riverine Force Team One (Petersen), consisting of two Monitors and three Tangos, and transporting A Coy (Donald) and half of B Coy (Schuler). Team Two (Delweere) - two Monitors, two Tangos, one Command, is about ten minutes behind carrying the remainder of B Coy (Clarke) and D Coy (Zollerfeldt).

Donald's mission is to land south of the Suoi Trang river at Noi Buon. Secure it. Then advance on to Ca Bong from the south. Meanwhile Petersen with Schuler is to advance directly on Ca Bong, disembark and secure it and await the arrival of Delweere with reinforcements. Petersen is to provide fire support from the river and keep it free from interference from expected VC defensive measures (floating mines, etc.).

Delweere is to offload remainder of B Coy at Ca Bong and then proceed north some distance to offload Zollerfeldt and D Coy along the Ca Bong-Co Lac road.

Intel is sketchy (as in fluid and none too reliable) but it is known a strong VC battalion - the 275th - is operating in the area. And using Ca Bong as a main town within their network. Securing its capture would seriously impact on that network.  And disrupt any VC operations on this side of the Suoi Trang river where the VC have operating in many cases openly and with impunity.

FF are to treat all villages flanking the river as neutral but with caution. If fired upon, units are cleared to open return fire with force. However, once opposition goes quiet, cease firing and standard rules of engagement applies.  

Air and artillery support are on call but only in dire situations. Priority to be determined by supporting units, and on the proviso the targets are firstly clearly identified. No blanket preliminary artillery barrage is permitted. Only the FAA, FOO, or company commanders may authorise air/artillery support. 

With the recent incident at My Lai resounding globally, Headquarters is seriously adhering to strict rules of engagements: clear identification of enemy first before responding. Discretion to be exercised by the local commander based on rules of engagement in determining return response to being fired upon by the enemy.

Commanders for this venture are as follows:

Land operations - Maj. Schuler (B Coy). Officer commanding entire operation.
Riverine operations - Lt. Delweere (Team Two)

Terrain Points of Note: The crossing of the Suoi Trang can be done by foot as the water there is mostly shallow (no more than knee deep). But it deepens the closer to the Song Hoa so that crossing can only be done by swimming or boat. 

West of Ca Bong is a large palm plantation that reaches the road and borders both Co Lac and Ca Khoc and extends south for several kilometres. The Old Colonial Plantation is still occupied by a wealthy local family whose loyalties are unknown. 

The two hamlets north of the main road as it crosses the Song Hoa and connects to Lang Doi are small fishing villages where they eke out a living of rice and fish. 

East of the main road as far north as Ca Khoc and as far south as the Noi Buon road are numerous rice paddy fields belonging to the villagers. 

There is much traffic between both banks of the Song Hoa with trading happening all the time. So, be mindful the river will be busy in the mornings and late afternoon. 

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Delay playing out this scenario. Needs a full day totally devoted to playing it. Right now, however, I've got many other activities on my plate that I cannot spare the time right now. Definitely some time this week as I do need to clear the table from the garage for tidy up for my upcoming darts tournament post-Easter. Cheers.

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World of Warships

Sundays are relaxing days, as we all know. Jumped into the game after taking a couple of days off. Stress level returned almost immediately whilst playing. Controls seemed to stick at times throughout the session, often at the most inopportune moments. Puzzling phenomenon because the mouse works fine every other time. 

Anyway, I hung in there because I had one mission task to complete to finish the 120th Anniversary/Dreadnought mission. Did that soon enough and went to see what compensation I might get. Expected the usual credit spike.

Nothing. 

Checked the Compensation Rules on the WG site (link provided in the event). Everything seemed in order there. Checked the Dreadnought rules again. Notice then no compensation forthcoming. No mention of compensation whatsoever. If you already have it, tough titties, you get nothing. 

Bummer. WG keep moving the goal posts. There has always been compensation in such events. Now there seems to be nothing. 

On an unrelated matter, I looked at how much coal is required for Narai in the Surcouf Salvage event. Still not worth it. So I passed on that. Also saw coal can be had at a rate of 1000 coal for 100 steel. You know, egging you exchange steel for coal in order to eventually grab Surcouf. You're going to end up spending over a million coal to reach her though. Ask yourself is it worth grabbing this monstrosity of a submarine with cruiser guns? Only a deranged designer would come up with such a hideous vessel. But some people love ludicrous. 

As someone who has not bothered playing Ranked in a very long time, steel is about as rare as Research Bureau points to me so it would have to be a very tempting offer for me to part with my small but precious hoard of steel. For now, I'll pass.  

The Zarya-S is, as a YT streamer (and many others as well) pointed out, nothing more than a Tier IX Vladivostok.

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Was wrong about Narai. I recall it was one half of a duo of ships (the other was Cambridge) that came out part of an event last year that I was hoping to grab. Unfortunately I missed out but wasn't overly concerned because I knew it would eventually return. 

Initially dismissed it out of hand however because I soon learned that it was a clone of the infamous Tiger '59. Tarred by reputation. Dumb thing to do, I now admit.

However, since playing it, I like it a lot. It requires you to play her carefully (as in "take cover" at every opportunity; she's not a YOLO ship). Her rapid fire HE is good at starting fires more so when you place one of the Rong brothers (Seasoned commanders) on her. Which I did. 

All of this information learned thanks to another YT WOWS Community Contibutor (reinstated), one of several I follow for information.

Am I going for the Zarya-S? Short answer no. Long answer, unable to earn enough coal in time. 

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Today was the Narai of common derision - the Tiger '59 version. Easily smashed in the early games but came back after adjusting play to minimize her many weaknesses - paper thin armour, weak guns (rapid fire compensates plus ship build and selective commander skill - playing one of the Rong brothers). Lucky I was also playing the M. Colonna in today's grind which made the session bearable. Early glitch with the signup notification popping up briefly. And as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. Trouble-free playing thereafter. 

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Peterbilt 359 kit build

Ignoring the transfers that came with the kit. Instead I will go with a custom design. This is what I've come up after some nutting out all night. The fonts I found online; settled on three that I liked. Favouring the Excel one because it relates to movement. Problem is whether to hand paint or create a transfer decal. Undecided for now.

Made some notes to the rough design created. For sure the final finished work will differ slightly from the design concept shown above. 

Still planning on hand painting the lovely lady originally shown because she's the figurehead for this road vessel. Like ships of olde. First and foremost though, this rig is a working truck so Miss Peggy Sue will feature in a discreet location.

Top view of bonnet does give it that British flag look. May modify it or remove the central stripe look altogether.

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February Digest #1

World of Warships

Returned to commander upskill grind since completing the Early Access European battleship specific missions. Enjoying playing Satsuma with my now-20 pt skilled captain because most Co-Op games involved just me and the BOTS. Slow grind for sure but I'm in no rush.

Realised I wasn't going to get the Enigheten with the tokens already earned for free without spending cash for the shortfall (needed at least 400 more). So I spent what I had to grab a new special commander related to these ships (10 pt) and the rest on credits (can never have enough). 

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Continuing to slow-grind my Seasoned commander (Suzuki) on Satsuma. I should switch to a lower tiered ship but I like playing by myself in a supership-only Co-Op game because I like the "peace and quiet" plus I get to know the characteristics of the other superships, especially the cruisers. 

Found Satsuma to be on par with Hannover and Ushakov in terms of potency. Definitely stronger than Devastation. Not played Patrie often enough to compare. But if Patrie is an upgrade on both Jean Bart and Republique then it's definitely a rival. Sensing it already from the few encounters with it. Played Maine when it was first introduced but can't remember much of its performance then so can't compare. Maybe I am confusing it with the Rhode Island? After a while they all tend to blend into the same which says more about my attentiveness and lack of skill. I could excuse myself by claiming I'm a casual player but that's not true.

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The Surcouf Salvage event kicked off today. Instantly exchanged coal for M. Colonna. Unsure about grabbing Narai simply because it's a knockoff of the infamous Tiger '59, considered the worst ship in the game. Besides, I also have the Tiger '59. But it's a quantity, and right now I collect quantities. 

Played Colonna for the remainder of the grind after initial game in Satsuma. Nice enough ship. Like the exhaust smoke which comes in handy when being focus-fired: it lasts for over a minute. HP and AP are decent enough but nothing to write home about. 

Wasn't able to improve on my 11th position in the Lunar Trials so earned only 300 tokens which tallies me up to 950. It is what it is.

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English Civil War

Tonight I resumed painting my Royalist list after a lengthy break. Started with 4 figures. Got bolder and added another 12 figures of Horse (with lobster helmets). My limit for the night. Definitely got me motivated to continue even though I wasn't able to finish the painting task.

So I will continue to finish the entire Royal horse list over the next few days if I can. This should include the remaining Horse as well as all the baggage and artillery trains and commanders and a few "floaters" - extra figures. Once done, all that remains will be the final detailing (basing, flocking, flags, etc.). Then I will parade the entire lot for posterity. Lol. 

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Reviving this old project means having to recall what the Royalist Horse list comprised. Memory failed me so I did a bit of rummaging around and found the information from an earlier blog post. I should have enough but they will be outnumbered by the Roundheads who have a similar number of units but larger numbers. 

Reviewing the available rulesets, I'm staying with VWQ because it's the only one I'm familiar with. Was planning to run a campaign using TWWAE but it only deals with the period from the start to the Battle of Edgehill while my models are later period (1645). I could still run it using an adaptation but deciding not to do so. 

FK&P intrigues me. But it uses a card and grid system which I'm not familiar with. Eventually I will explore it in greater detail.

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Vietnam War campaign

Need to finish this off because I'm organising a darts tournament after Easter. And therefore I need the garage space for the event. Prize are two glorious bottles of whiskey, aged through neglect. Full and unopened. Lol. 

First game will be the river patrol scenario designed and presented here months ago. Table all set up and forces prepped. Full batrep to follow. 

Next scenario is based on a true story (so I hear). An SAS recon team from NZ (4 guys) encountered a VC company and were able to extricate themselves to their extraction point some distance away without casualty while retreating over hill and dale in the j. Encounter took over forty minutes. The rules will require some modifying to accommodate the narrative. Not sure how the results will pan out however. Have to wait-and-see.

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