July Digest #2

Kato

Grandson came over for a short visit today before he heads back to the US to resume his football scholarship. Since the new (US) administration came into power, all visas are being reviewed, as I understand the present situation. And my grandson's initial visa is no exception - so he flew down to Sydney for an interview with the embassy. They asked of him a few questions, namely the reason for wanting to come to the US. He told them why and his response seemed to satisfy them enough for his visa application to be re-approved. I just wonder if it was a mere formality or, as most speculate, they are doing background checks on his social media to see if he's anti-American. Anyway, now he flies back to California but has to do so from Sydney this Friday. His student visa is for six years which I reckon is the remaining two years of high school and four years of college (university) should he get that far. Asked him what does he want to do with his future, and he replied, "Business management." Smart lad. Going to miss him. 

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Eldritch Horror

Pulled out this boardgame to replay amid the growing recognition that I have so many games and hobby options quietly sitting neglected in my studio. And maybe it's time for another "spring clean of sorts". But more on that later. 

Eldritch Horror is a boardgame acquired back in 2016 when I was contracting out of Sydney. Heard of it through the hobby grapevine but hadn't really warmed to it until I actually purchased it from a store in Parramatta. Began playing it solo and immediately enjoyed the experience. After several playthroughs, I realised I had made a good impulsive buy. 

Tonight however was struggle: remembering how to play it. Reviving the setup was initially time-consuming because I forgot what certain pieces were and their purpose. However, once I found all the pieces (quite a few), and reread how they action, I was ready to go. But I did start playing immediately.

As I am playing it solo I have opted for two characters (for two heads are better than one, so they say) chosen randomly - Jim Oliver (musician) and Trish Scarborough (spy). 

Azathoth will be the Ancient god they will contend with. 

Footnote: Rediscovered an expansion set as well as the original Arkham Horror. All are unopened. Not sure what to do with them at the moment.

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World of Warship

Currently into Update 14.6 (July). 

Playing out the Bastille Day event (Common missions) - event using only French ships. As well grinding through The Coalface mission tasks using specifed Experimental ships. Which makes for a nice break from the daily Commander upskill grind. 

The only restriction imposed on the Commander upskill grind is that I cannot spend any Free XP because that's needed for resetting the Research Bureau tech tree line. My target is a little over 1.5 million Free XP. Incidentally, the price for Research and Steel ships has just risen so maybe I will go for 2 million instead.

You can obtain Free XP by spending doubloons on excess ship XP. But it's very pricey and not recommended by most. Doubloons can be earned but it's usually pittance so you end up spending real money. Many agree that it's just not worth the effort. So I will keep grinding the slow yet methodical way.

As stated previous post, the new line of US destroyers opens into Early Access which is why Personal Challenge is happening. PC (Personal Challenge) is pretty common in clans. I expect however one will have to fork out money for more American tokens to buy some of these Early Access ships because there's a restriction of the amount of available American tokens through PC - set at 500 for Phase 1; Phase 2 commences in a few days, and what amount is available is unknown. Half interested only because new ships means my ultimate goal of 700+ ships is nearing closer to fruition.

There is also a new German heavy cruiser line coming out I believe though I know nothing of the details surrounding their eventual release. Don't really care to know to be honest; I expect it will be much the same as every other new tech tree line release. Again, half interested because they're new ships to add to the port fleet.

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Finding these side events (under the Common Missions umbrella) that pop up now and then are a good distraction from the oft-laborious grinds I set myself. For example, played the Bastille Day event, and one of the tasks was to help your team score damage through spotting. Tried a couple of lower tier DDs at first - Aigle and Duchaffault. But I wasn't getting the results expected quick enough. So I switched up to Le Terrible which is a pretty good premium DD. Results immediately improved, and I was able to achieve the goal set pretty quick. 

One of the most difficult grinds in WOWS is for Base XP. It often requires being more aggressive (ie brawling) and taking on enemy ships of a higher ship type (ie DD taking on a BB). In Co-Op battle mode the range and results are consistently low, usually up to 350. Rarely do you go above that figure but you probably need to be carrying the team. You can try other Battle modes such as Operations (although only the max allowed is half your total)

In PC this is easily noticeable when you realise you're never going to get above the first level base set (eg in the present PC, the first level Base XP requirement is 300). The next level of difficulty is 600 which is more likely possible through the other game modes but more tricky in Co-Op because the reward are set low. Forget going beyond Level 1 because it's really difficult unless you play aggressively or else play a more rewarding Battle mode. 

WG like to torment its player base and believe that slow and arduous is the way to go (think salt mines). Plus they set such high amounts required to complete any such task. 

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Base XP is that figure found in the left column (non-Premium) as shown below. It used to be openly displayed but is now hidden unnoticed among the glitter of your results. The value is normally low when playing Co-Op battle mode.

Yesterday I skipped the routine Commander upskill grind because I wanted to finish off two side missions - Bastille Day and The Coalface. The final tasks required a quantity of Base XP to advance/finish. So I jumped into Operations to speed up the process. Took my time but it was still a long grind - all day, all night, and now closing in on the witching hour (3 am). 

Glad it's done because the Early Access US destroyers starts later on today. Don't want any distractions or loose ends.

The above image shows the disparity between Base XP earned in Co-Op and what's possible in Operations battle mode. That difference increases even more when playing any of the PvP modes - Brawls, Randoms, Ranked, Unbreakable Line.

I did not realise the Tier X Italian cruiser Varese - part of the Experimental ships - has its main guns central instead of the standard fore and aft configuration. Learn something new every day, I suppose. Also, in Operations mode, the bot accuracy increases considerably. Found that out a few times to my detriment. 

Struggled playing the Bourgogne but did okay in the Republique. 

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New US destroyer line commenced today. They're in Early Access with the final Tier X ship Burrows costing 20,000 doubloons (or @AUD90+). Yeah, easy pass on getting that one. But the other three can be earned using special American event tokens. For instance, the current Battle Pass has a total of 400 on offer. Or you can purchase increments (50 to 100) through Bundles in the Armoury. Which I happily did and outlayed a small amount of cash to top up my current American token stash (that was sitting at 700) so I could obtain the first of the Early Access ships, the Hughes. Played it once: seems okay with its long-range torps and SAP shells. Aiming for the Osborne next but will wait for Phase Two of Personal Challenge to unlock to see what's on offer. Otherwise, it's buy the random bundles to cover the shortfall as a last resort. 

Like most sensible players I will avoid spending that amount of doubloons for Burrows. Only whales will buy Burrows outright. 

Rest of the session (split in two because of life duties) taken up with the daily Commander upskill grind. The more unpleasant part of the session. Luckily I got interrupted by life duties part way through the day.

The evening session resumed yucky. Decided to finish off another phase in Battle Pass in order to grab the coal so I could acquire another Seasoned commander. Needed another 5,000. 9,000 was on offer but the last 3,000 Base XP of the mission task forced me to switch to Operations. Got the amount in three games. And finally got my Seasoned commander. 

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Today I gambled and won. Got the reward I was aiming for, the Tier VIII French premium battleship Champagne from the French squadron bundles (acquired five). Missed out on it last Christmas (snowflake and Santa crate event) but pleased to have it now. 

The French squadron listed premium ships on offer through these crates I have already except for the Champagne. Figured the odds might fall in my favour. And they did...this time.

Immediately used it for the daily commander upskill grind (formerly ran Honore on Dunkerque B), and it performed better than expected with its 406mm guns, engine boost, and standard main guns configuration of fore and aft. 

Its arrival also allowed me complete the daily Experimental ships grind - obtain a total of 120 Action reports - spread out over the three mission tasks. Previously, I only had two ships available for that task - Seasoned commander George Doe on Anchorage (Tier VIII) and Seasoned commander Michiel de Ruyter on Groningen (Tier IX). With three now it becomes easier. At the same time I also realised not bother with Economic Bonus Ship XP on those ships lower than Tier VII (there are eight in total) primarily to speed up obtaining the three daily loot boxes because I'm running low. 

Did some shuffling those in the reserve - mostly allocating seasoned commanders to significant vessels. Ships like the Mecklenburg now have a Seasoned commander with his special talents. Just need to play it again and grind the commander up to 21 points.   

Next new priority will be to obtain all the remaining Seasoned commanders. Done it already for those costing coal. Those that remain require doubloon outlay - 1500 per commander. 

Seasoned commanders have special skills that rate below that of the few select Legendary or Unique commanders (like Halsey, Lutjens, and others). Seasoned commanders rate above those deemed Special who are thrown up with most special events. These people have no special skills or talents whatsoever. All three, of course, rate above your standard tech line commanders who are only able to be promoted according to the captain skill rating. All tech tree line commanders start at 0 and grind their way up to 21. As they rise in skill, so does their rank. Every now and then, events or rewards will feature a skilled captain higher than 0, ie 3 or 6 or 10 being the more common skill level. 

Getting close to having the required amount to reset a tech tree line (Research Bureau). But with the recent hike in Research points prices, my choices are now more focused. So I am foregoing the Paolo Emilio and aiming instead for either Vampire II (Aussie ship) or Colbert (French cruiser useful for farming). And the Slava (Soviet battleship) which are now all the same price - 62,000 Research points. Depending on how I'm travelling amassing Free XP, I may wait until the end of the year before resetting a line. 

Research Bureau points are difficult to come by in the game. And the only Research Bureau ship I have in six years of this game is the excellent and favoured Tier X US battleship Ohio which cost 62,000 Bureau points. Currently sitting at around 26,000 Bureau points. Needing therefore another 36,000 points before I can go shopping. 

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Vietnam War - CDS scenario 1

Contemplating adding a twist to this campaign which helps with motivation. Currently doing some research on the Asian lion statues. Learned they are best displayed as a pair - the male on the right with his paw on a ball (dominating the world) and the female on the left with her paw on a cub on its back. 

Well, the two lions I bought are both male. Interesting...

Haven't yet played the scenario because I've been distracted by other life issues. Also lacking motivation even though everything is set up and ready to go. May start tomorrow but you know what they say about tomorrow. 

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Studio stocktake

Started an inventory stocktake on the studio the other day. Began in the second room. Made a start but only managed to itemise around a third of what's there already. Expect this to take me at till the end of the year. No worries. No pressure. 

Art stuff. Loads of paints and brushes. And painting materials - tools, easels, etc. Several various organiser drawers, containers, boxes. Large storage crates. Bookshelves. Musical equipment. Plenty to keep me occupied albeit pleasantly to be honest because I don't mind doing art cards. 

Will post progress reports as soon as I can. 

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Paper Models

Starting to get into paper models. Whether it's just a passing interest or something more serious remains to be seen. I will post a few novice beginnings although I have made a few in the past. Problem, as always, is storage. Where and how.

Seen a recent YT video regarding Tom Greenfelder from the US who has been collecting paper models for over 20 years. He has a collection of over 7000 models of all kinds and types. Not a military enthusiast but very inspirational. 

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Eldritch Horror - solo play

Set this up some a few days back on the formal dinner table, scene of so many large project displays (Borodino project comes to mind). Kept passing it many times since. In the end, I finally sat down last and played to finish through the night. Went to bed around six am. 

As stated in previous posts, setting up took some time as I hadn't played the game in a very long time. Reacquainting myself with the game mechanics took time. But after some lost-look moments in the beginning, I soon got back into the swing of things.

Background: Chose the easiest of the four Ancient gods - Azithoth. Chose to go with two Investigators - Jim Culver (musician) and Trish Scarborough (spy). Set up Jim in the deep south of the US while Trish spawned in eastern Europe (close to Russia).

As the game unfolded, Trish gathered a team of allies around her - a PA (Personal Assistant), a PI (Private Investigator), and Hired Muscle. And she obtained a Lightning Gun that along with .45 automatic pistol meant she wasn't going to have problems combatting monsters. 

Her Influence shot sky-high which was a plus in certain situations but her other skills (Lore especially) were, and stayed, low. She also suffered sanity issues many times when conducting tests. She also experienced problems closing gates (failing tests). 

Gates activated: Arkham (closed by Jum). London (closed by Jim). Istanbul (closed by Trish). Sydney, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo remain open by game's end. 

Rumor tokens played: 2

Rumor tokens solved: 2.

Monsters spawned: 11 or 12 (forget now)

Monsters defeated: 7

Jim's forte proved to be his ability to accumulate clue tokens. At one point he had eight. This proved useful when dealing with certain Mythos cards. And he drew a Blessed condition early on which was a boon when rolling dice (pass on 4,5,6). He also drew a couple of Incantation spells which were never used and eventually lost.

Doom track reached: 1

Mysteries solved: 3. Investigators win the game in a very tight contest. The wins (mystery solved) happened in the last four turns.

Rounds played: 13. 

Moments of note: In Round 2, after drawing the Bermuda Triangle mythos card, both Investigators were plucked from their locations and plonked on the Bermuda space (8). Both Delayed and took a while to get back to their original locations to resume investigations.

In the last round, both reach Tunguska and complete the final mystery to win the game with the Doom track on 1. Nail biter finish.

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