November Digest #6

World of Warship

So the Christmas season is upon us with the intro to Update 14.11 beginning today (Thursday). Aim will be to make this last month and a few days as comfortable playing-wise as possible. Which means no lengthy mindless grinding, spending as much resources where possible, and exploiting any and every situation to the max. 

But one wonders if this Christmas season is going to be all sparkles and glitter as promoted...

First up, Liberty Harbour event officially ends in six days. But activity has ceased when I went to the site. No missions are now possible. Caught me by surprise but no biggie because I extracted all I could from the event - got both the ship and the commanders. I've just been cruising since completing the reward tasks earning at least 180,000 credit on average every day. However, one well-known WOWS YT streamer posted that WG did a sneaky by canning the remaining days: caught out a number of those still grinding for the Bridgeport and David Farragut. Many had to spend doubloons to complete the event and earn the rewards. 

The Roussillon is overhyped. According to one reliable YT streamer source, the supposed good dispersion is a lie. Am more interested in the coal compensation and resources available than in the ship itself; it's just another tick for my ultimate goal. So I don't care about the ship. Already paid for the eight phases to make the grind easier collecting the credits, coal, premium days, and economic bonuses along the way. No shame in splurging; anything to make my last month as comfortable as possible. Played through for two more phases so got the appreciated Montcalm compensation (coal). In its defence, one commenter provided an excellent summary on how to play the battleship. Still doesn't matter to me as I already have loads of more than capable French battleships - Jean Bart, Republique, Picardie, Bourgogne, Patrie to name a few. One more isn't going to disrupt or alter game play. 

I now have enough to grab a coal ship from the Armoury. But I am going to wait until after the Update just in case they do release Conrad Helfich into the Collection crates (rumoured).

The new Event Pass commenced today. Chapter One is up for grabs. Play the top progress line and/or pay for the second progress line. Spent to unlock 2nd progression line and collected the welcomed rewards.

The Steel Fleet is now openly listed in the Armoury. And the Valparaiso is sitting there awaiting collection. Did the sums and I have enough for only one steel ship. Interesting in that I saw lots of Valparaiso in both Asymmetrics and Co-Op. 

I could use Voyage tokens accumulated to exchange for steel but I don't have enough nor will it ever happen. And I'd rather exchange what few tokens I have for doubloons instead.

The Santa crates bundles for sale will start over the weekend. Tempting to the greedy and gullible (like moi). Anyway, with the preview, scored eight gift crates from the event pass primarily. Lots of useful resources - Economic bonuses, Elite Commander XP, Free XP, coal, small amount of steel, but no ship. That's the province of the Mega gift crates. The Gift crates remain worthwhile (just) for the resources and value (1 Mega gift crate equals 5 Gift crates).

Played to grab all 24 ornaments to decorate the Christmas tree, and thus scored the attendant rewards. One less event to worry about. 

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Simple and quick session playing just Brisbane for its daily commander upskill grind. Different from yesterday which turned out much longer than usual because I wanted to finish the Christmas tree ornament requirement. 

Thursdays whenever a new Update kicks in with new events is always hectic and busy.

Played Asymmetric because it's quicker entry than the usual Co-Op battle mode. Session included a couple of defeats but balanced out by more victories. Always entertaining and engaging whenever playing Asymmetric; nowhere to really hide when playing this battle mode. 

Brisbane's long range torps are really useful in area denials and/or covering likely approach routes. If any enemy ships sail into that targeted zone and you score hits or even a sinking then well and good. Her HP is useful for farming fleeing ships. But keep your distance or hug an island while farming. Mind you angling in (present a narrow target) becomes mandatory whenever returning fire; you're a much bigger target than an elusive destroyer. And very squishy. 

It is not recommended charging in (YOLO-ing) unless you have a death wish. But if supported by others, maybe risk it. But always remain on guard. Any good BB salvo can, and usually does, one-shot wipe you out. 

Not looking forward to grinding either San Martin or Castilla because their strengths are different and therefore requiring a different tactical approach. 

Zao is also worrisome but manageable because its torp load is similar in quantity and range to Brisbane. In some ways playing Zao reminds me of when I was grinding the commander of Salem. And it remains one of my favourite cruisers despite rarely played and being left behind by many others since. 

Not as familiar with Worcester but it won't really matter because I don't think I'll have the time to devote to its upskilling as I have with Brisbane. I sometimes confuse it with its more famous peer Minotaur. I've never played either all that much which might explain the confusion.

And then there's the rest of which I am only focusing on a select group. Food for thought in 2026.

My primary goal has alway been to reach 700 ships total by the end of the year. And that's still doable despite not having progressed much the past two months. Beyond the end of the year, and if able to reach the ultimate goal within time, the next priority will be stopping daily play; six years is long enough as I've always prattled on endlessly. And as someone who exhibits traits of obsessive compulsive disorder personality, this might be easier said than done. 

But everything is doable if determined and willing. And able.

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Saturday's grind was straightforwardly straight. Played Brisbane in Asymmetric by marching straight in; and got immediate entry. Would have loved to have taken a battleship instead like Rhode Island, Maine, Patrie or G. Kurfurst but then I'd be waiting forever like a lot of other battleship players. Far easier to get in on ANY non-battleship vessel. 

Recommended other cruisers I've noticed playing Asymmetric without too much difficulty - Napoli/Napoli B, Manteuffel, Kushiro, Salem. Even a Jinan works. 

Most Tier X destroyers - premium and tech tree lines - work as well although you do need to modify your gameplan according to the vessel's specific strengths and weaknesses. 

Recall enjoy playing Kitakaze with its fast-firing guns (around 2 seconds), hard-hitting torps, and good smoke. The trick with the torp reload booster is to not use it until you've fired your first torp spread. Very tempting to hit that booster key sooner but if you can resist the urge you will surprise your foes and reap the rewards of twelve torps in total. I run with the third loadout for max damage (23,000 per torp) at 12 km range. Running up against battleships is no longer that much of a concern. 

Noticed tonight another YT WOWS streamer also condemning the latest dockyard offering by WG. Still getting it however because a ship is a ship even if it's considered awful. I mean, I have the Tiger '59 in my port fleet. Never going to sail her unless I have a deathwish. 

From the steel fleet I am locked on getting the Valparaiso as mentioned in an earlier digest post. But am also checking out either Hawaii or Bremen. From the dockyard it's Roussillon. From the Event Pass, there are the two ships on my acquisition list - Nurnberg '44 and Luzhou. 

The rest of my target goal will be made up from the Santa Gift or Mega crates. However, I'm not expecting many rewards this year because there aren't many options left. 

If unable to reach my ultimate goal by year's end then I will continue until completed. I do have just under a full year's worth of premium time available so there is no real urgency in completing the goal although I would like to finish by the end of the year. 

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End of the month post. As per usual played the Brisbane in Asymmetrics. Usual expected outcome. Just waiting on the activation of the other promised happenings - Gift crates and the free Tier IX ship (or compensation), the Advent calendar, and Festive Rewards. Anticipate it will commence Monday (local time) but who knows with WG. They say one thing and do another. 

Splurged using accumulated resources earned thus far. Acquired three supership carriers - Sekiryu, United States, Eagle. This gives me a potential of 4,200 steel when it comes to Festive Reward time. Add the amount of over sixteen and a half thousand steel for my Tier VIII and IX ships and now I have enough to make a choice between Valparaiso and Bremen. But not both unfortunately. 

Played with a Hawaii today in one of my three Asymmetrics games. Player held the middle on the Greece map (we spawned in the south). I was on the right flank with a Valparaiso in my Brisbane. Did my bit but noticed the Hawaii player opting to play aggressively. He/She/It/They/Them/Those did not last long though. To be expected I suppose because it's a new ship. Hope there's improvement over the coming month or so because one YT WOWS streamer swears by it, especially on the centre run through the Two Brothers map. 

On another map (North I think) I was paired with an Aki, a Yamato-clone, and another Steel Fleet offering. Expected it to be more durable and it was still blazing away last time I looked when I died. Seeing more Valparaiso and Black Fleet ships in Asymmetrics due to their availability through the various event offerings. Some play their new ships well while others don't. 

Also splurged with doubloons to nab the halfway reward in the Event Pass. Have not yet played Nurnberg '44. Will sea trial her first in Co-Op before sampling the other PvE battle modes.

Waiting on the release of the Helfich collection crate for coal purchase before purchasing another coal ship. Limited selection however - choice between a carrier or a sub. Er...decisions, decisions...!

Six hundred and seventy-eight ships acquired. Just twenty-two left to go. 

It has always been the chase, the thrill of the hunt, not the actual prize or capture. Maybe I was a fox hunter in a past life. Or maybe the hunted in a real life-and-death game of chasey. 

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Into The Dead

Went with Seb and Diane to resume the Chiefways escape plan. The group is struggling food-wise but have finally reached and hooked up with Otto who has filled them in on his escape plan. It's the one the survivors are intending to follow...for now.

Also met up with the saboteur whose name is Nora. She offers an alternate escape plan which runs contrary to Otto's plan. 

The choice for the player therefore is choosing which escape plan to follow - that offered through company chef Otto or the one insisted upon by the technician Nora who's doing her best to sabotage your efforts to open the vents. It's obvious that one outcome leads to freedom while the other results in certain death if the outcome from the already tried Network plan is anything to go by.

At the moment, the Boiler Unit vent is the most difficult one to activate because of the vent's location, accessing it, and the large number of zombies therein. Using revolvers and carbines along with grenades is one way to clear the area but it's costly in terms of ammunition. 

The bar (Thirty Ought Six Bar) from where the group operates is the closest shelter for actioning the Chiefway escape plan but it is not ideal for food resources. It is also handy to reaching the St Bernadette Hospital where the escape helo is located. A nearby Pogos (the one on 9th Street) offers food resources but is heavily infested by zombies. The team needs to relocate to a shelter that offers the water filtration option however. But as can be seen from the above image, there is only the one suitable shelter location that is within the vicinity of the vent openings. Not sure if it has a water filtration facility. Hopefully that location will have a telescope to scout the surrounding region.

Activating the vents remains a priority for the group at the moment. But can they survive until then?

The team have already lost one member. Rahul, the chemist whom they met up in the Baptist church, went scavenging and got fatally savaged. He eventually turned which was probably fortuitous as the team was struggling to keep itself fed. 

Cooper, the pilot, is with this team and I will try to keep him alive so the group can next finish the airlift escape plan. But they have to finish the oil pipe escape plan first. His survival is a priority at the moment; sacrificing others so he can remain to the end seems the way to go. 

Sidenote: During play with one of the pairings I stumbled upon Hardwick's Trailer in the Harshaw District. It was disguised as a trailer on a dusty lot that disguised an underground shelter. A prepper location, so I immediately thought. The owner, ex-mil, wasn't too friendly however so had to eliminate him in order to loot his stash which didn't yield much. Was hoping for a typcial prepper's stash of months of beans and corn.  

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Unfortunately the team (Dianne and Seb) died out before they could complete the Chiefway escape plan in tonight's session (Saturday/Sunday). Died of starvation, all four of them. They managed to open the vents and were in the process of clearing out the heavily infested Operations Centre but simply ran out of ammo. And then died of starvation. One by one - first Dianne, then Seb, then Cooper, and finally Barb. No success in scavenging for food apart from the odd occasional snacks and alcohol. Which didn't last long anyway. The military drop nearby wasn't located in time. 

Yep, grenades will take out the armoured zombies. And headshots will kill the other zombies. The pistol and carbine are lightweight compared to my preference for both revolver and military-style rifle. Haven't yet used pipe bombs but will test them out eventually.

You can chip away at large numbers zombies rather than attempting to take them all out in one hit. Makes sense anyway because killed zombies do not respawn after being taken out. Apart from the dormant ones that will remain dormant unless awoken. There are certain situations when zombies will respawn but those situations tend to be uncommon. I suspect they return because access was available - a door or gate left open. Which is why I tend to close doors when scavenging unless a specific situation demands otherwise.  

I wonder if they will expand on the city areas for scavenging. More escape plans. Multiple teams operating within the game simultaneously would be an interesting side development. Competing for limited resources always adds a sense of urgency and ruthlessness. 

Notice that you cannot scavenge the same spot if you've managed to upgrade to double scavenging. Which would otherwise prove to be a bonus and save having to redo a scavenge because you've already picked the location clean by going over it twice.

Game glitch tonight occurred when I was respawning Barb after losing her to the Operation Centre clearing operating. Game quit suddenly. Apart from this, and one other incident, the game has been glitch free since installing it weeks ago. Which is good. 

Going to retry with Seb and Dianne. Retrace the steps to get where they are before dying. Hopefully nab more food stocks before tackling Chiefways proper.

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November Digest #5

World of Warships

Played Ark Royal, Z-39, and Poltava today. More grindy than usual.

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Played Libertad and San Martin today in both Asymmetrics and Co-Op. Less of a grind as I attempted to minimise its impact somehow. Not sure if it worked. 

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Just played the one ship today - Blyskawica '44. A couple of quick games. Wasn't in the mood after doing yard work all morning. 

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Today I started with Blyskawica '44 and GQ Johnny for their 200% economic bonus missions. Then added Z-39 to further assist. All three in Co-Op. But the outcomes produced were too slow for my liking so switched up to Brisbane in Asymmetric. As soon as that happened, grind became much more entertaining and focussed. Only had one game that was disappointing (where my teammates died too quick), but overall the Tier X cruiser performed to expectation level. Commander is now on his 21 pt grind run. Hoping to finish by the end of the month with some economic bonus help.

Just learned HTDOG has won this year's (KOTS 18) tournament. They beat VRTUS in the grand finals. Unable to access the information from a usual YT streamer (behind a paywall, of course). But congrats to HTDOG whom I've never heard of. In fact, both teams are unknown to me. I think HTDOG are NA (North American) competitive clan but won't know until later today (it's just turned Sunday locally). 

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Today is Sunday and I played Brisbane with Libertad fulfilling a couple of secondary ribbons missions (Liberty Harbour). Played both ships exclusively in Asymmetrics. 

Noticing Prinz Aldabert is strong in Asymmetrics if played right. On the Islands of Ice map our team spawned from the north. Prinz Aldabert held the usual lone spot in the middle spawn. But the player instead of playing defensively (as I would have) instead went on the offensive and attacked the enemy to his immediate front. And won out. He even killed off the CV lurking at the back. Admiration for the skill displayed, even if they were BOTS. He/she/it/they/them/those was clearly outnumbered but played to the ship's strengths. I'm still learning about the ship and don't have it in my commander upskill group.  

Calculated I need 280 million-plus credits and 2.1 million-plus Free XP to obtain the final eight tech tree ships. These ships are just CVs and subs. Do I want to do it though is the question. With just thirty-five ships shy of my seven hundred goal, perhaps I should just wait for the next Update and the Santa gift crates where there will be loads of opportunities therein. And much cheaper than spending all that credit and Free XP. I may wait until towards the end of the Santa snowflake event before spending up all that in-game currencies. Will splurge before the final end.

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Frustrating session in the Brisbane (Monday). Got pissed off with a teammate (playing Asymmetric on the Shards map): he was in the Pommern. Dude played too safe as I tried to tackle an Amagi and a cruiser whose name eludes me now. Played the Pommern many times over and know for a fact it can take on the Amagi without too difficulty. It's a fucken brawler for God sake! But no. My teammate played scared and left me to tackle the two enemy ships on my lonesome in a Brisbane. Needless to say, I died from the Amagi's focus fire. 

Day got worse though when much later a severe storm cell struck our city and we've been without power for over two days. It was as severe as The Gap storm of 2010s. Over 150,000 household left without power once storm had moved away. No damage to the home but a few branches fell which I began clearing up the following day. 

Steamy as heck those days without power. Food spoiled in the fridge and freezer. 

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Played Brisbane today in Aysmmetric. Short grind. Session did not start well with two quick defeats, but the other two games were wins. Last one especially was a real tussle. If not for the Gouden Leeuw it would have been a defeat. Somehow the Dutch oven was able to win the game for us (just me and him left to face several enemy) despite my poor play (ran into an island, mistimed torpedo salvoes, bad aiming).

After finishing the grind, I had a gander regarding Update 14.11.

First up, free Tier IX ship upon logging. The selections displayed I already have so I will definitely welcome and appreciate the 225,000 Free XP compensation instead.

Decorating the Christmas tree at Nordlyshavn Port will be more straightforward (so they claim) with one ornament earned for every two battles played. The improvement is that there is no daily limit. Whether that means what is implied will make it easier to focus on other things going on. 

The usual Advent Calendar replacing the standard daily login is only useful for the Festive rewards being doled out. 

The snowflake (or Festive Rewards) is what's been anticipated all year by a great many players. Well appreciated too. All that steel and coal just waiting for many to collect. Interested in the steel particularly this year because the Steel Fleet event that is happening simultaneously. And with the 15% discount coupon, it may well be more than one steel ship will be acquired...just kidding. After the Valparaiso. It will go with my Libertad. Together they will be known as Dos Amigos.

A word of caution. The golden crate event is returning. A crate within a crate and gambling on that yielding a golden ship just makes no sense. But WG are happy to roll it out for those with more money than sense. Hard pass for me. 

Event Pass. Two new ships on offer - Nurnberg '44 and Lanzhou. Originally dismissed the event as rubbish. Still think the camo is rubbish: as if looking ridiculous will translate to looking menacing or stupidly cool. As per this festive season, this event pass will be divided into two distinct chapters played sequentially (chapter one followed by chapter two). Yes, you get Gift crates, but as the value and content the basic Gift crate is meh, don't expect great rewards.

Dockyard Event. The Tier IX French battleship Roussillon is the main reward. Montcalm is the halfway point reward. Or 45,000 coal compensation the Tier VI French premium cruiser is already in your port. I'm wondering if the price has increased or dropped. I think the latter. 

The Steel Fleet was briefly mentioned above so won't repeat.

The usual Gift crates will available for doubloons or hard cash in bundles. And this is where I'm hoping to make up my shortfall so I can reach my goal of seven hundred ships before clocking off. 

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Into the Dead

Continued with Penny and Daphne tonight. Added Aubrey and Barb (needed a gunsmith). Ensured the team has plenty of resources - food, construction parts, etc. before moving shelters. Eventually fulfilled the mission task and met up with Eva at the bookshop. Now it's time to confront the Network.

Still getting accustomed to using firearms. Pistol and revolvers are interesting. Reload is awkward; prefer the magazine fed style but haven't come across that yet. Aiming is fine: headshots preferred. Carbine and rifles are a step up from handguns. Shotties are avoided because they're two-shot and area weapons; plus, I'm not comfortable using them mentally.

Preferring the stealth mode of execution. Able to deal with two zombies at once most times. Three zombies ends up being close quarter fisticuffs because of weapon choice unable to comfortably take out all three at once. Or so I've so far learned. Most times I'm able to scoot out of danger in time but often I get caught out and my character dies. Most times I respawned; other times, I just let them die as with Darrel and Leo's group a while back. And the same fate with Hao and Mei the very first time I played them. 

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Staying with Penny and Daphne's team tonight. Met up with Corbin and the Network. Given the tasks which I will fulfil but then I will RV with Eva at the Water Plant first before returning to the Network with the goodies requested. 

Opened the water valves and this part of the Network went swimming. Corbin was killed off. And the group have exited the city. But I am staying with this group to see if they can score one of the other two escape plans - the airlift and the oilfield pipeline. 

There seems a glitch because the zombies are present until the valve is opened and then once the valve is released the zombies are suddenly replaced by Network guards who are easy to elude or overcome. 

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Took a break from playing the game as interest was waning. Repetitive and monotonous. Lack of variety. Pretty much waiting on new updates that will hopefully expand the game in different directions. What of the coastal escape option? Or the spaceship rocket one? Lol. 

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Stardew Valley

Change of pace from the usual in today's session. Chasing 10,000,000 million gold to purchase the Clock and thus complete the Perfection achievement for my third character. About two million-plus shy. 

Yeah, Fairy Dust doesn't work on Cask items in that it cannot produce iridium-level produce instantly; sometimes it takes several sprinkles, and that quickly whittles down your stock if you have enough. Your best bet therefore is to ensure cask items are at least at gold-level before sprinkling the magic powder. 

To fast track my goal, selling off as much of my current stored inventory - food, minerals, livestock, crafted items. And completing as many useful community tasks and Mr Qi missions as possible. Slow however. 

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Finally reached the Perfection goal for my third character tonight. Just a couple more existing characters still at varying stages of development left to go. 

Was dithering around seven million for a while but sped through the last three million when I simply just sold off anything and everything I could. Done with this game for the while. Will return to it in the new year. Grandpa will be pleased! :)

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Other Games

Stellaris is a game I acquired some time ago on the strength of its approval rating on Steam. Downloaded and installed but untouched. So I am going in blind. Usually the scale and magnitude of such games tends to put me off or I fall asleep very fast. Got the attention span of a gnat sometimes. Will give it a good crack of the whip however. Or I might just play a few hours and give up. 

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November Digest #4

World of Warships

Sussed out the Polish destroyer salvage event. Realised there was no point in hoarding anything to do with this game so I willingly exchanged resources to grab FOR FREE Blyskawica '44. Unfortunately I did not have enough for Blyskawica '52. Not sure how I feel about missing out on this upgraded OP ship. 

Limiting time now spent completing the Liberty Harbour missions. No longer going for the maximum possible given I am only playing Operational Command missions and ignoring anything to do with Naval Command. It save me playing time. 

Played today: Brisbane, GQ Johnny, San Martin, and Libertad. No Operations today, just Co-Op and Asymmetric. 

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Again, I took it easy today. Just did the bare basics playing Co-Op with two destroyers - GQ Johnny and Blyskawica '44. Exploited their 200% economic bonuses without expending said bonuses. 

Ark Royal was included to fulfil a couple Liberty Harbour mission tasks. 

Another nothing Common mission - 8 Battle for 8 Years - with nothingness rewards - community tokens and a Steam crate of a few grey economic bonuses.

WG have standardised the "random" rewards so that they've become predictable and practically worthless. No more genuine surprises like in the past which was some compensation for grinding away. WG did it first with the Supercrates (so that chances of grabbing a ship - be it tech tree or premium - are now one in a blue moon). To be expected I guess; it is WG after all. Thus nothing really to look forward to when logging in. Comforting thought however, another month and a half to go before I'm free from this gulag. 

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Ark Royal (for the Liberty Harbour missions) and Brisbane today. Not really interested in playing today and didn't finish all the tasks set for myself. Don't really care any more. 

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GQ Johnny and Brisbane participated in today's very short session. Got cranky with myself so much that I realised this game is no longer entertaining and worthwhile enough for me to continue keep lying to myself. I really can't wait for the year to finish up.

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Decided to switch to another commander group for upskilling. Thus I played the following ships with some interesting outcomes - Mecklenburg, Devastation, Jean Bart, Flint, Irian, Prins van Oranje, Satsuma. Apart from the last ship (12 pt cmdr), all the others are 10-pt cmdrs. And all are seasoned commanders, not event ones. Interesting grind from the POV they were different ships. But much the same result if one really cares - much ado about nothing. 

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Same group as above for captain upskilling grind today. Additional ships Okhotnik and Leone were included for a Liberty Harbour mission that I just gave up bothering to complete. 

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Today I've just played Satsuma for the daily coal crate rewards. Barely hanging in there as it is. 

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Into The Dead

Today I am with Wayne and Tracy. Now they're eight strong - Joe, Aubrey, Michelle, Frank, Barb, and Kirk.

This large group have been slowly following up information regarding the Network whom they eventually found after first encountering Eva. All this while scavenging and simply surviving. 

In exchange for fulfilling certain tasks for the smugglers, the group will be given passage out of the city. It is during one of the tasks that the group meet up with Kirk. And invite him to join the group. Figured he would be ideal in trying situations.

No doubt food will be tight. Let's hope they can achieve the tasks set and escape before someone karks it or turns. 

Took a break and returned to the game later that day. Gathered the items requested by Corbin of the Network. Tracy did the delivery. And got more than she anticipated after dropping off the items. Moral of the story: if it's too good to be true, then it is. 

Michelle turned while all this was going on after one particular encounter during a recent scavenge. So now there is one less mouth to feed. 

With the smuggler's network option going south unexpectedly, the team is now exploring the other alternate options for escaping the city. Namely the oil refinery or the helo airlift (Millhouse Mansion). One suspects similar outcomes however with their dealings with Corbin and the Network so the team will need to be extra cautious. Will that mean they have to find another way out of the zombie-overrun city? Is Eva worth harassing for another option? Do we kill Eva? 

Once you've established a new shelter, you can leapfrog from one zone to another per phase. 

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It seems Eva is your way out after all. However her help to you proves fatal to her. Meeting up with her again provides an opportunity which the team takes but not without some resistance from the Network but the team overcomes with relative ease and a bit of good luck. Upon returning to the Network they meet up with Corbin again and after a few incidents the team find their way out of Walton City. And breathe the free air once more. 

One option explored and completed. Which is good given it's one of the larger groups actively surviving - Wayne, Tracy, Joe, Barb, Frank, Aubrey, and Kirk. Now for the other two. 

Darrel and Leo's group suffered setback when Darrel turned. Now the group is just Cooper (the pilot) and Connor (novelist). The team is really low on supplies, and with only Connor left capable of scavenging, it is a mixed blessing when they run into Barb and invite her to join them. But lack of food is a real issue at the moment with Cooper already starving. And all the while, they're trying to reach the hospital to check out rumour there is a helo there.  

Took a break and returned to determine the fate Connor, Cooper, and Barb. Expecting this team to die out due to starvation.

Sure enough, Coops was the first to die. Then Barb lost hope which turned fatal and she wandered off into the city. This leaves Connor all alone and in the same pitiful state as his former teammates. Expect his to die shortly. With Cooper's death, the airlift mission failed. What now for Connor?

Switched over to Hector and Kayla's pairing. Joe has joined them as has Michelle. New mission "Ashes to Ashes" unlocked. Deciding to clear the entire area within their shelter's zone of resources before switching to a new location, as this will build up their assets and resources. Downtown is the new goal and north the new direction. 

After the fate of Darrel and Leo's group, making sure the team is operating close to maximum in all three areas of nourishment, rest, and morale before making any move to a new shelter. 

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Again with Hector and Kayla and Joe and Michelle. Tonight's session saw them add two more to the group, the veterinarian Aubrey and good old gunsmith Barb.

Have now moved the expanded team to the Galaxy Zone Arcade, closer to Kayla's and Michelle's tasks. No garden or distillery at this new location but that's not important for now as they have sufficient food for now. Just have to avoid recruiting new members...at least until Kayla's finished her Ashes to Ashes mission.  

Joe is doing much of the mule work in terms of acquiring resources for the team. But the others also share in scavenging when required, even Aubrey. Priority in this new location, aside for fulfilling the missions tasks, will be upgrading all the stations as quickly as possible so we can maximise the abilities/talents of the individual team members. 

Kayla finally got to check out her mother's urn at RM & K Communications building. Lots of zombies (and one terror situation). She snuck in and went to all the floors and sussed out every office (except the one with the terror situation) including the very top floor with the CEO's office and rooftop with the helo pad. But she ran into an obstacle as she was about to cross the sky bridge linking the building with it's other half that included the carpark. It was where her father's office was located. So I sent in Joe to clear that obstacle along with any other active zombie to make it easier for Kayla's return visit that night. But as Kayla reached her father's desk she ran into a thief rummaging through. Too late she tried to stop the thief. No urn. And was too slow in catching up to the thief. So what happens next?

The other mission is one I'm familiar with, linking up with the Network. Of course, Joe went out on a recce mission and the first zombie he encounters I forget to deal with it quietly. Instead Joe attacks the zombie which rouses all the other dormant zombies. Joe scooted out of there faster than a Black Friday sale. 

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Skipped Into the Dead tonight. Instead, browsed Steam for a new game. Spent an hour or so but ended up with nothing. Passing on Strange Antiquities as it suffers from the same problem common with Strange Horticulture - it can be completed in a day. 

As value for money these days seems paramount, many I see are just not worth the outlay. Games like Stardew Valley continue to remain popular for me simply because of its infinite replayability. And thus repays its value for money many times over. The same can't necessarily be said of other games - popular or otherwise. I have two very old games - Austerlitz and Waterloo - from my Commodore Amiga days. I have them because I know they can be replayed many times over and give different outcomes. They occupy my time but it's worth the effort. I know the historical outcome and often try to change it to explore the obvious what-ifs. I guess it all comes down to what you expect from a game. 

I have a library of games that are more than capable of filling the space so no biggie. 

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Each escape plan has a good and bad ending. Going to suss out the Oil Refinery escape plan because Jingles has got the Airflight escape plan sussed out through his engaging playthrough session. 

I really want to find out who the mysterious saboteur is and why they're putting barriers in the way. Already part of the way through anyway; just have to remember which group (think it was Hao and Mai). 

Keeping the heli pilot Cooper alive and fed takes a lot of resources anyway. Been to the hospital several times but never considered going up. Too busy scavenging and clearing the place of zombies. 

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Finally went with Penny and Daphne. Did not take long to add Joe and Michelle. Joe because of extra backpack space and Michelle because she's a good backup scavenger and lockpick maker. 

Interest starting to wane because there is a lack of narrative variety. So far, there are just three exit strategies with two basic options - good ending or bad ending. It would be nice to have a third option ending, one that offers a third end - neither good nor bad. Or one that is a Plan B to the main plan. But that's expecting too much.

If the above is wishful thinking then perhaps something more concrete would be more characters, more areas/districts opening up. More escape plan options like the Highway overpass one? 

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November Digest #3

Into the Dead

Today saw the large group of survivors deplete one by one until only Joe remained. The mission after recovering Hao's backpay was the Oil Refinery and discovering an escape route. The group eventually met up with Otto who was still stuck there. 

But they also met up with the stranger in the area who was sabotaging their efforts to escape. Unfortunately the group's demise meant the identity of the stranger and their motive for ruining their escape plans remains unknown. For now.

Keeping the group small makes better sense in starting out until the exit/exfil stage is reached. Because feeding a larger group is always going to be a problem. Water filtration and plant growing essential therefore.

Once the large group died out I started a new game tonight. Continuing with Hao and Mei as my starting pair because I have grown comfortable with them both. In scavenging the laundromat, Hao met a NPC character who was hostile so Hao (like he did with the brothers in the earlier game) took him out. No point beating about the bush. 

Hao might be a martial artist but he's as fragile like all the others especially when confronting awakened zombies. Whenever anyone suffers a deep wound from zombies, if it's not treated as soon as possible then invariably they succumb to infection and will turn. You really need pills, medicine kits, bandages, and (sometimes) unidentified pills. But be mindful that these pills can be anything. So, levelling up the medical station as soon as possible makes perfect sense. Or have Agnes or Aubrey in your team is a plus.

The revelation in playing this larger group has been Michelle. She developed into an ace scavenger, and was relied on the most. Much better than Hao if I was comparing the two. Each character though - male and female - do have their own scavenging strengths. 

Joe, and several others, have the same backpack space while others like Frank have less. Be mindful of this when allocating scavenging duty.

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I must have a soft spot somewhere in me because every time we run into another character, I always invite them into the group. Latest effort sees the pairing of Hao and Mei expand to five with Joe and Michelle and newcomer Barb whom they met at a local garage/fuel station. 

This time they're following Jingles path on his playthrough series. Set up is currently at a sports store because they have to check out the smuggler's network situated in Greenhaven. They met up with the mule Eva at the bookshop. She proved evasive in her responses to queries about the strange markings and talk of a way out of Walton City. 

Hao met up with Garrett (as part of his mission) and survived the combat. Being more careful with his fights. Joe's been picking up the slack mainly performing well on various scavenges and the seeking of the smugglers is, I believe, his mission. 

But the women have all chipped in as well when required. And all have performed much better stealth-wise. They operate better with bladed weapons. Yet to test out firearms however. Watched Jingles bumble his shooting moments.

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Met up with Christine at Mercer High School while they were attempting to find out more about the mysterious smuggler's network at the heavily zombie infested Pogo's in Greenhaven. Not sure where Pogo's will lead the group. It seems the best escape plan is to the north in the more affluent suburb there. But while the game is still new for me, all leads are worth exploring. And don't forget this game is still in Early Access so much more development will happen. 

The simplest plan would be to start new game with all the main pairings and see where their adventures lead. 

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Today I decided to run games with each pairing to see what and how. 

Darrel and Leo, the first of the new pairs trialled, spawned in a new and different location. They met up with Robbie, the novelist, at a location close to their initial shelter. Not long after the meetup they ended up moving to a house close to Millhouse Mansion, their target. In earlier visits they managed to scavenge the place but were not been able to access the top floor. Liking this pair because they've managed to avoid the oil refinery hell.

Sebastian and Dianne were the second pair I started next. They spawned in a familiar location in Southborough. Seb's mission is to hook up with an old army buddy. Keen to see how he goes with guns. 

The last two untried pairs - Hector and Kayla, and Penny and Daphne - both spawned in the same spot in the suburb of Buckland Yards.  

Darrel and Leo. Leo turned after a particular nasty attack. The survivors went to the mansion and met Red the homeowner. And met up with a trussed-up Cooper the helicopter pilot. Flight out impossible because the helo Cooper arrived in lies destroyed in the tennis courts. Now Cooper is part of Darrel and Robbie's ad hoc group, and they're searching for a possible lead to another helo. Will they do it though? Will Darrel and Cooper survive? 

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Returned to Sebastian and Dianne pairing today. New additions to the team with Barb and Rahul. Seb nearly turned zombie in a confrontation while scavenging but he managed to survive the ordeal thanks to prompt medical attention. While he was recovering Dianne and Barb took over sharing the scavenging duties. Rahul, the newest addition, should be an interesting addition. Barb and Seb know guns and have already repaired two pistols/revolvers and a shotgun. Yet to test them out however.  Rahul knows chemistry.

Priority for this grouping, after Seb hooked up with his old army buddy, has been locating hazmat suits at three specified locations. First one was already salvaged; new owner is happy to trade for it at a price. Where can I find four Chilli Con Carne? Second one was worn by the hanging (dead) CDC operator and is inaccessible. Currently prepping to locate the third hazmat suit at a location I know will be both tough and rough upon the character. Seen the "horror" inducing moment at this third location (from another earlier pairing) so know what to expect. 

Already experienced this trauma-inducing moment earlier when Seb reunited with his former army buddy at the militia's new home base and while doing so stumbled upon the "moment". 

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Tracy and Wayne's pair has expanded pretty fast. As of tonight they are now seven - Joe, Aubrey, Michelle, Frank, and Barb were all recruited tonight.

Expanded the scavenging position so now up to two can scavenge in the same phase. But they cannot scavenge the same. And it costs lots of base resources.

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Went with Seb and Dianne's group tonight. Aside from Rahul and Barb, they've also hooked up with Cooper, the helo pilot and Vince, the medical experiment at the local family clinic. All these meetings are not new having already encountered them through the other pairings. 

Vince was the rejected the first time met but this time he was welcomed into the group. Wasn't too sure how he'd go during recovery. He turned in the end. A lot of medical supplies were wasted on him. Cooper, on the other hand, was able to recover well enough to inform the group of another helo available. And thus a way out of the city. 

For now, the group is still trying to locate the third hazmat suit. Suspect it will be a dead end like the other two (still haven't found where I can locate chilli con carne, or if it can be cooked). More than likely they will end up at the obvious fourth location (discovered by another pairing/team in an earlier game).  

One new discovery was a flyer that randomly popped up one day of a new location with a fair amount of base supplies. The place is Keyline Storage. 

Access however is via the underground. Easy enough to gain entry once you deal to the zombies on your way in. And the two storage facilities give a gool haul of goodies. 

This team provided a good opportunity to test out the several weapons they have. Bit awkward fiddling with the keyboard at first but it went well enough in the end. Carbine is a decent weapon and an early favourite. Revolver and shottie were good too although the latter proved slow because it's a two-shot weapon. Don't forget to load up before you open fire. 

Also used grenades which proved lethal in tight spaces like in one of the hallways at the Kinski Gallery. 

Another early favourite weapon is the light cavalry sabre. Used it at the Millhouse Mansion to clear the entry. Seb just waited for the horde to attack and he slashed them to death one by one. It's a shame he couldn't kill Red. 

Every character can scavenge. But some are better at it than others. Even Rahul, whom the wiki consider a wimp and/or liability, performed well enough when presented with the right opportunity. Just have to make sure he's weaponised appropriately.  

Pioneer Motors presents another moment when you encounter rival scavengers. Killed the first one but the second one pleaded for mercy. Unfortunately Barb was not in the mood for granting clemency and down that second scavenger went. 

Ignored Hudson atop Briarwood Motel. His open hostility upon first meet towards my scavenger sealed his fate. Besides, the wiki claims he's more a liability than an asset anyway.

Postscript: Got the chilli con carne and delivered it to Julie (?) for an orange hazmat suit. Thus begins a repeat journey through the land of the green mist and the saboteur. 

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World of Warship

Aegis remains one of the more challenging Operations mission scenarios as far as I'm concerned. More so when you throw together a random group of players with varying intentions. Some may know what's required...and set out to do it. Others may not. Some will never know how to play this scenario despite best efforts. Occasionally, you will get a majority who do know and are able to take the initiative. And can wrest it from the enemy who are relentless arriving in wave after wave. 

Today was one of those games where one guy railed against the rest of us because we were losing the game despite his singular best efforts. He even swore in chat. I let it slide because he was clearly frustrated. The rest of us were fighting as individuals to really notice. 

I was playing the newly acquired German premium Tier X cruiser Prinz Aldabert today. Admittedly, on reflection, not the best choice. Playing it while also familiarising oneself was probably an even worse option. But it is what it was. 

I corrected my early poor choices by ending the grind playing the familiar and comfortable Libertad in Asymmetrics. Always a comfortable choice in the right mode for its OP stature.  

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Blyzkawica '52/Blyzkawica '44 Salvage event began today. Not interested because it's extortionarily over-priced. 

Read the update regarding next Update. Again, uninterested. 

Uninteresting grind on the whole today. Went outside and did yard work before playing probably explained the lack of interest playing thereafter. 

Brisbane fares well enough in Operations although it depends on the mission. Slow grind on Utrecht. Tempted to spend Free XP and Elite Commander XP to upgrade to 21 point because grinding for 700,000 XP is taking forever, especially in Co-Op. Operations and Asymmetrics are a boost but not by much. Plus, the amount of concentration required is not sustainable beyond one hour of intensity. 

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Cannot rave enough about Libertad in Asymmetrics. Overpowered for sure but ever reliable. Brought out Friesland for one of the Dockyard missions. Usual performances from both Utrecht and Brisbane in Operations. While Libertad and Ark Royal rounded out the day fulfilling Liberty Harbour missions. Earned 225,000 credits in total today from those Liberty Harbour missions. 

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Forty-three days before FREEDOM! Played just two ships - Brisbane and GQ Johnny today. WG tossed our way another Common Mission only worth doing because I needed the Commander XP.

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Brisbane, GQ Johnny, Ark Royal, Libertad, Mecklenburg played today. Operations, Co-Op, and Asymmetric. Another silly Common Mission event finished. At least the rewards are welcomed. Mixed day completing the Aegis mission when drawn; again, depends on the team assembled. The other mission are a lot easier challenge-wise - Raptor Rescue, The Ultimate Frontier, Hermes, Cherry Blossom, Defence of the Naval Station Newport,.  

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Brisbane main grind today. Libertad and Ark Royal only for specific Liberty Harbour missions. Upskilled another commander to 21 points: this time, it was Michiel de Ruyter (Seasoned) on Utrecht. 

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Brisbane, San Martin, Ark Royal, Libertad played today. San Martin, part of my commander uspkill group, struggled in Operations. It's weak AP, for its level, is its major problem. It felt like I was throwing feather dusters at the enemy ships. 

Brisbane again performed to expectation in both Operations and Asymmetric. Firestarter, long-range torps, radar, are some of its pluses which helped it sustain playing despite its more obvious weaknesses.

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Strange Antiquities (Demo)

Seen this available through the Steam recommendations, and have been tempted enough to download the Demo version. I have played Strange Horticulture (from the same creators), which I enjoyed a lot. And therefore expect a similar response when I've downloaded the Demo. 

Yep. Like Strange Horticulture. Intriguing but not creepy as some have commented though. But then I'm playing the demo version. Two days (in-game) allowed before the demo ends. Definitely getting it. Like a lot of such styled games, there are loads of questions, sparse clues, and weird characters to keep you engaged. The creepy part is only in your imagination.

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November Digest #2

Into the Dead

Much more fun with this game than World of Warships. Went with Hao and Mei like I said I would. We started heading west and then south instead of north like Jingles in his series of playthroughs. Hao met up with a former fighter -  Garrett, who was after the same thing as Hao - the money their promoter had stashed away at the abandoned factory. Anyway while Hao was tracing the codes to unlock the safe his enemy had somehow managed to open the safe and retrieved the loot. Quite a lot too. Anyway when Hao finally returned, he found the safe open and Garrett gone.

Or so he thought. Garrett was in another part of the factory complex in a secured location. He challenged Hao to a winner takes all final bout. Of course, Hao beat the crap out of his foe and won the stash but suffered terribly from the guilt.

Not long after that, and as he was recovering from the guilt Hao was ambushed when he was on a scavenge at a local abbatoir. And despite his best efforts to recuperate and recover he eventually turned.

But not before he and his sister hooked up with Kayla who joined their group. By the way, Kayla belongs to one of the pairs available to grind. She died too not long after Hao's fate whilst checking out a fire station in their locale after taking over the scavenging role. Got swarmed by a crowd of zombies. 

This has left Mei all on her lonesome. Be interesting to see how she copes. Hao was doing all the scavenging while she was stay-at-home doing all sorts of maintenance. And with recent arrival Kayla now gone as well, will Mei hook up with Joe, whom they met earlier in their moving but rejected at the time because they didn't have enough resources. Or will she meet up with others that are still hiding out in the zombie-overrun city. 

Sadly for Mei, Hao had buried the winnings in a secret location. Lol. Zombie activity has increased too. 

Twenty six turns is all it's taken to have me hooked. 

There are NPCs in the game. Some aren't friendly. In fact in another new game, Hao had to kill two brothers who were openly hostile to him when he was scavenging their location. And being mercenary about it, the brother and sister then moved in and took their digs for themselves.

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Four more crew members added to Hao and Wei's pairing.

Isabel is from one of the high schools. Joe, who found her, is another character from the first run through. Joe's interesting insofar as he's basically a mule, dogsbody for everything at the shelter. He sometimes goes scavenging but mainly he's at the shelter ensuring the barricades are maintained, and watching after Mei who basically stays at the shelter. 

The main scavengers happen to be Hao and Michelle whom they found at one of the suburban addresses. She's actually quite good, probably the best in the quintet: stealthier, more patient. 

Currently they've moved back north after dealing to Garret, and more west rather than north east. Went as far south as I could but then probably hit the game's edge.

Hao went back and found the military drop at one of the homes. 

Currently they're chasing after hazmat suits. But then they met up with Miguel hiding in the toilets at Pogo's and he told them there was one in the basement at the St Bernadette Hospital (Joe collected it eventually after Hao initially scouted the place for a telescope). 

Michelle met up with the dying foreman at the Oil refinery where she encountered the deadly toxic green mist exuding from the area. 

Increasing zombie activity is putting pressure on the team to find a way out of the city before it's too late. Can they make it though?

Constantly moving them from shelter to shelter mainly to achieve the various mission tasks.

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World of Warships

Brisbane does better in Asymmetric than Zao in that it has a faster torp reload. And has 12km radar alongside hyrdo. 

Playing Utrecht today was interesting; finally getting the hang of it. And resisting the temptation to push early solo. Will grind as close as possible to its 700 XP goal before spending Elite Commander XP.

All three cruisers do well as fire support, especially in pursuit. 

Played Libertad for the secondary missions. Easy to score over two hundred secondary hits. 

Several new super ships for sale that I'm eyeing at the moment knowing I will never play them once acquired. Collecting is the name of the game for now. Less than two months left to go. 

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Continued captain-grinding Utrecht. Did so until I got one-shotted by a Yamato while playing Newport Station Defence mission. Thought I was doing fairly well by sticking to my previous winning strategies of staying within the station perimeter when SPLAT! I was blatted. From full health too. 

Finally scored GQ Johnny. Don't remember much about playing Johnston so this was another reacquaintance session as I ran it through its own missions (+200% bonuses). Nice spread of torpedos but slow reload. The 'F' button takes some getting use to. 

For a change, I ran a couple of superships - Satsuma and Devastation. Played both in Operations. Not a good choice. Slow and not great at distance (which was why I ran them). 

Finished off session by captain-grinding Worcester. Yeah, weak armour is its downfall.

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November #1 digest

World of Warship

Latest Update (10.10) kicked in today. First off, like a well-known US streamer pointed out, today the cost of the infamous Puerto Rico B is obscenely ridiculous. Over four hundred Australian dollars! Absolutely not worth the asking price but you know some tool is going to spend that amount of money for it. And the same goes for all the others Black editions being foisted upon us. Unless you absolutely need it, keep walking.

They also have a Black Squadron event to further incentivize suckers whereby you obtain both original and Black versions. You receive various rewards - doubloons, coal, etc. Catch is you only get the rewards if you purchase a Black ship while the event is live. If you already own pairs, you just get what's in the progress bar listed above. 

More intrigued by the Poland! White and Red! common mission. Got the opportunity to run three of my Polish destroyers, the tech tree Tier VII Grom, the premium Tier VII Blyzakwica (an old warhorse favourite), and premium Tier VIII Orkan. Don't have the Blyzakwica '44. 

Played mostly Co-Op with this trio to grab the three rewards - the 60,000 Elite Commander XP on offer - because yesterday I had spent all my Elite Commander XP upskilling my Salem captain to 21 points (he started out as 17 point). Anyway, towards the end I jumped into Asymmetrics after the slow Co-Op grind was taking forever. Less competition from other players is the simple. More lively and challenging in Asymmetric anyway (less likelihood of falling asleep or being distracted by the dogs). Especially lively when facing a mostly enemy destroyer force with our friendly force of just three destroyers, one sub, and one carrier. Had fun all the same but it does require concentration. And normally most Asymmetric matches anyway go down to the wire. Same can't be said for Co-Op games. Snooze fest most times. Or it's over before you've even begun. 

Completed the usual Liberty Harbour mission goal of earning four collection tokens for exchange for 180,000 credits total. Of course, if opting to play Naval Command missions (PvP) as well that total jumps up to at least 270,000 credits. For one day's work, that's fair compensation. And the missions really aren't that hard.

For example, the carrier missions require obtaining a certain quota of rocket/bomb missions. For me, I just jump on the British Tier VI premium carrier Ark Royal, play a couple or three missions in Co-Op, and the task is done. 

Today I played Ark Royal (rockets & bombs mission), Grom, Blyzkawica, Orkan (all three for the Polish common mission requirement), Defence (bad choice for a certain Liberty Harbour task), Libertad (for the seconday hits ribbons mission). Played both Co-Op and Asymmetrics battle modes.

Yet to try the new missile scenario - Temporal Rift - that made its debut today. Received the three ships - a destroyer, a cruiser, and a battleship. Forgot this was a thing until after I'd finished my usual and daily grind. 

Not sure how I feel about playing it to be honest despite my reservations. As a gimmick, as with the Star Trek event, it should be fun. If this is going to a permanent feature (odds are this will be the case), they need to make it a distinctly separate battle mode like Asymmetric. And limit it to certain classes of ships (superships and above), then okay.

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Another new Battle of Trafalgar event. Rewards however are miserly - a few signals and one premium day. 

Spent dubs to progress through three phases in order to obtain Shinonome B in the Event Pass. Bonus was scoring some red economic bonuses from the Black Friday Squadron progress bar. 

Played Shimakaze (yeah, finally jumped on this ship), Ark Royal (rockets/bombs missions), Utrecht, Kalmar. Mostly Asymmetric but also Co-Op. 

Struggled a little with Shima in Asymmetric learning how to play her but persevered. Have to remember to save the third set of torps. Gone with the 12 km torps. Took this vessel out because of its torpedo offloads, but also to familiarise myself with this controversial ship. His proper skipper is grinding via Kitakaze. Yes, I could have taken Benham or Jager but the skipper being upskilled is Japanese. 

Performance was the same with Utrecht at the beginning but that was more me playing too aggressively. Once I adjusted however performance and outcome improved to the point where I now feel comfortable playing her no matter the situation in Asymmetrics. Its skipper is also my next candidate for 21 point upskilling (just upskilled today to 20 point from 19 point).

Kalmar was played to complete the Battle of Trafalgar final task. 

Completed the penultimate Dockyard mission.

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Last day of this ship-lean month. Played just two ships - Utrecht and Libertad. The former was the focus for today's grind; the latter just played to finish a Liberty Harbour mission. Considering spending dubs to buy some Event Pass phases to grab the sixty thousand Elite Commander XP so I can then fast track upskilling my first Dutch 21 point commander (not Helfrich) because I'm over playing Utrecht. Has its moment but requires a fair amount of concentration. And after a long day of concentrating, it gets tedious. And sometimes frustrating getting blasted by focus fire once too many times. 

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Into The Dead

Starting a new game this weekend. Introduced to Into the Dead through Jingles playthrough. Was unsure at first but the series by Jingles got me hooked. So will start this weekend and probably go with the new pair introduced, Hao and Mei. I believe they recommend going with Penny and Daphne to start out with. Apparently Penny is the best scavenger (according the Jingles). And from the playthroughs I've viewed thus far, Penny is great. But Hao and Mei have just been introduced and therefore relatively new to the game (one hopes). Will post a first game runthrough soon. 

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