December Digest #3

Into the Dead

Seb and Dianne's group has expanded greatly since yesterday. Besides Joe (the mule) and Barb (the gunsmith) they've now added Christine (green thumbs), Frank (culinary operations specialist), Aubrey (medical professional), and Isabel (token child). 

They're in the processing of opening the three vents. Nora sabotaged one but that's been repaired. She's not a likeable character. At least Otto is helpful. 

Upgraded nearly all the work stations. Now two scavengers can operate simultaneously. One will concentrate on the escape plan while the other will simply scrounge around for resources and materials. 

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Today I completed the third main escape plan - Chiefway's Spillway Zone - with Seb and Dianne's group. It was close call as Seb suffered deep wounds on two previous occasions. Thought I was going to lose him to the zombies the second time, but he pulled through. He did have to kill his old Army buddy and mentor after meeting up with him. 

It was appropriate that the escape was effected by Dianne after Joe did the preliminary clearing of most of the zombies. Dianne met up with Nora at the moment of their triumph with the young lass having to kill the deranged worker.

It's pretty obvious you're going to need firepower as you near your escape objective. The rifle and revolver and lots of ammo are essential when clearing out the Pit.

The eight members of this team left Walton City with nary a regret, well fed, rested, and in good spirits which is a small and appreciated achievement considering their earlier shaky start when there was just the three of them. 

Repairs were made to the damaged Operations room console prior to entering the Pit. Up to you whether you want to clear the bottom levels first before tackling the ground floors and above. I chose to clear the bottom level first, then left only to return later and began clearing one floor at a time. As there are three levels, that meant three visits before the place was completely cleared and I could move in. Taking on the front entrance is pointless as it is barred from the inside and you have to contend with the zombies guarding the door. 

Got to watch the state and condition of your hazmat suit, especially down in the pit. Any tear can develop into a major fault. And if not mindful that your suit is damaged and you spend too long in the pit while the suit is leaking, your character will suddenly die.

The thing that gets me is that you only have the one hazmat suit between eight. And it has to be returned to June once finished. But let's not worry about the details; you're free. Enjoy the moment.

With the three main escape plans now done, and the game still in Early Access, I am happy to await new and further developments. Interesting game. Can get drawn out if playing it casually or without a plan. 

Noticed that in the Ought Bar, characters kept getting stuck whenever moving through the swing doors especially at the same time. Reported it to the developers. 

Really hope they expand the number of districts. And Eva's parent used to have a boat so am keen to see if they expand around the coast. Zombie sharks perhaps?

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World of Warships

Played San Martin exclusively today in Asymmetrics. Finally got my revenge on the Kansas. Nearly always, whenever playing cruisers in Asymmetric I would get blasted out of existence if ever within the range of this US battleship. Today, it was tables turned however as I hunted a Kansas down to finish off after my teammate did her a sizeable amount of damage. Sure I was finishing off the wounded, but a kill is a kill. And it was the Kansas after all. Lol.

The other day I spent credits and Free XP to grab the German T10 premium submarine U-5401. With the planned acquisition of Roussillon and Lanzhou, I should now make my seven hundred. And I am still intending to grab those 20-odd Mega crates.

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Wednesday's session saw a new ship added, courtesy of the Gathering by the Fireplace event (paid). The single Gift crate opened with the Tier X Smaland. Been wanting this ship all year; now I finally have it. Only cost me 150 doubloons. My target of 700 ships will be reached once I've received both rewards from completing the Dockyard event and Chapter Two of the Event Pass. Hoping to grab the last of the available 143 ships - Monmouth - from the eight Mega crate bundle (guaranteed drop 7). 

Mix day of grinding the San Martin in Asymmetrics. Lose concentration and you're dead. Lose focus and you're dead. Lose interest and you're dead. 

Sometimes it pays to YOLO as it did when I spawned in the north in the centre on the Mountain Range map. Looked at what was facing us and decided to angle in and take out the two cruisers - Amalfi and New Orleans - first up. Then raced up to launch torps at close range at a retiring Yumihari while blatting a low-health Hipper. However my luck ran out when the remaining ship in my sector, a mid-health Bismarck, blasted me to a watery grave. 

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Field of Glory II: Medieval

Old game revisited. Starting a HYW (Hundred Years War) campaign, taking the English (and allies) side. First game was fought in the Low Counties. I believe it is the Battle of St Omer (26 July, 1340) fought between an overwhelming foot force under Robert III of Artois leading an English-Flemish army. 

I won but lost Robert and about 20% of my force. The French, under the commands of Eudes IV of Burgundy and Jean I of Armagnac, were largely mounted with peasant foot. The French losses amounted to over 60% with the majority suffered during the routs. Having horses contributed I suppose. Anyway, according to the Slitherine forums most who attempt this first game of the campaign find a French victory difficult to come by as opposed to playing the Anglo-Flemish where your numerical advantage helps weather the mounted assaults.

Winging it to victory didn't mean I did not have a battlefield plan however. I chose to maintain an unbroken line with the spearmen and halbediers up front supported by archers and crossbows interspersed at intervals. Used the terrain to best advantage with the marsh (left flank) and the woods (right flank) to slow down or disrupt the enemy mounted. Also had a form of artillery and kept it at the centre back where it provided minimal fire support.

My spearmen used the square formation to withstand the numerous cavalry charges coming at them from all angles. One unit got so far in advance of my main battle line after pursuing a routing foot unit that it got isolated but managed to last for while in square before eventually breaking. 

My commander, Robert, died during combat.

Meanwhile Eudes of Burgundy was also killed earning for me the Nemesis achievement which is kill an enemy commander in chief. 

Sets the campaign off on a good start. Here's hoping to keep it up. Next battle will be revealed in due course. Suspect it has something to with the town of Caen, as the preamble below explains. And my quick historical research seems to confirm that it may be the seige of Caen. But I can't confirm until I deploy. Good thing is that I get a new larger force.

Ten battles in total for this campaign so I believe.

I have this game because it can be played against live global opponents. As I mentioned long ago, there is a global event with international teams competing against one another for the title. This was back during COVID. Don't know if it's still active as it's been a couple of year since I played (El Cid era mainly) although it still is popular and maintains an active Steam community presence. And there are regular updates (latest just came out in September of this year).

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