October Digest #3

World of Warships

Upgraded my way toward Level 3 in the Liberty Harbour event today just before logging out. Initially baulked spending all that accumulated Naval Base Supplies tokens (old hoarding habit) but then realised I'm quitting this game at the end of the year. Pointless therefore to conserve so exchanged some Voyage tokens for dubs to upgrade my way to one intermediate level shy of Level 3. Once upgraded, I will upgrade the other sections at my leisure. Ample time due to playing daily.

Felt much more comfortable today playing A. Nevsky with my 19-pt commander. Expect to upskill him to 20-pt by the end of the week and then I can switch to my other 19-pt commander who is Seasoned (one of the Doe brothers) on Salem. If time free, I will then run Zao whose skipper is just 16-pt; but I do so love this ship. Priority though will be my 19-pt commanders of which there are three in total: the other one is on the Pan-American cruiser San Martin.

Flitted between Operations, Asymmetric and Co-Op without too much bother which felt good. Even keen to hook into it after taking a break to do some grocery shopping. 

Always a degree of trepidation whenever I step out of my comfort zone or realise that I will be earning my grinding stripes proper. But once immersed, that unease mellows pretty quick.

Nevsky shone in the Raptor (CV) mission. Led the way to the carrier then hung back close to the Engineer boat to facilitate healing up. Radar is very useful for pinpointing precise locations. 

Taking out the enemy cruisers is crucial in Asymmetrics. They pose more of a threat initially. Deal to them first up and the rest of the fight will become much more easier. 

Always keep one eye out for the rest of your team as you may suddenly find yourself all alone. Help out where you can; you never know when that assistance may be repaid in kind down the track. It costs you nothing to be a teammate but time and effort. 

Having played the Libertad and Karl XIV Johan in enough Asymmetric game, it is interesting to watch how others fare in her in the same battle mode. On the Shatter map, my Nevsky spawned to the north on the left flank with a K. Johan. Sailed south to the large island to my front and paused there using my radar to spot the enemy who seemed to congregate on the opposite side. I think they were expecting me to YOLO around in a blaze of glory. The K. Johan however sailed around the other (right) side and straight into heavy enemy fire. Half expected my teammate to brake and then pull back using his good guns and torps to do some damage as I would have done if my cruiser teammate had just revealed the enemy's location. But no, he blithely ignored my help and promptly died to the enemy's concentrated fire and torps. Left me to deal with the enemy on my own who chose at that point to push around my side en masse. I figured no point in hanging around and sailed happily to my death. My last view was of my remaining teammates on the far right sailing to the middle after taking care of their flank. 

Generally those who play the Libertad in Asymmetric understand the assignment and fare well. Those that die do so gloriously while those who survive and score high do so playing to Libertad's strengths. I'm glad I chose the secondary build upgrade instead of the recommended one for that slot. As stated in a previous post, scoring several hundred secondary hits at 12 km range is insane. 

Why not grind in Randoms or Ranked? Good question. Simple answer: not good enough and certainly not into being targetted by teammates trolling or trash talking you while you're trying to deal to a live opponent. Distractions I can do without even though I do get easily distracted. 

Asymmetrics is easily my favourite battle mode at the moment. I know exactly what I'm up against. No illusions. No expectations either. You can rely on teammates only so far; the rest of the way is on you. To contribute. To participate. Playing passively is not the way to go. Playing smart however is your only goal. Know when to push. Know when to back off or stay hid under cover. Where possible engage with your secondaries; their contributions can never be underestimated. 

Operations offer variety of scenario missions that test your ship's capabilities as much as showcase your own skill level. Sometimes you lose. Other times you win. Contribution is up to you and your decisions. Knowing the objectives can never be overlooked. 

Even in Co-Op, I always play the objective(s) unless it's blatantly obvious which is more important. Prioritise. 

Wow, six years of playing this game has taught me much...and yet so little. Perhaps the greatest lesson learned is that it is just a game after all. That's always been my attitude towards games whether on the sporting field or currently with online and tabletop gaming. Play to enjoy. Always. So the propaganda tells me. 

Yada yada...knowledge already known to many who play WOWS regularly. Guess that's why I'm quitting end of the year. Nothing new here, folks. Cheers...

=================================

Waking up unexpectedly and playing pissed off is never a good thing. But circumstances being what they are, it's all there is until things settle down. 

Resumed grinding my 19-pt commander on A. Nevsky in Asymmetric. Started off badly (still pissed off) and it showed in my poor performance so switched over to San Martin. Stronger cruiser somehow. Luck changed. Improved. Finished off the daily grind on the Libertad to again complete another 350 secondary mission task. Finding this Pan-American battleship to be OP as heck some times. 

In the last game for the grind, just myself and a Yamagiri left to face off against the six enemies. While the Japanese supership kept her distance and provided useful crossfire with both guns and torpedoes, I sailed boldly toward the enemy from my flank which I had cleaned up with another Libertad. My flank comrade died fairly quickly leaving me to finish off the remaining enemies - a North Carolina and a Richelieu - and a cruiser (name forgotten).   

Anyway, sailed toward the remaining enemy who had capped the middle and far cap circles. Lucky for me they came at me one at a time. Not that it really mattered as I was fairly confident this game was over. 

It's a cocky attitude to have I know but that's how much faith I have in this ship in this battle mode. 

Stayed bow-in all the way as I closed the fight. Took damage as sailed to close but it was not as severe as if I had opened up my angling exposing my vulnerable broadside. Used my secondaries effectively which easily whittled down the enemy HP. Scored a couple of battleships off my secondaries pounding away mercilessly. 

Needless to say, we won despite the odds. Yamagiri capped off the win by finishing off the last enemy - Le Fantasque with her guns. Well played sir.

Note: At a certain point, the enemy will veer away after initially "charging" at you. It's in the makeup of this game setup. If you can weather that rush, and score kills (ie take out the cruiser/destroyer threat), that veering away will turn into a retreat. But if they get you first, then they will turn about and press on to your now-vacated post. 

Liberty Harbour. Fifty days left to run on the event. Be mindful of that time frame in case you ever feel the need to "sprint" your way to the finish. Over one and a half month's worth. Ample if you play daily and suffer no time playing restrictions. Even if constrained by time or life obligations (work, family) all you need to complete are the daily missions which should suffice for progressing your way to the end.  

You need to complete all the upgrades - Operation Command, Naval Command, Fuel Terminal, Military Port - to successfully finish the build. Each sector consists of three major upgrades and ten intermediate ones. Advancing requires spending Naval Base Supply (NBS) tokens. You need a fair amount for each harbour sector. You can fast-track (as with every WOWS event) by spending doubloons if you have them to spare. 

The harbour build upgrades offer Collection tokens. You need sixty to complete the collection. Reward is a historical American naval figure, David Farragut. Name I'm familiar with through my American Civil War gaming. 

Completing all twelve sector upgrades earn Memory Notes. Collecting Memory Notes count towards obtaining the ship reward Bridgeport.

Note: you can compete in either one or both Commands. Up to your personal inclination or preference. I am concentrating solely on Operational Command daily missions.

Operational Command is for all PvE missions. At present I am one intermediate phase shy off the Level 3. Needing sixty thousand NBS tokens before that happens however. Figure to upgrade all the others before accumulating the necessary final amount. That's the way it's got to be sometimes.  

Naval Command is for all PvP missions. Halfway between Level 1 and 2. Needing fifty five thousand NBS tokens in total to reach Level 2.

Fuel Terminal provides boosters that unlock extra missions for either Operational, Naval or Military. Two intermediate levels shy off Level Two.

Military Port is like Festival token bonuses - you get something for nothing; you just have to have enough ships to contribute to the expeditions being offered. One day missions are preferable if wanting the reward the next day. Same progress status as the Fuel Terminal.  

=================================

Becoming more and more comfortable flitting between Operations and Asymmetric modes for variety and a change of pace. 

Today I was able to upskill my San Martin commander to 19-pt and the A. Nevsky commander to 20-pt. 

Finally took out my Salem commander, primarily to get a 100 incapacitation ribbons mission - one of sixty, the other of forty - after initially running both Libertad and Utrecht and not getting them quick enough. But Salem knocked them off fairly quick. 

Liking the Salem so far and looking forward to grinding her in Asymmetric where I believe she will do well. Her guns do damage for sure and looking to exploit that. In Co-Op she's a beast but that's Co-Op.  

=================================

Stardew Valley

Marching toward Perfection with my third character is taking a lot longer than anticipated; just need to buy the ten million gold clock. At five million plus so far. Need to grow more money crops or something. Even with the farm on Ginger Island growing pineapples, it's taking a long while (both in-game and time spent playing). 

Everything else however is all done. Whoop-de-doo!

Current character is farming on the standard farm setup with the mineral quarry onsite. So there is little free land available for farming. Crops are sparse and has to compete with the row upon row lightning catchers. Fortunately the past spring and summer have been wet ones with lots of storms so useful. 

The cellar has one hundred casks for wine and cheese aging. Think I can increase the number but not going to mess with the current configuration. I could boost the quantity of Fairy Dust so as to fast track the cask yield but need lots of Mystic Tree sap for that. Fortunately there's available land at the Railway Station/Spa area. Will see how I go tomorrow night.

=================================

Did not progress far tonight (Monday). Couldn't get the enthusiasm up to make any inroads towards planning. Same old same old mood overwhelmed me. Maybe tomorrow?

=================================

You get odd requests sometimes so it pays to have at least one of each item that is foragable. Even trash has its uses. Like tonight, from my racoon neighbours - three topaz and one rusty spoon please! Certainly. I'll just pluck it out of my a*se. Learned that lesson from way back when I got a similar request for some trash and one other item which both took several in-game days (turns) to fulfil. Raced back to the farm, collected the items requested instantly, returned, exchanged for my reward - some more Fairy Dust. Needing one hundred so I can fast track Starfruit Wine aging in casks. And thus hasten the gold earned. 

=================================

Online PC Games

Going to grab the Into the Dead zombie game soon. Saw Jingles video and while hooked I will pause jumping in impulsively. Not a fan of zombie themed games for some reason. 

Re-examining some historical-themed online games in my Steam library. There are a few games that should provide decent alternative options to WOW. Operative word is "should". None will have the same personal impact as WOW has. Nor longevity. But that's expected. And it will be hard. And none will have the same naval appeal as WOW.

These include Scourge of War - Remastered, Napoleonic themed; Scourge of War - Gettysburg, refighting the famous American Civil War battle; Field of Glory II Medieval, covers the whole Medieval period. And finally Command Modern Operations which covers the modern era from late twentieth century onward.

Not really into skirmish games although I do enjoy playing it on the tabletop. Tabletop wargames such as Blue Max/Canvas Eagles, Rapid Fire/Rapid Fire II, Charlie Don't Surf/any TFL games - to name a few - fulfil that niche very well thank you. Online games like Holdfast Nations and Counterstrike are online equivalents. 

=================================

Tabletop gaming modelling

Really dragging the chain on these ECW figurines. Never enthusiastic about the period in the first place. My lifelong favourites have always been Napoleonic, American Civil War, and World War Two.  Always bypassed the period despite the colourful spectacle that it was. By inclination, I have always been a Royalist (loads of Sunday matinees probably had some influence); believed Cromwell to be a grand usurper. Unfortunately that favouritism is NOT helping me finish off this list that I've had for over a year now.

The Borodino Project was a one-off that evolved from a simple original desire to paint some Westphalians. Yet it snowballed into the massive venture that it became. And I am never going to ever repeat that endeavour again. Ever. And that begs the question: what else is there if you've already done something on this grand scale? For when I look at my unfinished work bench, I fear seeing Borodino Project resurrect itself and repeat.

Not having a live opponent to wage a very English civil war does not help for sure. I was wrong to commit when I did long ago. I regret that. But then there is that part that nudges me and say, "get on with it. It is what it is..." Trouble is, I wish I could shoot that internal voice sometimes. Silence is golden. 

=================================

Tabletop Naval Wargaming

The problem with the tabletop naval wargame rulesets I possess is they're too long, wordy, and involved. The complexity might appeal to me on a certain level but I prefer simplicity and ease when actually playing. Which is why WOWS holds such a great appeal.

But the immediate problem with simplicity is it's very difficult to express in real life because of its inherent complexity. It's the trap that grabs every single ruleset of any complex design. Expressing that lengthy wordy involved rules into something coherent yet simple enough to be played easily can be a tricky wire balancing act. And it might never be truly resolved because of the simple contradiction.

That contradiction are the two core words: simple and easy. 

But adapting oneself to understanding and then implementing such involved rulesets may seem to approach the intent and meaning of those two words. Familiarity and continued usage (experience) aid that process. But is it really simple? Or easy? 

To an outsider, at first it may look a mess, a jumble of meaningless words. An obstacle. To those on the inside however it evolves into something familiar and therefore usable. 

It's a continual struggle I wrestle with whenever I pick up my favourite tabletop naval wargame rules. I don't play often enough so the familiarity and ease of play is forced and unnatural. Which leads to frustration and confusion. Bitching about the rules helps in some way - releases the tension generated. 

Yet, and it remains the forever appeal, I love the look of naval miniatures, whatever the period. I love the game. And it's why I continue, and will continue, to remain steadfastly loyal to it. Even as I approach my seventies. 

=================================

Off-Topic - Cooking

Discovered a cheap lunchtime meal several weeks ago. Combine 2 minute noodle (I use chicken flavoured) with dried Laksa soup in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil, stirring often. I sometimes add diced or shredded pieces of cooked chicken. Don't let the mix overboil. Once the noodles are fully absorbed by the steaming hot water, remove from heat. Always let it sit for a minute or two to allow the whole blend to fully settle. Then pour into a sturdy bowl. Sprink some chopped parsley or chives. Voila. A warming lunchtime meal in under five minutes. Hot, spicy, tasty. 

I sometimes substitute with Dutch Curry soup flavour. With the beef noodles, I combine them with Mushroom Soup. Dark, earthy, warming. I even throw in real sliced mushrooms to enhance that earthy tone. Mind you, don't add deathcap mushrooms as they can cause an upset tummy. 

And who can go past that old Kiwi favourite for snacking - onion soup dip. Aldi are currently running a Kiwi-themed section. Grabbed Nestle Reduced Cream and Maggi Onion Soup satchets and hurried home to make up this old favourite. Don't forget the dash of vinegar. Mmm.

=================================

May 2025 - Part Four

World of Warships

Bought one of the Logistic Kits to obtain the last of the Adventure tokens to acquire the Eskimo. 

Also acquired the Scharnhorst '43 from the Logistic Kits bundle drop, loaded up the secondary mods for it, then ran it to complete the last mission in the Dockyard series (Chapter 4: Fate of the Blucher). Swapped the 10-pt commander that came with the ship with the special commander Erich Bey that I had sitting idly in the Reserve. 

Main guns performed well enough given their action resembled a shotgun - dispersion at longer range was tough. Yet it was saved by the superb secondaries at closer ranges. Managed to sink a few low-health enemy ships through their contribution. 

Saving up more Adventure tokens to grab the event special commander who is famous historically. A Victor Crutchley. Will place him on the Eskimo. Option also to have him command the Warspite, as he did historically. 

=========================

Three ships from the Narvik to Dunkirk event obtained offer 200% bonuses on XP so will get a good run while the missions lasts - over three weeks left before they're finished. Ships are Cossack, Eskimo, Scharnhorst '43. No time left, nor desire, to obtain the remaining two ships - Warspite and Montcalm: already have them in port.  

Scharnhorst '43 is interesting to play. Cossack is the better of the two destroyers with the speed boost which the Eskimo doesn't have. Both are decent gunboats against fellow DDs. 

Drew up a list of unobtained ships available through the Armoury. There is a quite a few. But there is also a list of rare or unavailable ships that intrigue me. Ships like the Smaland. Almirante Abreu, the original Missouri, and so on. The last (the original Missouri) will never be available because it was mistake that WG only realised too late and removed it permanently. But there is more than enough to reach 700 by the end of this year. 

=========================

Thinking of acquiring more ships via resetting lines through the Research Bureau. For now, it's just an entertaining thought. 

Update: Reviewed Clyde's old YT video regarding resetting lines for Research Bureau points. All I need is 20-plus million credits and 1.5 million Free XP. Something to plan for. 

=========================

Got the K. Albert, a German T3 rare ship, today. Spent coal to acquire it through the Battle of Jutland crates. I had previously attempted to do so but spent piecemeal and therefore got put out by the guaranteed drop after 250 crates. No luck after several purchases. 

But today I decided to spend big (using coal) and "bought" 100 crates (at the rate of 1 crate for 1000 coal). This attempt proved successful and finally acquired the ship. 

Ran it in a game and while it contributed nothing toward the win, I am pleased with its acquisition. Slow as heck. Secondaries are meh. No special feature or module.  

=========================

BrisCon 2025

Unable to make it due to not having any spare money (basic survival needs - bills, food, medicines). Envious of those attending. Hope to read or view postings on the internet regarding the event over the next week. Or maybe not...

Nothing on the interweb apart from a praise from one of the organisers via facebook. Maybe you just had to be there on the day?

==========================

Counterstrike

Been viewing a lot of CS2 content lately. Admiring the play of the professionals who make it look so easy. Learning also about how skins have became integral to the game since CS:GO was released. And realising that's where WOWS got its monetization from. Not that it really matters given that's how the game has developed nowadays but it's nice to have some understanding that this phenomenon is common in most games these days. 

Got excited enough watching the reviews to crank up the old CS:CZ game. But quickly realised just how bad a player I truly am. Aim was off considerably - shaky hands. Awful spray control. Kept YOLO-ing when I should have paused. Ecetera. Got frustrated during several games when I could not close out because I kept stuffing things up. And repeating the same mistakes.  

Then I spotted I had Condition Zero Deleted Scenes in my Steam library so installed it and started playing that for a change. Even so, I was still terrible even with the robotic AI enemy so much so that I quit after a few chapters. 

Looking back after trying out Counterstrike, I wonder if that's how my current WOWS playing ability is like. Playing Co-Op is no indication for sure but I dare not venture into Random or even Ranked because of the toxicity and poor player base. The new game modes - Operations with Flagships and Perilous Route - have not yet enticed me. Waiting on the return of Asymmetric Battles (due out in the next Update 14.5) before I move out my existing comfort zone. 

==========================

March 2025 - Part Four - End of the month

22 March 2025

Grandson

Kato visited today. He flies out to the States Monday evening to begin his two year high school football scholarship. He's 16. Very proud of him. Recognise that it will initially prove awkward settling in to a new surroundings. Not so worried about the academic side of things as he seems fine with his studies. It's more the gridiron side of things that concerns me most. He's got a lot of learning ahead of him. And it'll be a big shock to him. But that's the trade-off. It will be a big adventure and I am hoping that he fares well. Going to miss him.

Update: He arrived safely and went straight to the practice field. He's no longer a standout (size-wise) as his teammates are more or less the same height as him as this latest photo he sent over shows. He's loving it already. The school's football season doesn't start until August, and their first game is in Hawaii. He's going to love Hawaii. Not sure if he's playing O line or D but no doubt we will learn soon enough as they assess his playing abilities. He was keen to play D, possibly Edge but over here they played him Offensive Tackle. And he's got his mate from Oz to help and support him too so he should settle in real quick.

Update: Learned he's meeting up with a distant cousin (father's side) from Utah whose son is same age as Kato and has just committed to USC Trojans, a big Californian university. Cousin/nephew is paying a commitment visit this weekened (5/6 April) and taking Kato along for the experience. Becoming less concerned for Kato's adjustment - football-wise too. Also forgot about our American cousins. Big tribe too.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

Saw the Mighty Jingles playthrough tonight on YT. Interesting in that I'm currently wading through medieval history but in a different region. I might invest time and money in the game, just for casual fun. 

Update: seen another Jingles YT episode regarding this game tonight (30 March). Almost tempted to purchase it simply because I am enjoying the narrative plus the visual graphics. Almost tempted...awful regional English and American accents aside (game developers are Czech). 

=======================

29 March 2025

Balkans Late Medieval Period

Going to use the timeline from this text as my guiding reference for my first ever foray into Late Medieval in the Balkans. Scale to be determined but I want to amass large armies and not confine myself to small-scale skirmish actions. Just trying to figure out whether to go figures (6mm most likely) or paper (self-made as they're none available in the region I'm interested in). Even watched a few YT videos on cheap alternatives such as 2mm plastic mesh. Looking at paper mainly due to both manufacturing and creative options. Figurines are a last resort nowadays - cost plus storage and painting. Paper are already painted (printed): just cut and paste.

Main players will be the Byzantines, Bulgarians, Serbians, Greeks, Franks, Venetians, Genoese, Italians, Cumans (Kipchak, Tartars (Mongols), Turks (Seljuks and Ottomans). Currently doing some background research starting with the Byzantines. 

So far I've learned from wikipedia is that there were two dynastic periods - the Komnenos (12th century) and the Palaiologan (13th to mid-15th century). Focusing on the Palaiologan era first because the armies were smaller, no more than 5,000 at most. 

I do have the history text I'm still wading through. It goes into more specifics regarding the period than wikipedia which only provides a cursory overview. I also have numerous Osprey uniform books (digitals only) that can help me with period clothing. 

Ruleset? That's a big one. But given I'm doing this solo, I have plenty of options, plus there is no pressure to choose one immediately. There are basically three gaming options: skirmish, small- to mid-scale, and large-scale engagements.

For now, I will confine myself to Lion Rampant for the retinue/skirmish style games. For large (battle) type games, it looks the old standard will do for now - DBM. For mid-level games, I may explore further options that allow for quick solo games under 2 hours max. No real rush for now. 

Atomfall

The recent return of FRANKIEonPC after several years absence is always looked to with anticipation due to his extremely enjoyable entertainment value. First heard of him through Soviet Womble, and their ZF clan exploits. Which then led me to watch Frankie's Arma 3 videos, especially his Zombie adventures in this setting. His recent teaming up with Sada were always memorable for their humour, banter, and skill displayed. 

Anyway, Frankie's new recommendation (not really as such but if he's playing and raving about it, then it's work a look-see) is Atomfall, another post-apocalyptic zombie infestation set in Britain that was release a couple of days ago. So it's close to home, so to speak. Looked it up on Steam. Asking price for the base game is AUD80.

Bongo Cat

A fun little app that is based on keyboard taps. Happy accidental find the other day. After so many taps, you receive items that can be traded in the market place. You can doll up your cat with hats and so forth. Not a game but a pleasant companion when you blatting enemy ships.

Any rewarded items can be attached to your cat by simply opening the game and waiting thirty minutes then clicking the page icon next to the counter to open the inventory...

Then you can adorn your cat, as I've done, or sell your items or trade in the market.

The part I like is that Bongo Cat overlays on the screen (as it's doing now). Once the counter reaches a certain level (starting out it increments 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000), you will receive notification that you've been rewarded with a new item. Or it might be a duplicate of an existing item in your inventory. 

Starcraft II and Counter Strike

Recently I've been feasting on Serral's game play in SC2. Watching his play elicited fond memories of my time in Sydney's internet cafe scene back in '99. 

Tempted to download the game now and play it for old time sake. Wasn't that good at it but played it regularly with my Polish mate who loved it so much. He thumped me no matter what species he played - Terran, Protoss, Zerg. 

Only agreed to play against him if he would reciprocate and join me in multiplayer Counter Strike. Often we would hit servers that quickly filled up fast. I was often lucky against other players which generally pissed them off; getting booted off was a common outcome for me. 

Remember once going up against a local Asian CS clan with real cool tag names like Emperor, Empress, Joker, and so on. I managed to piss them off though because I somehow managed to stay alive long enough to foil their plans within the game. So much so that they targetted me specifically. I hung in there and managed to get quite a few kills off them before they eventually threw a hissy fit and left the game server. Ah, the good old trolling days.  

=====================

30 March 2025

World of Warships

Playing the Nelson all week and really liking its hitting power. Smack-a-dos every so often. As stated previously, I got this ship in the recent Christmas Santa crate but it was the first item in a sequential bundle so I bought it again and got instant access to the specific mission for it. It's the last week for the 200% bonuses every time you take her out of port. 

The Soviet submarine event is worth playing if you're not prepared to fork out doubloons. Acquired one of the subs (S-1) with the tokens earned. The Soviet era crates don't reward much but what's there is gladly accepted (can't have enough signals).

Not even touching the Monmouth and Gonzaga ship events. Not at the prices WG are asking. Saw the Gonzaga in one game last week but oddly nothing since. 

Waiting on the Blucher Dockyard event which is coming in the next Update in April. 

The April Fools Day sequential bundle is a blatant rip off which most players are avoiding. It is really fit only for those willing to throw money at WG. I've spent some doubloons already from my pile but not outlayed real money. 

I did fork out AUD15 to unlock level 2 access to the Battle Pass Soviet navy event. Did so only for the coal which I spend on the Battle of Jutland containers in the hope of getting the K. Albert, a rare premium. Unfortunately, odds are one in two hundred and fifty. No mind as it's just coal anyway and I have a fair amount accumulated. And what you get are small piddly items but still useful if asset-poor, as I seem to be.

======================

31 March 2025

NWS Newsletter

Received the April newsletter from NWS (UK). Lots of interesting ideas and articles. Keen to read another member's report on Topside Minis, paper print outs of ships that you cut out and paste onto something more substantial such as wood or hard plastic. A cheap option if you can't afford the 3D versions. Got my Battle of Jutland set. The article writer has three sets - Battle of Jutland, the Russo-Japanese War, and WW2. He mentions a Cold War naval set - Soviet and US - that's due for release soon. 

There is also a batrep regarding Operation Pedestal, the British relief convoy to Malta in 1942, and the Axis attempts to sink and scuttle their efforts. Previous missions had seen Axis success, and the island of Malta was undergoing severe rationing as a result. A gaming club in the UK ran the operation. So far, it's looking good. Oddly, the HMS Nelson was sunk through persistent and successful aerial bombing. Also sunk was the British destroyer HMS Derwent. The other capital ship, the HMS Rodney, sister ship to the Nelson, exacted revenge however by sinking the Italian heavy cruisers Gorizia and Bolzano.

A recommendation come through to try out an Age of Sail boardgame Rule the Waves Britannia!. Interested me because it can be played solo as well as multiplayer. The article writer pointed out you can start at any rank be it Captain of a 3rd rater or Admiral of a 100-gun ship of the line. 

But what got me interested more was the solo wargaming notion of playing such a game as a solo campaign but starting at the bottom of the promotion ladder and working your way up to the top tier as a natural progression. Numerous book series have followed this path, and it's a common writing device - such glorious characters as Horatio Hornblower, Luke Skywalker, Richard Sharpe, etc., owe their existence (and popularity) because they made their way up from the bottom. Can it work as a solo gaming concept?

World of Warships

One more day of playing until I can upgrade to the OREGON for free in the Experimental Ships (a WOWS) event. Four more days of playing the Nelson special mission and helping to upskill my seasoned commander, one of the Dunkirk brothers. He's got a few XP points to go before he's a 21-pt captain so "head down and arse up!" as we would say.

Problem with WOWS and Steam?

Noticed that record of hours spent playing WOWS increase by 0.5 hour every time I login for a new session through Steam. Been keeping record of hours spent playing since I started keeping records, and it has always been consistently the same whenever I log out and then log in the next day. But lately, since the new update, it's changed. Now I notice that when I log in the next day the tally has incremented by half an hour. Someone asked this of Steam in the community some time back about the discrepancy; they were told it was nothing to get overly concerned about. Also that it had something to do with Steam not being updated by the WOWS servers regarding hours played. Poster was basically told to let it slide as it was an insignificant matter. Well, it's not really. I will keep tabs on this if it continues into the next Update in which case I will then query Steam. Not worth bothering WOWS over it because they don't care: their customer service is very much a hit-or-miss affair anyway these days.

UPDATE - 18 Jan: Yeah, server was down all day and night Thursday. Not sure why but it was up and running and business as per usual Friday. Atmospherics? Funny weather lately. 

UPDATE - 22 Jan: Logout and login times now differ by 0.4 hour (@ 24 minutes). Which is an improvement from 0.5 hour (@ 30 minutes) of last week. 

Santa crates are still available till 30 January for those brazen and shameless with their spending. Gunning for Smaland, Haida or Nelson. 

UPDATE - 25 Jan: Smaland would be nice (got Haida and Nelson) before the crates event concludes at the end of this month. But I am not expecting such luck so am declaring my ship chase very much finished. Sixty-two ships acquired is not a bad haul for four months "work". Definitely cheaper than buying direct (if you accept that you are paying for the privilege to access virtual ships for as long as your account is active, that you do not own those virtual ships). But such is the nature of online gaming these days. 

The difference between Steam and WOWS accounting of time spent in the game still remains at 0.4 hour (the difference between logging out and logging back in).

UPDATE - 26 Jan: It fluctuates between 0.4 and 0.5 hours. 

UPDATE - 29 Jan: Still much the same. Now and then WOWS tries to get me to sign up for a new WOWS account even though I am playing through Steam. What the right hand does unbeknownst to the left.

30 November 2024

Online PC Games

World of Warships. Common gribes regarding this Update (13.11), i.e. the Christmas event. 

(1) Steel event is overpriced (steel that is). Two ships - the Dutch cruiser and the German destroyer will be gone after the event ends. But the Archerfish (ridiculously superfast submarine) and Shinano will remain available for purchase.

(2) Dockyard event's a joke. Niord and Kalmar are the ship rewards. Meh.

(3) Battle Pass is now double the price. Disguised as another event by splitting it into two "chapters". Yes, you get two ships but who's heard of them? Teng She and Lugdumbumbum (whateva)? Instead of the one Battle Pass event you're getting two. No, not two-for-the-price-of-one, no, it's two-for-the-price-of-two! Cost is the same for both events.

(4) Coal crates are now standardised; before they were quite random with their rewards. Now it's guaranteed 400 coal, 3 Grey economic bonuses (of any type), and the third slot is either Elite Commander XP or Free XP. Occasionally you will get a variation but in the past week and a half, this has been the yield so I've noticed on the daily spreadsheet record kept. 

(5) More prevalent in Co-Op these days, you either get BOT players (farming credits) or the lack of cooperation is now very common. On one map recently the other day I was on one flank but saw on the other flank two friendlies take on two enemy BOT ships. To my surprise, both friendlies died even though they could have easily taken out the enemy BOTS. I simply could not believe it. Tried to race over to try and salvage something but was too late. And it keeps getting worse. Guys, these are BOTS!

(6) Playing the last operation in the Star Trek event is not simple. Four basic tasks need accomplishing before dealing with the Borg Queen: 1 - Eliminate the Queen's Minions (three of them), 2: Defend the three key areas, 3: take out the East and West guards (three in each), 4 - Collect four debris (buffs). Once done, the Queen herself will appear. Be warned: her arrival may knock out any ship not protected enough. When she arrives, knocking her out is a tall ask as she has a 1,000 hit points. And there is a time limit. Achieved this only twice in the ten or so attempts. 

Summary - I am very skeptical of eventually reaching my goal of six hundred ships in port after this first week of the new Update. This year's Santa event looks to favour those with fewer ships. The Christmas incentive should kick in tomorrow and I'm hoping it will improve but I remain very skeptical and more convinced this will be my last "full-on" year playing this game. 

Here's hoping that tomorrow improves with unlocking the Exploration North rewards and the Festive rewards begins. 

Stardew Valley. Play this straight after WOWS to get the "stink" off. 

===================

Good writers

First is J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the top of the tree. Read his profound trilogy many times over. So much depth in the lore which the Silmarillion barely scratched the surface. The Peter Jackson film trilogies did it quite well although initially I thought they skipped quite a bit from the books and made up other bits. But now I see that even if they had included parts like Tom Bombadil, it would have been too long and turned many off. 

Rewatching certain scenes from the Sharpe tv series on YT (the scene where Wellington lambast Simmerson seems a well-loved 2024 favourite) reminded me so much of my love of other favourite writers who have left indelible imprints on my psyche. After Tolkien, #2 would have to be the English historical fantasy writer, Bernard Cornwell. His Sharpe series were staple diet during the early 80s and I read all the titles published during that decade. Later decades, not so much as I was only interested in his time in the Peninsular under Wellington.

Third would be the late American fantasy writer David Eddings. Obviously loved the five-book series, The Belgariad and then the follow up concluding series, The Mallorean. 

Silk, the cheeky thief prince and Relg, the dude who could walk through rock and stone unharmed, were two of my favourite supporting characters from both series. The humour prevailing throughout, often under duress, was a big hit with me somehow. That all the major characters (on the good side) got "happy ever after" endings seems twee now that I look back on it in review. 

Was also keenly interested in the Elenium and Tamuli series featuring the Pandion knight Sparhawk. Had high hopes it would enjoy the same success as the Belgariad but there was something different about it compared to other two series. Probably because the guy was already an adult, a battle-tried adult. You did not see his character development like you did with young Garion who grew up from a cheeky little imp underfoot of Polgara to eventually end up king of Riva and husband to the wilful Queen Ce'Nedra. I wanted more because it seemed like a really good story but it was not to be.

Those were my top three favourites of the fiction genre. 

Others worth mentioning include C.S. Forester, the author of the popular Hornblower series. Read a few and was mad about the whole Age of Sails period. Got on to Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series not that long ago but already had exposure to it through the animated comic book style renditions. 

Others in the sci-fi genre include Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey to name just a few read.

Of the more "heady", more intellectual style, #1 would have to be George Orwell simply for his writing technique. The man could write. Not a wasted word. His tight economic style reminds me of (although differently) to that of Winston Churchill who was a renowned speaker, writer, and scholar - not just a statesman and adventurer. In a lot of ways, Stephen Fry continues that tradition of well-spoken English speakers and writers; he is much the same in that he articulates well with both the written and spoken word. The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw was another who got straight to point, at least for me. 

=======================

 

18 November 2024

Online PC Games

World of Warships. Saw a regular Youtuber streamer's assessment of the Star Trek event, and I hope he's wrong. He believes this is the future of WOWS. Whether it's space-cloaked or simply modern era, it signals the end of playing for me. I just want to reach 600 ships by the end of the year.

Now I hear that they're going to be introducing Gold premium ammo in Update 14.0 (Jan 2025) courtesy from another YT streamer. Having never played World of Tanks, I have no first-hand knowledge regarding the introduction of this paywall tactic (sneaking it in disguised of course if you read the latest Devblog closely) but I hear that its introduction into WOWS (some are surprised that it was not introduced sooner) will mean those long-time players will either (a) quit the game, (b) avoid playing PvP altogether except on the odd or rare occasion, or (c) merely shrug their shoulders and continue playing - and paying. The last applies to new players and/or those with fat wallets.

Whatever is the case, I'm almost done with this game. Playing it almost daily for almost five years has been a journey but lately the experience has become a very tiresome burden. And when something becomes a burden, it's time to move on to new horizons.

New Games. Finally played Farming Simulator 22 even while Farming Simulator 25 has also just been released into Early Access (so I believe). I sucked at the game in my first attempts despite watching countless YT videos on how to play. Who'd thought, eh? Played the Guided Tour part and struggled from the start. It also brought to light my awful driving skills, especially with the tow bar. Whether in reality or on a PC, I have no skill whatsoever other than forward and stop! 

The newly released Empire of the Ant looks promising. Graphics are outstanding. Perspective (from the ant's view plane) is interesting and adds novelty to the game. At least there are no pronouns nor DEI tripe to contend with. Saw a famous YT streamer play it and kept smiling because all he wanted to do as the ant was chase after and kill the butterfly! He became quite vicious in his play, swearing and cussing at the enemies of the ant. 

Sea Power is now out. Much better than World of Warships by a long shot. It may well attract a lot of naval milsim and traditionalist gamers. Good reviews from among the numerous YT streamers I follow.

English Civil War

No change in the situation apart from some minor detailing remains regarding the cavalry, including attaching guidons. Been inactive due mostly to a serious lack of interest and current ongoing health concerns. And depression does not help. 

I will more than probably forego the "few loose ends" given this is a solo campaign effort anyway as no one will be looking closely at my minis. I am planning starting assembly and painting of the Royalist army in the new year. I will prepare my solo campaign however as it's been on my mind for several weeks now; just to help with motivation. No plan and no idea how I will tackle it apart from reading the campaign booklet acquired several months back and formulating something thereon. 

More than likely I will now post irregularly until I am mentally in a good place again. And Christmas time always brings back fond memories. 

================================

Weekly Digest #8

Online PC Games

World of Warships. Several ships of interest for purchase are available this Update. These include the Karl XIV Johan (for doubloons), Anhalt (now a coal ship), Los Andes (released from Early Access and now part of the tech tree line). So it will be a combination grind alternating between playing both the Dupliex and Ipiranga with their appropriate Unique commanders who will also be upskilling. Multi-tasking is still a new prospect for a single-minded individual such as myself. Will probably get all three ships anyway.

Finally jumped into the Star Trek mode tonight (3rd). Played the Vulcan battleship T'Pau, adding upgrades along the way as I slowly made my way to the end of the available mission sets. Quickly got the hang of playing it aggressively and fared well enough. Have not touched either the cruiser or destroyer versions yet; no intention. Played this mode only because I'm chasing the resources (Free XP, coal, etc) for the new ships sought. 

This mode is exactly like the D-Day missions around June/July where you gamed one series of missions to its series end then wait for the next series to unlock. And so it goes until the entire mission series is completed. Next one for Star Trek is due soon; in the meantime, you continue to play for tokens to help unlock upgrades until the next mission series is unlocked. 

Today (4th) I played both grind ships and ended up getting the Alabama B (Black Friday container), Los Andes (tech tree), Anhalt (coal), and Karl XIV Johan (doubloons). The Alabama B has its own mission where the reward is 2500 doubloons so will likely grind for that. 

Used the doubloon rewards from the Alabama B mission to pay for two stages in the Black Friday event today (5th).

Today (6th) got pleasant surprise. Been bagging Supercontainers a lot because what made them unique has been severely nerfed to the point that it's not worth anything any more. For every one hundred standard container, you get a Supercontainer. Today was different from the usual norm of nothing when opening a supercontainter however. I actually got a ship, and one that I'd been wanting for some time - the US Tier VI Arizona. Also upskilled Auboyneau who is now 19-pt using surplus Elite Cmdr XP; will continue to grind him toward 20-pt.

Every Black Friday ship obtained comes with a quick mission - earn so many Base XP. The reward, depending on the ship, is a quantity of doubloons. With the Alabama B it was 2500 doubloons if my record-keeping is correct. With the Dunkerque B it is 1500 doubloons. 

Today (8th) I fast tracked (spent dubs) the last three levels to finish the Black Friday Event Pass, and thus obtain the Dunkerque B. Arrangement of guns means it's a forward firing tank. Precursor to Jean Bart, most likely so I have categorised it. Nothing great but did okay with it in the games to earn dubs back in fairly short time (earn 4000 Base XP).

=============================

Tabletop Gaming

English Civil War. Opened up the Royalist package over the weekend (2nd) but haven't fully gone through all the pieces. First thing I noticed was that the artillery pieces actually look like they belong to the period unlike the artillery pieces for my New Model army list (see earlier blogpost). Will send pics to the retailer for an explanation. 

Reviewing the Royalist list as finalised 16 July 2024 prior to posting as an order. Note: it may undergo further changes until fully assembled because nothing is firmly set until the last painted figure is done, more or less.

Prince Rupert (field commander) + dog
    Prince Rupert's Lifeguards (bodyguards) = 6 figures (2 stands)
    2 couriers (may be more - to be decided)

Left Wing cavalry (Langdale)
    "Northern Horse" = 8 figures (4 stands)
    Cary's Horse = 8 figures (4 stands)

Centre Wing infantry (Lord Astley)
    Lucas' tertio
        Lord Hopton's Foot (blue uniforms)
        "Shrewsbury Foot" (green uniforms - dull or dark)
    Astley's tertio
        Duke of York's Foot (white uniforms)
        Page's Foot (grey uniforms)

Right Wing cavalry (Prince Maurice)
    Prince Maurice's Lifeguards (bodyguards) = 6 figures (2 stands)
    Prince Rupert's Horse = 12 figures (4 stands)
    Queen's Horse = 9 figures (3 stands)

Reserve (King Charles I)
    1 courier
    King's Lifeguards (Stuart) = 6 figures (2 stands)
    King's Foot (red uniforms)
    Prince Rupert's Foot (blue uniforms)

Artillery (tbd)
    1 Saker + crew
    2 Falcons + crew*
    Firelocks (Legge) = 12 figures (4 stands)

Both sides will share the following items as scenario or campaign needs dictate:
    1 Mortar + crew
    Baggage train (6 donkeys carrying assorted baggage)
    Powder cart + horse team
    Wine/water cart + horse team

* The other two Falcons (plus crews) will go to the New Model list. One of the NMA demi-culverins will transfer over to the Royalist list to complement the solitary saker. 

Going with different coloured uniformed units in keeping with making each force fairly distinctive and distinguishable tabletop-wise. Thus the NMA will be known by their standards while the Royalists will be distinguished by their uniforms. 

Total cost (including postage and packaging): over AUD1100.

Today (6th) continued cataloguing the Royalist package. Confirmed the NMA artillery pieces are demi-culverins. Enough firelocks for both sides. Extra artillery commanders are mounted.

Finished unpacking the Royalist package (7th). More or less all there. More because there are some "overs" but not much. Less because I am shy 4 cavalry figures but probably need to check this shortfall against final list above. 

Initial shortfall has ballooned out to several packets of horse so I learned today (8th). My fault: I did not double check the order listing. Which means another order for despatch, probably in the new year. I have enough on the painting board to keep me busy till then. 

Weekly Digest #7

PC Gaming

News: Saw an interesting stream about a new sci-fi AAA RPG game tonight. Game is due for release soon. It's called Exodus. Looks interesting to me although I confess I'm not up-to-date with the genre of sci-fi games at all. Storyline has me hooked though. Being a Traveller in search of technology to help your own kind survive in a hostile galaxy will always appeal because it involves exploration.

Farming Simulator 22: Also checked out Farming Simulator 22 as well after watching a YT streamer play it from scratch - no $ and nothing - several days ago. Knew of it already but passed it by. But now I am very interested because I am looking for something more engaging which is a big step up from Stardew Valley. Watched several modded streams and am convinced I will be getting this game soon.

Space Marines 2. Saw this tonight on Steam community (28th) Patch 4.1 released and intends to fix some of the concerns expressed by the players. 

"...Space Marine 2 is all about the power fantasy, and Patch 4.0 negatively impacted it for many of you.

This is why we’re rolling back these changes. Extremis enemies’ spawn rates in Minimal, Average, and Substantial difficulties will revert back to their pre-Patch 4.0 levels and will be significantly reduced in Ruthless difficulty to hopefully strike a balance between how hard the game was at launch and how “easy” it became with Patch 3.0..."

Hopefully they're able to strike the right balance. Maybe I will return and finally knock off that Hive Tyrant.

World of Warships. Devblog posted details regarding Update 13.11. Or the much-looked forward Christmas events. Read through it and noticed some changes.

(1) No longer three type of Santa containers. Eliminated the "middle" one so now it's just the Gift and Mega crates. Included the Golden Gift crate which is available only through the Mega ones.

(2). Event Pass is now in two parts (called Chapters), each three weeks long. Once ended, it's gone forever so incentive is to complete them as they unfold. There are twenty-five stages. It's a continuation of the Explore the North Pole event. The rewards are the two Polar commanders - Li Wei and Olaf Lundgren - and two new ships Tsurugi and Lugdanum. Instead of receiving at the end of the grind, they appear midway through the "Chapter".

(3) Only 145 ships on offer this time around with some new ones included like the Georg Hoffman, Prins van Oranje, Chikuma II - obtainable through the Golden Gift crate. Others include Wiesbaden, Tsurugi, Navarin, and so on. Still some rare ones like Kamikaze, Enterprise, Friesland, and so on. 

(4) Explore the North Pole event concludes in this Update. If you join in this Update, you get a free Tier VIII ship - either North Carolina, Implacable, U-190, Akatsuki - straight off the bat. If you made it to the stage where you've been able to earn 10,000 tokens your free Tier X ship is a choice between Schlieffen, Audacious, Balao, Shimakaze. Note: the two destroyers are speculative and rumoured while the others are confirmed. No cruisers.

(5) Christmas port (Nordlyshavn) has a Christmas tree in need of decorating. Earning decorations rewards you with meh gifts such as Premium days, coal, permanent camo, flags. Yeah....nah!

(6) During the Update period (Dec 1 to 25) daily log in is different. What that entailed is not fully disclosed apart from certainty that you will receive a reward of sorts. Can't be any worse than what's been daily log in for the past five years, can it?

(7) Festive Rewards is back again and echoes the same event during the Ninth Anniversary. The more ships in one's port, the more chances at rewards. Whichever Tier ship is taken out, you have to earn the requisite amount of BASE XP to receive the Festive reward.

What's missing is the information regarding Santa certificates (snowflakes). Maybe it's a given and still confined to just Tier X ships. Not a good feeling so far regarding this approaching Christmas. 

Closer to the current timeline, November is Black Friday time. Or Black Hole Friday as I like to call it now. Black Hole because it's where those with more money than sense splurge wildly. Avoiding this year's current list of Black Friday ships as none appeal apart from a couple: I can wait for those. Plus they're costing a fair bit for their actual worth to be honest. WG knows its market well enough. 

The Smolensk auction is a big definite no-no for me. Wildly over the top haggling for a nerfed ship. Always avoided these auctions as the bidding is super inflated with many fearing they will miss out so they bid exorbitantly.  

Apart from that, sticking to playing the current Event Pass for the resources as I grind to upskill the French Unique commander Auboyneau on the light cruiser Dupliex. I should have used the De Grasse which is a little more robust and reliable but its ship XP is already past the 300+K limit. Dunkerque B as the Event Pass final ship reward does not interest in the least but it's better than nothing. 

And completing the next stage of the Polar Exploration mission chain. One more mission task to complete and that should complete the minimum requirement for the rewards released from December 1.

Noticed the Karl XIV Johan and Anhalt are now Armory ships (former as a doubloon and the latter a coal ship). Contemplating getting both but will see how the rest of the month pans out first. 

Tabletop Gaming

English Civil War. Continuing slow work assembling my New Model army list. 

One of the problems I've been struggling ever since starting this English Civil Wars project has been how to generate cavalry standard bearers (or cornets). The Hinchcliffe retailer I've used does not have specific cornets for cavalry. Without wanting to go to another brand, I found myself stuck figuring out how to adapt existing cavalry figures. 

But in end, as of today (30th), I'm just going to ignore it altogther, create the banner, and stick it to the base. No conversion needed. Problem solved. Move along.

Just one more group of horsemen to assemble; this group is short mounts and riders which I will have to order eventually, but no rush right now. For now, I can live with two units of heavy cav, two units of carabiniers, and one unit of dragoons. Should be sufficient for my campaign needs. The bulk of the New Model Army is very much done now; just final detailing, attaching pikes and flags, then a final wash, and then gluing and flocking the bases. 

Painting

Started bird cards with these initial rough paint sketches. Rusty as heck. Will take me months to fully get back into it because of my stutter approach to painting at the moment. These are the wagtail series gift cards for family and friends. 

==============================

Weekly Digest #6

21-27 October 2024

A new week. Month nearly over. What's on the agenda this week?

World of Warships (WOWS). Same daily grind with Huanghe and Sa Zenbing. And it will continue until he's at 20-pt. As stated previously, I will eventually wean myself off daily play to fortnightly then eventually permanent monthly in the new year. I have too many other to-do project needing attention at the moment to waste any more time on this obsession. At least I don't do drugs or smoke or drink or sleep around like those with insatiable unchecked appetites. Lol.

Of note this week I managed to finish the last task of the Battle of Leyte Gulf second mission chain and did enough to upskill Zhenbing to 20-pt level. Next week it's the turn of Auboyneau, the French Unique commander. 

Space Marines 2. Returned to the game to see what changes Patch 4.0 has brought to the game. 

At the start of this week my Tactical marine is grinding at Level 12. Not touched the other types - Bulwark, Vanguard, Sniper or Heavy - yet as I want to focus is on maxxing out my "typical grunt" first. 

Despite playing exclusively at Minimal Difficulty, I am finding the threats are anything but minimal. 

Of the four weapon versions available of the same weapon only employing Standard or Master-crafted versions as these are the only versions I've managed to unlock so far. For now I can only dream about wielding Artificer or Relic version weaponry.  

Game is already losing my interest, by the way. And I wonder why...well, not really. 

Yeah, tried the game after Patch 4.0 kicked in today (22nd). And the complaints that it's harder even on Minimal Difficulty are real. Played about 4 or 6 games of the Decapitation mission and found I could not even make it to the Bridge on over two thirds of those attempts playing solo. Wave after wave and boss after boss kept spawning even if I paused as much to scratch my nose. Managed to make it to the bridge struts only once, planted the charges that were there normally but could not Pass Go to the next stage because I could not find the fourth charge. Previous Patches, I found you only needed two charges and once fulfilled that task you were able to access the lift to the bridge itself. Not so this time round.

 

Also got disconnected part way through one of the games which was unexpected. Was actually doing well until the screen suddenly froze, and I was "on the street wondering what the hell happened". Relogged in and then this happened on the first game back.

Can you spot the difference? No? There is no usual Tyranid reception committee waiting with open arms and welcome mat at the front door. Usually, they're in force and ready to do the full hostile airport scanning and screening process. Not this time though. But then once inside, everything went pear-shape real quick. 

Frustrated and annoyed, I logged back out after one more attempt. 

Initial thoughts regarding this new patch job? Not solo casual player friendly at all even at Minimal Difficulty level. It is harder now to play the game as a solo casual. Even with teammates, the missions have become tougher. Despite any so-called "tweaks and improvements made", my opinion is that it's an attempt to make the game even less accessible to those wanting a casual FTP experience, ie. if you want something casual then play games like Stardew Valley. Those fortunate enough to have already maxxed out the various classes are fine, but for those like myself, it's no longer possible or enjoyable. Which is making it even easier to move on from this game. Plus the constant blatting becomes boring - real boring.

Great graphics though. Strain on my gaming PC with the update but so far, apart from the disconnection, she's handling it okay so far.

Tabletop Wargaming. Publicly put myself out there Tuesday with my ECW painting project by posting progress through my local wargaming/hobby forum. Hopefully this will spur me to complete the New Model Army by end of the year. Attempting to complete each of the individual units more quicker than before due to this public display. 

Plans for the rest of this year is to fully complete what's assembled from the New Model army list. Will attempt to playtest the campaign rules purchased earlier this year. Front half of 2025 will see me start and complete the Royalist Army to front up against the Parliamentarians. Will there be other factions such as the Irish and the Scots - both Covenanters and Montrose? Not likely.

Finished detailing on Waller's Foote today (23rd). Leaving the final flocking of bases for last as I'm not sure which way to go. The muddy wet look sounds appealing given I've used a dark brown basecoat. And it reminds me of my gaming buddy's WW1 Fokker Drei stand from our Canvas Eagle games. He made a very realistic trench looking base.

Anyway, this unit can now join Pilkington's Foote (below right) completed months ago.

Found the artillery limbers and cannons today (25th) and began assembly. Not sure if I got it right though as the photo below attests. Online references weren't helpful during assembly; anything but. I won't finalise assembly until I get confirmation from reliable sources aka the retailer.

Everything about the finished effort looks off. For one, the cannon is sitting too high. Also it looks too wide. Or else the wheels look several sizes too small. The cannon itself might be too long but then that's just perspective given the wheels seem too small. Either way, something's not right. It just looks ridiculous like one of those old cheap metal toys from the 50s. As a comparison, below shows the same cannon type (demi-culverin) from another retailer. 

Going to have to reorder artillery after checking several other stockists of 25mm ECW artillery. Fortunately, I only need three guns. Lesson learned however: always check the item has a photo. Had to drill out the wheel axles on several and there was some filing to ensure a fit. 

Toned down the sand on my test model to a sloppy grey. Will recolour it even more to make it look "muddier". 

Sunday 27th. Decided to go with the cannons as-is. It is what it is. Besides, it's a solo campaign so only I will be judging by appearance. Can only hope the Royalist guns are much better.

Flocking bases. Comparison between the two. Will make final decision eventually. 

Vermuyden's Horse above. Start of detailing.

Montagu's Foote. White lining. Still some more detailing needed before gluing the pieces.

Other Painting projects. There are several painting endeavours that I've been procrastinating upon, and continue to put off. Motivation again proving a convenient excuse. Despite this persistent and often annoying obstacle, I have planned seven A5-sized animal portraitures that I've managed to sketch out so far. I am also hoping to include a long-awaited series of Christmas bird cards. I am figuring around five or six for now. Wishing me luck.

==========================

Digest #5

14 October 2024

Online PC games: World of Warships

Usual morning WOWS grind with Sansonetti before I finished the morning off with a stint in Star Trek Resurgence. Haven't played the latter in a long while although I do enjoy the storyline. Very reminiscent of those old well written Star Trek tv episodes. SPOILER ALERT: the games features both Spock, now Ambassador Spock, and Captain Will Riker. 

Online PC Games: Star Trek Resurgence

Just who are the Scions of the Flame? Why is bioforming so different from Trill joined symbiosis? What's up with Captain Solano, the weakest character who is more a caricature than someone fleshed-out; will he really go reckless in his pursuit of a final chance at glory as the mission unfolds? He reminds me of someone who's been a Starfleet captain for too long and will never make Admiral, someone who should have retired long ago with his toy trains. Will the real Miranda please step forward!

================================

16 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Snoreships

Decided to fast track Sansonetti's skill level as he was well over the 250k mark. Used both Elite Cmdr XP and Free XP to boost him to 20-pt level. Now it's turn of the Pan-Asian Unique commander Sa Zhenbing. Will be running him in the Tier V premium destroyer Anshan. Had to redistribute the skill points to take advantage of the destroyer's strengths and Zhenbing's skill level.

Paintings - Models or otherwise

More detailing work done on Sir Hardress Waller's regiment of Foote. Still trying to figure out the coat lining colour. Got two choices: white or blue? The latter is offered as a suggestion given that west country regiments wore blue; the former because it's a good contrast to the red coats and basic dark clothing I've chosen for this unit.

=================================

17 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Warships

Compared to the FR25, the Pan-Asia Tier VI premium destroyer Anshan is very light weight. It's an easy kill for just about anybody with good aim. It has enough 8km torps to do some damage but it's low HP (around 12k) makes it very susceptible to dev strikes from gunboats and cruisers. Having smoke helps when YOLO-ing but be prepared to die quick if cap being contested. 

So I switched to the Tier VI premium cruiser Huanghe whose long duration smoke compensates for its paltry two twin-tube torpedoes. Fared slightly better although like the Anshan, it's too lightweight to melee up close. Best farm from a distance. 

Online PC Games: What's Out There At The Moment

Last night saw a listing of the best naval games PC gaming for 2024. Highly recommended but pricey (AUD127) is Gary Grigsby's War in the Pacific: Admiral's edition. Available through Matrix Games online store. Got me interested because it's involved and complex.

As soon as I saw the hex map, I was virtually in (pun intended). But first I have save up for the purchase: the amount asked is too big an ask for this poor retiree. :(

========================

18 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Warships

Playing the Huanghe these past few days has confirmed a few things. Firstly, it's slow and maneouvres sluggishly. She's slower than my fishing boat in Dredge which can go up to 52 knots whereas Huanghe struggles to make 32 knots! So planning is pretty much essential. It can play like a big big destroyer but you need to keep angled in and always use the long-duration smoke in combination with hydro to close for the kill without getting killed yourself. 

The second Leyte Gulf mission chain began today. Similar to the first one. Just two more missions to complete in this chain of five missions. The reward crate (one per mission completed) are like the first mission with a small quantity of economic bonuses. The third mission commences around the end of this month.  

I am ignoring the Red October event because it just like another scam to get you to spend money for no good reason.

Also foregoing the second access level of the upcoming Black Friday event pass (Update 13.10) which again is offering meagre rewards. Normally I fork out the doubloons because I am always XP poor but not this time. Seems the solitary ship reward is one I already have (Dunkerque B). Lots of camo and crates and even a mod that harks back to an earlier trial of some shell effect; cannot remember exactly when that occurred but if that's it, well... The allure of a quantity of Black Friday crates is misleading insofar as you have a chance of winning something other than the original prize offered. Much like their current trend. 

No interest in the Star Trek event either. Why bother when I can simply play Star Trek games instead?

Online PC Games: Dredge - The Iron Rig DLC

Started playing this again last night just to see what's on offer with the DLC bundle purchased recently. Quickly forgot the time and before I knew it dawn was arising. 

I have not played The Pale Reach and Blackstone Key missions yet although I expect they're incorporated into the base game, as you'd anticipate. Skipping the original storyline this time round as I played it already to its dramatic conclusion last time. However I am still chasing up the items desired by the Collector on Blackstone Island. New characters on the Iron Rig as well as different deviant creatures from the deep...and beyond...or beneath!

Above shows a similar setup to the smaller Travelling Merchant floating stores but with new "improvements" like the Factory that boast new improved fishing equipment. Or the Tech Lab that uses its modern technological advancements to improve the operations of your boat such as lights, telescope and so on. Then there's the Generator that uses biomatter to power the rig, so you can sell your catch of the day. And the Undermarket is like your machine shop that fixes broken equipment. The Scientist is like many of the characters in that he's a bit strange and fond of talking evasively. Withholding information is very much a trait in these waters.

He tasks you with fetching samples for his observation and experiments much like the Researcher based at the Old Fortress west of Stellar Reach. 

The rig itself is in several levels of construction. I began last night so still am at Tier 1. Managed to pick loads of the corporation cargo; seems ships like to sink in these waters. Mind you, you see some strange stuff like ghost ships with lights on all the time that somehow disappear all of a sudden then pop up somewhere else. 

Also the first drilling ruptured the surface below and caused spillages to occur mostly around the Marrows. What these are is a mystery but they pose are obstacles as far as I'm concerned therefore worth avoiding although I did get caught in it by accident late at night and had an encounter with the monster of the deep (similar to the one at Stellar Reach and Gale Cliffs) casuing considerable damage to my boat. 

One more thing: I'm pacing this game on very slow mode. No need to rush and finish in 100 days like some streamers do. It's casual fun where I'm well aware of what lurks deep below so am in no mood to antagonise. So no late night fishing jaunts or cruises in the open ocean waters, not with all those lurking eyes, twisters, and almost animated mists that follow you like paranoia. 

Tonight I will venture further south to the ice and see what The Pale Reach reveals. Cheers.

===========================

19 October 2024

Online PC Gaming: Dredge - The Pale Reach

Yeah, not as many options with The Pale Reach as with The Iron Rig (levels of development) but it's interesting enough upon playing last night and into the wee hours. Met the Photographer first visit and she soon vamoosed after realising her much-sought after photo op wasn't being cooperative or playing cutesy. I wonder why. Dealing with a mutated murderous Narwal, finding the icebreaker parts so one can plough through the numerous icy barriers preventing you access to important clues, dealing with ominous warnings of a long-deceased captain frozen in ice, etc., and all that within the inhospitable southern reaches of the map makes for an adventure all its own.

Revisited Stellar Reach as I slowly ventured south. Painfully fond memories of the battles there. Met up again with the Research Scientist stranded at the Old Fortress. Noticed she's still single and still missing her sister who's connected to this story. Brave soul though for sticking it out on her own knowing of the terror lurking in those waters.

Learned the improved telescope allows you to mark spots of interest such as fishes, dredge locations (including what's there). But there is a limit on how many can be spotted otherwise the map will be so cluttered with markers and fishing and dredging locations that you might as well walk everywhere! So I've been marking those spots currently out of range of my fishing equipment or dredge spots of interest to keep it relatively decluttered.

Quickly maxxed out on upgrades. Dredging materials such as cloth, metal and wood are needed to fill the requirements for these upgrades. Research parts improves equipment - fishing rods, nets & crab pots, engines, and lumination; the better the quality, the more research parts needed. You can also tinker with engine combinations to max your speed although it depends on the allocated space (refer to upgrade). 

Remember that the Travelling Merchant who owns and operates the pontoons at each of the four main locations except the Iron Rig where the Foundry guy who runs the Undermarket and is your go-to mechanic and repair specialist. She sometimes has spare parts useful to your Research and Dredging operations - gunpowder (when you unlock that at the Cliffs), decent metal, and research parts - depending on location and quantity. She presents them regularly but it is random so always good to check when you can.

North of the Ironhaven Corporation Rig is a large open and vacant area of ocean. Usually you see the natural giants such as large whales and unnamed monsters and ghost ships. What is out there? Another DLC? Or is it part of Iron Rig DLC narrative? Will have to venture forth some time. Toward far horizons then!

Online PC Gaming: World of Snoreships

Usual captain upskill grind. Different character but same-old same-old stuff! The grind these days solely focuses on completing two requirements for the current Event Pass - firstly, earn 250 Base XP for 10 points, then follow up by earning 1500 Base XP for another 10 points. Amount is cumulative and carries over. The accumulation counts toward a running tally requirement of 25 points before you can receive the bonus rewards which are 1 signals crate full of 12 signals (4 of each) and 1 rare economic bonus crate (3 Blue randomly selected). Once this 25 points is reached, count resets. And the game continues until the Event Pass ends. 

Also within the grind, I am simultaneously completing the second mission chain for the Battle of Leyte Gulf event. Working through the fourth mission task of earning 8000 Base XP which is roughly around 13-14 games in Co-Op mode. About a third of the way through, but couldn't be bothered grinding all day. Still plenty of time left to finish it though which is handy, I suppose. Then it's on to the last mission task which is cause an absurd amount of HP damage. Reward once the mission chain is completed? 5 more Leyte Gulf tokens. WG did say the Tennessee was at the end of a very long and arduous rainbow.

In the background is the German Unification mission chain which is a global contribution effort. Each mission task requires earning well above a billion Base XP. Reward? A crate filled with a few items of supposed value. I received 1 Tile camo, 1 Tokyo Game Show camo, and 500 Free XP as my reward this morning for my contribution in helping to complete the current mission task. There are at least two more global mission tasks to go. The Base XP earned is taken from all the games Mode played. Reward? I don't recall precisely but did dismiss it as worthless in my initial response because it wasn't a ship as a reward.

==========================

19/20 October 2024

World of Yawnships

Just one more mission task to go to complete the second mission chain in the Leyte Gulf event. Halfway there to reaching goal of inflicting 45k damage from starting fires. Then it's 5 more tokens. Yay! 😋

Dredge

Last night freed the four trapped souls in The Pale Reach. Task made easier after fitting the icebreaker to the bow of the fishing vessel. Opened the portal of the Southern Locus that provides direct access to Blackstone Island. Also unlocked the blocks of ice for cargo hold. 

Completed the Research Assistant task and unlocked access to the remaining two rods. 

One of the new characters, the Painter, also set tasks mainly for unlocking new colours to paint your fishing boat.

Another character, the Photographer, has her base on an island between Stellar Basin and Gale Cliffs. Returned her camera case and she rewarded me with a camera. Why? You already have access to screenshotting, but the camera offers more flexible and/or concentrated shots, as shown below, of specific locations. This is the lighthouse tower at Devil's Spine taken from the west as I sail from the Iron Rig.

=============================

20 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Oarships

Finished fourth mission task finally. Just the final fifth left to complete and that will do for this second Leyte Gulf mission chain. Next one starts at the end of the month. It was therefore a longer grind than usual because 800k Base XP is a lot, especially in Co-Op mode. 

Online PC Games: Dredge - The Iron Rig and the Pale Reach

Got the enchanted trawling net after finding the altar in icy south. Just one small task for the white robed nutter (as with the other four coloured robe nutters). But mostly spent time completing the various tasks at The Iron Rig although I did journey all over. 

Helped to construct to Tier 4  the Factory as well as Tier 2 level for both the Foundry (spare parts) and Tech Lab (mostly improvements to boat and equipment). 

Also set up both the Fleet Services and Defenses. The former yielded a fifth Hull upgrade (more cargo space basically) while the latter sets up a beacon that emits a deterrent signal to any foul creatures about. The Defenses task helps save the platform rig from being totally destroyed by the tentacled beast thanks to the intervention of an even more dangerous leviathan that scares off the tentacle beast before it could completely demolish the rig. 

In the process, however, the Scientist finally went bonkers after he finally turned into a horrible creature himself and then escaped the rig. The Executive too scooted back to his safe plush office shortly after he ordered the rig to resume drilling which eventually led to the sudden assault. 

TLDR: Iron Rig survived the beast attack and the scientist turned into a demon of the deep. 

The last image shows the ex-Scientist (bottom edge middle) joining his new environment after jumping out his lab. 

This IS really a fishing game. I believe the Iron Rig will be the last DLC for this game. As a horror fishing game though it has more meh moments than you'd expect where you're often wanting something more terrifying to happen. If you fish only during the day, it's fine. But at night, you run into all sorts and manners of weird and interesting events. Storyline is ok but nothing great. History plays a part in creating a backstory but it doesn't add much to what's happening. Avoided replaying the base game as I'd already done it. Like I said from the start I wanted to try out the DLCs. I've yet to engage myself fully with the Blackstone Key DLC as the other two have proven more interesting. 

==============================