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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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...

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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.  

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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.  

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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.

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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?

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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.

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October Digest #1

World of Warships

After grinding my five missions for the GQ Johnny tokens today (1 October), I decided to treat myself and took out Lushun as it's returning to the game in the next dockyard event as Lushun B. Earned her in a 2023 dockyard event. Thirty-five phases in total. Once earned however she became a port princess given my focus was on other priorities at the time. But figured it was time to "take her out for a spin..." 

Recall watching a Trenlass video from around the time of her release where he played her. All I remember of that memory was a game filled with lots of Lushun firestarter moments where Trenlass played brilliantly from behind cover and he did well to hold a flank in her. Her deepwater torps are deterrents to heavier vessels although playing her as front-line might require caution given her combined strengths (hydro, 360 turrent rotation, good concealment) and weaknesses (no smoke, slow speed, slower torp reload) might find better utilisation on a flank, farming from cover, or dealing to capping enemy DDs. 

Ran her in a couple of game with Sa Zhenbing at the helm in Co-Op then restored her assigned captain for one final game. Performed to expectation. Took on a Marceau and before that a Kleber (admittedly it's Co-Op) and Lushun more than held her own despite having no smoke. Reminded me so much of Groningen with its MG-like rate of fire. 

And her deepwater torps in double quadruple tubes at 11km present a decent defensive wall against aggressive cruisers or battleships. But its her stealth and gunboat build that marks her for notice.

Keen to see what are the new coal ships. I heard Defence is returning - have it from last year. What are the others however does not interest me at the moment. 

Noticed the new devblog site upgrade. Same old same old content however. New ships released with Update 14.9. Yawn....!

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Was going to skip this Update's Dockyard event but remembered my ultimate goal so participated. Paid for five phases (bare minimum to finish this dockyard event: up three from previous dockyard events). Also forty five phases - much longer than the previous (Laffey) by far. 

Finished the first mission six tasks by playing Karl XIV Johan in Asymmetric. The last mission task (earn 900 ribbons) needed to be done using a destroyer. Thus I took out Groningen because it's good for earning loads of ribbons. Five quick games later and I was done.

This latest Event Pass (German Reunification themed) offers nothing of value as I already have the Prinz E. Friedrich, the halfway reward. No end of event reward ship which is disappointing. One of the 'new' releases would have made a fine reward incentive.

Liberty Harbour event starts 9 October (next Thursday local time). 

Despite the fun of Asymmetric, I have decided this will be my final year playing World of Warships in my current commitment (playing daily). Once I reached 700 ships, I'm done committing to playing every day for several hours. Not the sort of retirement I had envisaged. 

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Mixed day of wins and losses in Karl XIV Johan in Asymmetric. Not too bothered by the outcome however. Still stand by my faith in the Pan-European vessel although I am fully aware of her weaknesses. But maximising her strengths and playing smart even with her weaknesses (AP not that great) can extend ones survivability that little bit longer.

Making full use of island cover to screen yourself from being focus fired upon is essential and helps prolong your survivability. Too often when hammered to death, I was caught out in the open and often presented my broadside making it easy for the accurate enemy fire to score successes. And make no mistake, the bots aim is better in Asymmetric. Couple of times I was killed off by accurate enemy fire before I could sneeze Dixie.

Also remain aware to guard your base. Lost a couple of winning games because our team forgot the enemy were capping our base. 

Play the objectives whatever they be. If you're on a flank and a cap is there for the taking and you're the only one left, take it. Unless urgency requires you elsewhere, take the time to cap.  

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Perseverance pays off. Enjoyed a special moment today (Sat 6 Oct) - a 10-ship-kill game in Asymmetric. 

Had help from my teammates for the most part. And many kills were just me finishing off the severely wounded. But once I was all alone, I remembered to play the objectives and capped twice to help the cause. Ignored the remaining two enemy ships. The enemy managed to cap one back but by then the timer had run out with us as victors. Play the objective.

Not long after, I enjoyed a really good seven-ship-kill game. Again, co-operation is the name of the game. Had great help from a Moskva. Together we took care of our flank, capped it, then moved to the others. Three enemy battleships left - V. Veneto, Richelieu, North Carolina. While the Moskva provided fire support from cover, I raced out into the combat arena, sailing directly for our foe. Secondaries took care of one battleship which had beached itself and loosed off torps on other two to close out the game. 

As a result of this session, I was finally able to upskill the Pan-European Unique commander Swirski to 21-points. 

Perhaps buoyed by this good mood from this session, I've decided to switch Lisboa back to his assigned ship, Libertad, and have him grind from 20-point to 21-point in Asymmetric. 

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Stardew Valley

Currently seeking Perfection for my third character. Finished my second one a few days back. I have several active because I wanted to hook up with every available single female character. Of those, ditzy Hayley is my personal favourite. Yep, I have a thing for blondes. 

Just completing the tasks for the Walnut Room (Mr Qi) so I can earn the necessary Qi tokens to purchase several crafting recipes and finish off the crafting achievement. Just that and the good neighbour achievement are the main achievements left to complete. Everything else is done. As stated, catching the Legendary fish can be done in one day using magic bait with max fishing buff. Having mastered fishing helps too cos you earn the Advanced Iridium Rod as a bonus. 

Once I've completed the Perfection for this third character I will take a break before completing the remaining active characters at my leisure. 

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Other PC games

Steam's Autumn Sale is currently active.. Looking for a new game to take over once I'm done with WOWS. Seen a few YT recommendations. Am interested in a couple already but happy to cast my eye further afield. No firm decision yet made however. Maybe none will be acquired. No rush anyway.

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September Digest #3

English Civil War

Resumed work on the Royalist cavalry after a very long and extended break. Decided to change my current listing to make all units conform to a similar size. The exception being the personal bodyguards of the main players - King Charles I, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice. My miscalculation when initially drafting up the order has forced this change. 

Currently working on the King's Lifeguards (red uniforms), the two Prince's Horse regiments (blue uniforms), and the Northern Horse. Tweaking the numbers might generate another Horse unit but that's purely speculation at this stage. 

Pics to follow on painting progress. Cheers.

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World of Warships

Asymmetric Battle mode tends to wake me up from the normal zombie grind. 

Karl XIV Johan is my go-to ship at the moment. Potent long-range torps (13.5 km, quadruples each side). Decent secondaries. Quick reload. Quite effective in the developing strategy I am finding with this mode: once you weather the initial assault by the bots on your flank, then you can take the game to the opposition as a decent brawler. 

Today, in my one-and-only match I spawned with a Salem on north flank. We faced off against an enemy DD (Shiratsuyu)), two cruisers (Deustchland and Baltimore), and two battleships (V. Veneto and Bismarck). We survived the inital assault, persevered and took care of the cruisers then the battleships. Lost the Salem but cleared the cap then captured it. 

Got assistance taking out the surviving loitering DD from the friendly Goliath capping the centre. By then, there was just myself and the Goliath. We survived the onslaught from the remaining two battleships (Monarch) and hybrid carrier/battleship (Nebraska). Eventually won out because we had the two caps while the enemy had none. 

I place heavy reliance on the torpedoes with this battleship as its AP is fairly lightweight compared to a Pommern or Libertad. Managing however to play a balanced game using both assets carefully. Most times it works, especially you and your teammates are on the same page and cooperate. Other times, it doesn't work. 

The battle mode remains popular especially with those playing battleships. On the Asia server, at least fifty-plus battleships queue up to play.

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All good things come to an end eventually. The advent of missiles into WOWS, as outlined in the latest devblog, signals the end for me with this six-year journey. I can easily play Command Modern Operations because at least it covers the broad spectrum of modern warfare a lot better than WOWS. And it is more playable without having to cost more for each new advent. 

There is also the return to tabletop wargaming and model hobby where too many incomplete projects remain. And demand attention. 

So the remaining months of this year should prove interesting only from the POV I remain focussed on my seven hundred ship goal. I have thirty-two ships left to go. Can I do it? Not sure is my initial response but anything can happen between now and then.

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Still stand by using Karl XIV Johan exclusively in Asymmetric battle mode. Used it yesterday and today. Did as expected which means its survivability rating remains good/better than good. 

Latest news from the devblogs is that missile ships will be happening. Haven't bothered to read it through properly, relying on comments from favourite YT streamers regarding the matter. Some say as early as Update 14.10 (November). Others say we are moving into the Cold War era of WOWS ship combat. 

There was also forewarning of this eventuality with the last Star Trek event. So it shouldn't come as a surprise despite the usual protests and complaints. Speculation is rife but I'm not interested. I

However, it's becoming more and more clear that this will be my last "full on/daily grind" year of playing. Six years is long enough to devote to one game. And my attention is constantly wandering even when playing the game. 

Playing Groningen is valued because it's such a consistent ribbon earner. A high ribbon earner. Whenever the mission task requires earning several hundred ribbons, the Dutch farmer often shows up. Average is several hundreds.  

Guilio Cesare is an absolute beast in Tier V, and it rules as far as battleships are concerned at its tier level. Cruisers are practically dead whenever this Italian monster sets its guns on them. One shot kills are common: from full health to dead in the water. 

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Weekend grind in Asymmetric. First game was a win. Accidentally logged into the game with Almirante Grau, Tier VIII Pan-American premium cruiser. Lower-tiered opponents, mostly destroyers (over half the opponents). Before I realised it, I was one of the last two but couldn't survive being blatted by one of two battleships. Fortunately our surviving teammate was in a CV and he won the game.  Second game was a defeat however.

After that loss, I decided to switch to my usual go-to Karl XIV Johan in order to earn the remaining GQ tokens (play five games). And that's how each day pans out at the moment. 

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Stardew Valley

Perfection achievement is straightforward and easy to obtain if you plan it right. 

(1) Monster Hero achievement and Pepper Rexes. The wiki states these creatures spawn after Level 7 in the Skull Cavern. But when is part of the discovering. Simply move through each floor until you hit the floor with the Pepper Rexes. Once you deal with those there, immediately leave the mine, then turn around and return the same floor and repeat the process. It pays to have plenty of stairs. 

If you don't have enough stones to begin with, build a load of crystalariums and produce plenty of jade. On the 28th day of each season, visit the Desert trader with your hoard of jade exchanging them for stairs. Problem solved. 

(2) Crafting achievement. Probably takes longest (along with the Friendship one) because crafting recipes show up gradually and commensurate with your progress through the game. Make sure to check out all the crafting recipes sources - Walnut Room, Island Trader, Pierre's store, Robin's Carpentry shop, Wally's Fish Shop. 

Don't forget the Racoon family (newly added with last update) who have to offer a couple of crafting recipes. They sell Fairy Dust which comes in handy because the dust instantly produces the produce from any crafting item (preserve jars, dehydrators and others). 

(3) Master Angler. Easier than anticipated. Work your way quickly through the fishing rods to become more proficient.

For the Legendary Fishes make sure to have plenty of Seafood Pudding (+4 buff to fishing). Need the Advanced Iridium Rod because it has three slots - one for the Trap bobber (slows down fish fight) and one the Sonar bobber (IDs fish). And I prefer using the Magic bait (third slot) which enables out of season fishing. If Legendary fish are all that's left to go, you can obtain all in one fishing session using Magic bait. 

One of the Stardrops is earned once you reach the Master Angler status. 

(4). Increasing yield (gold). Starfruit wine cycled through a cask is easily the best and most expensive yielding produce. Truffle oil is also a high yield earner along while any Sweet Gem Berry fruit brings in gold. Once you unlock Ginger Island you can farm large crops of pineapple which you put through a dehydrator and sell off to earn more gold. 

The clock costs ten million gold and worth the investment if you don't want degradation and constant replacement of such items as fences. And mandatory as one of the Perfection requirements. 

Just get the essentials towards realising Perfection. No more. 

Example: you need two Radioactive bars for two crafting items - Heavy Tapper and Hopper (both recipes obtainable from the Qi's Walnut Room on Ginger Island. You also need two radioactive ores for Hyper Speed-Gro and Magic Bait (also both recipes from Qi's Walnut Room). Do you need any more then? Not really but it's up to you in the end.

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Finished grinding to Perfection with my second character, the one who was a mess to begin with. First few days was sorting out the mess and refining the messy setup. 

Currently doing my third character. Only active for six seasons - first two seasons spent sorting out the Community Centre and getting the four candles from Grandpa's ghost by start of the third season. Should be interesting. More advanced than my second character in terms of perfection in less than half the time. 

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September Digest #2

World of Warship

Not going to get Conrad Helfrich: don't have enough festive tokens to get the required collection mosaic tiles. 

Finished the Event Pass and got the Tier VII premium crate reward. Unfortunately I have all the Tier VII premium ships that are currently available so received 12,750,000 credits as compensation. Surprised I didn't get one of the "new" ships WG is continually foisting on us. 

Only bright spot was finally grabbing the coal ship - Tier IX premium Soviet destroyer Neustrashimy. Hence why I finished the Event Pass sooner than expected (grabbing the coal). 

Goal for the remainder of this month is complete the commander upskill grind. Asymmetric battle mode kicking off soon so that should provide some fun. There's also the new German Early Access cruiser line kicking off tomorrow. 

And the penultimate Dockyard Event mission kicks off as well. I could expend doubloons to finish the Dockyard Event and grab Laffey sooner but prefer to wait given there are still several other major events happening between now and Christmas - Liberty Harbour build event, Christmas snowflakes, etc. 

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Got three of the new German cruiser line - Tier VI Deutschland, Tier VII Admiral Scheer, and Tier IX Manteuffel - using German tokens for the first two, and got a lucky break upon spending dubs from the Grand Voyage event to acquire four sequential bundles and scored the latter upon opening.

Just the Tier VIII Knesebeck left to go. Foregoing getting the Tier X Prinz Aldabert; don't have enough dubs so will wait until the entire line goes out of Early Access.

Manteuffel is fun to play. No problems taking on such OP vessels such as Napoli, Schlieffen, Pommern, Los Andes, Ipiranga without fear. With a secondary build, she's almost as potent as Pommern and Schlieffen. Even gun DDs like Marceau wilt under the relentless secondaries. 

Upskilled Charles-Henri Honore to 21 pt today. Also upskilled remaining two Uniques - Pan-American Lisboa to 20-pt level and European Swirski to 19-pt level.

Another Wishing Well event that I'm avoiding. Another pointless and futile attempt to part you with your money (if you're not already wise to it). New overpriced ships that are just not worth the asking price. 

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Thursday saw the release of the last Dockyard Event mission. Wasn't expecting to finish it in one sitting but I did. The various tasks weren't that difficult apart from earning fifty thousand BASE XP. But managed to do so by jumping into Asymmetric. Struggled initially with the skipper grind ships (Poltava, Prinz E. Frederich, etc) as these ships weren't as good as I had hoped. Multiple defeats. But eventually got it right with the selection in the awesome Tier IX premium Karl XIV Johan, the European battleship. Repeatedly performed to expectation and beyond, and often held the flank many times over. Noticed that despite assurances that you will face two tiers lower, there were games when the difference was sometimes three tiers. Subs and carriers showed up too. 

As a result, playing Asymmetric helped getting BASE XP faster. Eventually I finally got the Dockyard Event reward - the Tier X US destroyer Laffey. As a bonus, I also acquired the Tier VIII German Early Access cruiser Knesebeck. This completes the German cruiser Early Access line from Tier VI to IX. The final ship - Prinz Aldabert - is behind a 20,000 dub paywall so will wait till it's released into the tech tree line in a few months. 

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Friday was a quiet day after my marathon all-day all-night session yesterday. Completed the Knesebeck missions for 100 German tokens then logged out. It will be a quiet weekend as well. Maybe time to get back to some tabletop gaming. We shall see. 

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Four new ships - three carriers and one sub - paid for with my wealth of credit accumulated. 

Used the festive tokens for them to buy a few more Finest Hours crates (a la Conrad Helfrich). Regret now getting the explosive effect instead early on instead of focusing on the Finest Hour collection. Would have Helfrich by now. My fault for not paying attention. 

Having fun playing Asymmetric at the moment; nice break from the commander upskill grind. Karl XIV Johan performs well when not yolo-ing. Ideal tactic is to wait for the enemy to come to you, deal to them, then push. Not ideal: pushing aggressively without support. Depends also on your team mates. Playing a battleship usually means pairing with another ship. Use islands when you can. 

Today was supposed to be a quiet grind - a few games, then log out. But it got frustrating because I was distracted a lot from playing by anything outside of the game - dogs barking, tv show, cooking lunch, going to toilet, etc. 

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Weekend quiet as far as WOWS goes. Did the minimum five game grind then logged out.

The coupon event was poorly received with many missing out on this Twitch-initiated event. Not sure who was the target group - old hands or newcomers. Anyway, never bothered. Those fortunate enough, and wise enough to how the event was setup, benefited. The rest merely griped.

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Stardew Valley

Having recently discovered the Perfection Achievement, and completed, I attempted to repeat with another character. Frustrating because I'm not sure what the f**k I was attempting with this character who happens to have survived fifteen seasons (my longest running character). It was not privy to the recent updates (Dec 2024) so I had to grind to get back to Ginger Island and complete the attendant tasks. Sitting at 68% on the Perfection scale.

Play Stardew Valley as a decent break from the daily salt mine WOWS grind.  

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As of September 26 I am currently at 86% according to the Perfection tracker. Took a week and a bit to sort out the mess I had created and get it into a semblance of organised and efficient order. Just needing to complete the Master Angler and Crafting achievements as well as finalise friendships with a few characters before unlocking the boulder behind the train station and I can advance to the top of the mountain.

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September Digest #1

World of Warships

Reading through the devblogs for Updates 14.8 (September) and 14.9 (October) promises more of WG's 10th Anniversary celebrations. Which means more goodies but with the usual conditionals. Because nothing is ever truly free with WG.

Update 14.8 (September)

Kicks off in two weeks time (or thereabouts). New login calendar is nothing much apart from the addition of Festive tokens (at least 2,000) for use with the Battle Performance event. 

Of personal interest will be the reward, the new Japanese cruiser Kushiro, obtainable for 10,000 Festive tokens. Not a difficult ask if I read the devblog properly. As well, keen to grab the Bonus Package for Tier X ships. Unfortunately limited to just one per player. Worth 1,500 Festive tokens. Everything else doesn't interest me apart from maybe grabbing some Supercrates.

New ships being released are only of passing interest. Unless they're free to obtain through play, then I'll either skip or wait until Christmas. 

The Honorable Service reward system offers more freebies although I'm only focused on the sixth year one even though the devblog states if you've qualified for the previous anniversary years (from one to five inclusive) then you're also eligible for those anniversary rewards as well. We shall see although am highly skeptical meanwhile the only reward I expect will be the sixth anniversary year.

Blast From The Past event should be a hoot if I'm game enough while Asymmetric Battles will be fun as per usual. 

Update 14.9 (October)

Liberty Harbour build is the main event planned for this month. You earn resources to build the port. Completion earns you the Tier VIII US premium cruiser Bridgeport. 

Also released will be a couple of new crates - the Liberty Harbour and the Navy 250 premium one. The first contains a couple of collection elements per drop of which you require sixty to complete the collection. Two thirds can be earned through the Liberty Harbour build. 

A few other goodies are tied in with the port construction which shouldn't look too hard if what's read is how I interpret it. 

New ships once again being released during this Update and will be sailing to a port near you (if lucky) - Lanzhou, Nurnberg '44, Roussillon, Bremen, Aki, Hawaii, Surcouf, C. Aguirre, Blyzkawica '52, Deustchland, Sibir, Optio, Kushio. 

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Eventful Friday. Things back to normal (fingers crossed) today (Saturday). Got three new free ships in today's grind. Managed to complete the next mission of the Dockyard Event. Five more phases left to go then it's Laffey time. 

First new ship was a pleasant surprise upon log in. Received the Tier VIII German premium aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, an anniversary gift reward for six years devotion. 

Earned the Tier X Japanese premium cruiser Kushiro after exchanging Festive tokens (having over six hundred ships was a breeze accumulating the necessary 10,000 festive tokens). Ran it a couple of times; it plays pretty tanky for a heavy cruiser. Lots of torps was the surprise for me with quick reload. First time though I ran straight into a trio waiting for me - a Napoli, AL Bismark, and a Pommern upon rounding an island. 

The rest of the Festive tokens were plied into thirty-nine Supercrates which have been generous in terms of resource rewards (loads of economic bonuses, signal flags, coal, elite commander XP and free XP). Also acquired the one Tier X Bonus Package and one This is Fine Explosive effect. 

Still have enough Festive tokens leftover for my Tier VIII, VII, VI and V ships awaiting conversion. Which means still more Supercrates but there's a 130 limit so any excess (already acquired 29) will be spent on Blue and Green economic bonuses. 

The final new ship received today was the Tier VII Italian premium cruiser Optio, the halfway mark reward for the new Event Pass.

Still unable to fully access the entire range of Honorable Service rewards. Am after the other rewards that are associated with the sixth year rewards - 2 week Warships Premium account, 8 Unique EBs (all types), 7 Supercrates, 10x White Permanent camo, a 50% Discount coupon.

Have not tried the Blast from the Past event. Still playing for Festive tokens in Co-Op. Maybe preferring to wait for the return of Asymmetric Battle mode. 

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Decided to forego going for the Dutch Unique commander until I've gotten all the Supercrates I am allowed. Thirty-one left to go. Any leftover tokens can then go towards completing the collection rewarding Conrad. No rush anyway. Expect he will be made available over the next few Update events. 

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Today I tried to grab some more coal in order to buy one more coal ship - Tier IX Russian premium destroyer Neustrashimy. Thought the quickest way would be through supercrates. But not today although I finally got a ship reward through supercrates. Lucky for me it's the one ship I've been gunning for the past few months - Pan-Asian Tier VIII premium cruiser Irian. Plonked one of the Rong brothers (seasoned commander) and will grind him to 21-point.

It was then I realised the new US destroyer line was now out of Early Access. So spent Free XP and credits to acquire the Tier IX Christopher and Tier X Burrows. 

Getting there slowly but surely toward my seven hundred ship tally. At six hundred and fifty eight as of today.

Got the one hundred and fifty supercrates allocated. Now any festive tokens will be directed toward getting the Dutch Unique commander, Conrad Helfrich. Won't complete the collection of course but I hope to get close enough.

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Naval Wargaming 2025

I am going through a tabeltop naval wargaming revival at the moment. For me, I am concentrating on two main rulesets - Stations Manned and Ready II edition 1.1 (2016) and General Quarters III (2011). SMAR II is no longer available; only recently learned they've shut down their operation in July of this year. As for GQ III, they're very much my favourite because everything about it is well set out, researched, and organised.

Currently set up an historical game using SMAR II but paused it because I'm trying to figure out if I can play the opening moves from contact markers for both sides. Or do I deploy one side instead and leave the other hidden. It's a night action so contact markers would make sense for both parties. 

The US force is divided up into two divisions (Red and Blue) and are blockading the Japanese outpost island. The Japanese resupply forces (all destroyers) are hoping to get in close enough to offload the precious supplies and then tackle the Americans with their torpedoes.

This is another night action hence why I went with contact markers instead of actual deployment. My understanding is that actions are limited from contact markers (as shown in the photo above) so I've deployed the Americans prior to their spotting. Which they successfully do revealing one of the two DDs in the Green division. 

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PC Gaming - Stardew Valley

Forgot all about the Perfection Achievement. Currently completing the last of the Monster Eradication achievements - knocking off fifty Pepper Rexes - which should then unlock access to the top of the mountain. 

Problem with eradicating the dinosaurs is the infrequency with which the Prehistoric floor appears, about a 2.2% chance at or below Floor 7 in the Skull Cavern. Not good odds. Given I started playing last night and it's now dawn of a new day, I found the Prehistoric floor only once throughout the night session. The Rexes did appear a couple of times on the other floors outside of the Prehistoric floor. So, yeah, another long grind.  

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Today (Monday) completed the Perfection Achievement. Getting the last Monster Eradication achievement didn't take as long as I thought once I read the requirements properly. Got lucky though when I hit a Prehistoric floor and kept repeating knocking out the Pepper Rexes on that floor until I had to leave (2am shutdown). 

Doing that whittled down my requirement by well over a half so that I only had eleven to go (needed fifty). Unable to access a floor the following two days but the third I got lucky and was able to locate a floor at level forty-six in the Skull Cave. I was able to finish the achievement in one go. Fortunate too as I was low on stone steps. Jumping down holes is not recommended because you may skip the prehistoric floor which manifests after level seven. Hence why having a ready supply of stone steps is essential because you can simply activate the stone step until you hit the prehistoric floor. 

The following day, the path to the summit was unblocked and my character walked to the top where its partner for this particular game was waiting. Went through all the cast of characters like the end of a movie then the character walked back to the farm. And finished off the day's chores before logging out. 

Taken me some time to finish the game but not too fussed. It's done now. Have not gone the DJT path and trod the Corporation way. Easy to do but not my thing at the moment. 

A couple of achievements left to go to complete this right path (what does Joja Corporation want to discuss at the Pirate's Cove?).

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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. 

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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. 

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Weekly Digest

23 September 2024

World of Warships

Yahagi is a Tier V premium cruiser available from the Armoury for doubloons (off memory I think). I ran it this morning with Isoroku Yamamoto, my Unique Japanese commander, as its skipper. Yamamoto is at 19-point at the moment. I am opting to upskill my high-skilled commanders using any premium ships because it doesn't cost anything upon transferring in, i.e., no need to spend resources to retrain. 

Anyway, Yahagi is a light cruiser with 12km torps. Decent enough guns (on very low health, kiting away from a full-strength Italian cruiser Trento and ended up killing with four successive Citadels using AP). More suited to staying under cover and blatting away when the opportunity presents itself; its long-range torps are meh but serviceable in denying area...well sorta. In a fight with a DD up close however, you had better sink the DD quickly otherwise you will end up dead. I forgot that at times. 

Spent most of my Free XP and Elite Cmdr XP already this month to upskill commanders and upgrade ships so I will spend the months leading up to the Christmas Santa crates event rebuilding resources.

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English Civil War - Morning

Trying a different approach to previous times whenever painting horses. It is based on ideas and skills researched over time. This time round I'm using Raw Umber as the basecoat. Did not finish the job on Ireton's Horse as I had visitors all day not long after. Intending to vary the coat colours.

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Online PC Gaming: Black Myth Wukong

Staying up late to download and install Black Myth Wukong as it's a large file (over 118 GB). Taking several hours. Started earlier this evening; it's now half past midnight and there's still an hour to go. And that's just the download; the install is still to go. I should mention that Black Myth Wukong is not my normal style of game so I really don't know what to expect.

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24 September 2024

World of Warships

Continuing from yesterday's session by playing Yamamoto on Yahagi. Ran it thrice in order to complete the requisite Event Pass conditions and earn two bonus crates. Nine days left on that event so at least eighteen more bonus crates - signals and economic bonuses (greys). All free; just play. 

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English Civil War

Finished basecoating Ireton's Horse using the second successive basecoat, Burnt Umber, for skin tone on certain mounts. Experimented first with one of horses painted yesterday (red circle in photo below) by highlighting the skin tone of the mount using Burnt Umber. Interesting result. Compared to Raw Umber, which has a darker tone, adding Burnt Umber didn't really add much. I may lighten the tone in further applications. 

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25 September 2024

World of Warships

Repeat cycle with Yamamoto on Yahagi. Getting familiar with its usefulness in kiting away which prolongs its lifespan that little bit long. Yahagi is definitely not a brawler and should never really YOLO into a melee unless seeking an early return to port. 

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English Civil War

Continued with plan to implement experimental ideas. A bit frustrating as I still have no idea if it's going to work. 

Second basecoat is 50/50 Burnt Umber. Overlay is upon the skin.  

Time to turn attention to the rider, especially the buff coat. First, basecoated the coat and other parts with Burnt Sienna. Other "brown" parts will contrast in Burnt Umber.

The rest of this figures group. The officer is a Cuirassier figure and attired differently. Not sure how he's supposed to look so am guessing the painted area. Can always overpaint later on once I am more familiar with the requirement. Happy to paint the boots, pistol holsters and cape in the same basecoat colour. 

Arquebusier or carabinier (this example belonogs to Vermuyden's Horse). Going for consistency with the basecoating. Not bothered by the paint spreading on to other areas as it will be corrected and overpainted in the detailing stage.

Harnessing using Burnt Sienna as the contrasting colour. May lighten it further still.

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Painting Opportunity

Got an opportunity to produce a couple of animal portraits on commission. Should be an interesting venture. Buyer paying so that's cool. 

Also inspired extra painting tasks - a couple for the wife as Chrissie presents to her son and his partner. Animal portraits as well as something promised to my son. 

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26 September 2024

World of Warships - Early morning

Session was a little longer today because it was the return of TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) event, an annual gimmick designed to loosen purse strings. Ignored the obvious cash lures and played the Common mission instead with the TMNT theme - the reward being a choice between TMNT or TMNT Nemeses camo. Chose the Nemeses camo. 

At the same time, advanced Yamamoto further along his promotion (upskill) climb. 

Prior to logging out, checked out some of the existing cash lure events. In one, I saw that under Rare reward, they list camos. Really? Camos offer nothing to game play these days: they make your ship look pretty (according to taste) unlike previously when camo was tied to earning resource rewards - economic bonuses, signals, free XP, and so on. When WG removed that incentive several years ago, camos suddenly became worthless eye candy and many outright sold off their camo in exchange for credits. Myself included. It's not uncommon these days to see many playing without camo simply because they add nothing other than visual appeal. So to label camo as a rare bonus is hyperbolic twaddle.

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English Civil War - New Model: Ireton's and Whalley's Horse

Very snail-pace progress of test figurines one from the heavy cavalry (Ireton) - top - and one from the carabiniers (Whalley) - bottom. New colours to the mix: Indian Yellow: admixed 50/50 with Burnt Sienna to layer the buff coat. Yellow Ochre next to represent the buff coat. Next colour will be highlight (yet to be determined) then several layers of a dark wash. And then Black for the front breast plate. Just trying to decide what colour I will settle on for the saddle cloth/blanket and whether consistent. 

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Space Marines 2 - Afternoon

Finally began playing Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2 today. A couple of in-game screenshots.

Enjoying it so far. Observations: when swarmed it's easy to forget which key to press but will adjust. Should I change the key settings? Nope. I'll just adapt.

Played 2.5 hours today. Would have continued but decided to log out before starting the Magos rescue mission. I can continue later on tonight but it depends on how I'm feeling as I nowadays as I tend to grow tired very easily.

Next up will be Black Myth Wukong. Maybe tomorrow...maybe whenever.

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27 September 2024

World of Warships - Early Morning

Ongoing grind in Yahagi with Yamamoto. Slow work but it's a quick in-and-out session that frees up time for other activities like working on my English Civil War lists. 

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English Civil War - Afternoon

Continuing with the two test figures for the New Model army cavalry. Further research has provided me with some clues on how to determine what goes where and who is what. As you may already know, I'm not English. The period I know little to nothing about apart from old memories of histories and old movies. So I'm pretty much going in blind, as opposed to the Borodino project where I had some idea and there is a wealth of information on formation, histories, uniforms and flags. The English Civil War period is pretty much lacking a fair bit on details, especially on uniform timelines. 

Anyway, enough excuses...

Ironside (heavy cavalry) test figure. Coloured in shirt and metal bits. Orange sash. It's coming along according to how I envisage it. 

Carabinier test figure. Same process as for the Ironsides figure. I realise now that I can probably mix my carabiniers up with any dragoon figures (hat) I have spare to break up the uniformity.

Rearranged the three units collected. The shuffling produced this outcome...

Based on what I read in the MAA New Model Army book, when they formed the New Model army, Cromwell's Ironsides (thirteen companies strong) was split up with the majority forming Ireton's and Whalley's Horse. Because I am classing them heavy cavalry that means three figures to the stand and four stand unit. I think the above unit is Ireton's while the bottim figures are Whalley's.

Due to the reshuffling, I am now shy several figures/mounts for all the newly reformed units so will have to make a third order purchase. Shame that Hinchliffe range does not include a specific stand-alone standard bearer figure.

First Carabinier unit. Most probable it will be Vermuyden's Horse. Not sure if it was a Carabinier or Ironside horse unit historically and not too fussed as I don't want all Ironsides in the New Model army (thinking ahead to the solo campaigning part).

Second Carabinier unit which remains unidentified for now. Because they're Carabinier (or Harquebusier) the unit fields four stand of two figures per stands. I am presuming they're lighter than heavy hence the two-figure-per-stand classification.

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28 September 2024

World of Warships - Early morning

Continued the routine quick session with Yamamoto and Yahagi. 

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English Civil War - Throughout the day

Happy with how the test figure has turned out - colour-wise - I decided to paint the entire group on my workbench. Then the detailing can begin. 

Decided that the second unnamed Carabinier unit is now Graves' Horse which was historically at Naseby.

Pulled out the rest of the New Model list for review and as a reminder of what's still left to go in the way of assembly. Aside from the artillery which is also being reshuffled and needing assembly, there are now five Foot units - Waller, Skippon, Montagu, Pickering, Fairfax, five Horse units - Butler, Whalley, Ireton, Vermuyden, Graves, and one Dragoon unit - Okey (both mounted and dismounted). I am projecting that I will likely expand the list next year once I've started my solo campaigning. 

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Space Marines 2 - Evening

The rescue Magos Nozick mission played out. Because I've been gorging myself on all YT streaming of the SM2 gameplay, I know what to expect. But it doesn't spoil the fun nevertheless when it's you actually playing because it's so immersive. Tonight I began the Magos whatshisname rescue mission. Got stuck on the jump pack part (learning how to use it) so logged out. Knowing when to use the pyroblaster was also a pretty funny cockup on my part. Still liking the gameplay. 

Black Myth Wukong

Like I've stated multiple times previously, this is normally not the type of game I prefer. However, I've always enjoyed the Monkey television series of the late 70s so was curious to give it a whirl, so to speak. So far am enjoying it. Started playing Chapter 1 which is the Forest of Wolves one. Facing off against the Bullguard is proving tricky. However, many side ventures like spotting a creature that dived off a waterfall into a pool with a cave or coming across a frog creature that if killed emits poison that depletes your health. Or the bird-like creature guarding a spark that's hard to kill. 

Assessment? Was not expecting to like it but I do...very much. The visuals are gorgeous. From the opening scene with the fight in heaven to starting Chapter 1, everything about this is so engaging, not to mention just how beautiful everything is. So immersive. The creatures and characters so far are amazingly detailed. You cannot help but be drawn in: you want to know more. I am beginning to see why this game is acclaimed by many. I actually prefer this to Space Marines 2, to be honest.

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29 September 2024

World of Warships - Morning

Yada yada yada. Not a particular good session in the Yahagi. Got cocky thinking I'm some shit hot player but in truth I'm just hot shit messing up the game!! Hopefully the rest of the day pans out much better than this inauspicious start to what is a beautiful Sunday spring morning.

Unrelated to this morning's session but while playing it suddenly occured to me that this will be my final year of playing WOWS as a daily routine. Been doing so, with the few exceptional days off, since early 2020. That's over four years straight now, and I am suddenly tired. Fortunately I have kept a diary of progress over these playing years. I still remember when resuming after a hiatus between 2019 and 2020, I had the sum total of twenty-three ships. Now I have five hundred and fifty. My goal is to reach six hundred or over by the end of the Santa crate event. I am on track.

WG keeps pumping out new ships and tech tree lines that somehow have no more appeal. The recent Pan-American battleship line with their OP ships is prime example of why the game has begun to lose my interest and continued involvement. As a collector of anything though, this decision comes as sad news, but from the gamer's perspective, I have loads of other untried games and limited time left to actually play and enjoy them. Playing Space Marines 2 and Black Myth Wukong have reminded me that I should value my time instead of wasting it on WOWS.  

Every Update foists new gimmicks and events. They keep trying to make you believe the value is in their camo/skins when it's actually the ships that interest me. The latest TNT event is proof of how ridiculous the prices are for camo/skin. While WG's Art Department has continued to be the hero of this business organisation, the pricing is now above that of ships. And I was happy to fork out money for ships but not camo - no matter gloriously beautiful they look. And from a historical buff's perspective, these new lines/ships are just pure fantasy with many just paper designs or wishful thinking that never saw actual light of day. And many of these paper designs are more powerful than their historical counterpart which hurts me as a military history buff. 

The constant promotion of CVs and submarines over surface ships despite the overall clamour to remove them and/or nerf them to more realistic levels has me skeptical WG really care. I know they don't so I will be moving on. So, in advance, thanks for the memories, WG. 

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English Civil War - Day

A bit more painting...as much as I can bear. Short session therefore. Mostly basecoating the buff coats and colouring in the breast and back plates. There is something to be said for natural lighting when painting. Just loving the new workshop at the back of the renovated old garage. Lots of natural light, spacious, and quiet.

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PC Online Gaming - Evening

Played games on my other Steam account starting with Stardew Valley. Replayed the tutes for Command Modern Operations because I've already forgotten how to play it. Then ended the night with a quick foray in Black Myth Wukong.

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