Friday 9 August 2024
World of Warships
New Dockyard event began yesterday. Bought the two starter packs available to those who don't want to do the long grind. Why? Because I'm a potato whale (someone who has more money than sense and cannot play anyway). And a collector of pixel ships. The keyword is "collector". Anyway, I am gathering all the rewards associated with the event because I am accumulating as much resources as possible in preparation for the Christmas Santa event in December and January. Well, that's the justification for the expenditure.
Today's session saw me finish off the last task of the first Dockyard mission in the US heavy cruiser Pensacola. Then just as I was about to log out, I checked the Colourful Regatta event again in the Armoury and noticed the North Carolina CLR was obtainable using the tokens (plus spend a few pennies). So I got it and played the three missions attached with it (rewarded with bonus economic boost as well as credits). Used the special discount coupon (40%) to obtain it at a cheaper price. Will likely also obtain one more Colourful Regatta event ship for sale, either the Zao CLR or Kleber CLR. Both are the same price. Not interested in the Roon CLR.
At the same time, obtained the European Tier IX destroyer Jager which was released into the Armoury with the latest update. Also used one of the regular discount coupons and spent reduced coal to obtain it. So, two new ships.
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English Civil War
Notification reached me that my Royalist army order is done and will leave the UK next week. Time over this weekend however to finish off my New Model foot units. Fingers crossed. Still have several Horse units to assemble.
Will review the new rules I've acquired from Wargames Vault and start planning how to integrate them into new solo campaign scenarios for future gaming tabletop.
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Writings (including Paintings)
Transcribing the original printed out MSS into digital format continues at stop-start pace. Doing it because the original paper printed MSS is fading and bulky; having it digitised and stored on a USB stick or whatever will save space. I still have the old 3.5 disks but they've probably degraded so much that any file retrieval will be pointless, not to mention expensive.
Will continue to work on creative a few more maps using Wonderdraft. Keen to grab a few Dark Age models together and modify them based on my writing. There is one major battle written into the original MSS that is part of the narrative and I would like to see if it does pan out like the written plot. Highly doubt it is my initial thought.
Painting progress - to be composed soon.
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Scourge of War: Remastered
Planning on more tutorials with this new game (to break the monotony of retyping the MSS). Hoping to play one of the single battles at least by next weekend. Interesting how it differs completely from the original Waterloo game played back in 91 so much, but perhaps the surprising thing is that playing against the AI (hard or easy setting) is a piece of pi**, according to the YT streamer. And it's not far wrong because the really good players rise to the top.
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Saturday 10 August 2024
Lancashire Games
Summer Sale ending 18 August. Wide range of products as advertised on their site. Happy to help out where I can.
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Monday 12 August 2024
World of Warships
Normal grinding the Colourful Regatta event and Daily Loot crates. Playing both Jager and Almirante Grau. The funny button on the Almirante Grau relies on you being unobserved for it to activate. HE spammer. In a battle with the Napoli I lost out by the faintest of margins.
The Jager torps are plentiful (12 in one run) but weak; they can still take down a Tier VIII battleship (if you can get close enough). Reload is average (85 seconds). Boosted speed to 90 knots via the Commander skill upgrade. You're better off ambushing from cover as the guns are pi** poor - you only get three. As a YT streamer pointed when reviewing the new ships in the Armoury, the Jager is a WW1 with post-WW2 torpedoes. Get it?
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Tuesday 13 August 2024
COVID
Wife started showing symptons that we thought was COVID last Friday evening. Took the test Saturday morning and confirmed it was positive. She was bed-ridden over the weekend and much of yesterday. Today's she been able to sit up and seemed well enough to even drive to the doctor for her appointment because unfortunately I came down with COVID Monday night. Yay!
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Wednesday 14 August 2024
World of Warships
Went full potato today and paid for the Zao CLR after re-reading the requirements. Why? Because I liked the green camo? Nah, I did it purely because I had locked my sights on getting it and went for it. Played it and had immediately fun in the five games for the extra bonuses reward. Managed to uptier the 10-pt captain that came with the ship to 11-pt too! I chose instead to go with Top Grade Gunner with my last 4-skill points instead of Concealment Expert. And Survivability Expert was deemed essential. The torps hit hard (@20K damage per hit) so it really demolishes battleships if she's able to connect. Its HE also does damage especially against cruisers and low-health battleships. It has submarine radar, and its AA suite is not too bad. Demolished a flight of planes from the Shokaku in one game which was nice. You can switch your AA Defensive Fire for Hydro but why would you; it's not like you're going to YOLO because she has a low health pool, less than 45K. I've learned post-session that she is ideal as an ambusher if you can her stealth down to 9.9km.
Oh, today I am heavily medicated so not quite the zombie I was yesterday. But the medication only helps briefly before exhaustion set in so it's back to bed for me. Cheers.
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Thursday 15 August 2024
World of Warships
Interesting session. Used up my quota of discount coupons bar one acquiring accessories like economic bonuses, unique upgrades, and signals. Second mission for the Dockyard event also began today so played long enough to reach five of the six completed tasks. Will finish the last task hopefully tomorrow.
Feeling better thanks to the COVID medication. That awful lingering taste in the mouth from the tablets however means having to periodically rinse out the mouth with something other than water. No, not alcohol. Surprised at the speed of my recovery; I am not as sick as my wife though. She is still suffering despite the medication. I am nowhere near back to my pathetic useless self but at least I'm no longer a walking zombie. Proof are my posts. Gotcha!
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Writing Project - More Fantasy Maps
Some more practice tonight using Wonderdraft. Happy enough with the result and this rendition for now, especially with the basic layout of the main dividing mountain range separating the western coastal realms with the central realms. Still got time to improve however and this is just the start.
The two yellow stars represent the capitals. Quorg is kind of a backwater realm filled with feuding nobles more interested in their own local disputes much likes those states in the David Eddings Belgariad series who is incidentally my favourite fantasy series ever. Sorry Tolkien. And speaking of David I must also knowledge his wife Leigh who co-authored with him on later works. Quorg is known by many names - Land of a Thousand Lakes being one.
West of the coastline are many islands (not shown) as well as island states. They do not feature in any of the first three books but do so in the future series which I managed to outline very roughly before I got distracted again. Further north are the Wildlands (barren apart from a few hardy souls and prospectors). And then there are the difficult Barria mountains. Beyond that though is whole new world that is rarely visited except for a few intrepid and fearless adventurers. The land here is wide open steppes and land of the fierce and nomadic Gruks (pronounced Gr-ooks - roll the r). I was bereft of original names for many of my place names so borrowed inspiration from other authors. And being of droll humour I invented a few myself (such as Yacca because well he talks a lot). I had originally filled in the area between Penelanor and the independent Five Free Cities with many smaller states but I soon realised later doing so did not fit the narrative too well so have simply dumped them. Maybe I can recycle them later in one of the later stories.
Went back and updated the Five Free Cities map shortly after finishing this. Map, if I haven't already explained show roughly the territorial boundaries (which are shaded in different colours) that mainly access the Bay of Winds which is a major trading hub for the western lands. The mountains of this earlier copy are incorrect especially given I've since updated the mountains in the Penelanorian map (which itself will be amended eventually). I will replicate that amendment into a new version of the Five Free Cities map.
Much of the first book takes part within these three maps (city of Calmar to be refined in the coming days as I practice more with Wonderdraft). As I continue the slow work of redrafting and more redrafting I will corroborate as well vary my workload by doing more maps and lots lots more sketches for the books of Part Two. And so on. Cheers.
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Friday 16 August 2024
Writing - Sketch maps from my old story
Found three more sketches done in 2015 which is a surprise to me so I am feigning short-term memory loss because I thought I had abandoned this back in the early noughties.
Pen sketch of plan view of Calmar, the capital of the central kingdom of Lammoria. It is divided up into three main area or quarters. Starting with the Old City which just above top centre. It is bordered by two major rivers - the slower wider Marl on its western side and the faster and narrower Lam that borders its southern side. East is what's known as the Escarpment, an L-shaped line of sheer-faced cliffs. Access up the Escapement is via its southern face. Several forts line these cliffs guarding the eastern approaches to the Old City.
Over the decades, the city grew and expanded. First south which is now the Port quarter. It's where most of the trading houses have their headquarters and warehouses. It is also the busiest and most active of the quarters. Here is where the City Watch, expanded later into the City Guard, had their origins. The land south of the Port quarter is both arable and highly cultivated spreading east and rising to the higher ground (so I imagined it in my head) that is in the south-east corner. It's where two of characters enter the story from.
The most recent section of the capital is called the New City is less than one hundred years old although some of the structures have been around for much longer. It's where the Palace and its spacious parks, armoury, and functionaries are quartered (those that are essential that is). Its eastern riverbank is prized real estate and home to many court nobles and officials. Even other nobles have quarters here.
The city walls have built up over the centuries thanks to the expansion over the centuries. South of the city is a series of three forts. They're known as the Gates of Aulus. A gigantic bronze and gilt statue once stood there but it was destroyed when Calmar was sacked by marauding corsairs a century ago. The Lammorians replaced it with something less attractive and more functional. This is also the main entry and exit point for all river traffic.
That's the brief run-down. The old citadel is situated near the centre of the Old City. A newer citadel is located on the Escarpment which was not well received at the time but the builder happened to be their king at the time who went ahead anyway. As you do.
Another 2015 drawing. Also in ink pen. It is based on memory and only reveals part of the land mass that this story takes place. Did this deliberately because I wanted to provide a sense of revelation as the story unfolds. But as someone said to me upon reading my Appendix said plainly, "...if it's not relevant to the story, why bother?'" A valid point. Still, I persevered because (a) it helped me with my world-building, (b) it is relevant to the story but not just this one, and (c) no other valid reason apart from personal enjoyment. Conformity can be a crock sometimes.
I am not sure but this pencil sketch was in the same location as the other two so I am speculating this was done around the same time - 2015. The Hidden City is simply an exercise in drafting. Dad wanted me to be an architect. I wanted to be a field marshal. In the end I settled for tabletop wargamer who enjoyed structures and from time to time liked to draw them, real or otherwise. Did several sketches of this place of which I've only managed to locate this few. Oh well...
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World of Warships
Started much later than usual thanks to a combination of late sleep-in and COVID relapse. Felt meh about playing but wanting to finish the last task of the second Dockyard mission kept me at it for as long as I could before I just gave up and logged out. Then crashed.
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