Pirates of the Ottawa River

 

The Gregarious Gentlemen of Gaming & Guinness

Here's one of the group photos for G&G XX. Crazy that this tradition has now lasted two decades. While I couldn't be there for the whole thing this time, I still had a great time. Here's to twenty more years or more of these shenanigans. 
 

The Chili Verde of Choice

One of the many highlights of Gaming and Guinness is Pete's homemade chili verde. It is incredibly savoury and scrumptious, especially when served in a sourdough bread bowl. I'm so glad I was there tonight for this! 
 

The Days the Debts Come Due

Due to family circumstances, I'm missing most of Gaming and Guinness XX this year--and on such an important anniversary! Saddening, but it can't be helped. I love that Pete put up this list of our challenge coin debts for the occasion. I owe a lot of favours...although I'm sure I paid off Sean. I might have forgotten to update the spreadsheet...
 

Cheeky Jackbox

"Why is Earl like that?" Good question, wrong answer. 
 

Outnumbered

 

Gaming and Guinness XVIII Logo II

Here's the G&G logo I wound up using after some back-and-forth consultation with Jeff Pitts, my partner in organizing this year's swag. 

Gaming & Guinness XVIII Logo

 This is an early iteration of the logo I designed for the G&G 18 swag. 

Jenga Jeff

Something Stirs in the Depths of Space . . .

It's that time of year again . . . artwork by the amazing Jeff Shyluk. 

Asteroids

I made some asteroids for an upcoming event of uncertain impact. 
 

Fragile Memories

I accidentally broke my G&G IX commemorative glass about a week and a half ago. Alas and alack! Nothing is forever. 
 

The Incredible Iron Jeff

I brought a mobile phone camera ring light to Gaming and Guinness, and Jeff, in a moment of genius, stuffed it under his shirt while lit to make it look like he was sporting an arc reactor. I loved it. 
 

Lonely Baby Yoda

I've been away at Gaming & Guinness XVII, and poor Baby Yoda seems to miss me. 
 

A Pink Panther

Jeff generously 3D printed this Panther mech for a tabletop game we might play at Gaming & Guinness--if indeed G&G moves forward this year, which is slightly up in the air thanks to the spread of the new Delta variant of COVID-19. 

I tried to make this mech look like it's seen some action over a long period of service. So I added some rust and metallic silver paint to take some of the shine off the original neon pink paint job. (Pink Panther...get it?) 

As for the base, I painted it to look like stretch of road to give some idea of the scale of these mechs. 

G&G IV.V Day One: Circvs Maximvs

Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, I`d be over at Mike`s place for Gaming & Guinness XV right now. Instead, we`re meeting virtually for G&G IV.V, racing chariots in Tabletop Simulator. 

Gaming in the Time of Corona

Most of the lads gathered tonight via Steam and Google Hangouts to play a round of Formula De, a G&G staple. Right now, I'm in second-last place. If we can't game in person, by golly we'll use technology.

Hey! I wound up winning! But really only because Jeff, Mike, and Colin crashed out and did not finish. Still, a win is a win!

Now we're trying out crokinole.

UPDATE: Colin triumphed!

Written in Sand

Just a little playing with scale, filters, layers, and selection tools in an attempt to create a scene using an Eaglemoss K-7 space station and a 3D-printed Federation tug I painted and decalled myself. Might also serve as inspiration for next year's A Call to Arms: Starfleet scenario at Gaming & Guinness...

Gaming & Guinness XIV Days 4 and 5

The final days of G&G are always bittersweet, as our revels now are over...or about to be over. I was pretty pleased this year with my Battletech performance; I actually managed to contribute to our team's victory, and didn't get killed until the very last moment of the game. That's a much better showing than last year, when I killed myself by overheating.

The chariot race! Fanfare! Extravaganza!

Jeff took home the covered G&G Circvs Maximvs trophy for the fourth time, with Mike T and Mike P nipping at his heels. I tried to take more risks than I usually do, and wound up flipping my chariot for my pains, resulting in a DNF. Maybe next year...

After midnight, we finally got around to playing Speak Out, the game where everyone jams a plastic device into their mouth and struggles to say certain phrases coherently. The prospect filled me with so much glee that I had a protracted laughing fit before the game even began. Mike Totman captured my paroxysms.

And that was that! I can't wait for next year. 

Gaming & Guinness XIV Day 3

Only a select few will successfully ABANDON PLANET to survive the destruction of their homeworld.

I was not one of the few.

Then, a trip to Chez Pierre as our annual "get-out-of-the-house" outing...no, not really. I just had Pete take this shot of me in the parking lot to tease Sylvia. In truth, we walked next door to GTFO for a competitive escape room experience.

Mike P, Pete, Mike T, and Jeff successfully escaped Europa. I did not, nor did Rob or Steve or Scott.

The guys did well though, finishing over 16 minutes before the deadline.

Then it was on to Captain Sonar, which Steve artfully describes as "multi-player Battleship." Except with submarines. You have to listen to the other team carefully in this game, or you'll be completely lost.

Eight players, four roles (Captain, First Officer, Engineer, Navigator), two submarines hell-bent on sinking each other.

This was shot before play actually started. Otherwise, seeing both sides of the screen is strictly prohibited.

In the end, Team Scott, Rob, Earl and Steve triumphed over team Mike, Mike, Pete and Jeff. But it was a close thing.

Once more, Jeff prepared his delicious Maui ribs, accompanied by Island Mike's succulent potatoes.

On to that fine game of paranoiac terror, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31.

"I swear I'm not the Thing!"

As it turns out, there were three Things: me, Rob, and Scott. The humans managed to escape to the helicopter and correctly elected to leave me and Rob behind, but also abandoned poor Pete, who turned out to be human, and Scott, who turned out to be a Thing. And thus, the fate of humanity was decided...

Friday night is a good night for Rock Band, so that's how we concluded Day 3.