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. 

More Gaming in the Time of Corona

From Vancouver Island to Ottawa, a bunch of my friends gathered in virtual space to test ourselves against the tyranny of dragons. So far, we've managed to kill a bunch of kobolds and cultists without being burned alive or otherwise slain, though my stalwart barbarian is starting to look a little frayed around the edges. Personal highlight: skewering two kobolds with a thrown javelin. 

A Welcome Distraction

Late last night, my PC started to trill unexpectedly. It took me a moment to realize that I was being invited to a Google Hangouts meeting that included several of my best friends. Those same friends are attempting to overcome the logistical and technical hurdles of organizing a Dungeons & Dragons campaign networked across three time zones, and last night was their valiant attempt to get me hooked in. Theoretically, using Google Hangouts is pretty simple, but for whatever reason, despite the loan of a solid camera from Pete and Mike remoting into my computer to lend his technical expertise, we could not get audio and video to work consistently for me--until I plugged in my headset, which somehow miraculously activated the camera and allowed everyone else to see (and hear) me. We already knew the camera was active, as it was displaying me at my desk, but somehow adding the headset (which does not include a camera) triggered some software magic to make me visible to everyone, and them to me.

So it looks like the system works, if in a rather strange way. I was rather touched by the outreach and the trouble everyone went to, and I can't wait for the start of the campaign! 

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. 

Gaming & Guinness XIV Day 2

Day 2 of Gaming & Guinness XIV began with Pete's Death Star pancakes, a truly Imperial treat.

Scott handily won two rounds of Wits & Wagers; I was the question-master this year.

Last year, I came up with the bright idea of trying out one of the Death Star trench run scenarios created by fans of the X-Wing Miniatures game. Knowing Scott had a talent for building terrain, I asked if he could create a trench for us. I imagined something pretty simple, but as you can see, Scott went above and beyond to create a visually spectacular playfield.

Steve, Scott, Mike T and Pete played the Rebel side.

Jeff, Island Mike, Rob and I took control of the Empire.

With up to 20 ships on the table, six in the trench and the rest on the surface, with some flying over the trench, the logistics of moving all those fighters around got a little hectic, with a few little accidents here and there. But the battle was tremendously fun, and just like in the movies, Luke Skywalker used the Force to fire a proton torpedo right down the exhaust port. Aside from that, it was a strangely bloodless game, with only Biggs Darklighter and an anonymous Black Squadron Pilot being blown up.

Not so bloodless was the violent and depraved Vintage Miniature Deathmatch, a no-holds-barred battle to the death with medieval weapons and armor.

I believe Scott's mini walked away with this victory. It certainly wasn't me; my miniature was killed with one mighty blow.