Welcome!

You've stumbled across Dr. P's Dorky Blog, a rather pointless collection of entries that celebrate all things related to the dorky pursuit of gaming and the all-consuming hobby it supports! The blog mainly helps to serve as a scrapbook of gaming goodness and painting projects. From time to time, you may also catch a few oddball posts related to my teaching, research, and other hobbies.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

This may be our...Last Night on Earth!

Yes, we were overdue for another fun Dork Club game night, especially since Halloween is right around the corner! This week's gathering focused on some of our more "spooky" games. Last Night on Earth, produced by Flying Frog Productions, remains one of my favorite board games. I enjoy it so much due to the way it translates the survival horror film narrative into a cooperative board game experience.

Our first game was a scenario where the heroes had to search for gasoline and keys in order use a truck to escape the zombie horde. Two players teamed up to control the zombies while the other players control a fun cast of human characters that must cooperate to complete the scenario mission goals. In this game, the humans were waaaay too confident and met their end as they frantically attempted to gas up the truck. Ripped limb from limb, it was an embarrassing epic fail of a defeat.

The second game we played was a killing spree mission, where the hero goal was to dispatch fifteen zombies. This one was really fun and came down to a cinematic moment where the heroes were surrounded by a mass of undead that closed in for the kill. Luckily, a simple fire extinguisher turned the tide by providing the humans with a clutch means of escape! Once away, pistols, chainsaws, and blow torches were ultimately used to dispatch enough zombies for the win. It was another fun night of gaming. When I left, the guys were starting up a fun game of Munchkin Zombies!


Friday, October 14, 2011

Battle beyond the stars...my first Directorate Fleet!

Following our last Dork Club meeting, I've been meaning to post a few photos of my Firestorm Armada fleets. First up is my Directorate Fleet in all its red and white glory. The fleet didn't require any assembly since all the ships are cast in a single piece. Just a little elbow grease to remove some flash and you're off to prime and paint. The color scheme was inspired by a number of examples over on the Spartan Games forum.

Everything was primed black and followed with about four colors of dry-brushing. I used Cold Grey, Stonewall Grey, Bone White, and Dead White (all VGC). Each color was applied so that some of the previous layer was left exposed. Finally, the red panels were picked out in a gradient of Scarlett and Bloody Red (VGC). A little VGC Black was used in the panel recesses, followed by three coats of Krylon Gloss Coat and one coat of Krylon Matte Coat. I was please with the results and they really look fun on the table!







Wednesday, October 5, 2011

In space, no one can hear you roll for crits...

Tuesday was another Dork Club game night! It was a blast trying out my newly painted Firestorm Armada fleets. Firestorm Armada is another great game system by the folks at Spartan Games in the UK. It is very similar in mechanics to Uncharted Seas, with a few added layers of complexity. The game is also quick to learn and lets you roll lots and lots of dice as you duke it out across the void. Firestorm Armada includes fighters, teleport assaults, torpedoes, and a pretty sweet miniatures range. The ships are detailed and a blast to paint.

Our game was based around a capture and control mission to take a secluded weapons research space station. Two fleets raced toward the station and did their best to teleport their assault troops onto the station in order to score victory points. At the end of each game round, teams earned points for each squad of troops remaining on the station...or at least those that survived the fighting if both teams had squads on board. Victory points were also earned by destroying ships of the opposing fleet. The swifter frigates and cruisers raced in and traded shots early, but the game took on a different tone once the big dog battleships entered the fray. Our favorite high-rolling history professor scored some really nasty hits from his battleship that disintegrated two of the opposing cruisers, leading to a reactor meltdown that mauled the remaining one. That turn changed the tide of battle and the other team's battleship ultimately made a hasty retreat to hyperspace before being encircled and destroyed. It was an exciting game with loads of fun moments...another fun game night!