HOTT 52 - Battle 4 - Attack On An'Burkag's Encampment

I fought my HOTT 52 Week 4 battle over lunch today and had a blast! I tried out the Magician unit for the first time. After the battle report, I'll give you my thoughts on this unit and how it plays out.

To create my armies I have tables that represent armies when they're all militia, all regular/professional, or a mix of the two. Regular armies have (more) elements like heroes, magicians, blades and knights. Militia armies have more of riders, warbands, spears and hordes, plus the cleric that sees to the needs of the common folk pressed into service!

This battle, I wanted to mix it up, so I rolled randomly for regular/militia or militia/regular, then rolled to see which exact army was to be used. The human army would be a militia/regular army. The Orc army, led by the War Chief An'Burkag, would be regular/militia.

Humans General/Spear x1 (2 AP) Spears x3 (6 AP) Shooters x2 (4 AP) Riders x2 (4 AP) Knights x2 (4 AP) Blades x2 (4 AP)

Orcs General/Knights x1 (2 AP) Knights x1 (2 AP) Blades x4 (8 AP) Spear x2 (4 AP) Shooters x2 (4 AP) Magician x1 (4 AP)

The orcs were supposed to have Spear x3 and Hordes x2, but I swapped them out for the Orc Shaman as my Magician experiment.





The orcs lined up outside of their camp, howling and cursing at the humans who appeared on the horizon. They anchored their right flank with an impassable hill.

The human commander put her knights and riders on the flanks with the intent of sending the speedy riders to threaten the stronghold or Orc reserves.



The Orc Shaman Oz'turk, seeing the hateful Human Knights to their left, moved over to that flank, preparing foul spells to cast at them. Meanwhile, An'Burkag detailed a unit of Orc Spears to line up with him to prevent the Human Riders from flanking them or attacking their camp!



The Human army rolled down on top of the orc defense and pushed them all back!



Undaunted, the orcs and goblins gnashed their teeth, gripped their cold iron weapons and charged back at the humans, pushing them back!

(It was an amazing story the dice told! Every orc unit on the line recoiled when it was the human's bound, and almost the same in reverse when it was the orc's bound!)



The human knights, seeing a potential trap, charged at the flanking Orc knights. With nowhere to go, the retreating Orc Knights crashed into the melee between goblin and human archers. The unit broke up! Unfortunately, the impetuous Human knights made a mistake in turning to attack the Orc Shaman. When they attacked, they were overcome by his foul magicks!

(In HOTT, if a Knight (Kn) attacks a Magician and suffers a minor defeat in that same bound, they are destroyed! I had to reread that rule several times to make sure I understood it. It's subtle in the wording... if the Magician had charged/initiated contact, then the way the rule reads, the Kn would not have been destroyed!)



The Orcs also protected their rear/right flank, with the Orc spear destroying the light Rider cavalry. The orc line, however, suffered several defeats and began to fragment.



The human army pressed their advantage and pushed the orcs back. Warchief An'Burkag raced to reinforce the line and the Shaman Oz'turk rained spells and curses on both the flanking knights and units in the humans army, but they had little effect.



In the end, the orcs were unable to mount a serious defense and An'Burkag was forced to sound the horns of retreat. The humans marched upon the remains of the camp and burned it all to the ground, celebrating a hard fought victory!

Orcs: 12AP lost, Humans: 8 AP lost.

---

I rolled quite a few 6 to 1 combat rolls, in favor of the humans, which almost always spells defeat for the orcs. Once the line developed gaps, the bonuses for overlaps from the intact human line spelled the story out. Which was surprising, as the defeats on the flank really blunted whatever advantage I thought the humans would need.

So.. the Magician unit. Fun! It's basically an advanced artillery unit, being able to launch spells at 3x the distance of shooters, a little further than regular artillery. It does require PIPs though, so it requires a choice to be made between moving a unit or two, or using spells. Unfortunately, out of 4 attempts at a spell, only one had any sort of effect (a recoil), so the results weren't as good as I hoped. I was taken by surprise at the result of the Magician killing the Knight unit, though! I'll remember that for the future.

I don't know how this would have turned out if the Orcs had kept their Hordes and extra Spear unit, but it was a fun element to play with. Now I need to try a Cleric... and I need to buy 15mm human Wizards and Clerics! I don't have any!

PS. If you're curious about my force composition tables, as well as how I conduct my fantasy wargames campaigns, here's a link to my rules. https://drive.google.com/open?id=18CUi40wW6OSm4FhTzdOoH-ct0NxW9jImGyF-okiMOrk

Pokemon Go Adding New Deoxys Form This Week

Pokemon Go Adding New Deoxys Form This Week

The Mythical Psychic Pokemon Deoxys made its debut in Pokemon Go earlier this year as the game's second EX Raid boss, replacing Mewtwo. Up until now, the DNA Pokemon has only appeared in the mobile game in its Normal Forme, but a new variant of the Pokemon is set to arrive soon.

Developer Niantic has announced that Attack Forme Deoxys will be available in EX Raids later this month. Along with taking on a different appearance, Attack Forme Deoxys has a much higher attack stat than its standard form, and Niantic warns that it will be a "difficult challenge that requires Trainers to take advantage of every opportunity."

The new form of Deoxys is set to arrive with the next cycle of EX Raid invites, which are scheduled to go out beginning December 20. Unlike standard Raid Battles, you can only participate in EX Raids if you've received an invitation. In order to get one, you'll first need to have recently won a Raid Battle at a "qualifying" Gym. These are denoted by an EX Raid tag in the upper righthand corner when you look at the Gym's details.

In the meantime, players still have a little more time to catch Pokemon Go's latest Legendary, Cresselia. The Psychic Pokemon is scheduled to leave standard Raid Battles on December 18, just before Attack Forme Deoxys is set to arrive in EX Raids. Niantic hasn't announced when the game's next Legendary Pokemon will arrive, although the developer has teased that Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit--three more Legendaries originally from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl--are on the way.

Pokemon Go's annual holiday celebration  is also set to return again soon. This year's event kicks off on December 18 and will introduce another handful of Gen 4 Pokemon, including Snorlax's pre-evolved form, Munchlax, as well as Snover, Abomasnow, and Croagunk. Festive hat Pikachu and Delibird will also return, and different bonuses will be meted out throughout the event until it ends on January 2.

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Buds, Blooms, And Thorns - A New Board Game Review Series From GJJ Games For 2020!

If you've been following GJJ Games for a while you may have noticed that over the past few years I've slowed down drastically in the number of game reviews I've posted.  My older sons have gotten more involved in a lot of other activities, my youngest is now a whirlwind of attention devouring cuteness, and life has just gotten a lot busier in general.  This means I have somewhat less time for games, particularly in what used to constitute my free time when I used to write reviews.  I have a review queue that hasn't gotten any smaller in the last two years, not because I haven't played most of the games, but because I haven't had the time or energy to write up the reviews.

In 2020 I want to rectify that situation.  I started GJJ Games in part because I wanted to provide honest, critical, and constructive reviews of games I played and liked (or didn't like).  This new series of reviews is my attempt at getting back to my roots.

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns will take a concept for feedback and evaluation that I learned about through my leadership training in Scouts BSA.  I've adapted the concept a bit to fit my idea of game reviews, but I think it still applies.

My intent for this series is to provide a brief overview of things I liked, didn't like, and want to explore more about each game.  I'm dropping my long overview of how to play games (there are other places to look for rules explanations) that I've included in my reviews so far.  I also won't be following a set rubric like I did with my Full Reviews.  These reviews will be more about my impressions of the games after the first few plays (sometimes just one, sometimes several).  I think first impressions are very important in modern hobby games.  With so many great games coming out every week, a game really has to be special, and make that known right away, to succeed.  If a game can't grab your attention on the first play it'll be that much easier to ignore it and move on to the next shiny thing.

The format for these reviews will be very consistent and shorter, which means it'll be easier for me to write them.  Reviews will be divided into eight sections:

• Vitals: This will show the game name, designer, publisher, MSRP, and gameplay stats (player count, time, and age).
• Introduction: This will be a single paragraph giving a very quick overview of the game.  Depending on how pressed for time I am, I may just copy the publisher's description of the game (which will be noted if I do).
• Blooms: This will be a bullet list of stand-out features of the game; things I particularly liked or that the game does exceptionally well.
• Buds: This will be a bullet list of things I think are interesting about the game and I'd like to explore more.  They may not have wowed me initially, but are areas of the game I'd like to pay attention to in repeated playthroughs.
• Thorns: This will be a bullet list of things I didn't like about the game, or any issues I feel are noteworthy.  This could range from something as simple as an odd choice of artwork or as major as a mechanic I feel is broken or poorly designed.
• Final Thoughts: This will be a paragraph with my overall impression of the game.  I may choose to expound on points above if I feel additional explanation is warranted.
• Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Rating: Each game will receive a rating of Thorn, Bud, or Bloom.  This roughly corresponds to my Full and Quick Review ratings of 5/54 or less for Thorns, 5.5/55 to 7.5/75 for Buds, and 7.5/75 or higher for Blooms.  A graphic with the rating will be shown here.
• Pictures: If I took any pictures of the game I'll include them here.  I won't be taking dozens of component and gameplay pictures like in previous reviews, but I'll try to include a few gameplay photos so people can see the games in action.

I've also updated my brief description of GJJ Games Reviews that is at the bottom of every review.  This is at the bottom of this post and will be on every review I do going forward.  

Look for my first Buds, Blooms, and Thorns review coming later today!  I'm looking forward to getting caught up on my review queue and finally delivering on my promise to review these games.  Let me know what you think!

Bloom!  This game is great and worth
adding to your collection!  It should be
on just about every gamer's shelf. 

Bud!  This game definitely has some
great moments.  It's good for several plays
and should appeal to most gamers, especially
if you enjoy other games like this.

Thorn!  I can't quite recommend this game,
although you may enjoy it if you like games
like this.  I feel this game has some flaws and
there are areas that it could improve in the
experience it provides.

GJJ Games Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some were provided by a publisher or designer for my honest feedback and evaluation.  I make every attempt to be both honest and constructively critical in my reviews, and they are all my opinions.  There are four types of reviews on GJJ Games: Full Reviews feature critical reviews based on a rubric and games receive a rating from 0 to 100.  Quick Reviews and Kickstarter Previews are either shorter reviews of published games or detailed preview reviews of crowdfunding games that will receive a rating from 0 to 10 based on my impressions of the game.  Buds, Blooms,and Thorns reviews are shorter reviews of either published or upcoming games that highlight three aspects of a game: Buds are parts of a game I look forward to exploring more, Blooms are outstanding features of a game, and Thorns are shortcomings of a game.  Each BBT review game will receive an overall rating of Thorn, Bud, or Bloom.

Peter Dimitrov Lands Job At MilkyTea Studios!

Great to see our talented graduate @PeteDimitrovArt using his skills on new projects in the
@milkyteastudios.

Peter is a 3D environment artist and games designer and he's just joined the team at MilkyTea in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool. The company are famous for 'Hyper Brawl Tournament, Coffin Dodgers and Roller Rally.

Huge Congratulations to Peter who has a real passion for art and games design. He created a great portfolio of work and it paid off.

https://www.artstation.com/peterdimitrov

Barbarrossa Chain Of Command Try Out At The WHC

Just spent a thoroughly enjoyable day with Mark at the WHC. We wanted to continue exploring Chain of Command, after originally thinking that when Mark puts on a weekend there it would be in 20mm. Many advantages to this,Mark has a vast 20mm collection and a huge array of beautiful bespoke buildings..but, 20mm is very small. Less of an issue maybe when you are fielding 30 or 40+ AFVs and several hundred infantry, but even for BiG Chain of Command you are only looking at having perhaps half a dozen tanks and a hundred infantry a side. It needs to be impressive in order to attract players, and the 28mm stuff is pretty awesome....Well, we thought about this, and talked long and hard...thought some more...ummed and ahhed...and have decided to go with 28mm.

 Bigger.

 Trouble is of course that we don't have that much stuff.

 YET.

 That will change very soon!

I've got enough Germans and Soviets for a decent 1 on 1 but for a multi-player weekend with up to 12 players, with 2 x 3 a side campaign games going on simultaneously we are going to need a lot more...a lot more.

Not an issue of course, any day now a MASSIVE box of kit is expected to land on Mark's doormat! 

Meanwhile, the game;we just wanted an excuse for a duff-up really, get a look at terrain, have a think about size, time, space etc. Big Coc is going to be different but we can still learn quite a bit just from 1 on 1 games.

So we wanted to see how my 28mm kit looked on Mark's table (well, a little bit of Mark's table), and the answer we thought was pretty good!

When it comes to doing a full weekend the plan is to run 2 games of Big CoC side by side, each on a 12' x 6' table, but for today we were just using a mere 6'x 6'

Above is the view of the battlefield from the Soviet side. The bombed out sewing machine factory complex  dominates the surrounding countryside of fields. We were playing a pick up 1941 attack/defend scenario with a 4 section German infantry platoon on the attack, supported by a Panzer 38T, an MG34 MMG, and the Germans benefited from a preliminary artillery bombardment which severely hampered the deployment of the Soviets, who were defending with a big 4 section rifle platoon, supported by a 45mm ATG. Force morales were equal on a 9. There followed a tense patrol phase

 The view from the southern edge, the farm and woodland was a priority for the Germans during the patrol phase, the fields were deemed to be light cover for infantry in them if observed from the flat, but no cover from troops at higher elevations in the factory or on the rises in the NW and NE corners of the table. The fences were light cover but didn't block LOS (unless you looked through 3 of them). Mark ended with JOP tucked behind the wall in the very top of the picture, one behind the little house next to the wood, and another in the farmyard. I managed to constrict him so was fairly pleased

 a view from the German side, good approaches and JOP positions, but difficult open countryside to negotiate in order to get into the factory area

  another view from the Soviet side, 2 of my JOP's are visible 1 bottom left in the bombed out roof and another in the field next to the road and the factory. A third was just out of shot on the left in amongst the fields, but with a somewhat obscured view of the road running back to the German side

Above is the 3rd Soviet JOP with my first deployment, a section hunkering down in the wheat behind the fence line.

The second Soviet deployment, a section tucked in with views over the fields. Why I put it there, I've no idea....should have deployed into the factory, not the field. I think my original intention was to push forwards into the trees, but I never even got started. A heavy crossfire from the front and an MMG in the farm whittled them down, eventually I pulled them into the factory but they were still exposed and took terrible fire.
By having a good look at Mark's 20mm buildings,there are plenty that are perfectly good for 28mm games. Personally I've always found that a lot of 28mm WWII buildings look enormous when they get on the table, but these factory buildings are a really good size even for 28mm, as are the 20mm farm buildings in the picture below.

This MG 34 put down a heavy fire onto the section on the Soviet right

Joined by a German section in a deep ditch over-looking the fields, the 2 together put down a crossfire on the hapless Soviet section.

A 38T moves up. Ahead of it is the German section in the ditch which is on the other side of the wall.

Way off in the distance, the 38T is spotted! A 45mm ATG deploys in the southern field alongside the first rifle section plus the platoon mortar. It opened up, missed and continued pumping shells at the tank. On the 3rd attempt it immobilised it, but the tank kept firing. Finally the 45mm fired and rolled a double 6 to hit! Weak spot! resulting in a KO. The tank didn't explode but it was silenced permanently.

The other section is being whittled down by fire from the ditch and the MMG

eventually it gets the message and retires into the adjacent building.....where it should have been in the first place!

German section moves up through the wood to engage the section in the southern field.

Behind the section, is the JOP and the platoon mortar giving occasional supporting fire

The 38T burns in the road after its exchange with the ATG

Having reached the edge of the woods the German section trades fire with the Russians, and starts  to come off worst. Another section is sent out to reinforce..eventually this gives the Germans  the upper hand.

The section in the ditch continues to lay down fire on the section the factory, which ended the game with a single LMG gunner and its corporal!

Casualties mount in the wood, but the Germans hold firm

A third Russian section is deployed out on the right and attempts to flank right, but it is too late...

In the field the mortar and the ATG have been shot down, and the section has lost a few men..I think its time to scuttle back into the factory, by this time my FM was down to 3, and was going to get worse - the Germans were still on 5 or 6. I threw in the towel.

A fun game, even though it degenerated into a firefight which the Soviets lost. They gave a lot back, but the Germans were more flexible, took the lumps on their core sections rather than having a lot of support teams completely wiped out which hurt the Soviet FM.
The big problem was that my plan was utter rubbish. I just shouldn't have done what I did. I had a fabulous defensive position, high buildings overlooking open fields! So what do I do? try and push out of them....(FFS!) Idiocy!
My reasoning (poor as it was) was influenced by falling into the CoC "psychological tank trap". I became obsessed by the idea of getting the ATG out where it could cover the road any German armour would need to approach from. Subsequently I had to commit to protect it, more and more kit gets sucked in....etc.
There was absolutely no need fro me to do this! I Should have just hunkered down in the factory. Not bought much on at all, rattled through the phases (which would speed up the turn end and finish the barrage), and I could have got some CoC die. Meanwhile the Germans would have to come on and eventually get caught in the open in the fields. But no....Really stupid play on my part. Meanwhile Mark cheerfully shot me to bits! (but he did it very nicely, and, most important of all, we had a great time! 

Discover The White City, Capital Of Arcadia

In Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, we'll take you to all the main regions of Gaia: Arcadia, Submeria and Pirta. One place you'll get to know well is The White City, and today we'll discuss its history and points of interest.

The White City is the vibrant, rich capital of Arcadia: under the strong leadership of Archimedes, blessed by his continuous scientific breakthroughs, it has prospered and blossomed. After declaring himself Grand Regent, he spent the last 20 years upgrading the pre-existing feudal structures and turning the city into a shining jewel of industrialization; an example for all Gaia to behold.

The city, built by the sea, is an old settlement dating back to the savage wars waged in the name of Sol, Nieto, and Trito. While its feudal walls are ancient, most of the fortifications are of recent build, as is the new city center, developed above Archimedes' modern masterpiece: the Grand Core.

The city is divided into three main districts. Upper Town is where the high society and officers live. Before Archimedes' arrival, the area hosted the Order for All Gods (aka the Mage Guild), whose building is now occupied by the headquarter of Genco Corporation and its automatons workforce. Genco is responsible for the production of appliances and technological artifacts, and as such, it basks in the approving gaze of the Grand Regent. Mages, instead, are banned from the city, and while magic is not explicitly ostracized, few feel comfortable coming forward as users. Upper Town also has access to the railroad, which pierces the town from both East and West.

Lower Town, the area between the Trident fortifications, begins with Genco's loading docks, through which most of the goods come in and leave the White City. The permanent market stalls are a popular attraction, both for visitors and regular citizens. A small slum has spawned not far from the market; despite the efforts of the Grand Regent, the White City cannot embrace all its children, and some less fortunate citizens are forced to seek shelter from the elements under its massive stone arches. Lower Town also used to be the religious district; now, only ruins remain, to remind everyone of the sins committed during the religious strifes of the past.

Past Lower Town, a visitor would soon arrive at the doors of the Knights' Order, the oldest building in town. The palace is one of the few that has maintained its original features, a sign of the importance that the Knights still maintain in Arcadia. The administrative district begins beyond the Order, with offices and business-related infrastructures, such as the airport and the hangars of the Living Fortresses. The entrance of the Grand Core is where the public space runs out, and the influence of Archimedes' Palace, commanding the whole town from the White City's center, becomes predominant.     

Sounds like a place worth visiting? Pack your bags, this year you get to see it with your own eyes!

Brave Browser voted the best privacy-focused product of 2020

Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.

An extremely productive year for Brave

Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.

Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.

The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.

Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:

"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"

Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.

Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now

If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.

The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.

AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.

For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.

Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.

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