What the Halo?

The boys received quite a few games to go along with their new Xbox, but about 95% of their game time thus far has focused on an anthology of games from the Halo series. The whole Halo thing seems kinda like a 40k ripoff to this uninformed non-video-gamer, but the boys are really digging the first-person shooter stuff, especially the player-versus-player options. I'll circle back with them when they're ready to explore other titles; among the games in their stash is Warhammer 40000: Inquisitor - Martyr, which even Nathaniel hasn't spent much time checking out yet.

At last...the tide has come in!

Super stoked to take the boys to see Aquaman tonight!

Merry Merry!

Hope you all have a great holiday season with your families! Here at our house, we'll have the most gaming-filled Christmas ever, as the boys are getting a long-overdue modern video game system (an Xbox One) along with a handful of games.

I'm still not a big-time video game fan, however, so I'm even more excited about some of the other gifts. They've got one of the Zombicide sequels coming, along with the highly acclaimed Betrayal at House on the Hill and an additional expansion box. Best of all, perhaps, is Forbidden Sky, the newest entry in the "Forbidden" series (following Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert, which may be the two most frequently played board games in the Sutton household). The boys will also find their stockings stuffed with the new Space Marine Heroes line of individual randomized models for Warhammer 40k. Perhaps we'll paint them up as Blood Angels in honor of the upcoming 40k animated series, Angels of Death.

Christmas can't come soon enough!

Angels of Death

Holy Terra! Games Workshop just announced that they're working on an animated series set in the 40k universe. Angels of Death, following the Blood Angels chapter of the Space Marines, will be coming our way in 2019. I know one eight-year-old boy who is totally going to flip out when he hears this news tonight!

It's Good to Have Land

Poor Matthew is under the weather -- and, speaking of weather, it's pretty gray and windy outside -- so we've just spent a quiet day building Magic decks. Nathaniel and I have been discussing the optimal percentage of land cards to include in a single-color Magic deck. He consistently prefers to include a lower percentage of land than I would include, so I need to remind him that...it's good to have land.

The Jongleur

Sometimes a villain is defeated, only to return again and again to oppose the heroes' plans. Sometimes a villain is defeated decisively but is remembered forever. Other times a villain just...fades away.

I was looking for a bad guy to use for a story with the boys, and was hoping to link that character in some way to the Front Porch multiverse. After wracking my brain for foes from long ago, I recalled a classic Druid Cycle villain who fits perfectly as a multiverse-hopping antagonist: the Jongleur. Somewhat akin to inscrutable cosmic weirdos like Q from Star Trek or Mister Mxyzptlk from Superman stories, the Jongleur was among the most powerful and prominent adversaries of our '90s-era campaigns, but then basically disappeared from the storyline. I couldn't find any notes indicating what happened to this guy or when he last appeared in a Druid Cycle game, but I think it's time to recycle him and give him the chance to plague a new generation of adventurers!

As a side note, if any longtime Druid Cycle players remember anything about the Jongleur's fate, please let me know!

The Boss

Hey, the branches on that huge tree kind of look like claws...

Sunday Morning Zombies

Ah, there's nothing like Zombicide on a cold Sunday morning!

Zoom in on the photo and take a look at that horde (gray minis) coming up the street to face the heroes (colorful minis). I haven't been following this scenario too closely, but I think the boys might be in trouble!