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BoomMF

Burnt Ends
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Everything posted by BoomMF

  1. I think Warhammer is on the same path. Physical books are expensive to produce and store and they're hard to change after-the-fact. Digital resources can be changed on a whim, so I get it. I don't like the idea of not owning something because old. I get satisfaction looking over at the shelf and seeing a string of books, whether I play with them or not. I play primarily on Fantasy Grounds now, too, and I can't convince myself the experience is better than all of us sitting around a table, but a shit ton more convenient and at this stage in our lives convenience is the only thing that makes it happen anymore.
  2. Dropped by and paid my respects to one of the greats. He's in Billstown, AR, where he was born, about an hour from the border in a family cemetery that's becoming more populated quite frequently these days. The cemetery is very well maintained and quite picturesque with a little pond off to the side. When you walk up to Glen's grave these is a motion sensor that trips and starts playing his version of Amazing Grace from a speaker mounted up in that large tree towards the back. I mean, come on. One of the other Campbells buried there had this emblazoned on the back of his headstone. I found it remarkable because as far as I know PRS hasn't invented the double-humbucker Stratocaster yet. I don't know which of He Stopped Loving Her Today or Wichita Lineman is the greatest Country song of all time, but it's one of those two.
  3. We've been enthralled with the story. If you have room for a campaign game in your life, this is the one to get imo. I've played Gloomhaven, Tainted Grail, ISS Vanguard, and a few other great ones, but this one captured me the way the others couldn't. If you make it to Chapter 3 and are able to quit playing, you're a stronger person that I.
  4. BoomMF

    Vinyl

    I've been making moves recently. I've been using Emotiva gear in the theater room and out of necessity using it to play 2-channel stuff, too. I decided to stop fucking around and just get a proper two-channel solution for vinyl and CDs. Since I picked up the B+W 802Ns partly out of appreciation for the sound, partly out of nostalgia, why not just complete the setup that captured me all those years ago and pair them with McIntosh pre/pro/amp and not look back? So that's what I did. I've been hunting for an integrated amp in the 200W range, but I came across a deal for a 300W MA8000 in pristine condition and since the B+Ws will take as much as you can throw at them, I went for it. I'm pretty stoked. This is dream stuff for me. Gonna spend the awhile getting to know it and be in bliss. Added a cassette deck, too, because of course. I have an extra 4U space that needs filling... In the physical media realm, I finally stopped by Amoeba Music in Hollywood. The selection (and store traffic) is bonkers. It's cool just milling around in there. You can come across some very interesting things. Their stock is deep and dangerous. I'll not make the mistake of visiting L.A. and not going into Amoeba again. I've picked up way too much music to spam here, so I'll just post a pic of some signed records I snagged over the past few weeks. If the high school me saw that I now geek out over getting Loreena McKennitt's autograph I wonder how disappointed he'd be. I'd tell him to disregard the hurdy-gurdy at his peril.
  5. Castles of Burgundy is turning out to be one of our most played games. Everyone we show it to loves it. It's not easy to bring around due to the size of the Collector's Edition, but it's worth it. Speaking of not easy to bring around, but worth it, we got Foundations of Rome back to the table. We had some family over for the holidays and chose this one as an "easy to get into" game. It was a hit. No surprise. Trying to catch up on the backlog I forced everyone to play 51st State Ultimate Edition. What a great game! I know it's Zee's favorite (his promo is even in the pic), but his are the tastes I'm least sympatico with. Turns out he and I agree on this gem. The game is fast but you feel like you accomplished quite a bit in that amount of time. And speaking of fast, we played Zee's compadre's Last Light KS Edition. It's supposed to be a 4X game that plays in an hour, and it does, but when you're through you don't feel the weight of having just played an epic 4X game. So, I kinda don't see the point since it doesn't really scratch the "4X itch," imo. However, the game that is there is great. Lots of fun decisions that don't make or break your strategy - or, at least, if you play something strategically wrong, you can usually recover quick enough. I dig the production, which is half the reason to even play modern board games obv, but the insert is something from the bowls of hell. Thank goodness for those Etsy designers who do a ton of work creating inserts and giving us the option to snag a cheap STL. The kids had some friends over that wanted to try a board game, so we busted Everdell on them and I facilitated. Suffice to say they were amazed at the experience. They came from a Monopoly-is-the-peak background and had no idea what modern gaming has become. It's neat watching that discovery flash across faces, which happens quite a bit! The wife and I play the app of Terraforming Mars when we travel so it's a game we're both very familiar with. Playing Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game KS is a pared down experience, but hits a lot of what we enjoy about TM. We finally played Ankh: Gods of Egypt. It's the all-in pledge so we were not for want of god or guardian options. This one also plays pretty quickly, but with a lot of simple yet impactful decisions. Your turn is pretty much about 4 main options and the stress of when to trip events. The map gets congested very quickly which is always good fun chaos. We played with the merge mechanic, but I'm not sure we'll play with it again. Everyone enjoyed it otherwise. But then we played Oathsworn KS and quickly played it again and again. The campaign is fantastic and the app narration is top notch. The music they play during the encounters is choice. I have a bluetooth soundbar below the table, so we crank it up and let the thematic brilliance wash over us. Here's a campaign we might actually finish!
  6. Kids really get a kick out of Quacks and it's much easier to play than the rules make out. Like SHW said, rules videos and playthroughs abound, but if you play one round you'll see how it all comes together pretty quickly.
  7. Azul is one of those games that I haven't played that makes no sense that I haven't played. I need to fix that. So much stuff has been delivered recently, I'm waaaay behind. In fact, one of the next up on the table this week, for the first time, is going to be Ankh which delivered a year and a half ago! Meanwhile, soon...
  8. Word on the street is you're looking at a 2% drop rate from Duriel to get an Uber. There are 7 possible Ubers, so it's not unheard of to have 500+ Duriel kills without a Harlequin Crest. It was my 4th Uber and it dropped around the 700th Duriel kill or so. Of course, there are plenty of people who get it before their 5th run. Drops much more frequently than before, but can still be difficult to get.
  9. Ther was a development over the weekend!
  10. If anyone wants to run Duriel rotas, add me - Intricate#1497. I can carry, too.
  11. We are in the shittiest part of the timeline.
  12. Missed the window when everyone was showing off what they got from AUTF's Guitar Emporium and Pedal Peddler, but I did snag this from there: I'm immediately about 40% cooler, give or take, just by strapping it on. When I called to complain that there were no Bit-O-Honeys included in the packaging, he instead took me out to have honey barbecue wings. What a stand-up seller! 5 stars. (Note: This was the one game where GSW showed up and molly whopped the Lakers. It was also the last game they won that series, so this is a pic of a bunch of San Franciscans happier than they will ever be again.) And to the killer signature tele linked earlier in the thread - I came across this window on a walk to Geno's in Philadelphia because cheesesteak. How random, but I'm not complaining. There is no way the person living here is not cool. And speaking of teles made cooler than you might think possible, the Baltimore Hard Rock has this guitar hanging in the entryway. I think everyone who's ever cared about guitars or music should eat nachos in front of anything ever owned by Danny Gatton at least once in their life. And speaking of the Baltimore Hard Rock, check out the signage. That's a god damn PRS about the size of a 737 MAX. So if you're wondering why Hard Rock is having a hard time surviving, this is exhibit A. It's like they want the world to think they only serve orthodonists or wealth managers. Lawyers aren't going to buy your Messi Burger, Hard Rock! /end travellog
  13. Surly meetup at the guitar event of the year watching the greatest blues guitarist of this generation and possibly any generation, who can say. #floorseats
  14. Joe B coming to Austin on Oct 29! Who wants to go watch some pr0n with me?
  15. The Mass 100 looks good. Hot Plates have been the standard for so long, we need options, and I like options with more knobs.
  16. Played Witcher: The Old World. The base game was okay, but it really comes alive with a couple of expansions - Wild Hunt and Monster Trail should have been part of the base game. They complete the experience. Might try some of the houserules I've read online that make the endgame a bit more challenging, but there's a lot to like here as it is. Lords of Ragnarok was very fun, too. We aren't as into conflict, but assets get passed around so frequently and cheaply it's not too big of an issue. I really dig the theme - Norse gods will always be cool. The table presense is typical Awaken Realms, but so is the rulebook. Masters of the Universe: Clash for Eternia hit the table too. I enjoyed the theme more than the kids did because they're just not as familiar with these characters or the history of the IP. I will endeavor to fix that. CMON is probably a sure bet these days. They know what makes a game enjoyable. They went all out with the production here, too. Had some friends over to play and one has a Skeletor tattoo, if that tells you how into this he was. lol Speaking of CMON knowing how to make games, they definately know how to make Zombicide games. Marvel Zombies hasn't fully delivered. I'll get more into this when Galactus, et al. hits. The family played the co-op (coop?) only King of Monster Island. King of New York is an all-timer family game night game and this is a slight twist on that where you all play monsters working together to stop a larger, AI-driven monster from completing its objective. It's fun, like you'd expect. Cranking up the crunch, got Darwin's Journey Deluxe to the table. It's a mechanism salad, which is fine by me. Production to die for. I'm big on Scythe, so I was looking forward to playing Expeditions. The Iron Clad edition's metal mechs are awesome. I have to say, coming back to this world was like visiting an old friend. Jakub Rozalski's art will always be a favorite. I need to play this a couple more times to decide if I like or REALLY like it. Relatedly, I couldn't figure out why my Anycubic Mega X was acting up, so I replaced it with a Kobra Plus. Auto-leveling is the killer app. Been cranking out game organizers straight for weeks now. Even designed my own with Fusion for the first time. It's on now.
  17. I listen to Girl From Ipanema at least once a week. RIP
  18. I have an DJI Inspire 1 v2 that's still fun to fly, but I do the most damage with my army of FPV racers (all Lumenier based frames). Each time I decide to fly them, if I'm lucky and the god's are in a good mood, it only costs about half a dozen propellers and maybe a battery. Usually, though, I leave with 3 air-worthy racers and come home with 1 that still turns on. Fun fun.
  19. Finally got The Automaton of Shale to the table. The family went through the whole campaign. Chip Theory continues to realease hits. And speaking of finally, we played Brass Birmingham for the first time. After it overtook Gloomhaven I just had to see what al the fuss was about. I can now see what all the fuss was about. What a fun, tight Euro. The board's a little dark, and that's the end of the list of qualms. Ra Pharoah Edition arrived a while ago, too. Another fun game that the whole family can enjoy. Will probably add this to the list of games I take to normies' houses. And Earth Deluxe KS, as well. This is on a lot of people's game-of-the-year lists. It's good, but man I feel like I have this game in a bunch of other themes. The game is still fantastic, it's just at this point I think we all know the GOTY formula and can probably predict it with great certainty. Check out The Witcher Old World's great storage solution. When it arrived I was floored by how well-designed the boxes were. The all-in comes in two boxes that combine to form one Kallax-compatible Voltron solution. I made a modification to better store sleeved cards, but the idea that we could get something so well thought out from an OEM gives me hope that companies like CMON will get their sh*t together and do this type of thing for their releases. I was like, damn, what a nice surprise these boxes are! I didn't know they cooked up such a cool storage solution! I went back and looked at the Kickstarter and, sure enough, they made a big deal about the big box storage all throughout the campaign. lol I guess you forget things after years of waiting!
  20. BoomMF

    Vinyl

    It's an RL 2-sided Monarch with one very faint, non-affecting scratch. About as mint as I've ever seen.
  21. BoomMF

    Vinyl

    Badass. Being able to see the the second most famous room in Graceland should be on every music lover's bucket list. (Since the public isn't allowed to see the first...) It's been a few hauls since my last post, but to catch up a bit, here's some from the past few weeks. Keeping with the Elvis theme, From Elvis in Memphis One Step hit. I hope to see more audiophile Elvis releases because there are quite a few more deserving of the treatment. (I still need to pick up MoFi's Blue Hawaii, speaking of.) That's the limited to 500 edition of Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers. The last album to feature Duanne Allman. RiP, Skydog. Polyphia's latest, Remember That You Will Die, in LE Oxblood Vinyl. Ego Death, with Steve Vai, is enough to warrant the price of admission, but the album is stacked with single-worthy tracks. OG George is still country music the way God intended. Acoustic Sounds recently repressed Boss Tenor by Gene Ammons. If it's still in stock, brother, you could do worse. Jug is a top 5 all-time tenor saxophonist and here he is at some of his best. Speaking of re-releases, this is the first time since 1982 that A Flock of Seagull's debut album has been available in the US. Space Age Love Song is a track that helps define an entire decade, to say nothing of I Ran, obv. And finally, an American 1st pressing of LED Zeppelin II with the Ludwig hot master. Definitive, nuff said. In related news, I upgraded my sonic cleaner with the spin-drying attachment and in-tank filter. Now I can clean 10(!) Records at a time and dry them without touching them. Here it is cleaning Zeppelin II by itself since the filter keeps the water usable after use, I can store the "used" water, which means I don't have to wait to have 30 records or so to justify the water consumption. Looking at the filter after a few runs is eye-opening. This also means I don't have to go through so many Kimtech wipes. The whole process is MUCH less wasteful now. And SIAP, how was this year's Austin Record Convention? I wish I could've made it.
  22. You'd have a hard time convincing me to jump into an Apple-run VR ecosystem at this point. Any other ecosystem than those already established, really.
  23. Badass. Looking forward to hearing you play Playing God.
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