Category Archives: On the Tabletop

Adventures from cards, miniatures, pencil and paper RPGs, and other old fashioned games from before the internet ruined everything.

On the Tabletop

Happy Little Elves

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(Editor’sNote: There are no mistakes. Just happy little accidents. Except that paint that I got on the base of the model. That’s a mistake.)

Over the last few years, mainly because of the web page and podcast, I have become interested in new games and even new types of games. Before starting the page, Chris and I mostly just played Magic the Gathering for our tabletop entertainment. Since then, though, we’ve branched out into Dicemasters and Heroclix as diversions. Heroclix, in particular, will be the focus of the next two articles.

Heroclix, as we’ve discussed, is a more cost efficient introduction into miniature games. I will talk more about it in my next article, either tomorrow or Wednesday. Today, I mention Heroclix because it has brought my interest in miniature games back to the front. I haven’t actually taken the leap into any of the games, but I did sign up for a learning how to paint miniatures class so that when I do finally take the plunge, I will have a quality army to present at games.

(Note: Image Missing. I looked for a picture of the unpainted model, but I can’t seem to find one. I found some terrible paint jobs. I’m not saying that I’m a professional by any stretch, but these ones looked bad. The best that I can do is my primed model from the first class shown below.)

model
Not the best picture because my tablet has seen better days, but you get the idea.

As mentioned above, the first day was all about getting used to the process. We chose a miniature (either one that we owned or one that they provided), assembled it, and primed it. I looked over the models provided by the instructor and found one that required the least assembly and looked to be the easiest to paint since I’m a total noob and I just didn’t want to screw it up too badly.

To be honest, I wondered how we would spend an hour and a half doing just those steps, but the in between time allowed for questions and general chat among the class and the instructor. As I wrote on my Facebook, they are an eclectic bunch. One works at Old Sturbridge Village during the summer making pottery and another is a PhD student in polymer engineering at UMass. I learned about the different types of glue, paint, and models available and I am much more informed now when I go to make a purchase.

The second class was actual painting and I have to admit that I was very overwhelmed by the process. I even asked at one point, “Is anyone else paralyzed by choice?” after staring at my model for over 45 minutes. I looked at the paint choices. I searched online. I found nothing that helped until one of the other participants said something about looking at the model in pieces instead of a whole. Then, someone else suggested that I take a piece of the model with a large surface area. Both of those ideas got me on the right track. I grabbed one of the greens because I wanted to make him more of a wood elf than a high elf and I didn’t want to go crazy with the color scheme. I painted his cape that green color and was off to the races.

Back view. The cape that started it all. I also matched the color of the bow to the shafts of the arrows. It's the little touches that can really make a difference.
Back view. The cape that started it all. I also matched the color of the bow to the shafts of the arrows. It’s the little touches that can really make a difference.
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Front view. You probably can’t tell because of the quality of the potato that I used to take the picture, but the green is slightly different. Also, I got a bit adventurous with the trim and mixed some brown in with the orange to give it a more autumn feel.
On the Tabletop

Little Soldiers follow Tiny Leaders

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(Editor’s Note: Must be the end of the semester. Two articles with possibly two more by the end of the week!)

Even though Chris and I hare not recording the podcast together, we still try to find time to hang out and play games. Over the last few months, time has been at a premium, thus leading to the change in direction of the podcast, but we were able to get together this month. What’s funny is we actually had two gaming nights in December after having none in the previous months. During the first of those two nights, we played some Dicemasters, started a Heroclix game that had to end early because it conflicted with my bedtime, and we also played Magic.

I find that last part to be the most interesting. Chris and I have spent the better part of the year trying to justify our interest in the hobby. He has been more successful than I as he found another play group. It’s the same guys that we played DTK sealed against earlier in the year. I have not been able to play with them since, but Chris has about once or twice a month. Nevertheless, as a result of the sealed night, I had two tiny leaders decks that I build and no live testing of either deck.

Wait, what?

All aboard my train of thought! Wait, what's that over there?!
All aboard my train of thought! What’s that over there?!

I admit that train of thought might be a bit difficult to follow, so I’ll explain. While making plans to do the sealed, it came up that some of the guys played the Tiny Leaders format. I had heard of it, but never played. I had some time and a couple of 3 mana or less legendary cards, so I put together the decks. I then forgot all of my Magic stuff on the night in question and then Chris and I got away from Magic for a while and finally had no time for any gaming for a few months.

I think it was me who suggested that Chris and I try the Tiny Leaders format during our table top night this month. My main reason is that his new group has enhanced his “Spike” tendencies, which is great. It’s given him a new outlet and interest in the game. My absence from the game has been absolute and I’ve not even looked at any of my decks. He’d simply mop the floor with me and that’s no fun for either of us. I need to either tune my current decks or go back to the drawing board and build some new tech to compete. Well, long story short (too late!), we played a couple of games and I finally go to see my decks live.

Those of you familiar with the page know that sometimes my decks maybe don't deserve life, but like their monstrous counterparts, they just want a hug.
Those of you familiar with the page know that sometimes my decks maybe don’t deserve life, but like their monstrous counterparts, they just want a hug.

Both performed will and mostly according to the strategies in mind when I designed them. First up, I put my Alesha (the first deck I built and actually tuned some) against his green/red mini ramp deck. His deck wasn’t strictly legal as he used Burning Tree Emissary as his leader, but I let it go because that’s our agreement. We play for fun above all else and I’m not going to nit pick silly rules in a kitchen table game. We both employed aggro strategy that ultimately paid off for me on the turn before he had definite lethal.

He picked B/W Constellation for his second deck. It is a deck that he has used in various forms before and one of his ongoing projects. My other deck was mono green and picked because I only had one other legal leader at the time. In no way can it be interpreted or assumed that any one strategy went into the construction of this deck. It is a hodge pogde of green Magic things. A bit of ramp, a dash of stompy (or as much stompy as 3 or less mana allows), some devotion, and a whole lot of praying that the opponent has no removal. Chris did and used it on the correct target to prevent me from killing him at 26 life on the next turn.

Pay me no mind. Just a 1/1 sitting here minding my own business. Nothing to see. No need to remove. Oh, hey, what are you doing with that black spell there? No, no, no! I'm too young (and valuable to your ultimate destruction) to die!
Pay me no mind. Just a 1/1 sitting here minding my own business. Nothing to see. No need to remove. Oh, hey, what are you doing with that black spell there? No, no, no! I’m too young (and a key instrument to your ultimate destruction) to die!

The games went quickly and were fast paced. Because nothing cost more than 3, we were able to cast at least one card every turn. There wasn’t much land/go that can sometimes happen in our other games. Both games were close, too, with a kill coming one turn before the opponent lethal. Either we are getting better at building decks or the format lends itself to closer games.

In any case, we both did remark that the singleton nature of the decks provided a challenge in more than one way. That, and the limited number of cards in each deck really make you think about what cards to include and, more importantly, what can be cut. Unlike a traditional Magic deck that sometimes has to include do nothing cards because they might be strong in certain situations, you really can’t get away with that in these decks. All cards need to have a specific purpose and need to fit the overall theme. That might have been why my mono green deck ultimately fizzled. I thought that the color might hold things together. I now realize that I might have been too scattered with my strategies. Oh well, all part of the learning process.

Overall, I enjoyed the format and it seemed like Chris did, too. I don’t know if it will be our preferred format, as he has grown attached to Modern/Legacy and I like eternal formats better, too. Still, it was a nice introduction back into the game. I’ve been drafting again and am brewing some potentially crazy new decks for our next nerd night in January.

This card, especially, has been dancing in my heads like the sugar plums are supposed to these days. Maybe that'll be my big break. The Nutcracker staring Dragonlord Ojutai.
This card, especially, has been dancing in my head like the sugar plums are supposed to these days. Maybe that’ll be my big break. The Nutcracker staring Dragonlord Ojutai.
Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Rapid Fire: Random Thoughts Vol.5

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Battle for Zendikar is such a terrible set. Even the casual guy in me can’t get into it. Sure, there’s Newlamog, Ob Nixilis, Gideon, and a handful of decent green ramp spells, but after that it’s just a set full of failed mechanics. Don’t hate the game, hate the set.

Speaking of Zendikar, have you seen the “Wastes” basic land card floating around online that’s a potential Oath of the Gatewatch leak? What do you think? Real or not? What about the Kozilek and Mirrorpool? Is Wizards really gonna throw in a colorless 6th basic land for one set? If they’re fakes, they’re damn good ones…

Rumor has it that we are going back to Innistrad after the Zendikar block wraps up. Should be interesting to see where they go with it as the first visit to that plane brought us some Modern staples. Will lightning strike twice?

Donald Trump, please go away. You’re a joke. The next time I see you I’m sure it’ll be on an episode of celebrity boxing..where hopefully you’ll get ktfo.

Who else is excited for Marvel Comics’ sequel to the Civil War storyline? I’m really curious as to what direction they are going to go in after the ending of the original (which is one of the greatest comic stories of all time).

Speaking of comics..Batman and TMNT is apparently a thing. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun read but a tad too gimmicky for me.

Getting the itch to get back into collecting comics..miss my old silver and bronze age horror collection. To this day Bernie Wrightson is my favorite comic artist.

Got a couple of deck lists coming your way in the near future. Both of which are RG aggro, one is Modern and one is Tiny Leaders.

Testing out my new Jeskai Ascendancy Storm deck this weekend. If all goes well, you’ll be seeing that deck list too. See? I don’t just post any ol’ deck..I playtest them first. Because I care.

Super Bowl Prediction #1: Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals (being a Pats fan, this prediction pains me).

Super Bowl Prediction #2: New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks part deux. For some reason every season this time of year, Seattle gets hot. Meanwhile, NE’s current injury issues should clear up just in time for the Playoffs.

 

Finally, I want to wish you and yours a fantastic Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or whatever the hell else you celebrate this time of year.

On the Tabletop

Refueling the Fire

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As you know, here at 2 Guys we go through gaming highs and lows..lately this gaming rollercoaster has been centered around one game, MTG, the godfather of gaming. “How can anybody lose interest in playing MTG?”, you might be asking. Well, It’s actually surprisingly easy when you don’t have the opportunity to play that often and start to question why you have 8 decks of cards sitting around when you only play once every couple of months. Add that to a fairly lackluster BFZ expansion set, toxic forums, and a general unwillingness to spend hundreds of dollars to stay competitive and it’s hard not to sour on the game. Two months ago I reached a new level of sourness, to the point of actually selling my entire collection (except for 3 decks in case the rare opportunity to play arose). Turns out those 3 decks were the game’s lifeline

In a past article, I’ve mentioned how Shawn and I met up with a group of fellow players and competed in a friendly Origins sealed tournament. The guy who arranged it, and whose house we met at, Joe (I’m calling him “Joe” because some people get weirded out about having their name in print), is an avid player who plays at area tournaments every weekend and has some of the most powerful Modern decks at his disposal. In the article I originally wrote about that night, I voiced my (and Shawn’s) frustration at how the casual games didn’t feel all too casual. This only added to our mutual feeling of “MEH.” regarding the game. Fast forward to a month and a half ago. Joe asked me if I would be interested in playing a few hands of MTG and watching some Football. Well, the MTG part didn’t really float my boat but I’m a sucker for beer and Football, so I packed up my 3 decks and decided to take him up on his offer. Even though I did somewhat better than I did the first time I played against him, I felt like I was starting to understand more of what it takes to be a decent player and also how to build better decks without breaking the bank. I went home that night and immediately logged onto eBay and bought a few singles that I knew would be key against some of his decks. Just like that, I was back in..but only to a certain extent, I still wasn’t as enamored with the game as I had been even a few months earlier. I had no intentions of building multiple decks as I knew that I still would not be playing the game that often. I just wanted to tune the decks that I currently had in order to put up more of a fight.

Since then, I’ve gone over and played against him a few more times, and the last time his neighbor (another avid Modern player) showed up to play a few hands as well. The atmosphere has changed from that first night we went over and competed in the sealed tourney. They point out misplays, allow me to take them back, give me deck building tips. It’s almost become a learning experience every time I go over. It’s still a different feel from the casual games that Shawn and I have but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve realized that to keep the game fresh and interesting that you have to be competitive to a certain extent. Instead of being frustrated at the Splinter Twin/Exarch combo, I now gameplan against it. Instead of being blown out by an insane RG aggro deck and being disheartened, I built my own to keep up, and in about half the games, out-aggro it. I used to hate mill decks, in fact, Shawn and I essentially banned them from our nerd nights, but Joe has a nasty one that he likes using and I’ve rolled with the punches. I’ve been able to adjust a couple of decks and put up a good fight. You see my point yet? What makes MTG interesting is adapting to your opponent, not just adapting to their deck, but taking advantage of any misplays and finding ways to incorporate cards into your deck that negates their win conditions. The constant game of one-upping each other has become fun for me. Even more fun is the fact that all of my decks are budget..it adds an interesting challenge for me to be able to at least be competitive with decks that have Snapcasters, Splinter Twins, Ugins, Karns, multiple fetches, etc..using decks that probably cost less than 60 bucks.

Update: Last Friday night Shawn stopped over for a gaming night. He requested that we play Tiny Leaders as he hadn’t tuned any of his Modern decks and wanted to try something new. I was happy to oblige and the night before I built a couple of TL decks. Turns out Tiny Leaders is really, really fun. We had two memorable games and we each won one. The best part was that in each game, if the game had gone to the next turn, the other person would have won. These TL games really helped cement my status as a MTG player for the forseeable future and it’s probably going to be the format that I’m most interested in playing for awhile. If you haven’t tried it, do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

On the Tabletop

Gotta Collect ‘Em All

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(Editor’s Note: Wait a minute. Gotta catch ’em all. Gotta collect ’em all. I sense a theme here. I think that this slogan might just be a clever way to sell product. Has anyone else caught on to this?)

I don’t remember how the card game got introduced into the family. It’s been such a constant over the last few years that it feels like it’s always been there. Every trip to Wal*Mart now ends in the card aisle after a detour to look at toys and video games. We visit all gaming shops that we see so that the boys can look for any new or different sets and decks. After a couple of months, I pull out the box of cards in a futile attempt to organize them. Well, that’s not entirely true. I successfully organize them. The futility comes in keeping them in order. All of this has been going on for as long as I can remember. Then again, my memory might be fuzzy and confusing my time with Magic cards and even comics, as the experience with both is much the same.

Well, leave it to the younger generation to set us old folks straight with their fancy new brains and untarnished memories. After a conversation with Liam during the podcast, we cleared up the mystery. During one of our Cape Cod camping trips, I brought an introductory Pokemon set to see if Liam would play and enjoy the card game. I had just started to get back into Magic, but I knew that game would be too complicated for him. However, he loved Pokemon, so I thought that the 30 cards would serve as a perfect introduction into these types of games. Boy, was I right.

One of the decks had Machop as the main Pokemon and I remember Liam walking around saying, "Ma-chop-chop-chop." He was so enthusiastic about it that he had me saying it, too.
One of the decks had Machop as the main Pokemon and I remember Liam walking around saying, “Ma-chop-chop-chop.” He was so enthusiastic about it that he had me saying it.

He loved the game and immediately wanted more cards and how to learn to play the “real” game. So, first I took him to Wal*Mart because they were the only local store that carried the cards. Ever since the comic book store went out of business here, Wal*Mart is the only bastion of nerdness in town. However, as soon as we were able, I too him to Greenfield Games, which was the closest actual gaming store. I’ve mentioned them a couple of times because we do most of our gaming there. Admittedly, there was also an ulterior motive to the trip. I had just started to get back into Magic, as I mentioned, and I wanted to see what was happening with the game. It obviously didn’t hurt that there were other games to put on the wish list, too.

Those games stay on the wish list, too, until the boys are older or Chris and I are able to have more game time together to branch out.
Those games stay on the wish list, too, until the boys are older or Chris and I are able to have more game time together to branch out.

Aiden and Quinn have both followed in the footsteps of their older brother. Aiden, especially, has gotten into collectibles in a big way. He most recently started collecting Minecraft miniatures and shopkins. Pokemon cards remain his favorite, though, I think. Similar to me, he pulled out the cards and started putting together a deck. We didn’t finish, but at least we are playing with the cards again. Hopefully we can finish our decks over the weekend (after I finish organizing the cards for the bazillionth time) and play some games.

I need to get back into the card game because I’m actually interested in the new expansion Breakthrough. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the current state of the Pokemon card game and I know next to nothing about the expansion, but they hooked me with this one. I’m sure that it is all a marketing gimmick. Still, the idea of two worlds, technology and nature, is interesting and the mind boggles with what they can do with that. That answer is probably nothing. I am an eternal optimist, though, and this optimism has yet to be extinguished.

Hopefully Santa brings some intro decks for the set and we can see if the hype is real. Naturally, I hope that it is. I haven’t played any magic except for some of the new BFZ expansion in Duels. I’ve been filling the void with Hearthstone, as I often do, but I usually hate (and I mean HATE) playing that game. Therefore, I need a card game that doesn’t make me want to kick kittens when I play it.

Don't worry little guy. No actual kittens are harmed when I play Hearthstone. Only my dignity.
Don’t worry little guy. No actual kittens are harmed when I play Hearthstone. Only my dignity.

So, let’s explore Pokemon Breakthrough a bit more to see if it can occupy me or if I have to go make nice with Magic again. The set is an off shoot of the X/Y series, meaning that it takes place in the Kalos region. I haven’t had a chance to play the video games yet for X/Y because Liam and Aiden both have a save game on their cartridge and, well, there’s still only one per. I think I can find both games for $40 total, so I will try them soon.

Back to the cards. We haven’t ever been in Kalos in the card game other than the most recent expansions. This is the 2nd or 3rd card game in the X/Y series because no new video games have been released since that one. That, alone, might mean that they push the envelope a little bit more with this set. Again, there’s no guarantees. Magic seems to have backed off a bit on the power level with the new Zendikar, which sounds weird when you’re talking about Eldrazi. Nevertheless, this set is much lower level than even Origins and that was a huge step back. Not knowing enough about the card game, I don’t know if they need to make a similar adjustment in Pokemon. I guess we will find out soon enough.

C'mon, Santa, bring us the goodies!
C’mon, Santa, bring us the goodies!
On the Tabletop

Land Ho! (Modern)

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I recently played against a mono green Standard version of this deck and I was so impressed by it that I decided to brew a Modern version. This deck is all about searching your library for multiple lands and playing them every turn until you can drop something big and scary like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Gaea’s Revenge or something else that’ll ruin your opponent’s day. I did stray away from mono green and splashed a bit of red for DragonMaster Outcast, which will let you start producing Dragon tokens ridiculously early on. The deck can be weak against aggro, but is more than a handful in the mid-game. Warning: You will take a beating in the first few turns, but don’t worry, Jaddi Offshoot and Grazing Gladehart will keep you in the game and once you drop Ulamog or another Eldrazi on the 4th or 5th turn, the tables turn rather quickly.

Creatures (18):

2x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

2x Gaea’s Revenge

2x Conduit of Ruin

1x Oblivion Sower

1x Bane of Bala Ged

1x Terra Stomper

2x Rattleclaw Mystic

2x Jaddi Offshoot

2x Dragonmaster Outcast

1x Shaman of the Forgotten Ways

2x Grazing Gladehart

Spells (17):

3x Nissa’s Renewal

3x Sylvan Scrying

4x Explosive Vegetation

2x Utopia Sprawl

4x Nissa’s Pilgrimage

1x From Beyond

Artifacts (2):

2x Hedron Archive

Lands(23):

18x Forest

2x Rootbound Crag

2x Evolving Wilds

1x Blighted Woodland

On the Tabletop

Here There Be Dragons..(Modern)

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If you remember, waaaaay back in September of last year, I posted our very first deck list, Mono Red Dragons. It was a pretty fun deck, great for casual games against non-aggro, and tough to handle in the late game. Well, consider this deck it’s faster little brother. It really shines in the mid game as opposed to the late, with enough removal to make sure the game gets there. The basic strategy is to use the aforementioned removal spells to keep the other side of the board clear, play Dragonspeaker Shaman and/ or Dragonlord’s Servant to get Stormbreath Dragon or Thunderbreak Regent out on Turn 3 and 4..and then keep dropping multiple copies of each every turn after. Don’t be afraid to take damage, the key is to keep your Shaman and Servants alive in order to play dragons faster. I’ve tested this deck list out against a modern Splinter Twin, a modern Slivers, and a mono green ramp and have seen success.

 

Creatures (22):

4x Dragonlord’s Servant

4x Stormbreath Dragon

4x Thunderbreak Regent

2x Dragon Whisperer

2x Dragonspeaker Shaman

2x Kilnmouth Dragon

2x Moonveil Dragon

1x Furyborne Hellkite

1x Balefire Dragon

Spells (18):

4x Draconic Roar

4x Lightning Bolt

4x Lightning Strike

2x Mizzium Mortars

2x Awaken the Ancient

2x Roast

Lands (20):

18x Mountains

2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Rapid Fire: Random Thoughts Vol.4

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Howdy gang! I don’t have a clever intro this month so let’s just get right to it..

-It’s funny how playing MTG with competitive players changes how you play the game yourself. I recently joined a group consisting of two other guys who are regulars at essentially every tournament in the area. After a few game nights consisting of MTG, beer and football, we’ve moved past the awkward “trying to kill me as fast as possible” phase and into the MTG mentoring phase. This is a much friendlier phase where they stop me from making misplays and give me advice. For the most part I can hold my own against them at this point and it’s actually slightly renewed my interest in the game. Not in standard though. I’m modern all the way.

-Guess who has two sore thumbs and finally beat Soda Popinski? This guy! Who’s laughing now, punk?…He…he laughs..when he beats you..remember?…No?..Whatever, that joke totally made sense in my head.

-I recently bought a box of Dicemasters Age of Ultron from a well-known gaming company. Found it odd that it looked like the gravity feed had been previously opened. Even more odd was the fact that the box didn’t contain any super rares or chases. Hmmm…that wasn’t very “cool” of them.

-Finally got around to watching Avengers 2: Age of Ultron and I’ll say this; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I will say if the Avengers present at the end of the film is the line-up they are planning on using for the 3rd movie…meeeeh. Also I hope they do something about the make-up job on Thanos. Homeboy is Easter egg purple.

-I stand behind Shawn’s opinion that the Wii-U is pretty neat. I for one am hoping for a good Cyber Monday deal on one. My girlfriend loves anything Mario and I love anything Zelda. Win win. I’m also looking to pick up a PS3 on the cheap as well. Yup. If you need me I’ll be firmly planted in the last gen of consoles.

-I was pretty bothered by the fact that the next day after the horrific attacks in Paris, CNN actually had a story on The Big Bang Theory on their main page two stories down from the terrorist attacks. What was so important that it needed to share main page space with 130 people losing their lives you ask? Well, Sheldon and Amy will be having “relations” in the new season! Gasp! Whaaaaaat!! How was this NOT the headline story?! In other news Jim Parsons’ jugular vein finally explodes out of the side of his neck next season. Seriously, watch him talk, it’s disturbing.

-I should have a couple of MTG deck lists posted this week for you guys..one is a really cool mono green ramp (well it does splash for red, but only for a couple of cards), that I’m really excited about. Also I reworked the dragon deck that I posted last year into something much faster.

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading and as always we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave comments below!

 

-Blond

Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Quick Hits: Thankful for Gaming

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(Editor’s Note: There was supposed to be aweekly series this month in honor of Thanksgiving and to fight, just a bit, against what has been called Christmas creep. As with most things around here, that plan has been completely ignored in favor of no plan. Hey, it’s part of our charm.)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about the things that made me thankful. The list was incomplete and not only because I refrained from most mention of the usual reasons to be thankful. If I truly listed everything for which I’m thankful, it would come in much longer than the usual 1000-1500 word articles that I usually write. With more and more pages pushing video content, and the slow death of the written word as most recently evidenced by ESPN killing Grantland, I should probably refrain from such marathon articles. Don’t worry, I won’t. Because YOLO. Are the kids still saying YOLO? I really need to research popular culture more.

Apparently, Sam Jackson doesn't think that the kids should be saying that anymore.
Apparently, Sam Jackson doesn’t think that the kids should be saying that anymore.

Nevertheless, I did want to take a stand against “Christmas creep” this month and it has proven difficult to come up with topics for this particular holiday. Unlike Halloween or Christmas, there aren’t a ton of Thanksgiving movies. You decorate mostly in a generic Harvest theme like you would if you don’t want to go overboard for Halloween like we did this year. I’m not desperate enough yet to do a Food Channel style “Top 15 sides or deserts”…yet. Stay tuned. It might be coming over the next few days. There’s just not a lot that defines this holiday other than the “thankful” bit.

One of the things that I mentioned in the previous article that I’ve been thinking about is the bit about this being a good time to be a gamer. The article didn’t specifically talk about games, but I’m narrowing the focus for this article. My nerd cred isn’t as deep as it used to be. I don’t read comics monthly. I’ve all but given up on zombies. All I have left is games. In keeping with the spirit, I present some of the reasons that I’m thankful to be a gamer.

  • I will start with the obvious. There are so many different types of games available and so many different games available of each of those types. Just this year, I’ve discovered Dicemasters and Heroclix on the tabletop, too many free to play games to mention via Steam and mbile (some that I haven’t even played yet), and Fallout 3 on the XBox 360.
  • I know that some of you will disagree with this bullet point. Two of my closest gaming friendsdo, but it is finally time. Given my near allergic reaction to the thought of facing Black Friday crowds, I’m not sure how to do it, but I really want one of the Wii U bundles. I know. Wii U sucks. It barely even gets mentioned in the fanboy console wars. Just another terrible Nintendo gimmick with no real games. Blah, blah, blah. Liam and I are unapologetic Nintenerds, though, and the Wii U is one gimmick that has us both excited.
I've often said that Nintendo just has to make a new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid game and they've sold me a console. Whoever made this picture, please adopt me.
I’ve often said that Nintendo just has to make a new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid game and they’ve sold me a console. Whoever made this picture, please adopt me.
  • Times are especially great for cheap gamers. I already mentioned the F2P and Freemium movement. Again, you may have different attitudes about those games, but I love the idea. Putting our differences aside, I think that we can all agree that finally getting a PS3 because they are so cheap is a great idea.
  • Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront. I haven’t played either but I’m completely obsessed with both. The announcement of Fallout 4 had me more excited than any other game except for Portal 3 if it ever happens. Star Wars wasn’t even on my radar until I started hearing reports from people that it felt like playing the movies. Now, both of the games have me thinking that I need to find a way to get a PS4 instead of a 3.
Nevermind. Whoever made this needs to adopt me. Wait, you can both adopt me. It doesn't matter if you're both dudes, I live in Massachusetts and we're totally cool with it. We could be like that old TV show. Full House.
Nevermind. Whoever made this needs to adopt me. Wait, you can both adopt me. It doesn’t matter if you’re both dudes, I live in Massachusetts and we’re totally cool with it. We could be like that old TV show. Full House.
  • Gaming led me to create this web page and other accounts as a result. It hasn’t had the reach that I hoped it would, but I’m having fun. Similar to my other writing, hopefully people discover and enjoy it.
  • Many of the games that I play have given me something else to share with my kids. Likewise, they discover and share games with me on a regular basis.
  • Still other games have rekindled old friendships, opened up aspects of friendships never considered, and have the potential to open up entirely new friendships.
  • Overall, as I mentioned, this is a great time to be a gamer. There are just so many games of all types that bring together family and friends.
Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Quick Hits: What I’m Thankful For

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(Guest Editor’s Note: 55846706)

This is the time of year when many stores, and more recently even normally right minded people, want to skip right from Halloween to Christmas. I’m not sure what is driving this Thanksgiving boycott other than blind greed in the case of the stores. If you are people, Thanksgiving represents the best in alliteration; family, food, and falling asleep in front of the TV watching football. I’m pretty sure that all of you can find at least 2 out of those three things enjoyable on some level. We here at 2 Guys Gaming love the entire idea of Thanksgiving. While we won’t judge you if you are an early Christmas riser, we will not skip over this month in favor of some premature “Ho, ho, ho”s. In that spirit, I celebrate the first Friday (2 days late, of course) of November by listing some of the things that I’m thankful for, aside from the obvious ones of family, friends, and pizza.

Pizza is the love that keeps on giving and asks nothing in return.
Pizza is the love that keeps on giving and asks nothing from you in return.
  • Twitch ran a marathon of Bob Ross for at least a week. I don’t think I watched anything else during that time. Watching has even inspired Quinn and Aiden to take up painting.
Painting happy little trees.
Painting happy little trees.
  • I love my job and I’m not just saying that because there are only five weeks left in the semester. Okay, I’m only partly saying that because there are only 5 weeks left in the semester. I get to teach all levels of math, meet new and interesting people, and still have plenty of time for my family. Plus, I’m close to the Holyoke mall and a great place to get gyros.
  • It’s a great feeling to be a nerd, geek, dork, freak, dweeb, or however else you define your particular lifestyle choice and have lived long enough to realize that we did, in fact, win the culture war. Games, comics, fantasy novels, miniatures, and cosplay have all infiltrated mainstream popular culture to some extent. Hell, even sports have been taken over by our stat crunching brethren. We are the meta.
  • I’m going to sound like a basic white girl here, but I love so much about Autumn. I’ve always been more about the changing of the seasons and so much is changing during this time. College football starts and finishes. The leaves in New England paint the scenery all sorts of colors. Pumpkin lattes lead to peppermint, eggnog, and gingerbread lattes. Fire up the wood or pellet stove and snuggle in to your favorite sweatshirt. It’s a great time to be alive.
  • I know that I said that I would skip the usual thankful stuff, but I think that I need to acknowledge this one. I’m thankful to be healthy and alive. I caused a bad accident on the way to work at the beginning of last week. Nobody was hurt, but I totaled the van and am still experiencing some of the fallout with insurance and maybe a concussion. But, I’m alive and for that I’m thankful.
I did a damn good job on this one.
I did a damn good job on this one.

See you next Fridayfor some more Thanksgiving fun.