Hi Again!

[ozmoParticipant]

Been off the forums a bit. Busy, hectic, had a problem logging in off of a mobile device.

Quick gaming updates:

– Still working on painting. Stalled out on my B05A project, need to get back on track. I enjoy it but the house has been chaotic so no good place to setup and dig in.
– Game acquisition mode went nuts over the holidays. I blame it on Amazon sales and new shiny thing syndrome.
– Acquisitions included: Imperial Assault (yay); Survive!; Love Letter; Dominion; Sentinels of the Multiverse; Roll for it; Formula D; Munchkin; X-Wing miniatures; Star Wars RPG beginner sets.
– I’ve been able to get a fair bit of gaming in, especially with the family.
– Games played include: Imperial Assault; some more Imperial Assault; Survive!; Love Letter; Roll for it; Mage Wars; X-Wing; Legendary: Aliens; Incan Gold; Bullfrogs; and probably others I’m forgetting.
– I backed the Conan kickstarter. On the one hand I’m in love because it’s Conan. On the other I’m looking at how much it costs and wondering what I’m doing? Especially since it looks like it will compete with Imperial Assault and the D&D adventure games for game type. But then again – it’s Conan with a TON of miniatures.

The Star Wars bug has hit me hard (obviously). Imperial Assault is just such a great blend of RPG-lite, tactics, and just fun. It led to X-Wing and the RPGs. I’m trying to get as much game time in to get the “never played” games onto the table.

Overall I’m enjoying my games and working on getting time to play them. And paint them.

So that’s what I’ve been up to outside of all that pesky work stuff.

[Universal HeadKeymaster]

One thing I do envy your Americans (whoops, I’m assuming you’re in the US, ozmo) is your easy access to cheap games and gaming stuff. I always have to factor in exorbitant shipping fees for just about everything to do with my hobby, not to mention this and that that would be easy to grab on Amazon.

Sounds like you’ve been getting some excellent gaming in. Sham that work stuff gets in the way isn’t it?

[ozmoParticipant]

I am in the US.

Yes, it is nice to be able to get stuff without the high shipping fees. Miniature Market & CoolStuff offer free shipping if the order is over $100. So I wait until there’s enough stuff I want/need and then place an order.

Much to my wife’s dismay it’s rarely difficult to find $100 of stuff I want. 🙂 X-Wing is making that even worse. I’m also fortunate that my best friend usually wants copies of whatever I’m getting as well. So, most times, I just need to find $50 of stuff I want.

And Amazon is very convenient as well. We do most of our shopping from Amazon and have been Prime members for a long time.

It really makes it pretty tempting and requires a high degree of self control and willpower. I tell my wife how lucky she is to have me all the time. 😀

[brianparkerParticipant]

Hi Chaps,

It can’t be my imagination, shipping has actually got a hell of a lot more expensive in recent years. Back in the pre-ebay days I used to order a lot of second-hand 2nd Ed AD&D from all over the place and especially the US and I don’t remember fainting dead away at the number of zeroes on the shipping charge.

In the last year or two shipping has become seriously prohibitive. I’m just not capable of paying more for shipping than the value of the game (sorry Victory Point Games – I love supporting you lot) and this has even happened from the UK to Luxembourg! Coupling this with the bizarre terms that Amazon impose on not shipping cardboard and counters games from amazon.de or amazon.fr to the wicked Peoples Republic of Luxembourg because of “restrictions”, I begin to despair at the lack of the global village marketplace that once looked so promising.

I am now waiting for a local American friend to make their next US trip and hoping our friendship stretches to a kilo of games and a replacement Pandemic deck. It’s a sad state of affairs and must be even more horrific for New Zealand.

[brianparkerParticipant]

It led to X-Wing

And before I kicked off on my rant about shipping charges I was just going to agree with you. What a great game!

It looks great, it’s playable on a “normal” sized table and is great fun. The models spend time out in my place serving as beautiful decoration pieces as well and it’s not too expensive to build a mighty fleet.

[Universal HeadKeymaster]

I must fix that blockquote styling …

Yes, shipping has got worse and worse worldwide. NZ Post have just decided that as of July they will only be delivering every second day, as well, which is just disgusting. They all complain about reduced volumes, when I think it’s obvious that people are shopping more frequently and more far afield than ever before. We may not be sending letters, but we are sending and receiving parcels at a far greater rate.

Postal services used to be an essential service to the public. Now they have become, like most things, corporates whose sole focus is to make a profit.

[brianparkerParticipant]

I must fix that blockquote styling

Quite right, I somehow suspected that wasn’t your sort of font design.

Oops, did it again. 😎

[Universal HeadKeymaster]

I just changed them to italics for the moment.

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