Auguest Movie Review

WOO-HOO!! Let's do this!!

 Christopher Robin

When Megan told me about this movie I couldn't say "No" fast enough...though after seeing the trailer I have to admit I'm slightly intrigued. So it looks like I'll be checking this one out after all!

 Slender Man

If Megan's up for watching a horror movie I'd be willing to give this one a shot. If she chooses not to, I'll be just as happy to pass.

The Meg

There's no way Megan's going to let me off the hook on seeing this one. She's super excited about it. This is her most anticipated movie of the year. To me it looks ok, I just hope it doesn't suck...

Best Zombies!!! memories

Back in the day the only board game I played on a regular basis was Zombies!!! by Twilight Creations Inc. Though I don't play it half of much these days, I still have memories of some of the greatest games I've had in the past.

Here are the Top 5!

5) Don't go in the Mall!!

Thomas (one of my board game group back in the day) had no chance at a victory and he knew it. We placed the helipad on the other side of the board to ensure he couldn't get to it, so he decided to try his luck by going into the mall.

But evil thoughts controlled our minds in unison as we decided to add insult to injury and ensure he never set foot in the Mall! Painstakingly we one by one played cards to guarantee his defeat. In the end, he was 2 spaces away from the door with us all out of options in the last round......he rolled a one.

I have no idea who won that night, because when that "1" got rolled we all felt like winners.

4) Let me tell you a story...

This is the "Legacy" version of the game that my nephews and I decided to take the whole day to play. I have to admit it was shockingly superb! We tried desperately to keep our original characters alive during the entire story, I'm happy to say I was the sole survivor from the very first scenario. But to do that I had to be a coward half of the time and run away, so it was a hollow victory in a way as well. That whole day we played was one of the best!

3) All out chaos

My first "Zombiegeddon" win, where we combine ALL of the expansions in one awesome fun filled day has got to be one of the top memories in my gaming life! The tiles were spread all over the floor and it was an "all of nothing" move to kill my final Zombie with only 1 health left AND having to roll a 5 or 6 to defeat it! I'm still proud talking about it now! That's how you win LIKE A MAN!!

2) Flood

One of the most brilliant moves I ever saw was when my friend CeJay, took a card from the deck (which we all discarded once drawn) and turned it in to the most powerful card in the deck! His idea was simple, in the game you use "sewer tokens" to run underground but you need another sewer token to escape. With only 2 per player it can get tricky on where you use it because once placed, it remains there on the board for the rest of the game.

Cejay went in the sewers and headed for the helipad without another token in hand. I had no idea what he was up to and reminded him there was no exit the way he was going. He assured me he knew and I guessed he was just committing suicide since the longer you stay in the sewers the more health you lose.

But I was wrong.

He played the card "Flood" which brings each player out of the sewers no matter where they are....and he happened to be on the helipad when played. BRILLIANT!

Game changer for us moving forward. Never played the game the same after that. MAD respect for Cejay to this day for coming up with that tactic in the first place.

1) The final card played

In this spin off game from Zombies!!! we were getting down to the end when a player, David (who we all thought was out of it) revealed his strategy to us. By then it was too late. There were no more cards o play against him and it was obvious on his next turn he would win.

We looked on in remorse and awe at his brilliant strategy but that's when Thomas (the guy from the first story I told) played his final card....which defeated David and took him out entirely from the game.

The most mind blowing move in board game history! I couldn't believe what I'd seen. A seemingly guaranteed victory, ripped from his grasp at the very last minute. Thomas didn't win the game but won our respect for life after that evening.

Ah....good times! I don't have that gaming group with me anymore but perhaps one day (around the holidays) we'll be able to meet up and battle again!

Another MUST HAVE Expansion!

As Gencon gets closer it seems more news releases are coming out!

Among the news is an expansion of one of my favorite COOP games! I was shocked I didn't find out about this earlier! This is a great game and I can't wait to see what this adds to it!

Who knows what other news will be released in the next few weeks leading up to Gecon!?

Project ELITE coming to Kickstarter again in 2018!!

Announced earlier this week from CMON, a reprint of one of my favorite games EVER! Though I own the base game (and all previous expansions) I will definitely be funding this when it comes to Kickstarter later this year....and it's going to take ALL my money too.

I will fund it the moment it becomes available, all expansions....no questions. I hear it's basically going to have new art, new characters, weapons and items so it'll almost be an expansion in and of itself.

Oh man is my wallet going to be hurting after this one but I don't care. This is a MUST for me.

MOST EXCITING NEWS OF 2018 SO FAR!!!

5+ Player games

4 player games are the norm. But what about games that play more than 4?! Here's my top 10!

10) Aladdin's Dragons

I just found this game at BGG Spring Con back in May and I love it. The more players the more competitive it gets! So many tokens placed on the board leads to some wild games!

9) Eketorp

How happy am I to say that this Queen Games board game is fantastic with 6 clans fighting each other for resources. The "recover pool" is MASSIVE in this game! I love every minute of it!

8) Formula D

This race car game gets better and harder when you add more players. Less track, more cars = more wrecks and more excitement! For our summer vacation next month I plan on bringing this game with all the expansions and have a massive all day race with each track and a point system to keep score like in NASCAR. Can't wait!

7) Sons of Anarchy

5 players in this game will make less land to claim and more throw downs to ensue. Under-rated game by Gale Force Nine and it shines at the max player amount!

6) Las Vegas

Dice chucking game that is massively better the more players you add to it. 8 players would have a ball with this game!

5) Long Shot

A great game but with more players placing bets and cards, it gets even better! No one in my game group will turn down this one. AND I believe with the max 8 player count, it's amazing!

4) Empires Age of Discovery

Though it would be aggravating having so much competition on the board, this game would get viscous with the top player count. I hate how the board clogs up with so many players but it definitely makes for tougher decisions on the board and I love that!

3) Firefly

My dream is to play this with the max 9 players one day on the full expanded board. It WILL happen! I can only imagine the sheer delight when it does!!

2) Spartacus

With 5 players....you'll never want to play anything else ever again. The conspiracies, temporary alliances and betrayals that happen during the game is outstanding!

1) Twilight Imperium

But there ain't NOTHING like an 8 player game of this beast!! One of my absolute favorite memories in board gaming ever was when we played this! Greatest game with 8 players!

Best 2 Player Board games

I don't play that many 2 player games, yet when I do, these are my favorites!

10) Dead Stop

A game of simple deduction where you're trying to guess the color hidden under your opponents pawns. Stop them early to avoid them scoring big. Great vintage game!

9) Sub-Search

Battleship on steroids. Three levels to hide and you've got to destroy your opponents subs before they destroy yours. This game is impressive once set up. Another good vintage game!

8) Bas-ket

I don't play this game as much as I used to but it's still a great basketball game as you try to out score your opponent. Simple yet incredibly fun!

7) Pro-Action Football

I don't even like soccer but this game from the UK is Uh-mazing to play! Using a metal ball and pawns on rollers with a magnetic ring, the person who designed this should've been given an award for his stroke of genius! When am I up for a game? ANY TIME!

6) Mr President

Vintage game where you try to beat the other candidate to the presidency. Every time I bring it out my friends under estimate it and end of having a great time. The saddest thing about the game is that is doesn't get played enough!

5) 300

Not the prettiest game on this list but definitely one of the better ones! One person plays as the Spartans and the other as the Persians. Fight over 7 rounds and if the Spartans achieve 100 Glory points they win, if not....it's a Persian party! This game is fun WHOEVER you play as. Under-rated game!

4) Battle Ball

The only football game in my collection and it's a beaut! I love playing this game every time I bring it to the table. And the games are usually close. Easy to teach and a ton of fun!

3) Queen's Gambit

My board game group would rank this #1 I think. This game about Episode 1 of Star Wars is mind-blowingly fun! I both love and hate my friend Brian for showing it to me in the first place. I had to spend a several shiny pennies on it but it was worth every cent!

2) Space Hulk

Aliens the board game really. You can stretch the rules to allow 3 to play but it's really the space marines vs the aliens and I've never had a game go by that I didn't enjoy!

1) Strat-o-matic Baseball

This should come as no surprise. My favorite board game of all time just happens to be a 2-player game as well. Though I haven't played it with 2 players in over 2 decades! LOVE LOVE LOVE this game! Even though my season ended a few months ago, I already want to play it again!

Top 5 Board Game bling I want!

There's very few games I pimp out with "board game bling" but if I were to have a little extra money to burn, I'd surely spend it on these:

5)  Deluxe tokens for Francis Drake would look nice in the game though cubes do well, the quality of the barrels really outshines everything else. One day this may be worth getting because those canons look sweet!

4) Chest tokens for the game Descent would really make this game pop! The beautiful artwork and minis would benefit from having such bling!

3) Catan deluxe bits would be nice too. I've looked at these a few times but never pulled the trigger on them but there's always been something better to spend my money on. I do love me some Catan, and these token would only increase that love!

2) The (out of print) Spartacus Game Mat. I have no idea why I didn't get this back when it came out. now it's near impossible to find and for it to be one of my favorite games of all time, it hurts I didn't pick this up the moment it came out.

1) These BEAUTIFUL tokens for Grand Austria Hotel are always on my wish list every year. I ALMOST got them last year but held off. If I can avoiding buying games for a while, I'll reward myself and get them around X-mas. SO nice looking!

Anamaniacs Review

Finally finished watching one of the best cartoons of the 90's! I couldn't believe how funny and adult the jokes were in this series. It holds up well over time, I'm happy to say! So real quick, let me go through the worst and best cartoons in the series to watch:

The Worst:

 Mindy and Buttons

Repetitive to the end. Mindy escapes, Buttons chases her, she ends back at her home safe and sound and Buttons gets blamed for something he didn't do by her parents. That's EVERY EPISODE! They even recycle the same jokes over and over, which makes you want to beat your head against the wall! Skip these cartoons.

 Rita and Runt

There is NO humor here either. Just songs and music as these two travel the world and get into trouble. Great to fall asleep to, hard to find something to laugh at. Skip it.

Katie Kaboom

I had no idea she had her own cartoons. I thought they were just shorts. But turns out she got a few episodes here and there. Terribly boring as it plays out the same joke over and over again. Teenage girls throw tantrums. That's what we're supposed to laugh at every time. I think maybe some of the writers at the WB had teenagers they wanted to pick on so they made this cartoon as an inside joke. A joke which flops out of the gate.

Hit and Miss Cartoons

 Chicken Boo

He wear a disguise to look like human guys but he's not a man he's a chicken boo. A hilarious cartoon that has the same plot just a different situation. It cracked me up every time due to the ridiculous nature of the toon. May not be everyone's cup of tea but the cartoons are short and give you a little smile each time they come on.

 Cartoon Shorts

Good Idea/Bad Idea isn't that funny. Worthless Facts is funny as is Dot's Poetry Corner but the kid who tells stories about Randy Beaman's family is HILARIOUS!!! These shorts are hit or miss but not bad overall.

Best Cartoons

 Yakko, Wakko and Dot

The title characters of the cartoon aren't 100% on delivering the "funnies" but when they're on, they have some brilliant episodes. Yakko's songs, Wakko's Burps are amoung the most entertaining toons in the whole series. In the span of 99 episodes, these characters chase after woman, travel through time, meet 90's celebs, Satan and recognize Jesus as the meaning of Christmas. (not joking, they actually had an episode on it) These characters are extremely lovable and I wish the WB would consider bringing them back out of the water tower. In today's society that's filled with people easily offended, the Warners would thrive in such an enviroment!

 Goodfeathers

A simple rift on the movie "Good Fellas" but I LOVE it! SO GOOD! Especially if you enjoyed the movie which they rift off of. My favorite part of the cartoons is that every time it starts off with the phrase from the movie "Ever since I can remember..." I didn't realize this as a kid and now that I have, it made me love the toon even more!

 Pinky and the Brain

I don't think it's any surprise to know this was one of the best cartoons in the entire series. The studio knew it too because they made a spin off cartoon from them. (which I'm currently watching now) They shine above the rest in the series.

Overall, Anamaniacs is well worth your time if you were considering watching it again. It's well worth your time!

Avengers Comic Review

Well it's been a long trip but I finally finished all the Avengers comics in my collection. Dating back as far as 1981 there were some memorable moments:

 Get a load of Spiderman's comment about his fellow team mate "Starfox" and his "Love touches" Not surprising to see Starfox and his love touches have been quietly buried in Avengers history.

 Well said Beast!

 Look at these lovely Kree guards playing Gin while waiting to take over the Earth...cause you know, that's what alien races love doing to kill their spare time.

I LOVE how the Avengers membership card not only comes with a live video feed but a handy dandy calculator as well! (I'm guessing to calculate tips?!)

Darn skippy Captain Marvel! If Trump had been in charge of this party, he would have made this comic great again!

 What's great about this is that they never reveal what was going on in the next panel. Gotta love it!

 Hey Hawkeye! What's that you're reading? That "H" on his head must stand for "Horndog"

Overall, this comic series was extremely boring. ZERO character development. The heroes kept changing every 6 issues due to things going on in their own series which were never revealed but mentioned at the bottom of the page "Check out Iron Man #222 to see what Tony means!)

They just brought these characters together to sell comics. Nothing was that heartfelt or impactful. They constantly rotated A-listers with D-Listers because they thought the comic would sell regardless. Though it was evident when sales lagged because one (or more) of the Big Heroes would step back in to sell more comics!

Even when Bendis took over the series later on it wasn't that much better. Shockingly I place this series among the worst ones I've read so far. Don't bother wasting your time reading them.