The Lanfir Remnants

 Abilities: Cannot get relics. Explore 3 planets you control instead. Use shards to sub in for tech requirements. When winning in combat explore one of your planets again. 

Flagship: End of turn, explore one planet you control. 

An interesting concept about exploring but one I ultimately find useless if you can't gain relics. Using shards for tech upgrades is interesting though. Theoretically you could gain certain tech faster than other but then again, that never interested me that much in the first place. 

Though I love exploration races, this one isn't for me. 

The L'Tokk Khrask

 Abilities: Votes are counted with resources not influence on the planets you control. +1 to resources on planets you control, during bombardment instead of applying hits, add more troopers to battle. 

Flagship: During battle 2 non-fighter ships are given Sustain Damage ability

Overall this race doesn't appear that interesting though to be honest there are a few things here I like. +1 on planet resources is great. You can build a lot that way. Also you'd be covered in battle with your flagship making it harder to be defeated. 

Again, overall I'm not too impressed with them. But I don't doubt anyone would be happy to have them if given in random selection. 

The Kyro Sodality

 Abilities: When taking 3 action, gain 2 troops and place them anywhere you control. During combat, attack them in ground battle before they invade (once)

Flagship: Produce one troop on planet your at (if you control it) 

Another trooper based race and the first I've seen in this expansion so far. The only thing I find interesting with them is the ability to battle on the ground before an invasion. Which means, anyone who tries to take planets from you better come well prepared with ground troops. I like that. 

And even though this wouldn't be a race I'd like to play with, I can certainly lean in on that strategy to win. 

The Kortali Tribunal

 Abilities: When taking 6 action, take the primary instead of the secondary. During invasion you're leading, assign one hit and one army before invasion. 

Flagship: After battle, damage your ship to get one command token. 

Oooooooh....I love this one too. One of my favorite strategy cards is 6. With this race, I don't have to worry about grabbing it and could still use it each round (because 6 is ALWAYS chosen by someone in our games) Plus an extra command token for damaging my own flagship which will repair end of the round? YEP! I'm all in on this one!

The Monks of Kolume

 Abilities: Space cannons and 3 non-fighter ships have Space Cannon tech and can fire once per round when it isn't your turn. Never re-distribute your command tokens but gain 1 when you pass. Spend 1 command token as an tech upgrade action.

Flagship: Hits from space cannon action cannot be canceled. 

The flagship and most of the abilities are ho-hum. Space Cannon race. Got it. Not interested. BUT then you talk about the action where they can receive tech upgrades as actions....I'm in. We haven't reviewed a "tech" savvy race yet and this one is excellent. Currently my #1 as I run down all the species for you here. 

That's it for this week but I'll be back next week with plenty more folks, stay tuned! 

The Kollecc Society

 

Special Ability: When producing units, keep 2 on your player board and distribute them out at any time to a planet you control. Look at top of all exploration decks and relic deck at the beginning of your turn. 

Flagship: When retreating "capture" your fleet. 

Interesting race. Knowing what planets to hit first and get the max benefit from them appeals to me. And I really like "capturing" your pieces and laying them out anywhere on the board you control. Since I'm the only one I've ever seen retreat in this game, this race would really only benefit me, but I believe others in my gam group would love to have some of these special abilities in the game as well and would play as them if given the opportunity. 

Berserkers of Kjalengard

 Special Abilities: Place "glory" token on battlefield after win and research one ship upgrade, redeploy up to 4 fighter/army units per glory token on board when you "pass" Battles with a glory token on it where a "10" is rolled get +1 hit on opponents

Flagship: After 1st round, return 2 destroyed units back on the board

Warrior race. Love the idea of glory tokens and the power they bring you, but how many there are and once deployed do they stay there forever? Those are questions I'm still looking at. You do have to spend a strategy token when upgrading a ship but still, it's a pretty good ability. Another one my gaming group will go ga-ga for while myself will just make do with what I have if ever put in the position to play as them.

The Augurs of Ilyxum

Special Ability: Look at the next objective card that will be revealed in the next round. 

Flagship: Roll Extra die equal to the number of Secret Objectives completed. 

The flagship one is good. I'd take advantage of that a lot. And the actual rule for their ability is ANY objective card but you'd most likely want to take a gander at the upcoming one and have the advantage of achieving it before anyone else. 

I've talked to a few of my friends about this race and we all agree, its a pretty cool concept. Giving someone inside information each round makes the game that much more interesting. As you're making moves and EVERYONE is watching. You can also "sell" your information to others at a cost too I'd imagine. 

The possibilities of playing with this species is endless. 
 

The Gledge Union

 Special Ability: Place "core tokens" on certain planets to give the 2 production (not Mecatol Rex) Gain 1 trade good when exploring planets instead of the card reward. 

Flagship: +1 dice rolled for each mech in or next to that system.

WOW. This is a good explorer race! Gaining a trade instead of a card you really don't want/need would be great. The Core tokens give the planet some value though the "influence" goes to zero. I wouldn't mind having this race in the game. And its surely a "mech" race too. The extra dice would be great to have in combat. 

Very well rounded race!

The Ghoti Wayfarers

 Special and Flagship Ability: You don't have a "home planet" your Flagship is your home planet and the place you can do "production" on wherever its located on the board. 

What this means is NO ONE can ever stop you from obtaining Objectives in the game. SUPER helpful for me because everyone's strategy lately to stop me has been to go after my home planet and prevent me from scoring any objectives. 

This would make me upstoppable and I think I'd win every time. Definitely one that would be overlooked by others but not me. Perfect for my gameplay.  

The Ghemina Raiders

Special Abilities: Get 2 Flasgships and 2 Heroes. Get +2 in combat if only 2 vessels in your fleet. 

Flagship: If structure destroyed in same system as flagship, gain 1 trade good. 

What a boring Flagship ability. Really Worthless. But I guess it's to offset the super powerful "rule of two" they have for combat. And since heroes are some of the strongest actions on them, I guess that's pretty good too. 

I think this is one I could work well with since I rarely carry large fleets on my own. I'm wondering if the same can be said of other species from people who play the game. For example, whoever designed this race, has a similar style to mine and made a race that fits that gamestyle. 

Either way, all of these races are impressive.  
 

The Free Systems Compact

 Special Ability: Use one undiscovered planets resources each phase. Each action produce up to 2 ships on any planet you control. 

Flagship: +1 for battle within a planet with a single trait.

This is another neat mix up for what I would consider a "warrior" race. Another one that my gaming group is going to enjoy but I'm lukewarm over. Producing ships everywhere is nice sure, but it seems to me you'll also need to be expanding you fleet every phase in order to reap the benefit of their abilities. 

But I'm sure the rest of my group won't see it like that at all. 

The Florzen Profiteers

 Special Ability: Remove 2 fighters from your fleet and allow another player in combat to receive those fighters. When getting relics, get 2 cards and choose one. When exploring planets choose which colors you want them to be. 

Flagship: Other players are unable to play action cards against you in combat. 

Another powerful race in my opinion. The ability to choose which cards you get during an explore action and which relic can be a game changer. Not being able to play action cards against their flagship in battle is amazing. 

This is another race myself and everyone else would love to play as. Pretty powerful abilities in this one as well.  

The Edyn Mandate

 

Special Ability: As an action each "Action Phase" you may resolve a primary objective and a secondary objective of a lesser value. You can also predict the outcome of a vote and win a command token if correct. 

Flagship: +1 to battle for each law  in effect. 

I think this may be the most powerful race I've spoken about yet. The ability to take 2 Primary Strategy Actions in one phase is epic. I also like the Flagship getting stronger with each law that is elected. I know for a fact people will fight over this one if given the chance to choose. I won't lie, that's me included!

Super good race!

The Dih-Mohn Flotilla

 Special Ability: They get to explore one planet next to a tile they've just explored that turn. Destroyers count for 1/2 a ship in armada. 

Flagship: When moved, produce ships with a cost of 4 or less.

This is going to be a wildly popular race for my group. With lower Destroyer counts and the ability to multiply their armada on the go, this race is geared to having the biggest fleet in the game. 

I'm not much of a warrior race guy and building an army isn't my thing, but I can see the advances they've set forth here. The thing about gathering extra exploration cards on a turn is interesting in that you'd probably find more artifacts in the game than usual. (like 2 or 3) 

I'm guessing the strategy here would be to put as many token in your fleet supply so that your army can continue to grow. And interesting species to be sure. 

Have a good weekend folks! 

The Savages of Cymiae

Special Ability: Whenever they draw action cards, they may draw from the discard pile. 

Flagship: When they win a battle they take one of their opponents action cards. 

This was one of the first races I read about when I first discovered news of the game. An "action card" race that's very interesting and I think would be very popular with my group. The only thing about drawing from the discard pile for them is they purge the card from the game afterwards so as not to pick the same one over and over again.

I love that. With so many great action cards out there their power would grow over time but not be too powerful because by then (probably) the game would end. Another interesting species created by this group.  

The Cheiran Hordes

 Special Abilities: You start with 2 extra dreadnaughts you can produce for free. When you win in a defensive battle you can produce one non-fighter unit and mechs can count as "structures" to achieve objectives in the game. 

I feel that this is a species (that looks awesome by the way) was tinkered with a lot until someone finally said "Ok, I think that's enough things to add to this race now, we can stop."

It's a hodge-podge list of abilities that aren't bad but nothing to make them stand out in any one category when you look at them as a whole. 

Flagship: Rolls an additional die if next to or on one of your structures. 

Interesting, this is a "defensive" powered race? I'm not sure but it seems that may be what they're trying to define this species as but it's still a little unclear. 

HOWEVER, this race is right up my alley! I hardly ever start a battle and am usually the defender in the ones I am. This race would benefit my style of play over others. And though it's not the best race I've discussed so far, it's certainly one I could work with. 

The Celdauri Trade Confederation

 Special Ability: Space Docks receive anti-fire barrage even from one space away. 

Flagship: Can use "production" through another players "captured" Space dock. 

And here we have a "space dock" race. Anti-fire barrage is interesting. It'll surely help you in guarding the planets you feel are most important. The ability to produce on someone else's space dock is interesting too yet I'm not sure how often that would happen in an actual game. 

That being said, this is one that I wouldn't want to play with. I feel there's not enough there to make it worth my while. Of course if randomly selected, I would try my best and I love how someone attempted to make space docks more relative to a race but this species doesn't sound like its for me. 

See you with another later today! 

The Bentor Conglomerate

 Special and Flagship Ability: Every time you explore a planet gain one commodity. And when discover you first Green/Red/Blue/Black fragment your flagship becomes more powerful. 

This is VERY interesting! An explorer based race that lets you stock up on commodities. Making "5" a great action to get after a while because you stand to get a lot of trade if next to other players. BUT searching for one of each shard in order to make your flagship more powerful?

That's what makes things interesting to me. 

Amazing that fans were this insightful when coming up with unique never before seen abilities like this. Yet another I'm interested in trying out. 

See you tomorrow with more folks!

The Shipwrights of Axis

 Special Abilities: They can spend their commodities to pay for cards within a private deck called "Axis cards" which carry various special one time abilities in the game. 

It's interesting because they don't need to trade with anyone and can also receive specific benefits related to their goals. 

Flagship Ability: When they sustain damage they can repair another ship within that zone. 

Another interesting ability in that you can repair a dreadnaught during the battle which may lead to a much needed victory in close battles. 

Nothing too powerful here but enough to make them an interesting species to play. 

I'll be back with more later today! 

Discordant Stars

 The order for this fan-made expansion has been put in but won't be available to me until later this summer. But until then, I thought I'd break down each new species and give my thoughts on each one. 

Yeah I know what you're thinking. Months or TI4 related posts???

I agree. Awesomesauce. 

The Final Blog Post

 Well folks, it's been a good run. I opened this blog years ago while blogs were going out of style. While people moved on the MySpace and later to Facebook, I remained faithful in the desolate land of Blogs. 

But the time has finally come to say goodbye to the blog! I've had a great time over the years having my own little space to post my random thoughts. And to the few who've faithfully been checking my posts every day, I thank you. 

Life's getting busier and I don't really have the time to keep up with this so I'm letting this be my final post and move on. I just want to say to all of you before I leave that it's the first of month and I'll see you tomorrow with another post.  

Temu

 I don't shop there. I know people who have. I hear it's NOT a scam and that even some of the stuff they sell cheap is pretty good. 

Still...every time I go on thee to get something I stop short of actually going through with the purchase. Maybe someday I will. I have a shortlist of things I'm going to try out with them. 

Cleats, curtains and a few supplies I can use for my board games. 

Yep...just need to put in that credit card and punch it in....any minute now.....

Maybe I'll try it next month. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Bye Bye Diet!

 A few weeks ago I was finally able to hop off the diet I was tied to thanks to my doctor who didn't believe I ate healthy 10 months out of the year, only to pig out in Nov and Dec. 

I'm back in a size 36 waist but fully expect to fill back out to a 38 come end of the year. 

Sure I'd like to stay this size forever, but my body doesn't burn calories like it used to so I know it's only a matter of time before I'm back to my normal size. It won't be for trying though! I'll still be eating like I usually do. Rarely going out to eat and mainly staying with good dinners at nights but no matter how hard I work at it, my aged metabolism will eventually win. 

But for now...my skinny ass is going out for pizza!

Super Powers Toy line is back?!?

 I need to start walking back down the toy aisles because I had no idea McFarland brought these beauties back into print. 

While they look similar there are some differences which I can appreciate.  If I were rich, I'd be collecting the entire set. These were my favorite toys to play with back in the day and these and the reprints of the original line of Ninja Turtles are the only toys right now that if I had the money to burn, I'd get everyone. 

Love'em!

Now if someone can bring M.A.S.K. and M.U.S.C.L.E.S. back into production, I'll be a happy nerd!

"Brave" New App

 It protects your privacy while surfing the web but most importantly....it's faster than Chrome, Bing or Firefox because it's not taking the extra seconds to load ads or notate your internet footprint. 

I've been using it for the past month now and the difference is shocking how fast pages load for me now. 

Love it. Awesome app. Never going back to Chrome on my phone again. 

To Buy or NOT to Buy?

 Over the past year I've been bouncing back and forth on whether I should get this. I have all the expansions, I only want it for the box (which you can buy empty) to store my Zombies game in. 

On the "for" side, I'd have a majority of my collection neatly tucked away in box that would work better than the cardboard box I currently use. 

On the "against" side, it doesn't hold all the expansions so it wouldn't solve my problem completely. 

Either way, I'd never purchase this but rather trade for it. I currently still have trading credit with Noble Knight Games who has an empty collector's box on the site. I've added it into the basket on the last 2 orders but subbed it out at the last minute for something else each time. 

Once again, I have it in my basket wondering if this time I'll get it or sub it once again for another game. 

Decisions, deicsions... 

C4 Popsicle flavors

 A friend of mine suggested these to me so I thought I'd give them a try. I couldn't find the pineapple one (too bad, it sounded like the best out of the 3) but I did try the other two. 

They indeed taste like Popsicles but nothing to write home about. I gave both Cherry and Grape a try, enjoyed them, but I've had better. C4 isn't a bad drink but if I ever get another one, I'm going to try something else. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Ryse Sunny D Review

 The other flavor I bought at the same time was this. Surprisingly it was very good! Like a carbonated version of Sunny D! Not that I'm a big fan of Sunny D but it was better than any other orange flavored energy drink I've ever had!

The only one I see all the time is "Smarties" and since I hate the candy, I've never tried it. Though with Ryse being 1 for 1 at the moment, who knows. Maybe next time I'll give that flavor a try too.  

Ryse Ring Pop Review

 I pass this by all the time at the store and finally decided to give it a try. 

It's tastes awful. Like cherry flavored cough syrup. You can taste the cherry but still know it's cough syrup. 

Well with this, you can taste ring pop but it also has a strong "mineral" taste that isn't good. I avoided buying this for the longest because I don't care for Ring Pops in general but decided to give it a go and BLAH! No good. 

Shamrock Shake?

 Not sure how much longer this will stay on the menu now that St Patty's Day is over but I'm just a few days shy of being off my diet completely before I can try it. 

I should be done by the weekend so if it's still around I plan on giving it a try. I haven't had one in years and I have a few friends who love it so I'd like to see if the hype if worth it? 

So why not break my diet and try it now before it's too late?

Because I NEVER cheat on a diet!! No matter how close I am to getting off it or how successful it's been overall. (which this one has!)

Have you tried it? If so, let me know in the comments what you thought. 

The Holdovers (review)

 

After Christmas last year I've had so many people recommend this movie to me that I thought I'd try it out for myself. 

The movie is set in the early 70's about a boys school where one of the teachers is forced to stay on campus with all the kids who don't have a place to go over the holidays. 

As fate would have it, one father shows up and takes everyone with his to ski in the mountains....everyone but the only kid who's parents fail to pick up the phone and give him permission to go. 

The 2 then form a bond of the Xmas break and share some misadventures along the way. 

Overall, it's really not that bad. Though I probably wouldn't watch it again it DID hold my attention the whole way through. At first I thought about waiting until next Christmas to watch this but I'm glad I watched it now. I think I would have forgotten about it if I'd have waited. 

Worth your time if you want to give it a try. 

Happy Green Day

 I wish there was something special for me to do on this day but there isn't. 

Either way, have a good one folks!

Survivor UK 2023 (Review)

 At long last my buddy was able to get me a copy of the new season that premiered in the UK last year. 

The style is different as they went for a "younger" feel for the show. For example, a lot more ""pop" music is played in-between and during segments. Font styles of the tribes display flare and even the host Jonathan, makes side-cracks and puns throughout the show and even narrates a little in the beginning and during for adding puns and humor. 

But it never got annoying. He didn't try to be Jeff Probst he was his own person and that was refreshing as well. 

Not many "twists" in the season that we've never seen before (South Africa and Australia are better because of that) and there really was only one thing holding this show back.....the contestants. 

Not a single one had an once of "flare" in the character. They were all so one dimensional and incredibly conscious of how they looked in front of the cameras. Making  it for a rather boring season. 

In the end out of the 3 left, two were some of the most hated in the tribe because of their cockiness towards others or that they did NOTHING the entire game to make it to the end. So the easy winner was a kid who continued to make stupid moves throughout the season but at least had enough of a personality that most of the tribe liked him enough to give him the prize. 

OH! And on top of the cash reward they also received a "Winner's Necklace" which I thought was interesting.  

Overall, the UK's return to Survivor was lackluster but I'm willing to give them another season since season one of these shows just means they're trying to find their footing and pacing of the show they want. 

I'm looking forward (and hopeful for) to a Season 2. 

Santa Bowl II

 This month I'm happy to announce that field goals will be coming back!

Same rules as before. On the extra point you may kick it in or run/pass it in for the same 1 point. 

Regular field goal attempts are allowed getting the standard 3 points off a good kick. 

Really happy to have this part of the game now. Adds a new dynamic to it that I love. 

See you in the next 2 months for another update!

Memory Lane (15)

 My final memory I'll share in this series is a truly special one indeed. This was our FIRST Thanksgiving party. It took place that Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was my idea for everyone to dress up for a fancy dinner. I just wanted another Thanksgiving meal before the holiday. All the guys had to do was dress up and set up all the tables and chairs. The girls handled all the cooking and it was great. 

We only did it for 2 years until Bruce and Roger got married and moved out, but it was some of the best times I had at the apartment. I didn't even know I had these photos but I'm happy I found them now. 

If you have any old pictures, I encourage you to take the time and go back through them again. It was a treasure seeing them all again. 

Memory Lane (14)

 He I am at the SanDiego Comic Con in 2005 talking to my idol Bruce Campbell. No idea what we were talking about and no idea who took this picture but it makes me happy to have proof we shared a short conversation together as he signed a comic book he had written that year. 

Why this isn't in one of my photo albums I don't know. I plan to add it to one soon. 

Memory Lane (13)

 Here's the old slugger in rare form!!!

Actually, the ball hit me more than I hit it. But I loved the sport and still love it today. My only hope is Forest will be great at it since talent is said to "skip a generation"

If that's true, he'll be playing in the majors!

I remember my last game of the season when we were playing the #1 team to win the division. I was up to bat with 2 outs and before my bat was over, everyone had already packed up and left the dugout. (true story) No one wanted me to sit with them at the pizza party the next week either so I sat by myself until one of the assistant coaches sat with me. 

Sad day. 

But I got to play a few more seasons with Dad in a hardball league after, which made up for the bad memories this carries. 

Memory Lane (12)

 One of my oldest friends Rachel. This was the first year we met and we took pictures every year for the next 6 years until I stopped going to summer camp. 

We kept in touch through letters, then numbers and still to this day exchange Christmas cards and chat every so often. 

I'm thankful she's one of the few friends I've keep in touch with after all these years without the use of social media. (which neither of us have today!)

Have a good weekend folks!

Memory Lane (11)

 I don't know who took this picture but I love them for it. It's toys I had when I was a kid that bring back so many good memories. 

Looks like there was a wreck between Superman's space ship (which never made sense to me why he needed it) and the batmobile. (coolest toy ever)

Hawkman looks like he got run over and for some reason Spiderman decided to make a crossover appearance. But it send me back to my golden years and the hours of countless fun I had playing with these toys. 

Memory Lane (10)

 The story behind this is I once faked a video where I "stole" a golf cart from security. It was obviously staged but people who never saw the video started a rumor that I'd really done it and was the "Prank King" for years after I'd left. My legacy continued 4 years later when I returned as a councilor, the kids in my group kept asking me about all the stories about me and if they were true. I decided to take this one as a joke since that was the biggest story kids told to that day. 

And yes, I did ask permission from security to take the picture.  

Memory Lane (9)

 This was taking on our 5th year anniversary when Megan and I went diving in their salt water lagoon with a bunch of tropical fish. It's the ONLY picture of me during our stay there I think. I remember the water being freezing but after a while you got used to it. 

I may have been standing behind the glassed in shark tank in this pic but it's hard to say because I don't see any of them in the background. Megan brought an instant water proof camera for these picture. Way before the world of digital. And even today, I'm sure you'd need a special camera to take a shot like this anymore. 

 

Memory Lane (8)

 This was taken from our trip out to Washington years ago with Mom and dad. Crazy because I remember these days but don't remember taking this picture. We were all older, I may have been a senior that year but this is us at Mt Saint Helen's together. 

Other than this, I can't find any other pictures from that trip so I'm thankful I have this one. 

Diet Retcon

 Ok, after receiving my latest blood test, I was informed I could step up the process to remove myself off the diet since I've far beyond my original goal right now. So I've shortened it to only 12 more days. 

So what do I want to eat most when I get off the diet? Here's my short list:

It's a new place that opened up close to us. I don't know ANYONE who's been to it yet, but  always make an effort to try everything once, so I'll give this a go. But since it's not that busy....I'm guessing it may not impress. 

My favorite ice cream. I plan on buying one the first week I'm off

My nephew and I have an idea to make the perfect waffle mix. So once I get off, he's coming over and we're going to test out a few recipes. 

I've never had a shamrock shake before. At least not that I remember. So I guess since it'll still be around when I'm off and I'll order my "first" one then. 

Memory Lane (7)

 Yep! This was taken on Nov 1st 1993. The day after Cardco closed. I went out there and took the sign from the trash can. I laid out all the letters and took a picture with them. I still have them all with me to this day!

I'd love to string lights behind them and hang them in the garage one day. But I have to get all that junk out of it first. 

Maybe when it starts getting warmer I'll make more headway on that. 

Have a good weekend folks!