Pokemon Go

So I've been hearing about this Pokémon Go craze. I thought it was just a video game. I had no idea what it was about. I wasn't interested in Pokémon so, I just ignored it. Well, it is hard to ignore when there are so many posts on Facebook about it. Also, sitting down with your friends and they are discussing it. I eventually learned it was not a "video game" in the sense I thought it was. It is a game that you need to walk around to get it to work. As you walk around Pokémon will appear. If you have your camera active on the device running Pokémon Go it will even show the Pokémon in the location you are at by superimposing it on the view your camera is presently pointed. You then have an imaginary ball on the screen and you throw, by flicking the ball with your finger, at the Pokémon to "catch" it. If you catch it it goes into your Pokémon library called the Pokédex.

Found Pokémon

Captured Pokémon

There are other things such as upgrading your Pokémon, evolving your Pokémon, gyms to train your Pokémon, gyms to fight other people's Pokémon with your Pokémon, and even Pokéstops to get freebees (such as more Poké Balls to catch Pokémon, eggs that will hatch Pokémon, and potions). There are a lot more to the game than this but this is just the basics as I understand them.

Pokéstop

Pokémon Eggs

I needed to take a walk one evening. It was to get out and get some exercise. So, I decided to download the game since it was free. I walked around the neighborhood while waiting for alerts from my iPhone that a Pokémon was nearby. Pretty soon, I started to find Pokémon and capture them. This actually caused me to walk further and longer than I planned to do; which is actually a good thing. I caught a total of thirteen Pokémon during that walk.

Some Pokémon I found while walking.

I think it is a neat idea that people are getting out to "catch" Pokémon. That is a good point. They are actually getting out of their home, having fun, and getting some exercise. The bad point is that I hear people talk about this being a game to get out and socialize or something like that. I haven't seen it. The people I've seen playing it and seeing them on the internet all just have their head down looking at their device. They are in their own little world captivated by the screen. This is one of the problems I have with a lot of video games. People just sit at home (or walk around in this case) and play a solo game. I guess they could play MMO or something like that but they aren't really "socializing" with other people. They may talk with them over the internet but they are missing that in-person connection that can turn a fun experience into a exciting experience. It appears they are playing Pokémon solo and so am I.

Heads down looking for Pokémon.

Also, I have started to hear that people are trying to play this while driving. I don't even need to go into how crazy that is. It's just a game folks!

PPGWD - Playing Pokemon Go While Driving

Hopefully, in future updates, they will include ways to interact with other people playing the game. Maybe a notice that goes out that in a certain location, such as a park, there is a special Pokémon or equipment there. Somehow the people there have to work together to capture it or some other way for people to have to get together, actually meet each other, plan, and talk with each other to get the "prize."

Hopefully a group capture of Pokémon is in the future.

However, right now, it is a good thing to see that this is causing people leave their home and move around their neighborhood or to even visit other parts of their town/city. This includes them visiting landmarks that are in their town/city. I think this is a positive and hope other games will be more like this.

Probably wouldn't have walked here without Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go kind of reminds me of the time I was part of a scavenger hunt that you had to go to a certain location in my city to get a clue to where the second location in the city had the next clue. You went to that second location and there was a clue to the third location you needed to go to to get a clue where the fourth location is. Finally, the last clue will tell you where the "finish line" was. Generally, that was where the party was located.

We finished the scavenger hunt.

So, overall I am having fun with this game. It is definitely different and is giving me something to do while I'm walking. I just walk and pretty soon my iPhone tells me a Pokémon is nearby and I capture it. It is then added to my Pokédex. I am not sure about selling the Pokémon to the Professor or about powering up/evolving my Pokémon. That may come later. Right now, I'm just enjoying the surprise of which Pokémon will appear and then capturing it. Gotta catch 'em all I tell you. Talk to you later because right now I'm heading out to catch more Pokémon. I wonder which ones I will find this time?

My First War Game Campaign

I have never really played in a war game campaign. I specified war game because I have played campaigns in role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and Castles and Crusades. This time I joined a war game campaign for Team Yankee. The people running the campaign aren't even in the same city that I am located in. They are about 180 miles away from me. However, there are two of us in my city and we decided to play in their campaign. There really won't be that many pictures for this blog. This is more my thoughts about being in a war game campaign for the first time.

The idea of the present campaign is based upon the Soviet Union invading West Germany in 1985. The campaign is using Google Maps to help us get a feel for the area. Then, we design the war gaming table to try to "match" the map as shown below.


This was interesting because I would never had designed a layout like this for a game. There are a line of hills to the right, a line of woods running down the middle of the table, some other woods on the left side of the table. This made the game feel really different than normal. That was one of the changes that made campaign play interesting. It isn't going to be your normal set-up. You may have more hills and woods than you are used to playing. This causes you to change how you deploy and maneuver your forces.

Another change is the amount of points you have to spend on your force. A normal game of Team Yankee is 100 points. In this campaign, the leaders of both sides (NATO and Warsaw) get bonus points to spend throughout the campaign. Each side received around 200 points to allocate out to their "generals" for the whole campaign. The most that can be given out to one general per game is 25 points. So, this could mean I could receive a bonus of 25 points for an important game (such as trying to secure a bridge) but the next game receive no bonus points. There are only so many bonus points to be given and the leader has to be careful when and where to allocate them. So, each game session I never know if I'm going to receive any bonus points or not. This could be bad because I could receive 0 bonus points but my opponent may have been given 25 bonus points by their leader. The leaders for each side also don't know how the other leader is allocating the points. You just never know what you will receive.

You also receive "bonus" forces given by the person in charge of the campaign. I am always given a bonus of off-board artillery. I may also receive bonus helicopters and strike aircraft, but those are not guaranteed. To be able to use the off-board artillery I need to roll a 4, 5, or 6 on a six-sided die at the start of my turn. If successful, I get to use them that turn. If not successful, I do not get to use them that turn. The helicopters are normally given and available from turn one. I only get the strike aircraft on certain turns and the campaign briefing for the week tells me how many I receive and which turns they are available for use. For example, I may get 2 strike aircraft as a bonus to my force. However, they only will be available on turn 2, 3, and 5. I don't get to use those bonus strike aircraft any other turns. However, I do not roll to get them as they are automatically available for the turn indicated. So, each week I never know what "bonus" things or points I will receive for my game until it is the week of that game. Here is an example of the map and bonus artillery, helicopters, and strike aircraft I received for this game:

Defense of Mittelaschenbach

Hill 247

Date: August 4, 1985
Time: 1612
Situation: Soviet Advance Guard comes into contact with the US main defensive belt.
Mission: Free For All
Soviets top of picture.
US bottom of picture
Points: 100 each side

Soviet Off-Board Units
Carnation x 6 w/ Observer or BM-21 Hail x 6 w/ Observer (pp 51-56; 95-96) PRE-PLOT!!!
Aircraft – (pp 18, 23, 39, 44, 48, 96)
Turns 2, 4, 5, & 6 = x 3 Su-25s each
Helicopters – (pp 18, 39, 42, 44 71, 97)
Turn 1 x 3 Hinds

*If you have minefields in the mission you may use them. Do not count Off-Board units. Only your List.


Then, I also receive information from my leader about how many bonus points I receive. One of them looked like this:
". . . we have make great strides against the West, but we cannot rest on our proverbial laurels. Our plan was to strike fast and strike hard and we have done this. Now we must expand the "liberation front". We will not have as many resources as we did in the initial push and NATO is reorganizing even as we speak. Therefore, your orders are: . . .  Tavarish Tracy will secure the crossroads town of Hunfeld. This is a critical crossroads so an additional 25 points are to be used in this effort . . . Let us drive to victory my brothers!"
(This was not the whole message but I didn't want info from the rest of the message getting to my opponents. Top secret stuff and all. ;) )

The last thing about playing in a campaign is time. You have to make sure you can make the commitment each week to play a game. This is becoming more difficult for me because I am trying to start a business and that is taking up a lot of my extra time I have available to play. Luckily, this campaign only lasts six weeks. So, if you are going to play in a campaign make sure you can commit to the time needed. Nobody likes joining a campaign and then partway through it someone quits.

So, my experience with playing in my first war game campaign has been educational. I have learned to play on different "battlefields" than I am normally used to. A huge hill might be in the middle of the table, woods might make line of sight more difficult, and where you deploy is chosen for you. Also, the amount of points you are allowed may change. You always get 100 points but may also receive bonus points from your leader. Your opponent on the other hand may receive none. In the normal game you both play with equal points. However, in a campaign that may not be true. Finally, I have to keep in mind that I have to play the games for the campaign. When I joined the campaign I knew I would have to play every week. The campaign being only six weeks long makes that much easier.

My Adventure of Adding Detachable Mine Clearing Devices to my Team Yankee Tanks

I decided to add the mine clearing devices to my tanks. I mean it wasn't very expensive. It cost one point for up to three tanks in one unit.


However, there was a problem. I didn't want the mine clearing devices to be permanently fixed on the tanks. I wanted to be able to take them off, if needed, without damaging the tanks. Then, if needed, be able to reattach them. I kept wondering how I could do this?

At first, I thought about magnets. However, the hulls and the top of the tanks are glued together. So, I couldn't very well attach magnets inside the tank. Therefore, that idea was eliminated.

Then, I thought about putty. Kind of like the poster putty you use to hang up paper on the wall without doing any damage or maybe use Silly Putty. However, I thought the putty would show on the tanks. Also, I wasn't sure about the strength of the putty to keep the mine clearing devices on the tanks as the tanks were moved around the battle field.


Next, I tried PVA glue. I thought it would be strong enough to hold the mine clearing devices on the tanks. I also thought it would hold-up to the tanks being moved around and the mine clearing devices would stay on with little or no problem. Well, I put the glue on the mine clearing device, attached it to the hull of the tank, held it there for a bit to let the glue set, let go, and . . . the mine clearing device fell off. I tried again and the same result. The PVA glue wouldn't hold the mine clearing device to the hull of the tank. Back to the drawing board.


Aha! I figured it out. I would use the double sided tape. I went and got it from my supplies with a smile on my face. Brought it back to the table and cut off a strip about the width of the hull. Attached it to the hull where the mine clearing devices would be placed. Grabbed the first mine clearing device. I carefully placed it in the correct location on the hull. Pressed it onto the tape, held it for a second to make sure this is the proper place, and then let go. Success. The mine clearing device was stuck to the hull. With a smile on my face getting larger I touched the mine clearing device to test how well the tape was going to hold the mine clearing device to the tank. The smile quickly vanished as I barely touched the mine clearing device it just fell off the tape. I picked it up and reattached it to the tape, touched it again, and the same result. The double sided tape was a failure. Now, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to find any way to attach them to the tank that was not permanent?


The next day an idea came to me. I have a hot glue gun. Could I put hot glue on the tank without melting the plastic? If it won't melt it can I remove the hot glue without harming the model? If all that was going to be ok could it hold the mine clearing device to the hull of the tank and be strong enough that the mine clearing device wouldn't come off during regular game play? Time to test it and see.


I took one of the tank and used a toothpick to transfer the hot glue to the bottom of the tank.



I let it cool down. After it was cool it was time to see if it hurt the model. I looked and the the plastic seemed fine. Good. Now can I remove the glue without harming the model? I pulled the glue off and checked the model where the glue was originally located. I saw no damage to the model. Ok, so far so good. The last hurdle to clear was the strength test. Would the glue be strong enough to hold the mine clearing device in place and hold it in place through regular game play?


I got some glue from the hot glue gun onto a toothpick as before. Instead of putting the glue on the hull of the tank I put it on the mine clearing device where it would attach to the hull.


Before it could cool too much I placed it on the hull in the proper location. One of the nice things about the hot glue is that before it cools too much you can adjust the mine clearing device some so it will be in the proper location and correct the orientation. I then let it go. It held in place. But I have been down this road before. Now the big test is coming up.


After the glue has cooled I grabbed the mine clearing device in my fingers and wriggled it. The mine clearing device was held on with the glue. It had a little bit of give to it but I know it will not come off unless I pulled it off or maybe if it falls to the floor. The bond seems to be strong enough for what I was trying to accomplish.


I then pulled the mine clearing device off and removed the glue. I doubly checked to make sure no damage was inflicted. There was none.


I then proceeded to attach the mine clearing devices to the nine tanks that would have them.


Now I have the mine clearing devices attached and ready for play. If I change my list and I don't want the mine clearing devices or less tanks will have them I can remove the mine clearing devices. If I need to reattach them I can use the hot glue and they will be back on and ready to get those annoying mines out of the way. Sometimes you know there is a way to solve a problem, but you can't seem to come up with a solution. The idea is not to give up. The solution will eventually come to you.

As always, have a good game.

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Tanks - My Thoughts on Soviet Tactics

In my previous blog I discussed tactics of the USA in the game Tanks The WWII Tank Skirmish Game.


In this blog, I'm going to discuss the tactics of the Soviets. I have played a couple of games being the Soviets. That experience has been different than my experience playing the USA. That's what prompted me to write the two blogs about the tactics. I definitely felt I had to play the two countries differently. Where the USA wants to move a lot, as discussed in the previous blog, Soviets can move or sit still.

The Soviet national rule is called Coordinated Fire. The rule states "If this tank shoots at a target that friendly tank within one Measuring Stick shot at earlier in the phase, it becomes" +1 attack. Basically, if this tank shoots at an enemy tank that one of its friendly tanks has already shot at and it is within one arrow length of that tank, this tank will receive one bonus die on its attack roll.


For example, if the SU-100 decides it is going to shoot at a Sherman. It has six attack dice.


However, since it has Coordinated Fire we need to see if it is within one measuring stick of a friendly tank that has already shot this turn and that shot was taken at the same Sherman target. The IS-2 already shot this turn and it shot at the Sherman.


This allows the SU-100 to gain a bonus die on its attack roll against the Sherman. So now the SU-100 will fire at the Sherman with seven dice, not six. Therefore, the white die below would not have normally be given to the attack roll of the SU-100, but Coordinated Fire added it.



So, this is going to affect how the Soviets will feel in the game. When I play the Soviets they generally move together in a herd. Unlike the USA, where each tank can go its own way, the Soviets lose their extra attack dice if they don't stay together.


Pretty simple. Not quite. The Soviet's Achilles' heel is their initiative. Most of their tanks have initiative four or below. So, that means that Soviets will generally have to move first and shoot last. This allows the opponent to see where the Soviet tanks end their movement and place their tanks where it limits how many Soviet tanks can shoot them. Thus, this limits the bonus attack dice the Soviets receive from Coordinated Fire.

However, the Soviet tanks do have some advantages. Most of the Soviet tanks have armor two. That is pretty good. That bonus die on defense helps them survive more hits.


Also, most of the Soviet tanks have six or higher damage capacity. This allows the Soviet tanks to take a little more damage than most other countries' tanks can tolerate.


Another advantage Soviet tanks have is attack dice. Most Soviet tanks have five or six attack dice when they fire. If you use Coordinated Fire that range increases to six or seven attack dice. Pretty potent amount of attack dice.


So how do you play the Soviets? My experience has been that they stay together and constantly move to finally corner the opponent. The opponent is going to move around and use terrain to limit the number Soviet tanks that can shoot at one tank. The Soviets basically try to pick one target and unload their attacks on that target. Receiving bonus dice for every tank that shoots that target after the first Soviet tank has shot can dramatically increase the damage inflicted.

This is not easy. The Soviet's initiative means they are moving first. So you generally move your tanks to try to corner the opponents tanks to be able to take them out later in the game. Your Soviet tanks are going to be hit early in the game. However, Soviet tanks have good armor and damage capacity to soak-up those early hits.

From my experience, once you start to be able to hit the opponent's tanks with Coordinated Fire, later in the game, the opponent's tanks start to be taken out. Yeah, your tanks are damaged, but your tanks are built to take it. In addition, each time you move you gain an additional defense die. So, that means you will be rolling at least three dice for defense before adding dice for opponent's movement and terrain. I am even thinking about just moving twice in a turn to get up on the opponent quickly and start the cornering of their tanks. This will allow four defense dice on rolls before any other modifiers.

Also, some of your tanks have Heavy Tank rule. Which states "Do not subtract any Defense dice when this tank is the target of a side shot." So, even if the enemy gets close they will drop your defense by one die for being within one arrow length but not another defense die for a side shot. This allows the Soviet tanks to have a little bit more to help them survive.


So, if you play Soviets, in general, don't worry too much about taking damage early in the game. Your tanks have good defense and a lot of damage capacity. Once, you start cornering the opponent's tanks your attack dice will start to eliminate their tanks pretty quickly. So, don't get frustrated early in the game. Know you are going to be outmaneuvered and be hit early, but you will finally get in there and start to lay-on the massive damage that your Coordinated Fire can unload on the opponent's tanks.

Another thing to consider is upgrades and crews. It might be advantageous for Soviet players to gain cards that increase their initiative. Just a point or two on a tank's initiative can help it move after the some of the opponent's tanks and shoot before they do. Cost wise I'm not sure if it will be worth it or not, but is a thought of how to spend those extra points if you have them.

One problem I do have with the Coordinate Fire ability though is one of its limitations as compared to other nations' special abilities. USA's Gung Ho, Germany's Blitzkrieg, and Britain's Semi-Indirect Fire do have an advantage over the Soviets' national rule in one respect. If the Soviets are down to one tank the Coordinated Fire is useless. USA, Germany, and Britain can still use their country specific rule even if they are down to one tank.

As always, have a good game.

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Tanks - My Thoughts on USA Tactics

So, I've now played a few games of Tanks The World War II Tank Skirmish Game by GaleForce 9.


I have really enjoyed this game. It is a complete departure from games like this I'm used to. Mainly, Team Yankee and Flames of War. However, it is a game made by the same company that does make Team Yankee and Flames of War.


My main experience of the game Tanks is going to be from the USA and Soviet side. I have not played Germany or Britain but have played against them. Therefore, since I haven't played either of those countries I am going to limit my discussion to my thoughts abut how USA and Soviets play in Tanks.

Let's start with the USA. Their national special rule is called "Gung Ho." The rule states "Treat this tank as making one less Move than shown on its Speed token when calculating its target's Defence dice."


In the game of Tanks when you move a tank it is harder for that tank to get an accurate shot on the opponent's tank. If you stand still you have a better chance of damaging your target. So, why not just stand still? Well, if you move it is harder to damage your tank when the opponent shoots at it. For example, if I have a tank with one armor. That means I receive one die to roll for defense to nullify successful hits made by my opponent against that tank. If I move one movement arrow's worth my tank will receive another bonus die to roll to nullify successful hits. If I move two movement arrows worth my tank will receive two bonus dice to roll to nullify successful hits. Most tanks can only move two arrows a turn. Therefore, if I move one arrow worth I receive one die from my armor and one die for movement. This will allow me to roll two dice to nullify successful hits against my tank.


The amount of movement the attacker did that turn is bonus dice the defender receives for trying to nullify successful hits. So, anytime you move and/or the opponent moves is the amount of bonus dice the defender receives. The number of dice used in the attack generally never changes in the game (unless some rule or effect changes it). So, if your tank has five attack dice you are normally going to roll five dice to attack with this tank the whole game.

Let's say a Panther is going to shoot at a Sherman (75mm). The Panther gets five attack dice.


The Panther player rolls those five dice. The Panther player is gong to keep any die that roll four, five, or six. The Panther player rolled this:


Three dice are four or higher so the Panther had three successful hits against the Sherman. The Sherman gets to roll his defense. The Sherman has an armor of one. So that means the Sherman will roll one defense die.


But the defense roll can be modified. Remember, the attacker's dice generally never change. Instead, you change the amount of defense dice. Did the Sherman move? Yes, it moved one movement arrow. Since, the Sherman moved one that means it receives one more die to its defense roll. Now the Sherman is up to two dice.

Next, did the attacker move? Yes, the Panther also moved one movement arrow. This will add one more die to the Sherman's defense roll. So, the Sherman will receive one bonus defense die from the Panther. This means the Sherman will roll three defense dice to try to nullify successful hits the Panther just made. These are not all the modifiers, but I just wanted to keep the example simple.


Now, let's reverse the scenario and say a Sherman (75mm) is going to shoot at a Panther. The Sherman gets four attack dice.


The Sherman player rolls those four dice. The Sherman player is gong to keep any dice that roll four, five, or six. The Sherman player rolled this


Two dice are four or higher so the Sherman had two successful hits against the Panther. The Panther gets to roll his defense. The Panther has an armor of two. So that means the Panther will roll two defense dice.


But remember the defense roll can be modified. Did the Panther move? Yes, it moved one movement arrow. Since, the Panther moved one that means it receives one more die to its defense roll. Now the Panther is up to three defense dice.

Next, did the attacker move? Yes, the Sherman also moved one movement arrow. This will add one more die to the Panther's defense roll. NO! This is where the USA special rule comes into play. The USA have the special rule Gung Ho. So, we subtract one from the Sherman's movement it made that turn to see how many defense dice the Panther will receive from the Sherman's movement. 1 - 1 = 0. So, the Panther will not receive any bonus defense dice from the Sherman. This is how the USA special rule works. It allows defense dice for the Sherman when it moves but gives one less defense die to the target of its attack than it would normally give. So, the white die below would have normally be given to the defense roll of the Panther, but Gung Ho removes it.


With the Gung Ho rule it generally never hurts the USA tanks to move one movement arrow. In fact, it helps them. They receive die/dice on defense when they are shot at but does not grant the same bonus to the target of their attack. Therefore, when the Sherman moves one movement it receives one defense die but does not give a defense die to the opponent. So, my experience with the USA is your tanks generally never sit still. You are constantly moving to have a better defense, but give none or a little advantage to your opponent's defense because of your movement.

Now, I'm not saying the USA tanks will always move. If you don't move and shoot you can reroll your attack dice. Not bad. However, it seems with the bonus you get in defense, which you don't receive any for your tank's movement if you don't move, is pretty good and hard to pass up. So, my thoughts are that the USA is probably one of the few forces that will hardly sit still on the battle field. They will constantly be moving to get bonus defense dice but it will not help the opponent with their defense dice. Plus, some of that movement may cause the opponent to have to move and that means they don't receive rerolls on attack dice. So, if you face the USA expect them to constantly be moving around the battlefield but giving you no help on your defense from that movement. USA will just have trouble staying in one place turn and after turn.

Next blog I will discuss the Soviet tactics used in Tanks.

As always, have a good game.

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