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.