Saturday 28 March 2020

Revised 2020 Calendar Of Events

By participating in MSSA events, Registered Players have the chance of being selected for duty in the Protea Team.

There is no doubt that Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had on an impact on the way in which we all live our lives. Esports, along with all the other mind sports, too have been affected by the spread of the disease with Katowice being played in an empty stadium, and a host of other major events in Europe being either cancelled or postoned. Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is aware of the risks, and is keeping a close eye on the the spread of the disease in South Africa.

All Registered Players should be reminded that they can help protect themselves and others by always carrying tissues, and using them to catch coughs or sneezes. They should bin the tissue, and to kill the germs, wash their hands with soap and water, or use a sanitiser gel. This is the best way to slow the spread of most germs, including Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The following calendar of events has thus been amended

Member clubs are also able to 'book' the hosting of Regional Championships. Regional championships are designed to help clubs gain extra exposure, earn income, and promote the games that they encourage within their clubs. Games can only be played at National and Provincial Championships if such are either played at World championship level, or if having first been tested at Regional Championships. The rules apropos hosting of a Regional Championship may be found here.

MSSA's Calendar of events for 2020 is as follows:

2020Calendar of events

Date	Event	Discipline	Venue
25 JANUARY	Umpires' Course - Gauteng	All	Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave., Lower Houghton
1 & 2 FEBRUARY	28^th Old Edwardian Summer Championships	Ancients, Checkers, PES 2020, Morabaraba	Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave., Lower Houghton
9 FEBRUARY	On-line Inter-school Provincial Championships	All esports titles as approved at the AGM in December	On-line
28 MARCH	1^st WESTERN CAPE Online Championships	All esports titles as approved at the AGM in December	On-line
Delayed until end of Novel Coronavirus crises	24^th WESTERN CAPE Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	Monument Park High School, 40 Dan King Rd, Kraaifontein, 7570
11 APRIL	Provincial Online Student Championships	All esports titles as approved at the AGM in December	Online
18 APRIL	11^th Provincial Online Championships	All esports titles as approved at the AGM in December	Online
25 & 26 APRIL	Provincial School Championships for all provinces	Board and Figure games	Various venues.
9 MAY	Umpire's Course – Mpumulanga	Umpiring course	TBD
30 & 31 MAY	38^th GAUTENG Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	No 36 on the R114, Nietgedacht 25°57'8.13″S – 27°57'51.14″E
30 MAY	FINANCIAL AGM	Meeting	No 36 on the R114, Nietgedacht 25°57'8.13″S – 27°57'51.14″E
13 & 14 JUNE	SA School Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBD
Week ending 17 JULY	1^st round of NWU School League	All esports titles as approved at the AGM in December	Online
25 & 26 JULY	26^th KWAZULU NATAL Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBD
8 & 9 AUGUST	17^th FREE STATE Championships	All	TBD
29 & 30 AUGUST	25^th NORTH WEST Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBD
TBA	Indigenous Games	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA
19 & 20 SEPTEMBER	17^th EASTERN CAPE Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBD
26 & 27 SEPTEMBER	8^th LIMPOPO Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBA
1 NOVEMBER	Submit nominations of office-bearers	Admin	mindsportssa@iafrica.com
15 – 20 November	IESF 12^th World Championships	DotA 2, PES, Tekken 7	Eilat, Israel
5 & 6 DECEMBER	34^th S A NATIONAL Championships	Board games, Card games, Esports, wargames	TBD
5 DECEMBER	37^th NATIONAL CONVENTION	Annual General Meeting	TBD
TBA	SRSA's S A Schools Championships	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA

Independence

I saw this today. I can't authenticate if this actually exists or if it's just a clever meme, but it struck me as important for a couple reasons.

As a lesser reason, I'm running a D&D campaign where the characters seek independence from a powerful empire. The stone reminded me there is a price to pay for such a lofty goal, and being a role playing gaming, that price needs be paid to accentuate the degree of risk and reward. Empires don't go softly into the night.

The main reason is this struck me as something understood by small business owners. Declaring your independence from working for others is a glorious thing. However, the price to be paid for such a decision can be high. I know many who lost homes, spouses, or eventually declared bankruptcy. Many forgo higher income levels, shifting down in socioeconomic class, often at the expense of their family. Education for your kids will suffer if you live in a highly unequal state like California, where you home value is dramatically linked to education opportunities. An early death is not unlikely, if you look around, as the hours and the gamer lifestyle is not exactly healthy. We lose them young all the time.

Going back to the stone, I wonder how many founding fathers owned small businesses? It seemed like the kind of risk a small business owner would undertake, and of course be criticized later for being an elite who owned a business. That data is thankfully available. Merchant comes right after lawyer if you look at the list, with 30% of the 56 signers being sellers of stuff. These were men accustomed to taking risks. Some eventually paid the ultimate price, but as a small business owner, I understand the rather unique live free or die mindset. I'm thankful for these 56 who gave me the opportunity.

DE: Extending Threat With Obsidian Rose

Looks like meat is back on the menu boys!

One of the ways we're going to min-max my Black Heart Kabal list is to explore other Obsessions. I've already got myself a rock solid list, the only thing I'm going to do now extending the threat range. We just have to make sure we have enough units in a detachment to buy enough dedicated transports and the right mix of Obsessions.

What I'm going to do is turn the majority of my Blasters and Kabalite troops into Obsidian Rose. This gives them 6" more range on all their weapons; which gives them 24" Blasters and 30"/15" Rapid-fire Splinter Rifles. After, I'm going to stuff as many of them as I can into Black Heart Raiders so the 6+++ makes them harder to kill. I can do this because all our transports have the Drukhari keyword and no Obsession specific ties. This allows me to mix and match our Obsessions to get the most out of our units.

Quick note:
In case you're wondering, I think Flayed Skulls' extra 3" movement can be nice for more Wych-oriented lists using Raiders as the delivery mechanism. Just keep in mind that not every Obsession works with others. It just happens to be that Obsidian Rose and Black Heart's bonuses work simultaneously, without conflict and in perfect concert with one another. It's a match made in hell.

Don't fret guys, this is very much with the fluff and it looks like it's intended. We're supposed to be able to mix and match different Kabals, Cults and Covens to make a better army. I think, if I'm to be completely honest, that people are just so used to Dark Eldar being a punching bags of the fucking game that all of a sudden, everything is question when we're suddenly powerful. While I can see crap like the infinite CP loop and Agents of Vect not requiring Black Heart units as a problem, this is something I see as intended. Just think of it as bribes and deals being struck before the battle.

Anyways, I didn't mean to rant. This is what the updated list looks like:

1999 // 8 CP
Obsidian Rose Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

TROOP:
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91
Warlord: Cunning, Living Muse

TROOP:
7x Warriors, Blaster = 59

PARTY BUS:
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Black Heart Air Wing +1 CP

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135

Stalk thy enemy. Slay thy enemy.

Increasing overall threat range is exactly what we want as a shooty army. It gives greater distance between our fragile units and our enemies, and allows us to easily threaten even the most heavily armored units in much greater volume. Extra range allows us to set the tempo of the game and control our opponents through the use of kiting and forcing desperate situations. With Strategems such as Fire and Fade, you'll be able to pull off some amazing circumstances that your opponents will surely loathe you for.

Let's take a closer look at our Firepower with respect to Range:

15 Disintegrators at BS3+ at 36"+ range
9 Dark Lances at BS3+ with 4 of these shooting from 42" range
9 Blasters at BS3+ with 8 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Blasters at BS2+ with 2 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+ at 48"+ range
41 Splinter Rifles at BS3+ with 28 of these shooting from 30" range, 15" Rapid-fire

The pluses at the end of the range represent all the unaccounted movement. As you can see here, extending the range of our weapons is primarily to benefit the multiple Blasters I have in each unit. If you think about it: Moving a Raider within 24" of something pretty much turns the thing into a Ravager with Dark Lances. You get the extra S8 AP-4 D6 damage shots at full ballistic skill and if you have Archons nearby to give re-rolls, all the better. The one thing I want you guys to take away from all this is that extra range is always good for a shooty army. You want to be able to control the battlefield with your movement and through sheer firepower. The extra threat range gives us the ability to control virtually any engagement as long as it's favorable for us. This is control at its absolute finest.

I hereby decree this list as the Kabal of the Black Rose using the units that I've selected.

Monday 23 March 2020

Chaikin Curves

Sometimes I want to draw Voronoi or similar polygons in a rounded form:

I use a process called Chaikin's Algorithm for this.

Start with a polygon:

Original polygon

Mark the midpoints of each side:

Polygon with midpoints

Then construct quadratic Bezier curves. Each original vertex becomes the control point of the quadratic Bezier, and the two adjacent midpoints become the two end points of the Bezier:

Quadratic bezier curves

Super simple to implement! If you don't have a quadratic Bezier drawing function, you can use the De Casteljau Algorithm to subdivide the original line into smaller lines. Repeat this until you get line segments that are fairly close to the quadratic Bezier.

I used this for this project and this project.

Friday 20 March 2020

People Behind The Meeples - Episode 208: Mallory Shepherd

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers. Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before. If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

Name:	Mallory Shepherd
Email:	Contact@cleverfoxconsultants.com
Location:	Dallas, TX
Day Job:	I have a consulting company for marketing and project management. Clever Fox Consultants. I help people complete their projects on time and on budget and also do marketing for their products! And manage crowdfunding campaigns/product photography, etc.
Designing:	Less than six months.
Webpage:	Cleverfoxconsultants.com
BGG:	LittleBug627
Twitter:	@LittleBug627
Instagram:	@TheMeeplesMadeMeDoIt
Find my games at:	Nowhere yet!

Today's Interview is with:

Mallory Shepherd
Interviewed on: 8/20/2019

This week's interview is with Dallas designer, Mallory Shepherd. Mallory has been a part of the board game industry for a while now, doing project management, marketing, and helping with crowdfunding through her company, Clever Fox Consultants. Recently she's turned to the design side of board games and I'm excited to see what kinds of games she creates! Read on to learn more about Mallory and her projects!

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Less than six months.

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I've been involved in the industry as a playtester and with marketing/project management for several years, and I finally made the jump over into designing. I made the jump because there were games with themes I wanted to play that didn't exist. And I was honestly inspired a lot by Elizabeth Hargrave.

What game or games are you currently working on?
Currently unnamed game involving libraries.

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Not yet, but I've done playtesting and marketing on a lot of published games! Most recently Unmatched and Lanterns Dice.

What is your day job?
I have a consulting company for marketing and project management. Clever Fox Consultants. I help people complete their projects on time and on budget and also do marketing for their products! And manage crowdfunding campaigns/product photography, etc.

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
I love all types, but party games and games with mostly luck are my least favorite. I equally love Ameritrash and Euro games.

Who do you normally game with?
I have a game group and then a few friends that we play a lot of two player modes on.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
Whatever one of us just got fulfilled off of Kickstarter. I just got the expansion for Inis so maybe that.

And what snacks would you eat?
I'm lucky, my friend usually makes something in her air fryer or bakes things for us. When I'm hosting we usually have delivery of some kind and chips/some kind of dry snack around the games. And cheese. Always cheese.

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Sometimes we play mood music based on the theme of the game.

What's your favorite FLGS?
Madness Comics and Games

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Favorite: I'm on a Champions of Midgard kick because I'm excited to get my Kickstarter copy of Reavers. Least: Smash Up. It's on my shelf and I don't want to get rid of it, but it doesn't make it to the table at all anymore. Worst: Do prototypes count? Hmmm a published game I really didn't care for is a Fantastic Beasts Dice game. It's basically co-op Yahtzee and there just wasn't any substance to it.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Favorite: this one is hard. I like a lot of different mechanics. But if I had to pick, I'd say deck building. I really love deck builders and the thrill you get when you can get that perfect turn off. Least: PLAYER ELIMINATION. I hate it and it needs to go.

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
I tend to get a lot of games to the table, but I haven't played Dead of Winter for a long time because it's hard to get people to commit to a game that takes a bit more to teach and play.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, RPG Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
I'm a theme first person and let the mechanics evolve from there into what feels natural and makes sense for the theme.

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
Haven't entered one yet!

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
I'm sure he's a lot of people's but Jamey Stegmaier. He puts a lot of thought into his games and takes risks and I admire him for that.

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
From all over. First, I pick themes that I love and am passionate about. You have to be if you are going to be researching things about it. I get a lot of inspiration while I'm doing research on the theme too. A lot of mechanics make sense from learning about the theme. Another place I get inspiration from is playing a lot of games. I mean A LOT of games. Of all different types. And third, I listen. I listen to my game group when we are playing a game and someone says "man I wish I could do this in this game." And I also get a lot of inspiration from playtesting other people's games. You have those "aha!" moments when you see a mechanic and realize if you tweaked it a bit it would work really well in your game.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
I'm part of a design group and we playtest for each other. I also get my friends involved. Then after that I ask my friends to find friends and so on.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
Both!

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Killing your baby. I think that's the hardest thing for any designer to do. Apart from that, it's knowing when your game is ready to be pitched or to go on Kickstarter. There is always a "I could make this better" and knowing when to stop can be hard for me.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
Harry Potter. I'm a giant Potterhead.

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
Just do it. Just get out there and start making one. There are no bad ideas at the start. I sat on the sidelines for so long testing games and wishing I knew how to make one before I realized they don't have any more idea what they are doing than I do in the beginning. I'd have started designing a long time ago if someone had told me to just start making a notecard prototype with all your weird ideas and it's fine if it's bad. That's where we all start.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Pick themes/mechanics you care about and wish existed. You will spend a lot of time with them. It's also better to start making a simple prototype right off the bat than trying to plan it all out on paper first.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: Library Game

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Dallas Design Group

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Star Wars, Dr Pepper, and I had to google what a Betamax was.

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
There are other hobbies? JK, I really enjoy reading and listening to podcasts. And geeking out over fandoms. I also like photography.

What is something you learned in the last week?
I'm teaching myself how to edit video so a lot of video things.

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
I don't have a favorite type of music, but I love sci-fi/fantasy/post apocalyptic books and movies.

What was the last book you read?
Tiny But Mighty. It's a book written by a kitten advocate and rescuer. She's really reminded me that even one person doing small things can make a difference.

Do you play any musical instruments?
No, I wish I did but don't have the time to practice.

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I don't like ketchup, mustard, or mayo.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I touched a Monet painting in Paris. The actual painting. Pretty sure you can get arrested for that.

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
I kind of accidentally adopted my cat. She was just supposed to stay for the weekend and it's been two and a half years now. She's my constant companion and is pretty awesome.

Who is your idol?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She's done so much for equality in the United States and didn't let anything stop her in a time it was unheard of for a woman to be a lawyer.

What would you do if you had a time machine?
I'd treat it more like a time turner and do over certain little mistakes. And maybe go to the future. I'd be tempted to go to the past but be terrified of the butterfly effect. I'd love to solve some historical mysteries though!

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Ambivert. It's a thing, look it up!

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
Captain Marvel. She's strong, has a lot of powers, and can fly through outer space! How cool is that?

Have any pets?
An awesome cat. Her name is Kat.

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
I'd hope for Star Realms to survive. Imagine an Ice Age people playing a game with spaceships. I'd be okay if Cards Against Humanity was never played again. (Sorry, not sorry.)

If you'd like to send a shout out to anyone, anyone at all, here's your chance (I can't guarantee they'll read this though):
Lindsey Rosenthal, for getting me into the design group I'm part of. They really pushed me to start making my ideas into reality.

Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

Be kind to people.

And...

I really like cheese.

Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

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Thursday 19 March 2020

Storium Basics: Multi-Card Moves

Welcome back to Storium Basics, where I'm covering general aspects of Storium play that I think are helpful to know as you get started. Today, I'm going to cover a slightly more advanced element of Storium. Today, we're talking about multi-card moves.

I've already gone over the basics of making a Storium move with a single card back in Storium Basics: Challenges and Cards. For a quick refresher, you'll select a challenge, select a card, and then write a move that demonstrates how that card's trait comes into play and affects that challenge, based on the type of card that you've selected, the challenge, the possible challenge outcomes, the card's description, and the current status of the challenge and scene.

When you're making a multi-card move, all of that still applies. There's nothing that different about making a multi-card move than making a single-card move...it's just that now you have more than one trait to play to during the move.

If you've played two Strengths, say...Determination and Quick-Thinking...you write it like you'd normally write a Strength move. You just play up both traits - show how your determination and your ability to think quickly help you move the challenge in a positive direction. Now, bear in mind that you've taken up two challenge points and have moved the challenge positive by two Strengths, as well, so you probably want to make this feel like a stronger impact than for a normal move too - but what matters most is making sure both traits feel like they impact the scene.

If you've played two Weaknesses...say, Hotheaded and Easily Mislead...it's the same thing, just in reverse. Write a Weakness move, but play up both traits, and make it a stronger impact than you would for just one card. You've just pushed the challenge much closer to a conclusion and pushed it much closer to the Weak outcome. Show that.

Where things get fascinating, though, is when you mix card types. Those moves can be some of the most fun in Storium.

What if you have a Strength and a Weakness? Maybe you appear to make things better for a moment, then lose your own gains. Or maybe you slip up and start to make things worse, but manage to turn things around and start clawing the situation back out of the very hole you were digging. Or maybe you make things worse in one way, but set things up to turn around in another. You can write some very, very complex and cool moves by playing multiple cards.

Neutral cards are loads of fun to throw in this way too. Your Subplot in particular can be quite a powerful storytelling device when used with a Strength or Weakness - you can show how your subplot influenced the actions that express the Strength or Weakness, for instance, or show how your Strength or Weakness had effects and ended up impacting not just the situation, but your views of yourself or what your subplot is all about. This can work similarly with Goals.

And Assets? Well, you have a magic sword, sure, and sometimes you might want to highlight that on its own...but it can be very cool to play it with a Strength card and show how your ability to use the sword well or intelligently matters, or a Weakness card and show that despite the magic of the sword, you still get yourself in trouble...or maybe even because of the magic! Are you Overconfident? Maybe you rush ahead because you have a magic sword, and things turn out badly. Are you Inexperienced? Maybe you try to use the sword's powers and make a mistake, hurting your own side's chances.

And it doesn't stop at just two cards. You can play up to three cards per move with the default settings for Storium - and with custom card settings, it might go even further! Just remember to think of the number of cards you're playing, and how far you are pushing the challenge forward, when you play these sorts of moves.

Now...I want to also put in one word of caution. Multi-card moves are an option in Storium, but different games, players, and narrators will have different feelings about them. If your narrator specifies any kind of restrictions on these, or preferences for you to play single-card moves in general, or what-have-you, follow those. The rules of your individual game are as important or more important than the rules of Storium. And even if these moves are allowed (they generally are), it's best to be careful with them - if you're pulling these out all the time, you can shut other players out of playing on challenges at times, and that can be bad for game morale and a collaborative spirit.

I myself like to play these sorts of moves on longer challenges, generally - those I won't just wrap up in one move by playing multiple cards. I will sometimes pull them out in shorter ones specifically to take the challenge, but in those cases I'll generally check first (or be working in a scene where the narrator has made it clear that's exactly what he expects).

If you'd like to know more about multi-card moves, and Storium move philosophy in general, you can take a look at these articles: