Did Ya Miss Me?

After a long hiatus from blogging, I'm back. Honestly, I kinda miss it. 

I really doubt that anyone missed me, because let's face it folks, I don't exactly have a long and storied history of faithfully writing to this blog every day, week, or even every month (GULP). Blogging takes dedication. I suppose there are too many other things that I'm more dedicated to, and my postings take a back seat to them. 

But anyway, I'm feeling the urge to blog again. Perhaps a break was all that I needed. It's not like I've run out of fun and cool stuff to chat about. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get into a much more regular routine and this blog won't fade into obscurity. At least it's time to give it the old college try. 

So what's been on my Fun Radar of late? Well... 

Several weeks ago I got to play some board games with my friend Kevin. I finally got to play CAVE TROLL. It's one of Fantasy Flight Games' board games in their Silver Line series, and was designed by the very talented Tom Jolly.

Players expecting to find a wild and wooly dungeon-crawler will be disappointed because Cave Troll isn't that type of game. Rather, it's a strategic area-control game with a light fantasy theme. Kev and I played a 2-player game. Neither of us had ever played Cave Troll before, but found it pretty easy to grasp the rules. I found it to be highly entertaining and thought-provoking for a game that plays in just 45-60 minutes. It would definitely be a lot more chaotic with 4 players, and you probably wouldn't be able to plan ahead as much, but it's nice when a game provides different flavors depending on how many people play. Bottomline, I loved the game and it will be seeing a lot more play in the future. 

We also got to play a game of DUNGEON TWISTER 2: PRISON. Without a shadow of doubt, Dungeon Twister is one of my Top-10 games of all time. The best way to think of it is a marriage of Chess and a fantasy dungeon crawl. It's colorful, highly replayable, and a very strategic thinker. In fact, this is a game you should definitely play with a 2-3 minute sand timer, otherwise some players will succumb to Analysis-Paralysis trying to evaluate every possible option. The DT2 version adds some really nice plastic playing pieces which just beg to be painted.

One thing that crossed my mind after our game was this: "wouldn't it be awesome to play Dungeon Twister with a 3D-dungeon and painted minis?" After some hunting online, I came across this article explaining how to build a 3D Dungeon Twister game board. I must admit, building this isn't for the "modelling challenged". Heck, I'm not sure I really have the time to make all that, though it certainly looks extremely cool. Another option that's probably cheaper and definitely less time-intensive might be to purchase some of those Bendy Dungeon Walls from Z-Man Games. I'm thinking about it. Heck, being a miniatures wargamer, I already have tons of proxy figures that would work great in a Dungeon Twister setting. We shall see. 

Anyway, it was great to be gaming again. Thanks Kev!

At the end of October, I'll be off to FALL IN 2010 at the Lancaster Host for more miniature wargaming goodness. I'm sure that I'll have something to report from that convention, and perhaps I'll have some pictures to share from this go around. I hope you'll visit again and see!

Until next time.....  PEACE!