Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Escalation League: Week 6


Advance force scenario!  Wait, you don't have an advance force?  Oh well.  In the week six scenario, scouts, skirmishers, fliers, and vanguard got to deploy normally first turn and the rest of the army was reserve forces.  For most games, this just made the game a little shorter because little happened the first two turns, but it added an interesting twist to a few of the games.  Eleven battles were fought, and after screams of battle died out, here's where the standings fall.

RankPlayerTotal Score
1Baughman, Josh111
2Vincent98
3Willworth, Paul96
4Douglas, David88
5Flesch, Taylor84
6Storme71
7Oliver71
8DeRemmer, Jeff67
9Johnson, Ryan61
10Flickinger, Jordan57
11Bailey, Chris55
12Kem, Eli54
13Kingon, Wiley51
14Maurice49
15Macintyre, Kyle49
16Jones, Nate48
17Sathrum, Ben47
18Odam, Ryan46
19Guzman, Issac43
20Kinyon, Matt42
21Evans, John37
22Bathke, Tony M.35
23Rosenous, Chris33
24Schwarz, Gustav33
25Devyn33
26Holt, Ian32
27Hines, Clayton29
28Fogg, Mike20
29Dustin B16
30Scott, Terry10
31Johnson, Quinn8

BEST GENERALS     
1.  Jordan Flickinger
2.  Josh Baughman
3.  Taylor Flesch
MOST PAINTED    
1.  Vincent
2.  Jeff DeRemmer
3.  Josh Baughman
BEST SPORTSMEN
1.  Storme
2.  Kyle MacIntyre
3.  Vincent

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Escalation League: Week 5

First a note about last weeks rankings.  I made a mistake and did not include the points scored for the objectives in those results, so if it looked like your overall score was missing the objective bonus... well, it was!  Those points are added in with this weeks update though.  This week we had 20 players throw down a 1,250 point army.  Here's the latest league standings after week 5:

RankPlayerTotal Score
1Baughman, Josh92
2Vincent80
3Willworth, Paul75
4Flesch, Taylor71
5Douglas, David68
6Storme61
7Flickinger, Jordan57
8Oliver54
9Bailey, Chris47
10DeRemmer, Jeff47
11Sathrum, Ben47
12Johnson, Ryan45
13Maurice44
14Jones, Nate39
15Kem, Eli38
16Kingon, Wiley38
17Evans, John37
18Kinyon, Matt36
19Ryan O34
20Macintyre, Kyle34
21Schwarz, Gustav33
22Devyn33
23Holt, Ian32
24Guzman, Issac31
25Bathke, Tony M.29
26Hines, Clayton22
27Rosenous, Chris19
28Fogg, Mike17
29Dustin B16
30Scott, Terry10
31Johnson, Quinn8


BEST GENERALS        
1. Jordan Flickinger
2. Josh Baughman
3. Taylor Flesch
MOST PAINTED          
1. Vincent
2. Jeff DeRemmer
3. Josh Baughman
BEST SPORTSMEN
1. Storme
2. Kyle Macintyre
3. Vincent


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Dragon Age

Bioware has been making great single player role playing games on the PC for a long time.  From Baldur's Gate, to Neverwinter Nights, and now Dragon Age.  When I heard that Electronic Arts would be joining forces with Bioware to work on Dragon Age, a little trepidation crept into my heart.  EA, really?  EA makes the games I don't play, what do they know about making an epic RPG?  I feared the worst, but remained optimistic enough to be a little excited about the game.

Diving in to Dragon Age: Origins was a radical change from Neverwinter Nights, but most of that change was for the better.  Though it took a while for me to let go of this aching for the radial menu I had grown so used to.  What did not change was the great storytelling and character development.  Infact, it was taken to a new level.  They push the experience closer and closer to that of being a person in an epic movie.  It's safe to say that the first Dragon Age impressed me.

Reviews for the sequel to Dragon Age were not wonderful.  Once again, I was worried.  Was the streak of excellence about to end?  I did not buy it right away.  Not to long ago, the price dropped down to the $30 sweet spot, so I nabbed it.  If nothing else, I wanted to find out what happened to Morrigan!

Well, apparently I didn't do my homework.  Dragon Age II is not a continuation of the Dragon Age storyline, but runs in parallel to it.  This put a little damper on it, and added to what seems an awkward start to the game.  Fighting familiar darkspawn, you find yourself fleeing Ferelden, leaving the blight behind to lead your own quasi-epic non-blight riddled storyline.

While some people complained about the occasional re-use of dungeons in the game, that did not bother me much.  The biggest shortcoming of the game was the lack of a high level purpose.  The first two-thirds of the game felt like you were some exceptionally gifted townie doing various mercenary work.  As time goes on, your fame and power grow, and you become involved in a bigger story, but it felt pasted in.  Maybe foreshadowing is difficult in a game, or maybe I'm too stuck in a linear mindset, but it felt fragmented.

Though the overall story lacked, your companions and enemies are vivid believable people for the most part.  To the point where you become conflicted as to which of your companions to chose to adventure with as you can only pick three, but want to pick more.  Except Carver.  Carver can go fall on his greatsword.

Dragon Age II featured an adapted conversation system, which I liked for the most part, because it allows you to be sure of the intended meaning that goes along with a response.  On the other hand, there seemed to be less important conversation related to questing.  I liked the parts in Dragon Age where you had to collect information from people, and sometimes debate enemies, with the outcome affecting the game.  Dragon Age II was more straight forward.

Overall, I would say Dragon Age = Wow, Dragon Age II = not bad.  Is Bioware + EA leading the best streak of RPG games off the rails?  I don't know, but maybe it doesn't matter if Star Wars:TOR is awesome and I never play any other game again.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Escalation League: Night 4 Results

Nine haunted wizard towers were fought over in week four of the Warhammer Fantasy Battles escalation league.  The scenario this week was a twist on the normal watchtower scenario, and players who secured the tower at the end of the game earned 5 bonus league points.  Here's the latest league standings:









RankPlayerTotal Score
1Baughman, Josh70
2Willworth, Paul65
3Douglas, David57
4Flesch, Taylor57
5Vincent50
6Storme48
7Johnson, Ryan45
8Oliver43
9Flickinger, Jordan41
10Jones, Nate34
11Bailey, Chris33
12Kem, Eli33
13Maurice33
14Devyn33
15Holt, Ian32
16Sathrum, Ben30
17DeRemmer, Jeff29
18Macintyre, Kyle29
19Guzman, Issac28
20Kingon, Wiley27
21Kinyon, Matt24
22Ryan O23
23Bathke, Tony M.23
24Evans, John20
25Rosenous, Chris19
26Fogg, Mike17
27Dustin B16
28Schwarz, Gustav15
29Hines, Clayton12
30Scott, Terry10
31Johnson, Quinn8


BEST GENERALS
1. Jordan Flickinger
2. Paul Willworth
3. Josh Baughman
MOST PAINTED
1. Josh Baughman
2. Paul Willworth
3. Storme
BEST SPORTSMEN
1. Storme
1. Kyle MacIntyre
3. Josh Baughman


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Escalation League Week 3


The League continues strong with 27 players showing up for the first 1000pt battle on week 3.  People are able to fit a bit more fun toys in their armies now, so the table tops looked a lot different from the past couple weeks.  Here are the overall standings so far:

RankPlayerTotal Score
1Baughman, Josh53
2Willworth, Paul51
3Flesch, Taylor46
4Flickinger, Jordan41
5Douglas, David40
6Vincent37
7Storme33
8Holt, Ian32
9Oliver32
10Sathrum, Ben30
11DeRemmer, Jeff29
12Johnson, Ryan28
13Bailey, Chris27
14Kingon, Wiley27
15Devyn26
16Guzman, Issac24
17Kinyon, Matt24
18Maurice23
19Ryan O23
20Bathke, Tony M.23
21Kem, Eli22
22Macintyre, Kyle20
23Rosenous, Chris19
24Jones, Nate17
25Dustin B16
26Fogg, Mike13
27Hines, Clayton12
28Scott, Terry10
29Evans, John8
30Johnson, Quinn8
31Gustav3

And now those special standings I promised.  These are based on average performance so far, and only include those who have played more than one game so far:

TOP GENERALS   
1. Taylor Flesch
2. Chris Bailey
3. Paul Willworth
MOST PAINTED   
1.  Jeff DeRemmer
2.  Ian Holt
3.  Josh Baughman
BEST SPORTSMEN(3 way tie)

1. Josh Baughman
1. Storme
1. Kyle MacIntyre

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Escalation League Standings Night 2: Team Scenario


The scores are in from the second night of the Warhammer Escalation League.  Twenty players participated in a team scenario where two 800 point armies teamed up to fight the combined forces of two others. Here are the overall League rankings so far.

RankPlayerTotal Score
1Baughman, Josh38
2Willworth, Paul35
3Douglas, David33
4Holt, Ian32
5Taylor29
6Vincent29
7Flickinger, Jordan27
8Oliver20
9Guzman, Issac19
10Rosenous, Chris19
11Storme18
12Kingon, Wiley18
13Kyon, Matt18
14Dustin B16
15Bailey, Chris14
16Kem, Eli13
17Sathrum, Ben13
18Ryan O13
19Bathke, Tony M.13
20Ryan J12
21DeRemmer, Jeff10
22Hines, Clayton10
23Jones, Nate10
24Scott, Terry10
25Maurice9
26Fogg, Mike8
27Macintyre, Kyle8
28Devan8
29Evans, John4

After week 3, we should be able publish more rankings like top general, painting, and sportsman based on averages.  See you next week for a standard battle with bigger armies.  1000 points!