Checkmate, Bitches! The Chess and other Board Games Thread

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:08 pm

I think it'd have to be done in a series like Morse code.

The first series of buzzes would be the piece, like one buzz for a pawn up to six buzzes for the King.

After a break, the second series of buzzes would be for the rank of the next move, as many buzzes for rank.

After a third break, the third series would be for the file, one buzz for the A file all the way to eight buzzes for the H file.

So if it was 4-3-5, it would mean move the rook to the spot three up and five from the left.

I mean... not that I've ever done this before. NTTAWWT

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:13 pm

ETA - didn't see ljam's post... Agreeance.

People that know a LOT more about signals and code would probably dispute that. Could be as simple as a letter+numerical grid that sets the board up and just signaling a piece, either yours or an opponents to target, would be enough to tip off the type of "gambit" or maneuver being suggested.

I read a bit about chess strategy when I was in middle school. Quickly realized it wasn't for me, but... I did see that the truly brilliant players could see an entire match playout in their minds eye and adjust or move forward with a slew of moves off just one sequence (yours then them.)

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 10:03 pm

First: Hey Duff! Did you participate in the Blood on the Clocktower Kickstarter? I did. They are going to do 6 in person episodes. They've dropped the first of them recently:

Next: Unlikely that any of you are following the drama, but Wizards of the Coast, producers of the Magic: The Gathering card game announced a 30th Anniversary product.

They have decided to break their own rule and reprint the older cards that are on something called the "Reserve List." The Reserve List is older cards worth a lot of money that they've previously promised to not reprint so they maintain high value for collectors. But....they've decided to go around this rule by changing the backs of the cards so that they aren't actually tournament playable. They're functionally proxy cards.

Ok, fine but here's the thing. It's 4 packs of 15 cards for $1,000 dollars. That's not a joke. A grand. It's fucking nuts. You can go to websites to buy proxies for extremely cheap. It's the most senseless money grab imaginable and they've turned the entire Magic community against them. This product has received such massive backlash they've had to go to Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh influencers to open the product to hype it.

All of this coincides with Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast's parent company being downgraded as a company by Bank of America because it's already pumping out too many new cards every month.

The thousand dollar product comes out on Monday.

duff · Post by **duff** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 11:10 pm

Thanks for the heads up, Johnnie. I did not back the kickstarter, but watched the first one right when it dropped on YouTube. I need to find a game around here. Would love to find a group for some BotCt.

That is crazy about WoC selling those packs for that much. I still wonder about my old cards and if I had anything of value that I gave away. That was 20+ years.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Nov 27, 2022 12:02 am

I really, really wish there was a local group for BotCT here too. I've watched at of he No Rolls Barred videos and I'm moving into other channels to get my fix for it.

Magic cards are coming down in price from their highs these last couple years. Old cards are potentially getting more affordable, but there are still many that are expensive. All depends on what you had.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Nov 28, 2022 12:42 am

Duff, this popped up for me because of all the BotCT I watch. It's from the official channel, but features several No Rolls Barred folks and has the custom script of "all characters from the 3 main scripts." Pretty nuts.

Also, not sure how close to DC you are or if you plan to travel there next April, but there's this:

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:25 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:22 pm

Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast. WotC owns Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons.

Last month it was stated in a 'fireside chat' on the Hasbro YouTube page that DnD "isn't monetized enough." People raised their eyebrows at that and now the hammer drops.

Hasbro is basically playing mob boss on streaming channels and completely changing the open gaming licensing. They want their cut.

Hasbro is losing hard quarter after quarter and needs to rebound. They did the $1k box of 4 packs of fake Magic cards to the revulsion of everyone everywhere recently.

Now, they are gouging DnD:

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Feb 22, 2023 5:59 pm

Video, if you're curious as to how they got it in his damn house:

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Wed Feb 22, 2023 7:15 pm

That’s one handsome table. I’d bet that cost more than all the tables D&D was played on in the 80s combined.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Feb 22, 2023 7:30 pm

Played Everdell last weekend with Bren and their spouse - it was excellent - quick to learn and a fun play. Kinda like Cataan in terms of play style.

Easy recommend for those into Table Top gaming

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/199792/everdell

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Thu Feb 23, 2023 12:50 pm

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 5:59 pm

Video, if you're curious as to how they got it in his damn house:

That video is incredible. My youngest is big into D&D, wonder if he knows who Manganiello is without knowing he's an actor. Didn't realize how deep into D&D, etc Manganiello is!

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:05 pm

phxgators wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 12:50 pmThat video is incredible. My youngest is big into D&D, wonder if he knows who Manganiello is without knowing he's an actor. Didn't realize how deep into D&D, etc Manganiello is!

Yup. In 2020 Variety magazine did a story about him, so he was put on my radar then. I had no idea otherwise. (Although I may have seen a video or something with him and Matt Mercer prior to that.)

Inside Joe Manganiello’s Epic Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

I'm only tangentially in the vicinity of D&D because of the YouTube algorithm that board gaming and Magic: The Gathering (also owned by Wizards of the Coast) cross over. In fact, probably because I've looked up custom gaming tables was that video suggested to me in the first place.

Him just casually name dropping Vince Vaughn, The Big Show, Tom Morello...etc. was great. Also, I totally forgot he was married to Sofia Vergara.

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:39 pm

Yeah, I'm not into D&D either. I do play MTG (mostly Arena, but some at home with the kids). But my kid that's into it is into it. Just like Tom Morello said in that video. He's always thinking about his characters, plans, etc. He's doing 3 campaigns right now, all remotely. So he hops on after school a couple of days a week and we lose him for the afternoon.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Feb 23, 2023 2:20 pm

I think I mentioned that my neighbor friends and our kids started a D&D campaign during COVID. We've been meeting at least once a month for over 2 years now. My character is a Dragonborn ranger named Stedmund "Blitzie" Blitzgerald. (The overall campaign is nautical themed and being a Michigander, that's where my brain went.) He sounds like Arnold S. and is a former Marine. To ignite his flaming sword before battle he shouts "Fuck You"... but, you know, with the accent.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Fri Feb 24, 2023 11:53 pm

Finally played Ark Nova tonight. It was great. Big recommend.

A fairly decent amount of rules overhead and iconography, but once you get it down turns are quick and it gets going.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:38 am

This is nuts.

The OP opened some packs and they are from a recent set Modern Horizons 2. Each of those brown boxes with the red and white tape go for $1,100 each.

Commenters noted that's somewhere in the realm of $200k worth of Magic cards.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:18 pm

Are those not recyclable?

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:56 pm

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:18 pm Are those not recyclable?

It's all cardboard, so yes. Very much recyclable.

Good catch.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:18 pm

And now it gets good because there were Secret Lairs and Magic 30th Anniversary cards in the dump.

The latter reviled the Magic community because it was 4 packs for $1,000. Your read that correctly.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Apr 13, 2023 8:13 am

another reason monopoly is a bad game
https://www.insider.com/two-men-hospita ... dium=email

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Apr 24, 2023 5:54 pm

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue May 02, 2023 8:55 am

The Indian Behind the ‘Indian Opening’
https://newlinesmag.com/essays/chess-mo ... n-opening/
ht: Sportsfilter

Baloney · Post by **Baloney** » Wed Jun 28, 2023 1:54 pm

Judge dismisses Hans Niemann defamation claim

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66042871

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Fri Jun 30, 2023 10:57 am

The wife and I headed to Origins Game Fair this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio and had a blast. We played some tabletop games, played about 9 games of Blood on the Clocktower, and made some new friends.

Unfortunately it is a far more muted affair than when I went 4 years ago, (Thanks COVID!) but I still had fun nonetheless.

I'm already scouting for the Hampton Inn across the street to book a hotel because that's where all the influencers stay and there's and excellent mezzanine area with tables to play well after the convention center closes for the day.

We also bought a couple games too:

Fiction: A Wordle game where one player picks a 5 letter word and the rest of the table guesses it. However, the word chooser gets to lie about a single letter. So you have to try to guess words that expose the lies told throughout

Beer & Bread: Excellent 2 player game with card drafting and resource collection/management that contributes to recipe fulfillment. You can make either beer or bread with your resources, but you cannot go too heavy in one or the other because your final score is the lower of the two.

So if you make 6 bread recipes that total up to 35 points and 1 beer that totals 6, your final score is 6.

As for Blood on the Clocktower, oh man was it fun despite the acoustics of the conference room and seemingly everyone being in there at the same time.

It's a social deduction game played with up to 15 players where you have to kill the demon but everyone has a different power. So you have to figure out the logic of who is bad and good, what happened each turn, who did what, and everything else. Think Werewolf or Secret Hitler, but far more complicated.

There's actually a Clocktower Con in Vegas in late October that I'm weighing going to. We'll see.

I think I linked these folks before, but here's an example of an in person game:

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Fri Jun 30, 2023 12:29 pm

A cool $2 million bounty will soon be cashed in on.

blundercrush · Post by **blundercrush** » Fri Jun 30, 2023 5:11 pm

Johnnie wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 12:29 pm A cool $2 million bounty will soon be cashed in on.

Apparently opened by regular shlub in Toronto. Good for them.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 9:19 pm

It's pretty cool to be in a photo (#7, scroll through) on the official Instagram page:

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat Jul 22, 2023 10:27 am

Essen Spiel is happening in Essen, Germany in October and I'm going. I have a bunch of point from my years of accumulating them with my credit card so the trip and the hotel is free.

(A buddy of mine, and member of the crew from the podcast Blue Peg, Pink Peg, was going, so I figured I'd go too.)

I'm very excited to travel back to Europe for the first time since living there.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Aug 01, 2023 11:10 pm

Post Malone now owns The One Ring.

He reportedly paid $2.6MM for it.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 11:44 pm

GenCon began today. It's packed and everyone's trying to get the new hotness including Disney's Lorcana.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 5:48 am

Possibly the most well behaved mid sized crowd I've ever seen.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:16 pm

Good haul from the library today...played Colt Express tonight. Good game. Easy to learn, quick, fun.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Aug 14, 2023 11:03 pm

Interview with the dude that pulled the $2 million Magic Card.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:52 pm

I mayyyy have bought a commander deck and some packs at the FLGS and gotten into MTG Arena in the last 48 hours. Who's to say?

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:55 pm

BSF21 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:52 pm I mayyyy have bought a commander deck and some packs at the FLGS and gotten into MTG Arena in the last 48 hours. Who's to say?

Margorie is as loose as we all figured, huh?

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:56 pm

Oh man if I could get that cunt in an arena...

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:59 pm

BSF21 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:56 pm Oh man if I could get that cunt in an arena...

You are both newly single, have at it!

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 3:12 pm

Wait what'd I miss?