Pumpkin Ale

Last weekend, I took a trip out to my local beer store (how awesome is it to live in a part of town where there's a beer store just five minutes down the road). It was coming up on the football draft and I figured I'd bring a twelve to the draft and get another to replenish my stock at home.

I pulled out a cart in front of the store and walked in. Immediately on the right are all the new seasonal beers. I grinned big - my favorite beers are finally coming in season. Oktoberfest and Pumpkin Ale. And sure enough, there were many to choose from. I picked up one of our good stand-by's, and then another of them, so I could bring some to the football draft. And then I proceeded to check out all the other Pumpkin Ales I could find. Once I made it the twenty feet past the front door, I started heading to the back of the store past all the wines in order to pick up some beer for the draft.

I looked in my cart.

I already had 36 beers.

Well, no stopping there! I didn't want to bring all those to the draft because they were beers I actually wanted to try. Had to head on and pick up a few more. I ended up with a six of Hex, a Magic Hat Oktoberfest, and a six of our stand-by, Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale.



Well, I've been slowly trying out all the other brews I bought, and I have to say, so far I'm enjoying the Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale the best. It's much more spicy than most pumpkin ales I have, so you can't drink too much of it, but it tastes exactly like pumpkin pie smells (I don't actually eat pumpkin pie, though after drinking this beer, I'm thinking I might start). I recommend giving it a try if you're in a part of the country that can get a hold of it.

2010 Fantasy Football Draft!

If I had known Jesus actually played football, he'd have been my number one pick, no questions. I bet that guy can play a mean game.

So this weekend was the fantasy football draft, our third year running. We play with two keepers, neither of which can have been kept last year, and neither of which can have been taken in rounds 1 or 2 last year. That means the top talent generally gets redrafted and a few of the emerging players from last year stick around on your team into the next year. The past two years I ended up in fourth place, which makes me the only repeat player in the championships, but neither time was I able to win even one game.

I only had two players from last year worth keeping at their spots: Michael Crabtree at 10, and Brandon Marshall at 14. Knocking them out early meant I had two good WRs to start. I had the 7th draft pick, and the first six went exactly where I thought they would, with the top six running backs (Johnson, Peterson, Rice, Jones-Drew, Gore and Turner) dropping off the board before my turn. Steven Jackson was on the board still, but I ended up switching to WRs and picking up Andre Johnson, even though I already had two WRs. Our flex position this year switched from being WR/TE to WR/RB/TE, which meant to me that I should pick up the best RB/WR at that position. I value Andre Johnson a bit more than Steven Jackson, and decided he was the better pick.

Coming back around, I was able to start going heavy into Running Backs, already having three good WRs on the roster. I picked up DeAngelo Williams (passed on Ryan Matthews who was picked up immediately after me... we'll see if that was a good move by me), then Tom Brady in round three as the last top tier QB, before hitting into my running backs heavy again with an occassional WR. I kept being in exactly the wrong place to pick a TE without reaching for it, so I ended up with Owen Daniels at round 9.

So I'm pretty happy with my team, overall. In order, I have Andre Johnson (WR), DeAngelo Williams (RB), Tom Brady (QB), LeSean McCoy (RB), Ricky Williams (RB), Donald Driver (WR), Ahmad Bradshaw (RB), Fred Jackson (RB), Owen Daniels (TE), Michael Crabtree (WR - keeper), Jerrico Cotchery (WR), LaDainian Tomlinson (RB), San Francisco (DST), Brandon Marshall (WR - keeper), Anthony Armstrong (WR).

I've already had to adjust my team, seeing as I didn't pick up a kicker. Fred Jackson was the first to be cut. My first game is against Ryan who got the first overall pick, so I'm facing off against some folks from last year's team like Chris Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Dallas Clark, etc. We'll see how it goes.

Malifaux Game: Dreamer Takes on Vikki's

Over this past weekend, I took Saturday morning and headed in to Huzzah to play a game of Malifaux against Jay. I hadn’t played him before, and he was itching to see how his Vikki’s would do against a veteran player.

So we set up our terrain for a 30 stone game and I pulled out the Dreamer with his three Teddies, while Jay hit the table with the Vikki’s, the Convict Gunslinger, the Student of Conflict, Johan and Taylor. Taylor’s a beast in combat already, and facing constructs, of which all three of my Teddies were, she was that much better.

Our scenario came up with Shared Slaughter. Jay hadn’t played a Shared mission before, so we just flipped on that chart. Both of us had duel masters, so that worked out well. For secondary objectives, I took Bodyguard on my master and Grudge on his highest point minion: Taylor, both announced. Jay took Thwart to try to stop my secondary objectives, and Grudge against my Teddy with Alice on it.

I started with everyone buried save the Dreamer, as per usual. I won the initiative and moved out near some buildings nearby. Jay moved his people in two groups: Gun Vikki, the Convict, and Student of Conflict all stuck back a little near another building, while Johan, Taylor, and Sword Vikki all headed up closer to the front of his lines where the Dreamer was.

On turn two, Jay won the initiative, moved Johan out and shot at the Dreamer, but failed to hit him. The Dreamer went, dropped all three Teddies on the field near that group, and turned into Lord Chompy Bits next to Johan. Taylor activated next and I learned two things: first, she doesn’t care about Terrify. Second, she will kill any Teddy she faces in three hits. Down went one Teddy, full to dead, no chance to stop it. I activated one of my Teddies and moved in on Taylor, only managing a couple of damage. Vikki went and moved in on the LCB and other Teddy, having to cheat to not run away from the Terrifying they had. She did four damage to LCB. LCB turned around and with Teddy’s help, killed Vikki, and healed himself back up to full. Jay’s second group moved up and got in position.

On turn three, Jay again won initiative, which I knew spelled the death of my second Teddy (fortunately not my Alice Teddy, since I held that one in the most safe place of the three). Sure enough, Teddy died. LCB went and killed off Johan, then moved up on Taylor, and my last Teddy got shot by the Convict. He managed to regenerate it back up, moved in, and did some more damage to Taylor.

On turn four, Jay again won initiative (this was getting frustrating). With LCB standing right there, Taylor went and killed him off, popping my Dreamer back out. The Teddy killed off Taylor, finally, and then got shot for his trouble. The Dreamer went and buried my Teddy, trying to keep him alive. At this point, Jay had Gun Vikki, Student of Conflict, and the Convict Gunslinger while I had the Dreamer and a wounded Teddy. Things were not looking good.

But I realized I had both of my schemes successfully at the moment, keeping the Dreamer alive and killing Taylor. I had stopped his Thwart, and if I could keep Alice Teddy alive, I would stop his Grudge too. That might give me enough to squeak out a tie or win.

So on turn five (which Jay again won initiative), I had the Dreamer fly out of range of the Convict Gunslinger and stay hidden. The Student of Conflict gave Vikki fast, and she rushed around the building to where the Dreamer was, but was off by about an 1”.

Finally, I won initiative on turn six and flew the Dreamer away from Vikki. The Student of Conflict was too far away to be able to give Vikki fast again, and he wasn’t able to reach me. Jay flipped the last card to see if we went on, and we didn’t. Game ended there.

Tallying up points, Jay got 2 points out of Slaughter and none from the schemes, while I got 1 point out of Slaughter and four for the schemes. Close game, and one of the most violent that my Dreamer list has ever faced. With Taylor’s massive hammer, I wasn’t sure how the Teddies would be able to stand up to her. Sure enough, they couldn’t. Losing two Teddies and LCB to take her down was unfortunate. The Dreamer always losing the activation war was pretty rough on me, and missing the initiative on the entire middle of the game (each time costing me a key model) was also hard to deal with. Jay put up a great fight – can’t wait for the rematch.

Shave and a Haircut

So on Saturday I took a trip out to get a haircut for the wedding. I figured I'd get it cut short and let it grow back in. Not a bad plan, except the guy who was cutting my hair shaved part of my beard, so it looked all strange, and I had to shave the rest of it off.

So I'm in my bathroom with my razor and think to myself, I don't really need to shave ALL of it, do I? Of course, the answer is "no"! I can leave myself an awesome mustache.



It's beautiful - I can let that grow out for another three weeks so it's a little more bushy like the ones in Tombstone, and everyone will be jealous of me. Women will want me. Men will want to be me. Life will be great.

Only, Laura does not agree.



So instead I have to shave it all off. Sigh. She wouldn't even let me wear it around for the weekend, just for fun.

Lord Chompy Bits Eats Colette

So last night I headed back out to Huzzah Hobbies, the new store out in Sterling. It’s nice to have a game store only five minutes from the house. Makes it pretty easy to head out there. I picked up a couple new paint brushes while I was there, trying to support the place so that it stays in business. They’ve got a nice selection of paints and hobby supplies going, and I put in a special order for the new Colette box when she comes out. Laura liked the look of the Showgirls and was looking forward to painting them.



Anywho, I ended up getting two games in again last night. The first game was against Chris S. Most of the people playing at Huzzah are new to the game and so I’ll usually spend more time teaching them the game than playing the game, but Chris is no newbie to this game. We both got to pull out some pretty fun models to try out. I hit the table with the Dreamer, Lord Chompy Bits, and three Teddies (6 stones remaining). Chris put down Colette, Cassandra, a Performer with its Mannequin, and two Coryphees (6 stones remaining).



So we flipped for our missions. I got Distract and he got Deliver the Message. Great. Both of these missions require maneuverability, which he has a lot better than I do. I have to keep his Master, Colette, from reaching my side of the board by the end of the game, and she can teleport up to 18”. Ouch. And his mission is just to get one of his models to mine and pull of a two-action Interact to give me a message before I kill him. Double ouch. I’ve seen Colette’s crew move. They move FAST!

To add insult to injury, he took the two scenarios for the Archanists meaning he had to Sabotage a building on my side of the board, and he had to reach all four corners during the game. Piece of cake. I knew I couldn’t out-maneuver him, so I took Bodyguard on my big guy, and Grudge meaning I’d have to kill Cassandra as his highest point model.



The only way I could stop Colette from reaching my side of the board was if I killed her. So my goal became killing both Colette and Cassandra, the rest of the mission be damned. He could take all the points he wanted, but if I could kill Colette and kill anyone who got close to me, I should be able to win.

So deploying. He got everyone up on one side of the board where he’d have extra cover running up the board, except one model who started near the other corner. I deployed the Dreamer in the middle of the board. Everyone else began buried.

I won initiative and made him go first. His Performer tagged the side of the board next to him and started heading in to the middle of the board. The Dreamer stepped up to the middle of the board, and then I was done. So everything else in his army moved forward, save one model that tagged the back corner of his board, and Colette, who summoned a Dove as well. He was already half-way to achieving one of his goals, and Cassandra was already more than halfway to my side of the board.

Next turn, he flipped the Red Joker and won initiative, making me go first. I moved the Dreamer as close to Cassandra as I could and raised a single Teddy near her, hoping to catch her in the Terrifying range. I was just out and Cassandra rushed past me, tagging a third corner. Teddy moved back towards Cassandra, trying to pin her down a little, and I was done with activations again. The Coryphee’s moved up, joined into a Duet, and moved up next to the Dreamer. Eep! Colette summoned another Dove and kept one near her while the other started heading out. His Soulstones were still hovering around 4-5, so he was feeling pretty good.

On turn three, he again flipped the Red Joker for initiative. I was scared, but rather than taking the Duet after the Dreamer, he took Cassandra after my Teddy. I cheated a few times to keep him from doing enough to kill me, and Teddy’s Hard to Wound 2 kept him alive with 4 life left. My action, and I activated Teddy. He Regenerated two life and moved around, engaging both Cassandra and the Duet, as well as keeping within 3” of the Dreamer to protect him. Since Cassandra had popped her ability to give me (-) flips on attacks and damage against her, I hit the Duet instead, knocking it down a couple life. The Duet went, but since the Teddy was within 3” and targetable by the Duet, the Duet had to attack Teddy. It took all the strikes it had, and a Soulstone, but the Duet killed Teddy. Noooooo!!!!



Time for revenge. The Dreamer when, summoned the other two Teddy’s between the Duet and turned into Lord Chompy Bits next to the Duet. The Mannequin and Performer came up and tried to Slow some of the new army that just appeared, but failed. Lord Chompy Bits ripped into the Duet, killing it on the third strike that also Calmed it so it turned back into the Dreamer, giving it a little defense. Colette tried to get Cassandra out of the way of two Teddies, but failed, even with a Soulstone. Both Teddies attacked Cassandra, but she burned a couple more Soulstones to prevent me from killing her. As it was, she still took 2-3 damage. Now Colette was down to a single soulstone. Good deal.



On turn four, he won initiative again. Colette activated, dropped two cards for a Soulstone, and successfully pulled Cassandra out of the certain-death spot she had found herself in. The Dreamer went, buried both Teddies, then raised them again further down the field near the Mannequin and Performer, then turned back into Lord Chompy Bits again. The Performer went, trying to slow down the Teddy assault, and managed to pull off Slow on one of them. The Mannequin sacrificed itself to give Cassandra a heal, but only removed one wound. The slow Teddy went and shredded the Performer, who, in her death, gave Colette Reactivate. Colette was sitting a little rough with a half-dead Cassandra, herself, and one Dove left, with only a single Soulstone in her cache. Meanwhile, two nearly-fully-healthy Teddies (one had taken some damage when Cassandra started breathing fire at me) and Lord Chompy Bits stared out across at her. Colette activated and tried to get some defenses going, but with her Soulstones depleted, she was not in a good way. Teddy activated and charged Cassandra, but failed to hit her as Colette used her last Soulstone. Lord Chompy Bits then leapt across a fence (crushed it under his feet, maybe?) and caught the Dove in his claws. I flipped and got a 16. He flipped to a 17, with a 12 as his flip. I weighed back and forth and finally decided to spend my 4th Soulstone (I had used a few to kill off the Duet) in order to kill the Dove.



At that point, Chris conceded. He needed Doves to restart his teleportation tricks, and down to zero Soulstones meant he would have to use all his resources next turn just to summon a Dove, and that would leave Cassandra and Colette a little defenseless against the onrushing Teddies and Lord Chompy Bits. So it turned out that there was another option to how to win the game other than kill Cassandra and Colette: kill everyone but Cassandra and Colette. He had no way to get close enough to my master to deliver him a message (which, I assume, read “Please don’t kill me”), and I had cut him off from both the last corner and the building he wanted to reach. He would have to end up pretty close to my army to try that goal. All in all, a good showing for the Dreamer and his pals.

Dissatisfaction with Food

I love barbeque Fritos. For my money, it can't get much better than that. They're not that easy to find, though. People stock regular potato chips and the like before they bring in the tasty goodness of barbeque Fritos.

But my vending machine here at work stocks them. Great news, right? Well, I thought so too. But when I went to get one today, I noticed the bag was nearly deflated when I pulled it out of the machine. Well, that's no good, I said to myself. And then when I opened the bag and started eating them, they were stale! Oh, the horror of it all! So what was going to be my wonderful snack turned out to be just a depressing bout of awfulness. I couldn't even finish the bag, they tasted so bad.

Oh, life is difficult sometimes.

Two for the Road

So we ended up doing some more painting last night and I finished off the pumpkins for the bases and the murder of crows, while Laura finished off Lord Chompy Bits.