First Write-Up: BrikWars

Drumroll, please! Here it is, the first game write up I’ve done!

BrikWars

http://www.brikwars.com/

It has to be the most insanly fun game I’ve ever played. You are not going to believe me, or will laugh wen I say that this is a LEGO Miniature Game. Think Warhammer 40k, but with LEGOs… and better. For two reasons. One, it’s cheapter. Think of it this way. You only need 1 (though 10 is a good amount) minifig per team, armed with only one weapon. That’s about $0.20, if that. Now, just read the rulebook (located here), grab a six-sided and a ten-sided die, and start maniacly killing minifigs! Well, OK, not maniacly killing. More like, ’sending to their utter yet funny doom(s)’… Two, it can support anything you do. Made a creature/vehicle? Great, here’s how to calculate the stats for it. Got a weapon? Great, here’s the stats for it. Everything and everything is considered in this game.

Anyway, it’s got great game mechanics. The average minfig (without any armor) will die after one attack of 4 damage or more. Close-Combat (CC) weapons deal anywhere from 1d6-2 (Random Junk/Improvised weapon, like the butt of a rifle or a rock) to 1d6+2 (Two-Handed weapon, like one of those old gigantic medieval axes). Heros can take 2d6 damage, and can do stuff like Indiana Jones or Arnold S. could on a whim. Ranged weapons deal anywhere from 1d6-2 (Random Junk/Improvised Thrown weapon, like a rock) to 1d6+1 (Long-Ranged weapon, like a modern rifle). Characters move from 4″ to 2′ in this game, generally about 5.5″ though.

There are unlimited possibilities, and is something everybody should try out. I mean, come on, A) it’s free and B) it’s LEGOs… what’s not to like?\

Overall*: 8.5
Mechanics: 9.4
Playability: 8.0
Time Taken: 8.3

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*Not an average

I Bring News

Once again, it’s been a while. So there’s a lot of stuff to update in this.

First off, the Texas Hold ‘Em tournament I mentioned…. made it to the 270s… no prize, but still a good ways in, especially with an initial count of about 2000 contestants. After losing so much money I was in the $200s, there was a beautiful hand where I got a Full House, Fours full Aces. It was nice, and got me onto a streak that left me at about $5000. But I lost it all over the next hour or so, and, well, that’s that.

Afterwards, I went on a camping trip with my uncle and family. It was a canoe trip, actually. Anyway, we headed up with all of our gear up to Cumberland, Maryland on Sunday and started the 60 mile trip down the Potomac, to end at Hancock. Sunday, due to the fact that we had a hard time finding the campsites along the way, we went about 9 miles instead of the 4 the two adults had planned. Along the way, we had some fun swimming, swatting deerflies, seeing deer, and (coolest of all) five bald eagles, one of which was actually mature with the white head & tail. On Friday we beached the canoes at Hancock, and headed home. Let me tell you, the carseats felt like a featherbed after sleeping on a blow-up pad that was either too deflated to protect you from the rocks and such, or it was so well blown up it was like sleeping on a rock.

So now we’re home again. After going on the computer again, this time to check up on stuff, I stumbled upon a Private Message on AAO Tracker… from this guy called {AO}Diablo. He offers me a position in his clan. I go and check out his forums. They’re pretty cool, so I’m like ‘yeah, sure. Sounds cool.’ And next thing I know, in AA I’m now {AO}kidko. It’s a good clan, with plenty of active members, a TS server, and a nice site. So if you need a clan, I beleive we are recruiting.

There you go. Total update. Also have a write up of a game coming up, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise…

Mmmm. >_> <_<

Texas Hold ‘Em Tourny! Well, don’t get too excited. Every player at the 223 tables started with $1,500. After about twenty hands or so at table 83, I’m down to only $1,290, while johnny1357 is at $4,970. We already had someone get knocked out (get down to $0) at this table. But then again, there are two reasons to do this stuff. Number one: it’s fun to play poker! And number two: there are prizes! after the entry fee (some $320), if you place (out of ) 225th to 181th, you get back $425. Then it goes in increments up to the top 9. 9th: $7,906 8th: $12,163 [...] 3rd: $48,040 2nd: $75,405 1st: $127,702. In PokerStars.net, even getting 225th is not just a mesure of the fact that you got 225 out of 2027 people, but that you got a prize!

Anyway, I’m just sitting out for now. Not much you can do against over $3,000 with less than $1,300. So, now I wait…

Later,…

Greeeeeeat… I missed the tournament. Literally, by 1 minute. I quickly minimized AA and then opened up PokerStars, realizing what time it was. Please let registration be open! I thought. As it was logging me in, I glanced at my watch again, unconciously. 16:30:17. Maybe, just maybe enough time!. Unfortunatly, I found it was too late. The tournament registration was closed… tournament play time: 1 minute. Talk about close. And they just coudln’t display the seconds, because I know it wasn’t a minute yet…

Oh well. Next one is at 8:30 tomarrow morning. MINE!

Now, I’ve also discovered the easiest 3D modeler in the world, as far as I know. Google’s SketchUp. Using only the tools Line, Rectangle, Circle, Angle, Eraser, and Raise/Lower, you can make just about anything. For example:

Pictured at 1/3 size, quality terrible due to reduction

That’s oWNiNg_DuCK’s map he made for AA in it. Although you can’t play it until the map editor comes out (more on this later), SketchUp is a good way to, well, sketch map ideas in three dimensions and such. Very well developed tool for being in the Beta stage, and like many of Google’s tools, it is an excellent free program. One major drawback of the program, unfortunatly, is the fact that though it can import barely any 3D format, it can only save with its own personal extension, .SKP.

Now, America’s Army has planned the end of the 2.x series. It should end before 2007, but the release of 2.7 is coming in July. The 2.7-2.8 versions come with new multi-player maps where up to 12 people form a Special Forces A-Team and attempt to foil the AI. This is something that people have been waiting and dreaming about. Two more heavey-hitting new features: drivable (not just usable) vehicles and a map editor. Both have sent the community into a (good) uproar.