На AliExpress есть почти всё, что только можно пожелать — и особенно приятно, что к распродаже 11.11 многие товары доступны с внушительными скидками.

The 2024 Good Furry Awards were presented this Tuesday, 15 October, at Biggest Little Fur Con.

This year saw the Award divided into three categories, the winners of which were:

• Image Award: Finn the Panther
• Furtastic Award: Spottacus Cheetah
• Good Egg Award: Shutter Karelian

Meanwhile, 2024's Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Albedo creator Steve Gallacci.

WINTERSUN опубликовали официальное видео с текстом на песню "Silver Leaves"
#Wintersun #DeathMetal #Death_Metal
Видео: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mCSNGOG3GM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rk6b5GdX_4

Tracing the Line is a book of plotter art available for preorder now, coming out this November. Many of our featured artists are included in the book, and AxiDraw makes several appearances in the video teaser. Looks like it will be fantastic!

When Wingspan was released in 2019, it caused quite a stir. It's a compelling board game that detours far far away from the usual themes of conquest or agriculture. The game romanced me with its beauty, mechanics, and unique subject matter (see my review here). Later that same year, the first expansion (Wingspan: European Expansion ; review here) was released. It proved to be more of a subtle change to the footprint of the game versus a turn-everything-upside-down-and-wow-you kind of addition. It took me awhile to warm up to it, and I wasn’t sold on it as a must-have item. More recently, Wingspan: Oceania Expansion, was released in 2020.  After several games, I’ve taken to this expansion much more than the previous one. That might be, at least in part, because my expectations have evolved for the series. Taking a lesson from my experience with the previous expansion, I assumed when opening the box that the designer (Elizabeth Hargrave), wasn’t likely to include any major disruptions in the mechanics that would upend the game as we know it. Instead, I expected another subtle shift in the mechanics and a widening of the bird inventory, both of which we did get.

Oceania  introduces:

• New bird cards from the Oceania range (some with spiffy game end powers)
• New round goals
• New bonus cards
• Eggs in a new color

As in the base game and previous expansion, the artwork is stunning. Here are some of my favorite new birds, based solely on appearance:

The cute and cuddly Little Penguin

 

The exquisitely beautiful Many-Colored Fruit-Dove

Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo (this badass will totally steal your lunch money)

Guild’s Finch (performing at the Copa Cabana nightly)

The punk rocker Crested Pigeon

Beyond my expectations, this expansion also introduced a new type of food - nectar. Nectar is both more useful than then other types of food (it can be spent as a wild food, substituting for other foods in most cases, and putting spenders in line for end game “biggest spender” point awards in the process) and more restrictive (any nectar left in your supply at the end of a round must be discarded). Along with the nectar comes new dice with nectar depicted and new player boards with spaces to hold spent nectar.  Elizabeth also provided a detailed explanation for the reasoning behind including nectar in the expansion rulebook and I thought that was a nice touch. I found that playing with nectar changed the emphasis of my actions to acquiring and spending nectar as much as possible in order to get the bonus points at end game for most nectar spent per action row.

The new player boards provided with Oceania also make it possible to refresh the dice in the feeder, refresh the cards in the face up draw pile, and have changed the resource quantities harvested when completing actions. There’s been an overall shift to more food and more cards while scaling back egg production. This may have been done to address concerns with egg spamming in the base game– a powerful, late game strategy in which players spend their last few turns laying eggs in order to capitalize on the point value of the eggs and the bonus cards that focus on egg production. We didn’t feel any pain in the reorientation away from egg laying because we played our games with only the new round goals and the new bonus cards (none of which focused on egg laying) to get a good feel for the expansion. But I’m not convinced that weakening the egg laying action row was really a good idea. On the surface, it seems to heavily discourage egg laying at all except as minimally needed for playing more birds. And it feels like a heavy disadvantage if you’re saddled with a bonus card oriented toward egg laying and your opponents aren’t. Oceania  also introduces some birds with egg laying powers, so that might balance out the action row weakening somewhat, but it would probably take hundreds of games across varying player counts to properly evaluate the net effect of these changes.

Despite my reservations about how the egg laying engine seems to have been crippled in this expansion, I still highly recommend it based on the twist in play the nectar brings and the replayability gains from the new card and goal inventory (especially for players who’ve played through the base game a ton and are getting a bit bored with the goals). I understand that the automa mode has also been updated quite a bit with this expansion, although I haven’t played that yet and am not covering the solo mode in this review. 

I’m three games into the Wingspan franchise and as a completist, I'm firmly committed to maintaining a complete collection; it’s certain I’ll be picking up the next expansion when it’s released.

 

-------------------------------------------------

Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Players: 1-5
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): About 90 minutes per game
Game type: card drafting, dice rolling, action selection, set collection, solo

Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me.

There is a popular and well-informed YouTube channel called BoardGameCo that has its finger on the pulse of the crowdfunding market for board games. A number of years ago, my husband Christopher shared the channel and its content with me, and it was an instant like for me. The main host, Alex, manages to come across as charming, intelligent, and principled all at once. He has a firm understanding of the board game industry, a vast library, and good instincts when it comes to predicting the value (both in terms of play and resale) of upcoming and current crowdfunding games, and makes recommendations on when to purchase and when to pass. I never feel like he’s trying to sell me something. He’s just very enthusiastic about board games and somewhere along the way realized people enjoy his work and I think that fuels him (along with YouTube ad revenue of course).

In 2023, Alex and his business partner Motti Eisenbach (of Addax Games) launched Level Up Events and hosted the inaugural Level Up Retreat. The retreat is an annual board game and RPG convention associated with BoardGameCo. It’s a small (<400 attendees) and cozy event tucked away in the Tri-State metropolitan area  (NY/NJ/CT), and very welcoming to all. The library (800+games) is well balanced in terms of complexity of play, player count, publication date, and game mechanisms.

This year the retreat was held in February and branded as the Level Up Winter  Retreat. One of my friends in the industry encouraged me to check it out and I was invited by Alex as a special guest to participate. My husband talked me into bringing him along as well since he’d introduced me to BoardGameCo all those years ago. There were a handful of other special guests in attendance – board game designers, content creators, etc. - and many of them became part of the draw of the retreat for attendees. It’s fun to play board games with smart, funny, and popular people. I definitely enjoyed getting to play with friends I don’t get to see often and also networking with other content creators.  I haven’t even mentioned the cosplayers yet but they were pretty cool too – shout out to all the Star Wars players especially. 

One thing I really enjoyed about the Level Up Retreat is their choice to host a regional qualifier for the World Series of Board Gaming (WSBG). The WSBG is an annual event in Vegas where competitors choose from 16 different games to begin a tournament that ends in 1 finale winner and a cash prize of $25,000. Serious gaming! To enter the WSBG, one must pay a registration fee, OR, win a regional qualifier to receive a gratis entry. So for anyone living in the Tri-State area and interested in qualifying for the WSBG, the Level Up Retreat is especially a great idea. I competed in the qualifier and made it to the semi-finals and it’s really spurred my interested in the WSBG. After returning home from the retreat, I’ve been organizing practice games and I’m currently running multiple practice games on Board Game Arena at all hours and planning to attend the WSBG. It’s really fantastic that the Level Up Retreat included this event as part of its scheduled activities and I hope that more regional board game conventions follow suit.

Another nice touch at the retreat was the VIP snack room. Are you a chocoholic? Or maybe a sugar fiend who skips over the chocolate for straight sugar goodness like Sweet Tarts, Runts, or Sour Patch Kids, or Nerds? Perhaps you go for the salty and you fuel your games on pretzels, chips, and granola bars? You might even be in the select group of healthy noshers who prefer fresh fruit and protein bars? It’s all good because the VIP snack room has it all (except beverages; the hosting hotel did not permit the organizers to provide beverages this year). Personally, I ate a lot of Nerds ropes, punctuated by a few fresh fruits. It’s an upcharge to have access to the VIP room, but if you’re a hard core board gamer who likes to hyperfocus, you’ll want to opt for it. You’ll also get additional swag in a nice swag bag as well.

So, the games were on point, the snacks were fantastic, the guests were great, and the events were numerous and well attended (including many many RPG events outside my scope that I heard were fantastic). Bonus: I never had to wait in a long line in the library for a game I wanted to become available. In fact, there weren’t any lines at the library at all, as it was kind of a constant free-for-all. And that’s the only aspect of this convention that needs some work – the library setup and procedures. While the library volunteers did their best to help people find games they were looking for, there isn’t any inventory list of games for attendees to browse through when selecting games, the games are not arranged on the shelves in alphabetical order, and there is no formal check-out, check-in process. Not only does this create a bit of chaos when trying to find a game, it’s a security issue. Most conventions have either a formal check-out/check-in process so that someone is always accountable for each game removed from the library, or they have the library setup directly within the gaming space and security at the door to prevent attendees from removing games from the gaming area. The Level Up Retreat had neither; it’s all operating on the honor system. I hope for the sake of future attendees and the profitability of the event for the organizing entities that more effort is given toward organizing and securely managing the library at the next retreat.

The Level Up Retreat has found the formula for convention success and I’m confident that once they address the library management issues it will be well on its way to being recognized as one of the best regional board gaming conventions.

What follows is the true and unredacted account of my tour of duty as a command leader for the Yin Brotherhood.

Map: 5p POK Kazadoom’s Notch Map generated on https://ti4-map-generator.derekpeterson.ca/

Factions: Yin, Yssaril, Nekro, Vuil’raith, Hacan.

Round 1 objectives: Engineer a Marvel (R1-1); Push Boundaries (R1-2)

Five experienced leaders gathered this weekend to prove themselves worthy. As the Yin, I found myself wedged between the Hacan (around the corner of a notch in the galaxy) and the Yssaril. Word had come down to the Blessed on Darien through our ambassadors and spies that both nearby factions were set on amassing larger fleets and armies, but to what end we were unsure. The Blessed discussed the matter at great length and decided our best defense was to rebuild our flagship the Van Hauge and to take control of as many planets as we could (more, at least, then our neighbors). That would allow us to stand firm in the face of any aggression.

As a command leader, I had heard the rumors not only of these rising neighbor armies, but also of some truly terrifying events taking place on the other side of the galaxy. The horrific Vuil’raith were actively recruiting with empty promises; telling factions whatever they wanted to hear to forge alliances. Left unchecked, they would surely seize and destroy our entire galaxy planet by planet. The Nekro Virus was also gaining strength on a planet nearby the Vuil’raith and while it was unclear who would come out the victor in the inevitable head-to-head match between them, I shuddered at the idea of either of them heading our way. Because I viewed Nekro and the Vuil’raith both as bigger threats to our Yin than Yssaril or Hacan, I decided to put all my efforts into leading my crew to Mecatol Rex as fast as possible. I knew that if we could successfully land and build up a presence, we could stand as a line in the sand against the wave of Nekro or Vuil’raith forces that would inevitably come crashing down upon us.

As time went on, I congratulated myself on recruiting warfare strategy experts and prioritizing our expansion to Mecatol Rex over building the flagship. It was the right choice. It had allowed me to maneuver our fleet onto the doorstep of Mecatol Rex. I had to explain to my Blessed brothers why we hadn’t built our flagship yet as ordered, but I pointed out that settling the planets along the way between Darien and Mecatol was in line with the orders given to seize control of new planets. Granted, we did not have more planets than our neighbors yet, but we did have more than we started with. I was sternly reminded to prioritize the flagship, especially since our spies had spotted the Hacan flagship (R1-1), but otherwise the matter was dropped.

End of R1 scores: Yin(0), Yssaril(0), Nekro(0), Vuil’raith(0), Hacan(1)

Round 2 objective: Erect a Monument (R2-1)

To provide the assistance I needed, I hired some well respected leadership strategy consultants. Their job was to provide me guidance on getting more out of my command, using the influence I’ve cobbled together. I’d been given a new objective by the Blessed – I was to gather the resources needed to build a monument to the brotherhood on one of our newly settled planets. I thought it absolutely ridiculous at a time like this. Word was that Hacan was also heading to Mecatol with a settlement force and the Blessed wanted me to make time for fundraising? Forget it. In my meetings with my brothers, I nodded and agreed on the importance of the monument, but secretly planned to prioritize what I deemed most urgent instead. Back at command, I forged ahead and reached Mecatol (MR1) before Hacan could do so. Built a space dock on her right away once construction was authorized, and then began amassing troops on the surface. At the same time, I was diligently managing the build of our flagship (R1-1) by our production teams back home on Darien.

Yssaril also finished their flagship (R1-1) and through some swift imperial strategy, settled enough new planets to control more than their neighbors (R1-2). Hacan got word that Vuil’raith had taken over a legendary planet in a distance sector (VS1) and in response intensified their own settlement efforts. In doing so, Hacan also found themselves controlling more planets than their neighbors (R1-2). Our ambassadors’ reports were increasingly worrisome – war was brewing and they were unsure where it would break out. And while the Vuil’raith were clearly planning something, the Nekro had gone completely silent. Our scientists on Darien continued their research, our production teams added more ships to our fleet, and we all waited for whatever was coming next.

Having established a settlement on Mecatol Rex, I called for an inaugural council meeting with the other leading factions. At this first meeting, we took up a couple of interesting proposals and passed a new law implementing technology that allowed all Alpha and Beta wormholes to connect.

End of R2 scores: Yin(2), Yssaril(2), Nekro(0), Vuil’raith(1), Hacan(2)

R3 objective: Discover Lost Outposts (R3-1)

Pleased with the completion of the Van Hauge, the Blessed advised that our intel had intercepted some encrypted communications about an objective the other factions’ were working on – to conduct in-depth explorations of their new settlements and identify any undocumented resources, pockets of political influence, or technology specialties. Any gains discovered during exploration were to be documented and written up in attachments to the planetary profiles faction leaders kept on hand for reference. I was told to keep on the efforts to settle more planets than our neighbors and to emphasis exploration of any new settlements. I was to report back when I’d successfully identified at least two different planets with enhancements worthy of documentation attachments. There was no more mention of the monument, and I was glad to have that off my to-do list. I decided to hire some tech strategy consultants to help develop new tech that could aid our explorations.

Soon after I’d turned my attention to new settlements and exploration, the Nekro launched a direct attack on my fleet guarding Mecatol. I’m not the best negotiator and had been unable to secure the contractors needed to implement an imperial strategy, but holding onto Mecatol was still imperative for blocking the advancement of Nekro or the Vuil’raith toward Darien. Additionally, we had built a good rapport with everyone on Mecatol and their influence on the council was powerful. So I dug my heels in and fought. A couple of my destroyer pilots kamikazed their ships into the Nekro fleet, but it was not enough to stop them. They held the airspace above Mecatol while at the same time building their flagship in another production facility they controlled elsewhere (R1-1). Luckily for us, they underestimated the fortitude and persuasiveness of our infantry. We were able to turn at least one of their advancing infantry against them and through the strength of our troops, we held the planet. Still, they did not leave the system, so we had to make peace, at least temporarily, with their looming presence above us.

There was a skirmish between the Nekro and the Vuil’raith as well, and there also, the Nekro had come out ahead. After the battle, Vuil’raith regrouped and turned their efforts toward building their flagship (R1-1). Nekro had also been reported to be gathering relic fragments as they conquered and explored, only instead of holding onto them to reassemble a relic, our spies came back with word they were purging them (NS1). While all of this was going on, Yssaril was quietly continuing to settle and explore planets. Our spies kept a close watch on them and every step of progress they made was immediately relayed to the Blessed. Eventually, my superiors sent me a reprimand via encrypted message wanting to know why I still hadn’t made more progress with the attachments when Yssaril had already done so (R3-1). Worse, the Hacan commander had managed to submit 2 attachments for planetary profiles under their control (R3-1) AND build a monument to their leadership (R2-1). Now the Blessed were jealous and angry and every communication from them I received reflected that. I had faith in my strategy, but I was going to have to have something more to show for myself when I spoke with my brethren. When I got word from my construction team that we’d build a third space dock across our systems in record time (YiS1), I forwarded the progress report directly to the Blessed, hoping it would soothe them.

Another council meeting was called, and even though I wielded the most influence of any leader present, none of the proposed legislation before the council interested me much. Certainly nothing to really shake things up in favor of the Yin. I mostly abstained from voting and mentally prepared for my upcoming status report meetings with the Blessed.

End of R3 scores: Yin(3), Yssaril(3), Nekro(2), Vuil’raith(2), Hacan(4)

R4 objective: Raise a Fleet (R4-1)

I really wanted to implement the famous imperial strategy I’d heard so much about, as when a faction holds Mecatol, it’s especially rewarding for them. But you need the right experts who know how to do it and Hacan always managed to grab that team it each time their contract came up for renewal. One time, even after they’d agreed to go work for another faction, Hacan pulled out some fancy datahub tech and persuaded them to come back over to work with them. So I never got my turn with them. After my research consultants rolled off their contracts, I reached back out to our warfare experts who were on the market again. I wanted to bring them back under contract for guidance in troop redeployments. We had a problem with ship crews’ that fulfilled a deployment order and then wanted to rest on location for an extended amount of time before being redeployed. They’d gotten their union involved and it was a mess and I hoped the warfare strategy team could persuade at least one of our most essential crew teams to head back out sooner than they’d planned.

At my next status meeting, my brothers were frank with me. They were encouraged by my construction feat, but I was not back in their good graces yet. They told me I was to build my fleet up to 5 in at least one system (R4-1), but preferably in as many systems as possible. They were also interested in the spoils from the cultural planets my crews had been settling and asked me to have at least 4 under my control (YiS-2). I was easily able to do both of these things, and so our working relationship was going very well. With the Blessed giving me some breathing room, I took time for planning my own goals and priorities.

Hacan had been making a lot of noise about taking over Mecatol and the Vuil’raith leveraged the general atmosphere of distrust and anxiety to approach me directly about a potential alliance. It might be just what I reported before – that the faction knows how to say whatever you want to hear to get you on their side. But it also might be that the rumors of their all consuming evil were vastly overdramatized. All I know is they gave me some useful tech that allowed my production teams to go above and beyond their production limits. And I agreed to look the other way should they decide they wanted to stomp out Hacan or Nekro. And why shouldn’t I make such a deal? They never did anything to me or our people whereas Nekro had attacked us. There were also confirmed reports that the Nekro had built an impressive monument to themselves on one of the planets they had recently assimilated (R2-1). And Hacan needed to be stopped before they got any more powerful. Recently they had amassed 5 ships in one system (R4-1), won a battle with their flagship (HS1), and come to control enough planets to give them 12 influence votes on the council (HS2). No doubt the Blessed would have been thrilled with the Hacan commander, were he set up to answer to them.

At our third council meeting, Yssaril, Nekro, and Vuil’raith reported they now each had at least one 5 fleet system to serve as deterrents (R4-1) for aggression. Thank God I’d prioritized that myself or the Blessed would have really been up my ass. Nekro passed around pictures of the monument they recently built. It was absolutely hideous. I made no bones about saying so and they deflected with slander that I was just salty about their blockade of Mecatol. As we brought each agenda item up for consideration, Nekro pushed hard to get a seemingly dull law passed. I should have figured out their angle sooner, but I was distracted by the Vuil’raith who were on me to pay back that tech share by voting for them on an upcoming agenda item. At the end of things, the law Nekro was pushing was passed (NS2) and with my influence, the Vuil’raith was selected by the council as the elected beneficiary of a boost to their military operations (VS2).

End of R4 scores: Yin(5), Yssaril(4), Nekro(5), Vuil’raith(4), Hacan(7)

R5 objective: Command an Armada (R5-1)

In my next debrief with the Blessed, I told them all that had happened at the council meeting. I warned them especially of Hacan’s growing power, but they didn’t take me as seriously as I’d hoped. The Hacan had not attacked us in any memorable fashion (perhaps an accidental ship collision here or there) and wouldn’t it be better for them to come out on top versus Nekro or Vuil’raith, the destroyer of worlds? I didn’t have the heart to tell them I’d already made some preliminary deals with the the Vuil’raith. Their minds were made up on the more pressing threat. The Blessed presented me with my latest assignment – build up my fleet to 8 ships in a single system. A show of force to deter Vuil’raith and Nekro. I tried to remind them our great strength was in our infantry and holding the ground (especially with our Yin Spinner tech), not our pilots, but they didn’t care to listen. They sensed my reluctance and offered up double the cash incentive if I could get it done before the next council meeting. I told them I’d work on it, but as usual, I had other plans.

As always, Hacan lured away the Imperial strategy experts when they came off their contracts so I reached out to our on again off again leadership consultants. I also focused on settling more planets, including a few intrusions into Yssaril territory. They were in the midst of a monument building project (R2-1) and completely distracted so there was no retaliation even though I’d braced for it. The Nekro and Vuil’raith faced off against each other aggressively again. The tension between all of the factions was growing but despite our petty grievances with each other, all of us kept our eyes fixed on Hacan.

Just before the council met again, word came in that Hacan, Yssaril, and Nekro had each managed to build up a fleet of 8 powerful ships (R5-1) within a system they controlled. Dammit! The Blessed were going to be upset with me again. At least I’d settled enough additional planets to outnumber my neighbors as they’d asked me to do eons ago (R1-2). The Vuil’raith had done this also (R1-2), facing the increasing threat of the Nekro at every turn. While I didn’t have the fleet count the Blessed had asked of me, all my planet settling and incursions into Yssaril territory had given me control of planets in the same system as other factions (YiS3), which provided great accessibility for continuing covert operations. The Vuil’raith commander reported to me through back channels that Yssaril was creeping into systems neighboring their home planet in our galaxy (YsS-1). Yssaril had also formed a loose, informal alliance with the Nekro. Under friend of my enemy logic, that made the Yssaril a new enemy of the Yin.

The fourth council meeting was extremely stressful. Hacan was confronted regarding their massive fleet build up and asked of their plans. Instead of answering the question, they reminded us how they’ve always been generous in trading with us all, and how they had rarely shown any aggression. But we weren’t buying it. The continual build up of their fleet and infantry had to point to something big they were planning. Hacan was given a mandatory military reduction directive from the council. They would be sent back out from the council meeting with a limit of 3 command actions, 3 ships max in any fleet, and only permitted to conduct two strategic actions until we met again, unless they could gain more influence through better leadership. It passed by a wide margin, and I have to say Nekro looked especially pleased. As much as I fear and hate Nekro, I do not trust Hacan and the Vuil’raith commander had said that was wise on my part.

End of R5 scores: Yin(7), Yssaril(8), Nekro(7), Vuil’raith(5), Hacan(9)

R6 objective: Manipulate Galactic Law (R6-1)

Nekro announced a bold move – they had instigated a scheme their lawyers had crafted to force their consultants into an automatic follow-on contract. Each other faction was now doing the same, utilizing a fine print clause to make it so. I knew the Blessed would be disappointed if I released our teams, so I let our contractors know I was exercising the fine print as well and they belonged to us for a little while longer, whether they liked it or not. I needed to keep the Blessed content. My ears still stung from the berating comments my brothers had laid into me during our last status meeting following the fourth council. How had I let so many other factions get ahead of us on fleet size? Didn’t I see the danger? Did they need to replace me or could I get my head on straight and get us into a position of power? If Hacan or another faction were to take control of everything, there was a good chance they’d shut down our genetic cloning operations. They were prejudiced against our ways. They didn’t understand the threat of Greyfire.

It was true that Hacan was exceedingly close to seizing control of everything, but I couldn’t see an easy path for me or my fleet to stop them. Perhaps if I had built up the fleet as the brothers had ordered, but it was probably too late for that to make a difference now. What I did do, was send a message out across all channels – even to the Nekro – that I pledged my support in temporary alliance to all who would seek to destabilize Hacan.

Nekro moved first, easily taking control of multiple Hacan systems (although Hacan managed to hold the planets). Vuil’raith charged in next, infiltrating the Hacan home system and taking an entire planet hostage until Vuil'raith agreed to stand down.

Meanwhile, I’d gotten an urgent dispatch from the Blessed. If I couldn’t take Hacan out militarily, the Blessed counseled that I needed to gain enough influence to impose even greater consequences on them during the next council meeting. To do this, according to their calculations, I needed to amass at least 16 votes of influence. So while all of the military operations against Hacan were going on, I moved into more of Yssaril territory to capture more planets so that we’d have a greater voice on the council. I also made a far reaching jaunt into Nekro systems thanks to one of our command heroes. I was bound and determined to collect enough planets under Yin control so that I would have the strength to stop Hacan. I also prioritized building out our fleet to 8 ships (R5-1). Better late than never.

Just before the fifth council meeting, both Vuil’raith and Nekro publicly announced they’d raised enough influence among their settlements to be in a position to heavily influence the next wave of galactic laws (R6-1). Nekro had also beaten up Vuil’raith badly in an anomaly (NS3) equidistant between their areas of control. And Yssaril had brought in a report of some new strategic tech they’d adapted (YsS2). As for Hacan, they came into the council meeting with their head down and shoulders slumped. They hadn’t been able to accomplish much of anything lately with the constant onslaught of attacks from all sides and the Vuil’raith hovering over their home planets. Did I feel sorry for them though? While I considered it, the Vuil’raith commander gave me a wink across the table. No, I did not feel bad for them at all. Yssaril proposed we give an official support of power vote to the faction that most aided the Hacan disruption. We were all in favor of that and passed the measure, but when it came time to decide who should receive the award, there was contention. Nekro made a good case for themselves, but we felt the honor belonged to the Vuil’raith and gave it to them instead (A1).

End of R6 scores: Yin(9), Yssaril(9), Nekro(10), Vuil’raith(7), Hacan(9)

R7: Subdue the Galaxy (R7-1)

I took news of all these developments (leaving out the wink from the Vuil’raith commander) back to the Blessed. They were extremely happy to hear the Hacan had stalled, even if it was temporary. We discussed the new problem – Nekro was gaining power and now they were on the verge of becoming unstoppable. In fact, they had assimilated not only our faction tech but Hacan’s! They were now able to seize control of any strategic contract team when needed during strategy contract negotiation windows. We could be faced with Hacan peeling away imperial strategy experts away from us and then Nekro peeling them away from Hacan. I told the Blessed that we had one last hope. The latest round of contract negotiations was approaching, and I was slotted last to recruit. My plan was to grab some strategic contractors who weren’t of any value to Hacan, but whose priority rank meant that I’d be given audience in my bid for total control before the other council members. If we could prove ourselves worthy, we could take control of the new empire before any of the other factions even got up to speak. I explained this would be possible because Yssaril always preferred to hire research contractors, Nekro would hire imperial strategy experts as it was the only way for him to win ultimate control, Vuil’raith would hire whomever they chose (they weren’t a threat to us), and then Hacan would take something they didn’t care too much about that was a higher number and then force Nekro to switch. The Blessed approved of my plan and suggested I continue to settle new planets – at least 11 outside of Darien – to give me firm footing on seizing total control. They didn’t have any new secret objectives to hand down to increase my power, but they said intel reports advised some of the relics could increase my power if I happened upon the best ones.

When strategy consultant negotiations began, I found I was wrong about Yssaril – their commander hired warfare experts instead of tech. But I was right about Nekro. And Hacan chose to hire tech experts instead of stealing away the imperial experts from Nekro. This was probably because they realized Nekro would just lure them back. So I hired some trade experts, knowing Hacan would not want to steal them from me. It was hard to leave the leadership consultants on the table, but I couldn’t risk losing them to Hacan if I hired them.

Based on my hiring choices, I held a better initiative than anyone else in the council except Vuil’raith. If everyone could just keep Nekro held back until the council was ready to meet again, and if I managed to find a powerful relic, I could seize control for the Yin.

With limited command actions due to a lack of leadership strategy consultants, everyone was careful with their actions. Except for the Yssaril of course, who kept stalling, as is their way. The faction commanders plotted in the open how to stop Nekro. It wasn’t going to be that hard. They didn’t have a massive fleet yet (they had the capacity but not the build out), nor did they have 11 planets outside their home system. They’d have to work for either. And work for them they did, but they were stymied at every turn by the Vuil’raith and perhaps once even by myself. The Nekro commander boasted about finally having more planets than their neighbors (R1-2), but that was truly too little, too late. Having neutralized the Nekro, and seeing the Hacan was still too weak to assume power, everyone’s attention turned toward Yssaril and our people, the Yin. It looked hopeless for me, so the focus remained on Yssaril who still held secret objectives that could bring them a measure of power.

I spent my time shoring up troops and ships on Mecatol and Primor, and as I turned in a handful of relic fragments, I prayed for a power granting relic. Nope. I pulled a relic that allowed me to destroy a planet. I would have to eventually face my Blessed brothers and explain to them why I had failed. My hopes dashed, I sent out my trade consultants. At least I could gather some trade goods to bring back to Darien. To my surprise, Hacan offered to give me 6 commodities in exchange for 2 trade goods and 2 commodities. It seemed to be for no particular good reason, but I suppose they needed the trade goods to continue rebuilding their fleet. They were not giving up yet on themselves. I accepted the trade as they truly seemed repentant and in no position to harm me.

To finish things up what I assumed would be my last tour of duty, I looked for a high value target to destroy. Something with a lot of infantry or some structures. Then, at least I could tell the Blessed I went out with a bang and the event would be listed in my biography. I found it in a Vuil’raith system adjacent to their home. I called a 1:1 meeting with the Vuil’raith commander. While he watched, I unrolled a map of our galaxy and pointed to one of the planets bordering his home system. “I choose this planet”, I announced, as I showed him mercy with an advanced warning to evacuate. With a horrified look in his eyes, the Vuil’raith commander said, “Please don’t”, and pledged the support of the Vuil’raith for a Yin Brotherhood throne (SFTT1). Adrenaline surging, I agreed in earnest. I had not seen this coming and it was going to make all the difference.

Suddenly the factions were buzzing again. We picked up the chatter on every channel we interception. Now *I* would have the first audience in a bid for the thorne. I had 12 planets outside my home system, proving the Yin brotherhood worthy of ruling. Could they stop me? Only Nekro and Yssaril were still under normal operations at the time; the Vuil’raith and Hacan leaders had gone on holiday until our next council meeting. Vacation or not, they were still in communication with Nekro and Yssaril. Scheming together, the entire council plotted against me. They tried to work out the easiest planets to take from our people to bring our planet count below 11. Nekro made an incursion into one my systems and took a planet. Then came wave after wave of Yssaril attacks. After reducing our territory to just 9 planets outside our home system, there was a pause. The pause and the realization I had been calmly waiting for. The Yssaril commander called for a 1:1 with me, and when I arrived she wanted me to answer a burning question. Had I already submitted proof to the Blessed that I had completed the objective I’d been given to produce 16 votes of influence? “I have not”, I replied with a smile. “And how much influence does the Yin hold at this moment?” “TWENTY-SIX votes of influence”, I replied, with an even bigger smile. There wasn’t enough attacking and stalling in the world for Yssaril to knock us down below 16. I could buy 9 votes in trade goods alone, 4 from my heavily guarded home system patrolled by our suicide leaning flagship, and much more spread across the 6 or seven systems I controlled.

The Yssaril commander studied the situation from every angle. It was impossible. She had overlooked the key information – that I had finished my last tour of duty meeting both public objectives and she’d only stripped one of them from me. There was nothing she could do. She ended her tour of duty, dejected. Just before our next scheduled council meeting, Vuil’raith called a press conference on the steps of the council building to announce that they had won a measure of power by completing a secret objective they’d been given. (VS3). He also announced he had two planets with attachments under his control (R3-1). The crowd cheered for him. Everyone was really warming to these alleged monsters of the galaxy. And then I took to the steps and announced that our faction - the Yin brotherhood - who had peacefully resettled Mecatol and reinitiated the galactic council, were leaning on our 16 votes of influence to seize complete and total control of the galaxy. A gasp was heard from the crowd. And then cheering. Immense cheering from all sections of the crowd.

And that is how Yin took the unexpected Win.

End of R7 scores: Yin(12), Yssaril(9), Nekro(11), Vuil’raith(10), Hacan(9)

As college campuses across the country close for summer recess, we know of a few students heading home that are perhaps a little happier because their maps earned awards. National Geographic sponsors several map awards
(see http://natgeomaps.com/mapawards) to reward student innovation—so far six students have won this year:

Ben Coakley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Scheduled Service on Small Airlines in Canada, Summer 2008.
Daniel Huffman, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Rising Skyline: The Tallest Buildings in Europe, 1875-2007.

Mathieu Noble, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), King of Coal.




Wes Jones, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.
Cindy Prostak, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Check out http://natgeomaps.com/mapawards for more information and updates.

By David Miller
Senior Editor, NG Maps

The "National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World" won the prestigious John C. Bartholomew Award at this year’s British Cartographic Society meeting near London. Rebecca Hill, international marketing director at National Geographic’s London office, accepted the award for the Book Publishing Group, which produced the atlas in 2008.

The award, sponsored by the Bartholomew family and HarperCollins, recognizes “originality and excellence in the field of thematic cartography with emphasis on effective communication of the intended theme or themes.” Now in its 30th year, the award includes an engraved crystal trophy and award certificate. Among the many entries, the "Visual Atlas of the World" was singled out for special praise from the judges: “This atlas lives up to its title, and through a large series of well-compiled, beautifully designed thematic maps presents a dramatic picture of today’s world and the issues it faces.”

The "Visual Atlas of the World," with 416 pages, 350 maps and more than 600 photographs, satellite images and illustrations, reveals a common planetary heritage by highlighting World Heritage sites.

“The atlas blends two of National Geographic bests—state-of-the-art cartography and brilliant photography, which together tell compelling stories across the globe," said Carl Mehler, director of maps and project editor for the atlas.

"The collective efforts, talent and innovation of the atlas staff made this project materialize into a uniquely diverse cartographic collection. We're honored and delighted to receive this recognition from the British Cartographic Society,” he continued.

Find more information on the atlas at http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/244/4461/120.html

The Winter 2022 issue of Agapé, the official journal of U.S. Grand Lodge O.T.O., is now available. This and all previous issues can be found here.

Ski Sunday will be back for the 2011/12 season

Ski Sunday presenter Ed Leigh is wowed by Sochi two years ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics

UK Sport announces a large investment in British Ski and Snowboarding to be spent in the run-up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Today's pizza a day diet pizza came from the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. at 1305 W. Oltorf (right next to the train tracks).

I hit the place in mid-afternoon, so it was pretty empty (Happy hour is from 3 pm to 7 pm, though, so it filled quickly :-)).  You order food and beer at the bar and they bring it to your table.  Inside are long wooden tables with benches, for social/communal beer-gardening in the Bavarian tradition.  Outside are round tables under the live oaks for beer gardening in the Austin tradition. :-).

I ordered a sausage pizza (boring, I know :-), but I like to try new places out on the basics).  It was delivered hot and fresh; the crust was somewhat soft but firmed up after I let it cool a little.  It had a nice chew and stood up to the ingredients.  The sausage had a more subtle flavor than I was expecting, but I really liked it and its freshness.  The cheese and sauce were also quite good.


One of their "by the slice" choices had also caught my eye, so I ordered it as well.  This was venison, spinach, pesto, white bean, roasted tomato, roasted garlic, and ricotta.  This one was amazing (not that the sausage was bad).  The crust had just the right amount of crispness and chew, but the combination of toppings really made it.  It had a richness from the venison without being gamy or overwhelming, and the remaining ingredients provided a terrifically contrasting texture in every bite.


Oh, and the beer was darn good, too. :-).

Every Cubs fan is ten years old tonight.

For the first time since 1945, the Cubs are in a World Series.  They haven't won one since 1908.  In that year, Harriet Tubman was still alive.  So was Mark Twain.  And Leo Tolstoy. And Geronimo. And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

My high school was founded that year.

It's just baseball, yes, and I have philosophical objections to the culture of professional sports in this country and elsewhere.

But let me repeat: in this, the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Sixteen, the Cubs are in the World Series. For all the years since '08, for all the years they had great players like Ernie Banks and Billy Williams and Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg, this time, they finally, finally made it. 

For fans who remember 1945 and bovid mammals of the genus Capra; for those who recall the implosions of 1969 and 1984 and 2003, this time, they did it (Yeah, there were a couple other times they were in the playoffs since '84, but those never felt like their year).  This time, they finally did it.

I remember, in the 70s, my mother taking me and my brother and our friends to the Cubs games, especially on Fridays, which was Ladies' Day and tickets were cheap (Fridays didn't become popular until the 80s).  It was the era of Reggie Jackson and the Pirates and the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati.

There were peanuts outside and hot dogs inside and vendors selling Old Style beer (which of course we didn't drink). There were Andy Frain ushers and no one had even thought about putting seats on the roofs of buildings across the street. There was that deliciously analog giant scoreboard in center field.  (And, of course, there were no big screen high definition TVs.).

I remember our neighbor's cousin from Japan coming to see a baseball game in America and being wowed by Wrigley Field.

I remember some of the coldest spring days of my life sitting along the unreserved seats of left field.

I remember when the Cubs scored 22 runs in a single game. And lost. (I also remember when WGN replayed the game just because it was so awesome.).

I remember when they installed lights and being relieved they architecturally matched the stadium.

I remember commemorating the 50th anniversary of my high school's new building and the seventy-fifth anniversary of its founding by walking down Addison to see the Cubs play.

And I remember when Hank Aaron came for his first appearance in Chicago after breaking Babe Ruth's home run record and the entire stadium stood and gave him a standing ovation even though he was on the other team. 

I remember Jack Brickhouse and being kind of disappointed when he retired and was replaced by Harry Caray who, of course, had covered the White Sox, which was just wrong.

I remember friends being fans of the Reds and the Pirates and the Dodgers and the White Sox, which was just wrong. (For the record, I was not opposed to their winning the World Series a couple years back.  I don't like their new stadium, though.  Or the fact that they took Comiskey off the name).

I totally shouldn't care about professional athletes making millions for their billionaire employers for mediocre performances over the course of a century.  And part of me doesn't.

But it's the Cubs.  And today, every Chicagoan who remembers is ten years old again.  And tonight, that's sublime.

Even if they don't beat Cleveland.  But they will. Unless they don't.  In which case they will do so in the most heart-breakingly way possible. Because they're the Cubs.

And it's what they do.

And there will be a next year.

Asteroids that come in pairs, matching volcanic features on Mars and Earth, and the potential space policies of two administrations.

1. Peter Vandenbempt neemt praktijk op de korrel die steeds meer aan populariteit wint: "Gewoon geel geven, en een paar keer na elkaar"  Voetbalkrant.com
2. "Je lacht gewoon iedereen uit": Peter Vandenbempt hekelt "blessures bij doelmannen" en komt met oplossing  sporza.be
3. Delanghe onder vuur na acteren tegen RSC Anderlecht: “Lacht iedereen uit”  VoetbalPrimeur.be
4. Alle middelen zijn goed: de 'gouden' truc die Cercle Brugge toepaste tegen RSC Anderlecht krijgt (voorlopig) geen staartje  Voetbalkrant.com
5. Loopje met de sportiviteit, Delanghe faket blessure tegen Anderlecht  VoetbalPrimeur.be

Here we see a nice little floor lamp made from old bicycle parts. Be sure to lock it up or someone might steal it!

Check out more theft-worthy WINs here!

Fermanagh trounce Leitrim in their National Football League Division Four game at Brewster Park.

Joey Logano sat down with FOX Sports to discuss the wild pace-car wreck, the playoff format and the feeling of winning the title at Phoenix.

In an interview on FOX Sports' "All Facts, No Brakes," Alabama stars Ryan Williams and Jaylen Mbakwe shared why they stayed after Nick Saban's retirement and their thoughts on Travis Hunter.

Providence Friars' Oswin Erhunmwunse threw down a powerful two-handed dunk against the Hampton Pirates.

On July 28th, Axios reporter Jonathan Swan interviewed President Donald Trump on HBO about several topics including the staggering number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. His reactions to some of Trump's remarks are priceless, and needless to say, the memes have been top-tier. You can watch the interview here and garner your own reactions. Now on with the memes!

The right-wing populist party Motorists for Themselves, part of the Patriots for Europe group, has made significant gains, according to new polling data published by the Median agency. According to a poll conducted for the Czech News Agency, the Motorists could win 6% of the vote in the upcoming…

By Gergely Szakacs and Karin Strohecker BUDAPEST/LONDON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's victory may be a political boon for Hungarian leader Viktor Orban but on the economy, Trump is bad news for Hungary - adding to inflationary risks due to a weak forint and lower output due to possible tariffs on…

Suspicious Activity Detected Activity violating our Terms of Use has been detected on your TipRanks account. Such activity could comprise of any of the following: Exceeding 80 page views of a specific page type within a 24 hour period. Utilizing bots, crawlers or other scraping tools. In most…

Mika’s beloved tale comes to Xbox for the first time, with updated graphics and a new photo mode. Explore Kaltenbach, bond with Windstorm, and uncover hidden secrets. Embark on a journey like no other as Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered gallops onto Xbox for the first time! Dive into the captivating world […]

The post Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered Gallops onto Xbox appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Free is Killing the Internet This is because of fake accounts on Facebook, Google, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs which are the main source of the problem. These company’s should join Google and Bing by creating structured data. We will not even get into the scams and spammers coming from fake e-mail accounts on Yahoo! […]

How to make folded paper window hearts. This is a step by step tutorial that will have your windows looking full of love in just a few minutes.

The post Paper Window Hearts – DIY Valentine Crafts appeared first on Joyful Abode.

We've featured the work of Ray Villafane before here on WIN, but today we have another of the pumpkin sculptures that made him famous. This time, it's his largest piece ever, unveiled at the New York Botanical gardens this last weekend. The piece is made of several pumpkins, with different sections carved and then held together with rods and adhesive. Check for more in the gallery below!

There's plenty more fun with pets and animals over at Animal Captions!

The action really picks up around the thirty second mark.

Respect for Badminton: +1

In 2006 Mencap produced a comprehensive review of short break provision. Now, 10 years on, they are revisiting the support available for family carers to see whether recent policy initiatives and investment have delivered the much-needed change. A total of 264 family carers responded to their survey on short breaks provision and experiences of caring. They also sent Freedom of Information requests to all 152 local authorities in England that provide social care services. This report looks at short breaks provision in a climate of cuts to central and local government budgets. It examines the extent to which these cuts have impacted on the lives of people with a learning disability and their family carers. It also looks at the state of affairs for family carers of children and young people across the full spectrum of learning disability; from people with mild and moderate learning disabilities, to people with severe and profound disabilities.