Sunday, November 30, 2003

 

I'm an uncle!

I was just informed that early this morning around 1:30am, my brother's wife gave birth to their first child, Patrick Douglas Krogh. He was three weeks early, but weighed in at 7 pounds and came out rarin' to go.

Congratulations to Scott & Noriko!!

Jefferson 10:11 AM

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Sunday, November 23, 2003

 

Battle Report: Hordes of the Things

With great fervor and determination, two of my friends and I decided that we would play a miniatures wargame last night, come Hell or high water. And despite my having to work most of yesterday, we did it!

The rules set for the night was Hordes of the Things, by the Wargames Research Group. I had not played these rules in 10 years. The last occasion was Pacificon 1993. Jim and Evyn had played for the first time at this year's ConQuest convention, and enjoyed it very much. (They mainly used my 15mm painted armies, even.)

The main purpose of the match was to familiarize ourselves with the 2nd edition rules, with a secondary purpose of breaking in Evyn's excellent new battleboard. Jim and I squared off, with my goblin/kobold army facing his undead. Sadly, I still do not own a digital camera, so I have no photos to share. (Hello, Santa, I have been very good...)

I ended up being the defender. The terrain was a hill in a corner, two stands of woods (bad going) near the center, and an impassible rock outcropping. If I remember correctly, the army compositions were something like this:

Goblin/Kobold: 1 x Hero General, 1 x Spear, 3 x Shooter, 2 x Rider, 8 x Horde.
Undead: 1 x Hero, 1 x Hero General, 3 x Spear, 3 x Shooter, 2 x Flyer.

I arrayed my forces in front of my stronghold, with my shooters on my left flank, my riders and general on the right, and the hordes in the middle. Jim then put his spears facing my shooters, his flyers and shooters in the middle, behind a stand of woods, and his heroes on my right flank. The flanks ended up engaging each other, with my hordes not having a lot to do for a long time. On my right flank, his heroes got my riders in a fix. I made the mistake of reinforcing with my hero general. I knocked out one of his heroes, but lost both my riders. My general was then trapped between his shooters, who were taking cover in the woods, and Jim's general. I soon lost that general, in exchange for a stand of shooters, and found myself in a world of hurt.

In Hordes, you lose the game if you have lost your general while also having lost more points of units than your opponent has. I had lost my general, but even so Jim had lost more points than I had. One of Jim's flyers had taken on my massed hordes, and been destroyed somehow. Also, my left flank was holding off Jim's spears very nicely, and had destroyed a stand of those. So I was still ahead, and I could still win. The second possible victory condition is when you reduce your opponent to less than half his starting forces (provided you have more points on the board at that moment).

Problem is, without my general, my army could only maneuver at half effectiveness. Jim had a great chance to outflank my forces and take my stronghold. I just needed to keep inflicting casualties, and somehow reduce his forces below 50%.

In the middle phase of the battle, my left flank destroyed another of Jim's shooters. Jim's shooters, his hero general, and his last flyer harassed my hordes and my single stand of spears. The only thing that saved me was being able to regenerate my hordes, thus reducing my casualty count. I knocked Jim's army below half its starting point total, while keeping mine just above half. Victory! I suggested we keep playing, though, because it seemed Jim would be able to take my stronghold nonetheless.

That's how it worked out, as a matter of fact. Jim's last shooter decimated my hordes, leaving a clear path to my stronghold for his hero general. That general, with his last stand of spears, finally rolled up my left flank of shooters, and then joined his last flyer stand to take my stronghold. I had half a dozen stands of hordes on the board at that time. Without my general, though, I simply couldn't organize them and get them into the battle!

So in the end, it was a technical victory for me, but I still lost my stronghold. Call it a draw, and a fun experience all around.

We discovered we were making a few mistakes as we played--we didn't realize shooters fire on every turn, not just their own. Also, we didn't realize that flyers cost double the normal command points (called PIPs in the rules) to move. I don't think it made any vital difference in the battle, though.

Sadly, we didn't have time for a second battle--but we still played one more than we usually do!

Painting Update: Today I finished Eowyn and the group of three Warriors of Rohan I referred to November 15th. I am starting a new batch of four Warriors of Rohan and the mounted Eomer figure, all from the same Games Workshop Lord of the Rings line. Work on the Balrog also continues.

Jefferson 3:23 PM

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Friday, November 21, 2003

 

Plugs, or "It's My Site and I'll Plug If I Want To"

When you are associated with cool people, doing cool things, it is therefore cool to tell people how cool they are. So, as a break from my usual pointless rambling, here's some stuff I think you should know about.

Maximum Monkey Comics

Downtown Hayward has a new comics store, and I think it's really cool. It opened about two months ago, across the street from where the late lamented Clay's Comics used to be. It has much the same feel and coolness that Clay's used to have, and no wonder--one of the owners is Amy Crook, who used to be a fixture behind the counter at Clay's for a lot of years. If you like comics, and particularly if you miss Clay's, go check out the Monkey. Or as we like to say...SHOP THE MONKEY!!!

Seriously, in the last year or two, comics have gotten good again. Even the big companies are busting their asses to hire better writers and better artists. If you think that comics have been stinking recently, now's the time to get back into them. The Monkey carries a good mix of mainstream and alternative comic book titles, manga, and graphic novels. They also have a video game arcade and comfy couches so you can relax and read. The man behind the counter, the Almighty Robman, has outstanding taste in comics. He's happy to turn you on to what's good, and a really nice guy to boot. He's also the writer and artist of...

The Robman Show

A man.....old enough to know better....and one day....his toys talk! Well, they probably have talked to Robman his whole life. And now they pretty much control his life. Mego Spidey, Cthulhu (aka "Sancho!"), the Devil, and a whole bunch of other toys are the stars here. Heck, even Amy's in it from time to time. But not me. Nope. For some reason, I'm just not cool enough to appear in The Robman Show. But it's still a cool webcomic, even without yours truly. Check it out, why don't you??

Jefferson 1:00 PM

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Tuesday, November 18, 2003

 

MVP

Barry Bonds is once again your National League Most Valuable Player. That's three in a row, six overall. No one else in either league has ever won more than three, period.

Congratulations to Barry Bonds for another spectacular season.

Jefferson 11:05 AM

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Saturday, November 15, 2003

 

I Still Play With Toy Soldiers, Really

I know I've been writing almost entirely about the San Francisco Giants, but rest assured my other hobbies are still in full effect.

Someday I will own a digital camera, and then I'll be able to post pictures of the miniatures I paint. Just for fun, here's what I've been working on:

Today: three Warriors of Rohan, plus Eowyn from The Two Towers. I have almost finished them all in one day, which is highly unusual for me. Once these are done, I will have finished 140 figures from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings line. That's over the course of two years, since the line first appeared.

This week: Finished three more Warriors of Rohan, plus Grima Wormtongue.

Previous to that: Six Warriors of Rohan, plus Boromir (thereby finishing all nine of the Fellowship).

I desperately need to fight some battles with these figures, but lack of space in my apartment has posed a problem...

I haven't run any sessions in my Tales of T'Regnor D&D campaign since Con-Quest, which was Labor Day weekend. Don't know when that'll start up again.

Jefferson 9:45 PM

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More on the Trade

Stephen Shelby, who posts a good daily Giants news summary, mailed me today with the info on Nathan's salary situation:

To answer your question, Joe Nathan is not arbitration eligible this year. He would have made something like $325,000. Pierzynski figures to get about $2.75 million in arbitration, although the Giants may sign him to a long-term contract that reduces the 2004 amount to something closer to $2 million. The Giants arbitration eligible players are now Pierzynski, Feliz, Eyre, Herges and Brower.

Thanks to Stephen for filling in one of the many gaps in my knowledge of the Giants' contract info. I'm very fuzzy on how arbitration works, not to mention the number of options for sending players to and from the minors. This is one of the reasons why I've left the armchair GM stuff to my more knowledgeable colleagues! Nonetheless, I will certainly post opinions on the moves the Giants make. I may even occasionally post a well-considered opinion, though I hope you won't hold it against me.

The more I think about the trade, the more I like it. Over at Baseball Primer, they posted the 2004 "Zips" projections for Nathan, Bonser, and Pierzynski, taking into account their new clubs. Now, I can't claim to have a great grasp of how they make these projections. Taking them at face value, though, this looks solid for the Giants. You're giving up an average reliever, a fading minor league prospect in Bonser, and about $2 million to upgrade 100 points or more in your catcher's OPS. Additionally, if the Giants get another player or cash in the deal, as I've heard, it could be even better.

Floyd Thursby over at Waiting for Boof commented at Primer that this creates a possibility of sending Yorvit Torrealba, among others, to the Brewers for Richie Sexson. I'm all for that. Torrealba is a fine catcher, or at least average, and cheap. Milwaukee is looking to cut payroll, and the Giants need a big bopper at right field or first base. Sexson fits the bill. I might be a bit biased--I was there when Sexson smashed two homers against Sidney Ponson at Pac Bell, and very nearly got a third. But boy, would he look nice in a Giants uniform.

This is undoubtedly just the first move among many that Brian Sabean will make this winter. It's a real pleasure watching Sabean work. With all apologies to his more famous colleague in Oakland, I think Sabean gets more for less in his trades than anyone else in the business.

Jefferson 9:07 PM

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Friday, November 14, 2003

 

Nathan for Pieryznski--Shallow Thoughts

Here are some not-so-deep thoughts about today's trade:

* Pieryznski is arbitration eligible, and figures to make about $2.5 million in 2004. I can't find a 2004 salary number for Nathan. If he too is up for arbitration, then the trade might have little or no impact on their total salary. If Nathan makes near the minimum again in 2004, then the Giants are spending an extra $2 million next year because of this trade.

* Pieryznski (I'm going to keep typing it until I get it right the first time) is by far a better hitter than Torrealba. Pieryznski should only get better for another year or two, since he's 27.

* I wonder if giving up Nathan *and* Bonser *and* another minor-league pitcher might be a little too much.

* I wish I knew which minor-leaguers the Twins were including in the trade.

I'm cautiously optimistic here. I'll need a lot more info before I'll know what I really think.

Jefferson 1:42 PM

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Interesting Trade Rumor

On KNBR radio today, I'm hearing a rumor that the Giants may trade reliever Joe Nathan for catcher A.J. Pieryznski.

This just in--it's a done deal. Nathan, Boof Bonser (uh-oh, someone's gonna have to change their blog title!), and another minor leaguer I didn't hear, for the Twins' catcher.

Definitely an upgrade in offense behind the plate, and not very expensive as far as I can tell.

More thoughts later, if I have them!!

Jefferson 12:29 PM

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Sunday, November 02, 2003

 

It's the Offseason, So Now For Something Completely Different

This is Gryffyn. For the next few weeks or months, he will be my alter ego in the new digital timesink known as Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy XI is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it's a role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons. Except that it's on the computer. Oh, and except that there are thousands of people playing, all at once, all of whom who can interact with.

I have avoided MMORPGs like EverQuest up until now because I know all too well that I would really, really, really enjoy them. I mean, enjoy them so much that I might forget I ever had other hobbies, or a girlfriend, or a shower. This is a bad thing. But I have succumbed at last, because at last there is a Final Fantasy MMORPG.

Final Fantasy is the completely misnamed series of RPG video games that have, up until now, been solo games on either the old Nintendo or the Sony Playstation. The first ten installments of Final Fantasy you played by yourself, interacting only with the software, playing through thrilling adventures. Over the years they have refined the games to a fine art of addiction. At last count, I have spent maybe 300 hours playing Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX to completion, plus a few hours of Final Fantasy X.

Having been such a huge fan of the series, there was just no way I could ignore FF XI and not play it. I just couldn't. And now I'm playing it, and it'll never end. Never. And there's no baseball to distract me for six months.

So have a good look at the little fella at the top of the page. Someday he's going to be a big bad black mage who can cast Meteor and save all of Vana'diel from whatever evil awaits it. That is, if he survives the giant bumblebees in the wilds of East Saratabaruta...

Jefferson 5:33 PM