How To Download And Install Batman Arkham Asylum With Joker DLC On PC Wi...

How To Download And Install Batman Arkham Asylum With Joker DLC On PC Wi...

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

Buds, Blooms, And Thorns Review Of La Viña By Devir Games

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Review of La Viña by Devir Games
DisclaimerSupport me on Patreon!

Vitals:
Title: La Viña
Designed by: Jose Ramón Palacios
Publisher: Devir Games
MSRP: $25
2-5p | 30-45 min | 8+

Introduction:

A very old viticulturist has passed on to a better place. When his heirs meet at his house, the question of who will become the new owner of the vineyard is brought up. The jewel of all the old man's property is this small plot of vines, producing grapes of the highest quality, which has sadly fallen into neglect. The various types of grapevines have overgrown the area without any care or supervision. The deceased owner left a will stating that he wanted the vineyard to be brought back to its former glory. In order to avoid splitting up the plot, he declared that the vineyard would be granted to whomever is able to obtain the best yield from it. The grape harvest has just started, and there are many wineries that have offered a good price for the grapes they need.

Taking turns, each player will move his grape picker down the aisle between the vines on the trellises. The player looks at the grape cards and chooses which one he wants to collect, then puts it into one of his baskets. When he comes out of the vineyard at the end of the aisle, the grape picker can deliver the grapes in his baskets to the wineries, so long as he has collected the minimum quantity they require. He then receives the reward that the wineries offer. When a player carries out his last delivery, the game ends. The rest of the players continue to play until they come to the end of the aisle for the last time. The one who has obtained the most prestige is then declared the winner.

—description from the publisher

Blooms:
Blooms are the game's highlights and features.  Elements that are exceptional.

• Outstanding presentation, artwork, and component quality.  I especially love the prestige tokens.
• I love the mechanic that allows you to move as far forward along the path as you like, but the person at the back moves first.
• Great balance between gaining resources (grapes) and racing to the end in order to sell for points.
• I like how the barrels are used to count down to the end of the game, with the last player to sell at a particular winery gaining a bonus and the game ending once someone places their last barrel. It's a nice blend of racing to end the game and timing your sales for maximum benefit.

Buds:
Buds are interesting parts of the game I would like to explore more. 

• A lot of different Grape and Winery cards mean there will be a different mix every game, making each game play differently.
• The game scales great from 2 to 5 players, with some minor changes for 2 players (each player controls two workers).

Thorns:
Thorns are a game's shortcomings and any issues I feel are noteworthy.

• The rulebook is pretty poorly translated.  There are a few areas where the description of gameplay is not as clear as it could be and a few other areas where things are missing or just left unexplained.  It took watching the gameplay video and reading forum comments to make sure we had all the rules correct.
• The basket upgrades felt very unbalanced.  I thought it was a translation error at first, so my second game we played a little different, but then later I learned that the unbalanced feeling rule is correct.
• Not much gameplay arc.  There's no sense of growth in the game; what you do in the first round is pretty much what you do in the last round, and it feels like it takes too long to get to the end because of this.

Final Thoughts:

There are some things that La Viña does great - incorporating the theme, balancing resource gathering versus racing to sell, etc.  However, there are some areas where La Viña just doesn't quite hit the mark.  The rulebook leaves a lot unclear, and there's not much game arc, however the biggest issue is that the basket upgrades feels very unbalanced. 

There are always fewer upgrades available than players and there's no rule against upgrading from a small bucket to the large bin, skipping over the medium basket.  The first time I played we thought this was wrong, so the second time we said you could only upgrade one step at a time.  So you couldn't upgrade your starting 2 card bucket straight to a 4 card bin.  You'd first have to upgrade it to a 3 card basket.  You could upgrade your 3 card basket at the start to a 4 card bin, but then risk getting stuck with a 2 card bucket that can't be upgraded because all the 3 card baskets are taken.  That change felt a lot more balanced.  But then, after watching a gameplay video with the publisher, I saw that it was allowed to upgrade directly from the small basket to the large bin.  It seems like an obvious move to shoot for in the first round, which isn't too hard since the difference is only 7 prestige, and that means the player(s) finishing last have no shot at getting that upgrade.  That feels wrong and unbalanced, but I guess that's correct.

La Viña is very close to being a Bloom game for me.  I think for what it does though, Parks from Keymaster Games scratches the same itch and does it a bit better.  If I hadn't played Parks, I probably would have enjoyed La Viña more.  But the unbalanced feel of the basket upgrades, the poorly translated rulebook, and lack of any game arc are enough to knock it down to a Bud.  It is quite a bit cheaper than Parks though, so if you want this style of game, La Viña is a great affordable alternative.  For me though, since I have both games, I'd choose to play Parks over La Viña pretty much every time.

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Rating:

Bud!  This game definitely has some
great moments.  It's good for several plays
and should appeal to most gamers, especially
if you enjoy other games like this.

Pictures:

Did you like this review?  Show your support: Support me on Patreon!Also, click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJ Games Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some were provided by a publisher or designer for my honest feedback and evaluation.  I make every attempt to be both honest and constructively critical in my reviews, and they are all my opinions.  There are four types of reviews on GJJ Games: Full Reviews feature critical reviews based on a rubric and games receive a rating from 0 to 100.  Quick Reviews and Kickstarter Previews are either shorter reviews of published games or detailed preview reviews of crowdfunding games that will receive a rating from 0 to 10 based on my impressions of the game.  Buds, Blooms,and Thorns reviews are shorter reviews of either published or upcoming games that highlight three aspects of a game: Buds are parts of a game I look forward to exploring more, Blooms are outstanding features of a game, and Thorns are shortcomings of a game.  Each BBT review game will receive an overall rating of Thorn, Bud, or Bloom.

Buds, Blooms, And Thorns Review Of La Viña By Devir Games

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Review of La Viña by Devir Games
DisclaimerSupport me on Patreon!

Vitals:
Title: La Viña
Designed by: Jose Ramón Palacios
Publisher: Devir Games
MSRP: $25
2-5p | 30-45 min | 8+

Introduction:

A very old viticulturist has passed on to a better place. When his heirs meet at his house, the question of who will become the new owner of the vineyard is brought up. The jewel of all the old man's property is this small plot of vines, producing grapes of the highest quality, which has sadly fallen into neglect. The various types of grapevines have overgrown the area without any care or supervision. The deceased owner left a will stating that he wanted the vineyard to be brought back to its former glory. In order to avoid splitting up the plot, he declared that the vineyard would be granted to whomever is able to obtain the best yield from it. The grape harvest has just started, and there are many wineries that have offered a good price for the grapes they need.

Taking turns, each player will move his grape picker down the aisle between the vines on the trellises. The player looks at the grape cards and chooses which one he wants to collect, then puts it into one of his baskets. When he comes out of the vineyard at the end of the aisle, the grape picker can deliver the grapes in his baskets to the wineries, so long as he has collected the minimum quantity they require. He then receives the reward that the wineries offer. When a player carries out his last delivery, the game ends. The rest of the players continue to play until they come to the end of the aisle for the last time. The one who has obtained the most prestige is then declared the winner.

—description from the publisher

Blooms:
Blooms are the game's highlights and features.  Elements that are exceptional.

• Outstanding presentation, artwork, and component quality.  I especially love the prestige tokens.
• I love the mechanic that allows you to move as far forward along the path as you like, but the person at the back moves first.
• Great balance between gaining resources (grapes) and racing to the end in order to sell for points.
• I like how the barrels are used to count down to the end of the game, with the last player to sell at a particular winery gaining a bonus and the game ending once someone places their last barrel. It's a nice blend of racing to end the game and timing your sales for maximum benefit.

Buds:
Buds are interesting parts of the game I would like to explore more. 

• A lot of different Grape and Winery cards mean there will be a different mix every game, making each game play differently.
• The game scales great from 2 to 5 players, with some minor changes for 2 players (each player controls two workers).

Thorns:
Thorns are a game's shortcomings and any issues I feel are noteworthy.

• The rulebook is pretty poorly translated.  There are a few areas where the description of gameplay is not as clear as it could be and a few other areas where things are missing or just left unexplained.  It took watching the gameplay video and reading forum comments to make sure we had all the rules correct.
• The basket upgrades felt very unbalanced.  I thought it was a translation error at first, so my second game we played a little different, but then later I learned that the unbalanced feeling rule is correct.
• Not much gameplay arc.  There's no sense of growth in the game; what you do in the first round is pretty much what you do in the last round, and it feels like it takes too long to get to the end because of this.

Final Thoughts:

There are some things that La Viña does great - incorporating the theme, balancing resource gathering versus racing to sell, etc.  However, there are some areas where La Viña just doesn't quite hit the mark.  The rulebook leaves a lot unclear, and there's not much game arc, however the biggest issue is that the basket upgrades feels very unbalanced. 

There are always fewer upgrades available than players and there's no rule against upgrading from a small bucket to the large bin, skipping over the medium basket.  The first time I played we thought this was wrong, so the second time we said you could only upgrade one step at a time.  So you couldn't upgrade your starting 2 card bucket straight to a 4 card bin.  You'd first have to upgrade it to a 3 card basket.  You could upgrade your 3 card basket at the start to a 4 card bin, but then risk getting stuck with a 2 card bucket that can't be upgraded because all the 3 card baskets are taken.  That change felt a lot more balanced.  But then, after watching a gameplay video with the publisher, I saw that it was allowed to upgrade directly from the small basket to the large bin.  It seems like an obvious move to shoot for in the first round, which isn't too hard since the difference is only 7 prestige, and that means the player(s) finishing last have no shot at getting that upgrade.  That feels wrong and unbalanced, but I guess that's correct.

La Viña is very close to being a Bloom game for me.  I think for what it does though, Parks from Keymaster Games scratches the same itch and does it a bit better.  If I hadn't played Parks, I probably would have enjoyed La Viña more.  But the unbalanced feel of the basket upgrades, the poorly translated rulebook, and lack of any game arc are enough to knock it down to a Bud.  It is quite a bit cheaper than Parks though, so if you want this style of game, La Viña is a great affordable alternative.  For me though, since I have both games, I'd choose to play Parks over La Viña pretty much every time.

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Rating:

Bud!  This game definitely has some
great moments.  It's good for several plays
and should appeal to most gamers, especially
if you enjoy other games like this.

Pictures:

Did you like this review?  Show your support: Support me on Patreon!Also, click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJ Games Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some were provided by a publisher or designer for my honest feedback and evaluation.  I make every attempt to be both honest and constructively critical in my reviews, and they are all my opinions.  There are four types of reviews on GJJ Games: Full Reviews feature critical reviews based on a rubric and games receive a rating from 0 to 100.  Quick Reviews and Kickstarter Previews are either shorter reviews of published games or detailed preview reviews of crowdfunding games that will receive a rating from 0 to 10 based on my impressions of the game.  Buds, Blooms,and Thorns reviews are shorter reviews of either published or upcoming games that highlight three aspects of a game: Buds are parts of a game I look forward to exploring more, Blooms are outstanding features of a game, and Thorns are shortcomings of a game.  Each BBT review game will receive an overall rating of Thorn, Bud, or Bloom.

Financial Problems Solved In All Your Worth (Monday Musings 75)

I've read a lot of personal finance books over the years, and Warren and Tiyagi's All Your Worth is undoubtedly the best one. Warren and Tiyagi's (W&T) book was written for the average American who lives paycheck to paycheck. When our car breaks, or any unforeseen emergency such as hospital bills occur, we're thrown in for a loop, and then barely struggling to pay crushing high interest credit card debts as a result.

Indeed, other personal finance books I've read are for those who are already doing well and they suggest how to increase your retirement funds. Or even worse, books that report you can do extremely well if you rely on royalties instead of salaries. I'm sorry, but how many of us can be a Stephen King or a member of the Beatles? Other books would discuss coupon clipping (who has the time?) and laud people who cook their eggs while their dishwasher is running, to save on electricity.

All Your Worth discusses the above issues, and W&T are not exaggerating at all about the other finance books, since I've read them myself as noted above. The other encouraging thing about their book is that they're very empathetic as to why you're struggling financially.

They explain that Americans today are struggling paycheck to paycheck in depth, as opposed to in the past. Back then, credit cards aren't handed out like candy, so you can't overspend, and you can only rely on cash. If there's no cash in your wallet, you can't buy.

Further, back in the day, you can't overspend on auto loans and mortgages if you don't have enough income and cash down. Banks wouldn't allow you to buy too much house or car, unlike today. So Americans today can easily overextend themselves by buying too much and living beyond their means, inadvertently.

After empathizing and acknowledging why Americans are struggling today, they then go into the basic tenants of why their plan works, using the analogy of having a balanced diet.

You don't want to be so strict with your diet (i.e the penny pinching route) because you may binge on doughnuts due to deprivation, or if you have very strong-will, you don't want to be miserable for the rest of your life. Nor should you expect to lose weight or be healthy if you eat whatever you want, calories and poor nutrition be damned (i.e. spending all your money on wants, and neglecting crucial bills and savings).

Therefore, W&T's balanced formula is simple:

1. 50% of your after tax salary should go to must-haves (mortage, rent, utilities, food), things that you will continue to pay for even if you lose your job.
2. 20% goes to savings (that includes money paying off credit card bills, retirement, emergency fund).
3. A whopping 30% goes to whatever you want, whether it's something lofty like giving to charities, or superficial such as cat figurines.

They explain why this formula works, because if you're laid-off, you're entitled to unemployment income which is 50% of your paycheck, though I believe the US government is trying to get rid of this "entitlement" (this should be a basic right especially as you paid into unemployment benefits, per the mission of the US's "pursuit of happiness"). Because your basic necessities are 50%, your unemployment can cover until you find work.

W&T recommend that you pay for things that you want in cash because of the physical reminder (it's amazing how much you can rack up using credit cards). Therefore, if you find you can spend $100/week on whatever you want, you will bring the $100 with you.

The cash only plan worked when I used the book about 5 years ago. I recall wanting a Godiva chocolate shake but since it was at the end of the week, I only had $3 left in wallet, so I had to wait until next week to get the shake. When next week arrived, I no longer had this craving, and spent the money on something else that I wanted.

By carrying cash in that way, it prevents you from going over your budget, making sure that your must-haves and savings are intact. Because you're sticking to the formula as described, you will never have to worry about money again! Of course, financial situation changes, and W&T cover emergency scenarios in their book.

However, most Americans won't have financial emergencies on a weekly basis (i.e. that's why we have the cliche of the daily grind where nothing ever changes), so most of the time, you'll find financial peace following this balanced formula. Further, in the savings portion of the book, you will put aside for emergencies to mitigate any issues that may arise.

W&T include worksheets where you plug in the formula and see how close you are to a balanced budget. If you're not within the 50% of must-haves, they troubleshoot in the book, which goes beyond the scope of this review. If you fall outside the 50%, the book can help you be in balance.

Does this plan work though? For the average Millenial income of 24K (after tax total is around 21K), it seems to only work if you live with your parents and pay minimal or better yet, no rent. Perhaps paying rent by doing all the chores in the house. I included $300/month for college loans, which is the average Millenial debt. Please see the Millenial worksheet here for details. 

However, if you make the average American salary of the alleged 50K (after tax is around 31K per tax calculator), this book works, as long as you don't buy too much house or car.  You have enough savings, and your wants are $37/week, though it's not a balanced formula. The average 1 BR apartment nationwide is $1000/month. Please see the Avg US Salary worksheet here for details.

On the average American salary, if you live on your own, you can spend $37/week on whatever you want, as opposed to around $126 if you're a Millenial living with your parents (pay no or minimal rent). Even with the average American salary, you will NOT be in a balanced formula range, unless you live with parents.

In other words, I was 100% right that even on average American salary, you should NOT be ashamed about living with your parents as discussed here (pats myself on back). Even though I conflated Millenial income as the average American income, you'll still struggle living on your own on the average 50K gross tax income because of the imbalance skewing towards the majority of your income going to must-haves.

Therefore, I'm very worried for the vast Americans who are living on minimal wage. I can't think of any places where rent is zero, correct me if I'm wrong. The only answer is to live with family, a loved one and leverage at least a two person salary.

In fact, the last resort scenario, W&T recommended having a trusted person move in with you so you can share the costs of rent/mortgage!

As for food, since a lot of the food we buy are convenient (and hence more costly) and we sometimes splurge on junk food, W&T recommend that you put aside cash for food, so you can see how much you should spend, along with your fun money.

W&T do take into our fears of what if we run out of money at the end of the week, and there's no food for the next day or so until the next week cycle. They recommend that you sock away (pun intended) $50 in your sock drawer to be used in those situations, and to replace that $50 as soon as you can. If you notice that you're running out on food, you will soon make sure that you don't spend that food money on fun.

Because you're limited to a set amount for your wants, W&T go into the psychology of money, and making you think exactly what you want to buy with this limited amount, so that you can make a purchase that has meaning to you and provide maximum joy, as opposed to emotional spending. These include buying things to "impress others" that usually doesn't make you particularly happy, buying other people's love, paying the entire restaurant bill to look generous, spending to feel better because you're depressed, and so forth. They have a self-test that you can take to determine if you're an emotional spender on p. 125. I find these self-tests extremely helpful as it helps you to hone in where your vulnerabilities are in specific, concrete ways.

An extreme case I can think of is you buy a Rolex watch as that "is" impressive", come to find out you have contact dermatitis and exacerbates your carpal tunnel, so it goes into sock drawer. But you could've spent that money on something you truly enjoy such as (for us gamers at least) a highly anticipated game title. In other words, spend the money on something that you truly want, not out of emotional spending.

After doing the worksheets, and you find that you're within range, W&T then go into what to spend on your savings for the future. If you're in the balance, you have 20% to spend on savings. The first step is to save up $1000 for emergencies.

The next step is to pay off your debts as they sap your potential cash flow for the future. Imagine being debt-free, this is a future of freedom! 

W&T suggest that you look into how you got into debt in the first place, so in the future, you won't get stuck back in crippling debt. They include a self-test to see where your debt comes from on pp.139 to 140. Once you hone in on where you collected debt, you know what not to do the next time around.

Next is to write down a list of all your debts. If you have credit card debt of average 18%, it makes sense to drain your savings and liquidate your accounts except your retirement accounts due to tax penalties. The rationale is that your money in savings is only accruing 1% or less so by putting it towards credit card, you're in effect making 17% (credit card rate - interest you would've made in savings account).

In terms of debt, the first priority is to spend it on any back-payments on rent or mortgage (you need a roof over your head), car (you don't want your car repossessed) and child support (you don't want to end up in court). Once you clear that out, they recommend paying off the debt that bothers you the most.

For me, although it makes more sense to pay off the larger debt with higher interest rate than paying off the smaller debt with lower interest rate, paying off the smaller debt is psychologically freeing. You cross that debt off your list and you have a sense of relief since you're no longer beholden to that company.

Let's say that the small debt costs $20/month. Once you pay off that small debt, I then take that $20 that I otherwise would spend on that debt to the new debt that I want to tackle.  If this new debt costs $100/month and I complete that out, I now have $120/month free to put it toward the next debt. You can see how this snow-balls and you eventually pay off all your debts. 

After paying off all your debts, the next step is to create a security fund which is equal to your must-have expenses x 6 months in case you lose your job.

Now that you have a solid savings, you want to create a retirement fund and/or set aside savings for home, college for the kids, and so forth.

Sign up for a retirement plan at work; I tend to like the Retirement Funds because it does the diversification for you automatically. Barring that, you can set up your own IRA (Individual Retirement Account). I like the Vanguard Retirement Fund 2035 (or whatever year you're going to retire) as it balances your portfolio to stocks (more aggressive) to bonds (more conservative) as you get older. This is actually automated, so the expense ratio (how much they take out) is a mere 0.14% fee. It costs $3000 to set one up.

I was pleasantly surprised because during my residency and fellowship, I had 10% of my paycheck taken out toward the Vanguard Retirement Fund 2035, so I didn't miss this money, and yet I ended up with a small nest egg due to profits (i.e. well below a million that would be considered a nest egg, but a handsome amount).

The last chapters of this book cover issues that occur when you're in a relationship and how to deal with conflicts. The next chapter is how to go about the right way to buy a home. And the last chapter is about bankruptcy and getting back on your feet. In other words, the book is very comprehensive and indeed gives you a solid lifetime money plan.

I would borrow this book from the library, do the worksheets and take notes on the troubleshooting parts of the chapter. It helps to use an Excel-like spreadsheet as it can quickly recalculate the numbers for you - the example worksheet links that I included above, can be a basic template for you to follow.

Conclusion: If you make 31K after tax income or less, it's highly advised that you live with someone whom you can trust to leverage a two-person salary to live comfortably, as per All Your Worth.

Once you notice that you CAN live within these book's guidelines (i.e. you no longer have to worry about basic necessities or having financial stress, and you live in a safe environment), you can then move to working on Happiness as described in The How of Happiness!

Financial Problems Solved In All Your Worth (Monday Musings 75)

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

I've read a lot of personal finance books over the years, and Warren and Tiyagi's All Your Worth is undoubtedly the best one. Warren and Tiyagi's (W&T) book was written for the average American who lives paycheck to paycheck. When our car breaks, or any unforeseen emergency such as hospital bills occur, we're thrown in for a loop, and then barely struggling to pay crushing high interest credit card debts as a result.

Indeed, other personal finance books I've read are for those who are already doing well and they suggest how to increase your retirement funds. Or even worse, books that report you can do extremely well if you rely on royalties instead of salaries. I'm sorry, but how many of us can be a Stephen King or a member of the Beatles? Other books would discuss coupon clipping (who has the time?) and laud people who cook their eggs while their dishwasher is running, to save on electricity.

All Your Worth discusses the above issues, and W&T are not exaggerating at all about the other finance books, since I've read them myself as noted above. The other encouraging thing about their book is that they're very empathetic as to why you're struggling financially.

They explain that Americans today are struggling paycheck to paycheck in depth, as opposed to in the past. Back then, credit cards aren't handed out like candy, so you can't overspend, and you can only rely on cash. If there's no cash in your wallet, you can't buy.

Further, back in the day, you can't overspend on auto loans and mortgages if you don't have enough income and cash down. Banks wouldn't allow you to buy too much house or car, unlike today. So Americans today can easily overextend themselves by buying too much and living beyond their means, inadvertently.

After empathizing and acknowledging why Americans are struggling today, they then go into the basic tenants of why their plan works, using the analogy of having a balanced diet.

You don't want to be so strict with your diet (i.e the penny pinching route) because you may binge on doughnuts due to deprivation, or if you have very strong-will, you don't want to be miserable for the rest of your life. Nor should you expect to lose weight or be healthy if you eat whatever you want, calories and poor nutrition be damned (i.e. spending all your money on wants, and neglecting crucial bills and savings).

Therefore, W&T's balanced formula is simple:

1. 50% of your after tax salary should go to must-haves (mortage, rent, utilities, food), things that you will continue to pay for even if you lose your job.
2. 20% goes to savings (that includes money paying off credit card bills, retirement, emergency fund).
3. A whopping 30% goes to whatever you want, whether it's something lofty like giving to charities, or superficial such as cat figurines.

They explain why this formula works, because if you're laid-off, you're entitled to unemployment income which is 50% of your paycheck, though I believe the US government is trying to get rid of this "entitlement" (this should be a basic right especially as you paid into unemployment benefits, per the mission of the US's "pursuit of happiness"). Because your basic necessities are 50%, your unemployment can cover until you find work.

W&T recommend that you pay for things that you want in cash because of the physical reminder (it's amazing how much you can rack up using credit cards). Therefore, if you find you can spend $100/week on whatever you want, you will bring the $100 with you.

The cash only plan worked when I used the book about 5 years ago. I recall wanting a Godiva chocolate shake but since it was at the end of the week, I only had $3 left in wallet, so I had to wait until next week to get the shake. When next week arrived, I no longer had this craving, and spent the money on something else that I wanted.

By carrying cash in that way, it prevents you from going over your budget, making sure that your must-haves and savings are intact. Because you're sticking to the formula as described, you will never have to worry about money again! Of course, financial situation changes, and W&T cover emergency scenarios in their book.

However, most Americans won't have financial emergencies on a weekly basis (i.e. that's why we have the cliche of the daily grind where nothing ever changes), so most of the time, you'll find financial peace following this balanced formula. Further, in the savings portion of the book, you will put aside for emergencies to mitigate any issues that may arise.

W&T include worksheets where you plug in the formula and see how close you are to a balanced budget. If you're not within the 50% of must-haves, they troubleshoot in the book, which goes beyond the scope of this review. If you fall outside the 50%, the book can help you be in balance.

Does this plan work though? For the average Millenial income of 24K (after tax total is around 21K), it seems to only work if you live with your parents and pay minimal or better yet, no rent. Perhaps paying rent by doing all the chores in the house. I included $300/month for college loans, which is the average Millenial debt. Please see the Millenial worksheet here for details. 

However, if you make the average American salary of the alleged 50K (after tax is around 31K per tax calculator), this book works, as long as you don't buy too much house or car.  You have enough savings, and your wants are $37/week, though it's not a balanced formula. The average 1 BR apartment nationwide is $1000/month. Please see the Avg US Salary worksheet here for details.

On the average American salary, if you live on your own, you can spend $37/week on whatever you want, as opposed to around $126 if you're a Millenial living with your parents (pay no or minimal rent). Even with the average American salary, you will NOT be in a balanced formula range, unless you live with parents.

In other words, I was 100% right that even on average American salary, you should NOT be ashamed about living with your parents as discussed here (pats myself on back). Even though I conflated Millenial income as the average American income, you'll still struggle living on your own on the average 50K gross tax income because of the imbalance skewing towards the majority of your income going to must-haves.

Therefore, I'm very worried for the vast Americans who are living on minimal wage. I can't think of any places where rent is zero, correct me if I'm wrong. The only answer is to live with family, a loved one and leverage at least a two person salary.

In fact, the last resort scenario, W&T recommended having a trusted person move in with you so you can share the costs of rent/mortgage!

As for food, since a lot of the food we buy are convenient (and hence more costly) and we sometimes splurge on junk food, W&T recommend that you put aside cash for food, so you can see how much you should spend, along with your fun money.

W&T do take into our fears of what if we run out of money at the end of the week, and there's no food for the next day or so until the next week cycle. They recommend that you sock away (pun intended) $50 in your sock drawer to be used in those situations, and to replace that $50 as soon as you can. If you notice that you're running out on food, you will soon make sure that you don't spend that food money on fun.

Because you're limited to a set amount for your wants, W&T go into the psychology of money, and making you think exactly what you want to buy with this limited amount, so that you can make a purchase that has meaning to you and provide maximum joy, as opposed to emotional spending. These include buying things to "impress others" that usually doesn't make you particularly happy, buying other people's love, paying the entire restaurant bill to look generous, spending to feel better because you're depressed, and so forth. They have a self-test that you can take to determine if you're an emotional spender on p. 125. I find these self-tests extremely helpful as it helps you to hone in where your vulnerabilities are in specific, concrete ways.

An extreme case I can think of is you buy a Rolex watch as that "is" impressive", come to find out you have contact dermatitis and exacerbates your carpal tunnel, so it goes into sock drawer. But you could've spent that money on something you truly enjoy such as (for us gamers at least) a highly anticipated game title. In other words, spend the money on something that you truly want, not out of emotional spending.

After doing the worksheets, and you find that you're within range, W&T then go into what to spend on your savings for the future. If you're in the balance, you have 20% to spend on savings. The first step is to save up $1000 for emergencies.

The next step is to pay off your debts as they sap your potential cash flow for the future. Imagine being debt-free, this is a future of freedom! 

W&T suggest that you look into how you got into debt in the first place, so in the future, you won't get stuck back in crippling debt. They include a self-test to see where your debt comes from on pp.139 to 140. Once you hone in on where you collected debt, you know what not to do the next time around.

Next is to write down a list of all your debts. If you have credit card debt of average 18%, it makes sense to drain your savings and liquidate your accounts except your retirement accounts due to tax penalties. The rationale is that your money in savings is only accruing 1% or less so by putting it towards credit card, you're in effect making 17% (credit card rate - interest you would've made in savings account).

In terms of debt, the first priority is to spend it on any back-payments on rent or mortgage (you need a roof over your head), car (you don't want your car repossessed) and child support (you don't want to end up in court). Once you clear that out, they recommend paying off the debt that bothers you the most.

For me, although it makes more sense to pay off the larger debt with higher interest rate than paying off the smaller debt with lower interest rate, paying off the smaller debt is psychologically freeing. You cross that debt off your list and you have a sense of relief since you're no longer beholden to that company.

Let's say that the small debt costs $20/month. Once you pay off that small debt, I then take that $20 that I otherwise would spend on that debt to the new debt that I want to tackle.  If this new debt costs $100/month and I complete that out, I now have $120/month free to put it toward the next debt. You can see how this snow-balls and you eventually pay off all your debts. 

After paying off all your debts, the next step is to create a security fund which is equal to your must-have expenses x 6 months in case you lose your job.

Now that you have a solid savings, you want to create a retirement fund and/or set aside savings for home, college for the kids, and so forth.

Sign up for a retirement plan at work; I tend to like the Retirement Funds because it does the diversification for you automatically. Barring that, you can set up your own IRA (Individual Retirement Account). I like the Vanguard Retirement Fund 2035 (or whatever year you're going to retire) as it balances your portfolio to stocks (more aggressive) to bonds (more conservative) as you get older. This is actually automated, so the expense ratio (how much they take out) is a mere 0.14% fee. It costs $3000 to set one up.

I was pleasantly surprised because during my residency and fellowship, I had 10% of my paycheck taken out toward the Vanguard Retirement Fund 2035, so I didn't miss this money, and yet I ended up with a small nest egg due to profits (i.e. well below a million that would be considered a nest egg, but a handsome amount).

The last chapters of this book cover issues that occur when you're in a relationship and how to deal with conflicts. The next chapter is how to go about the right way to buy a home. And the last chapter is about bankruptcy and getting back on your feet. In other words, the book is very comprehensive and indeed gives you a solid lifetime money plan.

I would borrow this book from the library, do the worksheets and take notes on the troubleshooting parts of the chapter. It helps to use an Excel-like spreadsheet as it can quickly recalculate the numbers for you - the example worksheet links that I included above, can be a basic template for you to follow.

Conclusion: If you make 31K after tax income or less, it's highly advised that you live with someone whom you can trust to leverage a two-person salary to live comfortably, as per All Your Worth.

Once you notice that you CAN live within these book's guidelines (i.e. you no longer have to worry about basic necessities or having financial stress, and you live in a safe environment), you can then move to working on Happiness as described in The How of Happiness!

Nerdy Space Game For Hackerspaces - 6 Years Of Development

Space nerds in space is an impressive piece of work most of us will never play. But we get to enjoy watching others do so. And also 28 minutes of looking at the history of the game:

Six Years of Space Nerds In Space -- 2018-11-03

More videos on Stephen Cameron's channel.

This post was retrieved from freegamer.blogspot.com.

Nerdy Space Game For Hackerspaces - 6 Years Of Development

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

Space nerds in space is an impressive piece of work most of us will never play. But we get to enjoy watching others do so. And also 28 minutes of looking at the history of the game:

Six Years of Space Nerds In Space -- 2018-11-03

More videos on Stephen Cameron's channel.

This post was retrieved from freegamer.blogspot.com.

DreamForge Grav-StuG Kickstarter (Postponed To March)

The Kickstarter date is set, pending final approval from Kickstarter...

The Kickstarter will run from January 25th to February 3rd. Its going to be a short one so keep your eye on the calendar!

I will release an introduction video and try to do one to two additional videos, in a Q&A format for the questions asked during the KS, as well as a overview of why I have decided to go the direction I did and where I would like to go next.

There will be retailer/wholesaler packages available.

Please see the previous post for more details regarding this Kickstarter. More details to come...

You can track our progress, sign up for news releases and follow all new content on our web page

I hope to see you there!

DreamForge Grav-StuG Kickstarter (Postponed To March)

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

The Kickstarter date is set, pending final approval from Kickstarter...

The Kickstarter will run from January 25th to February 3rd. Its going to be a short one so keep your eye on the calendar!

I will release an introduction video and try to do one to two additional videos, in a Q&A format for the questions asked during the KS, as well as a overview of why I have decided to go the direction I did and where I would like to go next.

There will be retailer/wholesaler packages available.

Please see the previous post for more details regarding this Kickstarter. More details to come...

You can track our progress, sign up for news releases and follow all new content on our web page

I hope to see you there!

A Little Touch Of Leipzig (In The Night)

Apologies for the obscure 70s music reference ! Some of you may recall that we started to delve back into the wonderful world of 15mm Napoleonic gaming recently after I finally put together my Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules. A rerun of Albuera ensued recently and that went quite well so it was time for a second go with the "new" rules. We decided to move away from the Peninsula and try some Central European action to see how those armies performed. I will put a link to the rule amendments at the end of the post.

Italian Light Infantry masquerading as Young Guard

I picked the 1813 Dolitz & Probstheyda Scenario from the Napoleonic Scenarios 2 book from Partizan Press, avaliable below,

https://www.caliverbooks.com/Partizan Press/partizan_NS.shtml

An excellent set of scenario books perfect for any rule set. Even with over 6,000 15mm figures for the period I had to make some compromises as I have no Austrians and no French Guard, so my Italian Guard and Russians had a run out instead.

Historical Background 

We will all be familiar with the background of the Battle of Nations and this game represents a small section of that battle, the centre of Napoleons positions in the South of the battlefield to be precise. The game represents the Allied attack of the 18th October and is a simple attack and defend scenario.

Russian Cuirass

Set Up 

12 x 6 table with the Allies marching on the table on move 1 from the left, as viewed in the photos below,

Allies March On

From the French Lines

A fairly straightforward battlefield, there is a line of two villages and a farm along the centre of the table, Dolitz, furthest from the camera, Dosen in the centre and then the Meusdorf Farm. The Farm and Dolitz each had a small wood adjacent to their left flank. On the far side of the table there is another wood and the edge of a steam.

The rear of the French Line is dominated by a ridge line on which the village of Probstheyda is located (green copper spire church) with a fifth and final village, Lossing, which is level with Probstheyda and behind Dolitz.

French Infantry in Dosen

French Orbat

For general stats see the Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules post below, any variations on the standard charts to reflect the lower standard of some of the French units is noted below.

C in C - Murat

Augereau - IX Corps
Brigade Sierawski - 3 x Polish Line Battalions (2 x 36 figs and 1 x 32 figs) and 1 6pdr Polish Foot Battery. Set up between Dolitz and the stream.
Brigade Lagarde - 2 x Legere Battalions (36 , 30) and 2 x Ligne Battalions, both 36, both -1 on standard French Morale. 1 x 8pdr Foot Artillery. Set up in and around Dolitz.
Brigade Semele - 1 x 36 Fig Legere Battalion, 2 x Ligne Battalions 1 x 36 and 1 x 30, the 30 man unit is a- 2 on Morale. 1 x 8pdr Foot Artillery.
Brigade Sulkowski - 1 x 18 man Polish Uhlan Regt and 1 x 6pdr Polish Horse Art.

Probstheyda

Victor - II Corps
Brigade Dubreton - 1 x 36 Legere Battalion, 3 x Ligne Battalions 2 x 36 and 1 x 30 (also -1 morale). 1 x 6pdr Foot Artillery. Set up in and around Dosen.
Brigade Dufour - 1 x 36 Ligne, 1 x 30 Ligne, 1 x 30 Legere and 1 x 24 Ligne (-1 Morale). Set up around the Farm.
Brigade Corbineau - 1 x 18 Hussars, 1 x 6pdr Horse Art. Set up between Dosen and the Farm.

French Cuirass

Oudinot  - Guard Corps (all in Reserve behind ridge, activated the turn after one of the front villages is either assaulted or fired on by musketry.
Brigade Pacthod - 4 x 32 Young Guard, 8pdr Foot Artillery
Brigade Curial - Italian Guard Grenadiers, Italian Guard Fusiliers both 30 figs, Italian Guard Velites 32 Figs, Italian Guard Foot Artillery 12pdr.
Brigade Bouresoulle - 3 x 24 Fig Cuirassier, 1 x 24 Dragoon (inferior mounts)

On a roll of 12 on initiative - Napoleon arrives anywhere on the French baseline escorted by 1 x 24 Guard Lancer and 1 x 24 Guard Chasseur.

Italian Guard on the ridge

Allied Army

C in C Schwarzenberg (remember Russian troops have been substituted in for Austrians)

Hesse Homburg - move on table opposite Dolitz
Brigade Roth - 3 x 48 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions one with -1 morale. 3 x 36 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions one with -1 morale. 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery.
Brigade Mezentzov- 1 x 48 Fig Russian Infantry Battalion, 2 x 36 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions both with -1 morale. 1 x 30 figure Prussian Landwher, 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery.
Brigade Vassov - 1 x 36 Fig Russian Grenadier Battalion, -1 morale. 2 x 16 Fig Prussian Hussar one with + 1 morale and 1 x 6pdr Prussian Horse Art.

Cossacks in a wood, what a surprise 

Gorchakov - move on table opposite Dosen
Brigade Grenadier - 4 x 32 Grenadier Battalions, 2 Prussian, 2 Russian. 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery
Brigade Laelin - 1 x 24 Russian Guard Cuirass, 1 x 24 Russian Cuirass
Brigade Larkov - 2 x 24 Russian Cuirass

Russian Infantry Battalions attack

Barclay move on table opposite the Farm
Brigade Pirch  - 1 x 32 Prussian Fusilier (+1 morale), 1 x 32 Prussian Musketeer, 2 x 24 Reserve Prussian Infantry, 2 x 24 Prussian Landwher.
Brigade Von Kluse - 1 x 32 Prussian Fusilier (+1 morale), 1 x 32 Prussian Musketeer, 2 x 24 Prussian Reserve Infantry, 2 x 24 Prussian Landwher, 1 x Prussian Foot Artillery, 1 x 16 Landwher Cavalry.
Brigade Oldenkop - 5 x 32 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions (2 are -1 morale) and 1 Russian Position Battery
Brigade Zilowski  - 1 x 24 Russian Uhlan, 1 x 18 Russian Hussar, 1 x Russian Horse Artillery.

Prussian Reserve Infantry on the move

How did we get on 

We actually played through the scenario twice and it was quite an interesting experience having a go at a Central European battle after the Albuera Peninsula game. National Characteristics definitely give each army a personality and once you become aware of its strengths you start to alter your tactics to those of that nation, something I have been after in a game for a long time.

1st shot 6 gun battery, low ammo !

Normally I let the photos follow the story of the game but on this occasion they are a bit random, one because we played through twice and secondly because I was too busy taking notes about the rules rather than what was happening in the games.

Prussian Infantry attacking the Farm

In game 1 the match was over pretty quickly, the attack on Dolitz was a bloody affair with the Russians failing to gain any headway against the village and the Polish Infantry who had formed a line behind the stream. It wasn't long before the attacking Russians were streaming back to the baseline.

Another view of the Prussian attack on the Farm

In the centre the Allies sat there and got shot ! The Russian Guard Cuirass ended up retiring off the table without moving forward at all. That woke the rest of the troops up and there was a glorious charge against a gun line (see top photo) at the end of that game.

Waiting to go again in game 2

The Farm side of the table ground to a stalemate fairly quickly, the attack started on the Farm but all the French Heavy Cavalry came out to play, putting the Prussian Infantry in square ending any movement. With all the Russians running away at the end of our first session we decided just to reset and go again. I made a couple of changes to the orbat (the French started with the Guard Cavalry in game 1). Overall an easy Victory for the French in our first run through.

French Infantry in Dosen

Another aspect of game 1 was the atrocious dice rolling of the Allies (including myself) the double one for the Russian Artillery in the photo above was just the start, we have all had it, those days where you can't roll over 5 on 2 d6 until you need to roll low when you roll a double 6 !

French in the Farm

Game 2 went on for a lot longer (3 sessions) and was a much closer affair. We realised that we had been allowing too many people to shoot out of built up areas which made the approach to the villages a bit easier and the removal of the Guard Cavalry made the French player a little bit more cautious.

Attack on Dolitz in Game 2

The Russian attack on Dolitz was more sustained and they had a good deal of success against the French in the wood near the village, however the downfall this time was the Polish on the flank who pushed home their own attack in support of the village, there were some further shocking die rolls by the Russians but all in all a much closer battle.

French Cavalry mass behind the lines

In the centre the Allies wisely stayed out of range of the French Artillery, this time the French Cavalry massed behind the lines in the centre of the table but it all ended up with a lot of posturing. The Allies never got a clear run at a target whilst the French kept failing command rolls and remained on Hold orders behind the central village.

Cossacks skirmishing against Young Guard

The area around the Farm got a bit more fruity this time, this time the Russian Infantry led the attack, one thing we have quickly learnt is there is no point messing about firing Russian Infantry, get them stuck in as soon as you can. A battle raged over the woods adjacent to the Farm and the French sent two units of Young Guard to hold the line.

Prussian Infantry supporting the Russian attack

The Russians attacking the Farm failed to charge but those in the wood unceremoniously dumped the Young Guard out of the cover and into the path of a waiting Russian Hussar unit.

End of the Young Guard

The French committed the Italian Guard to hold the line in that area, the Allies had turned the flank but the new line at a right angle anchored on Probstheyda was pretty strong but was lacking Cavalry support.

We finished the game at this point entering a period of stalemate, the Allies had made more progress than before but had failed to get into the villages, with a bit more luck on dice rolls we could have got into the front line of built up areas but I don't think there is enough to get into the rear towns, it also felt that the French had a lot of artillery and with the ridge line they could often get multiple batteries on one unit when needed.

Italian Guard coming to the rescue

Rules Development 

The original Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules post can be accessed below,

https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/10/quarrie-to-general-de-brigade.html

There is still some work to do to get them perfect but I am happy with the progress and it's given me a renewed interest in Napoleonic gaming (which was my first gaming period) after years of inactivity so that in itself is a huge positive.

General de Brigade makes it harder to get into contact than other rules but when you do melee is over quickly, usually in a single round and there is none of the enormous black holes pulling in multiple units into massive combats which last 3 plus turns like say Gilders which needs a change of mind set from players of those sets.

The magic floaty tree

We found getting into contact a real problem in this game which is interesting as that wasn't an issue in the Peninsula bash, maybe we were expecting the British to shoot units off ?

The main discussion point and change from the game was the +1 for infantry charging in column. Infantry now has a charging factor for melee and a confused factor when not. We found that a plus 1 on top of the Impact factor was too much but we needed to reflect the impetus of charging in column so the decision was to count the Impact factor as the charging column factor and add a -1 to the Impact when charging in any other formation. The exception being the British.

I hope to get at least one more Napoleonic Game in before Xmas, oh the joy of too many collections ! Next game, currently on table is Spanish Civil War.

A Little Touch Of Leipzig (In The Night)

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

Apologies for the obscure 70s music reference ! Some of you may recall that we started to delve back into the wonderful world of 15mm Napoleonic gaming recently after I finally put together my Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules. A rerun of Albuera ensued recently and that went quite well so it was time for a second go with the "new" rules. We decided to move away from the Peninsula and try some Central European action to see how those armies performed. I will put a link to the rule amendments at the end of the post.

Italian Light Infantry masquerading as Young Guard

I picked the 1813 Dolitz & Probstheyda Scenario from the Napoleonic Scenarios 2 book from Partizan Press, avaliable below,

https://www.caliverbooks.com/Partizan Press/partizan_NS.shtml

An excellent set of scenario books perfect for any rule set. Even with over 6,000 15mm figures for the period I had to make some compromises as I have no Austrians and no French Guard, so my Italian Guard and Russians had a run out instead.

Historical Background 

We will all be familiar with the background of the Battle of Nations and this game represents a small section of that battle, the centre of Napoleons positions in the South of the battlefield to be precise. The game represents the Allied attack of the 18th October and is a simple attack and defend scenario.

Russian Cuirass

Set Up 

12 x 6 table with the Allies marching on the table on move 1 from the left, as viewed in the photos below,

Allies March On

From the French Lines

A fairly straightforward battlefield, there is a line of two villages and a farm along the centre of the table, Dolitz, furthest from the camera, Dosen in the centre and then the Meusdorf Farm. The Farm and Dolitz each had a small wood adjacent to their left flank. On the far side of the table there is another wood and the edge of a steam.

The rear of the French Line is dominated by a ridge line on which the village of Probstheyda is located (green copper spire church) with a fifth and final village, Lossing, which is level with Probstheyda and behind Dolitz.

French Infantry in Dosen

French Orbat

For general stats see the Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules post below, any variations on the standard charts to reflect the lower standard of some of the French units is noted below.

C in C - Murat

Augereau - IX Corps
Brigade Sierawski - 3 x Polish Line Battalions (2 x 36 figs and 1 x 32 figs) and 1 6pdr Polish Foot Battery. Set up between Dolitz and the stream.
Brigade Lagarde - 2 x Legere Battalions (36 , 30) and 2 x Ligne Battalions, both 36, both -1 on standard French Morale. 1 x 8pdr Foot Artillery. Set up in and around Dolitz.
Brigade Semele - 1 x 36 Fig Legere Battalion, 2 x Ligne Battalions 1 x 36 and 1 x 30, the 30 man unit is a- 2 on Morale. 1 x 8pdr Foot Artillery.
Brigade Sulkowski - 1 x 18 man Polish Uhlan Regt and 1 x 6pdr Polish Horse Art.

Probstheyda

Victor - II Corps
Brigade Dubreton - 1 x 36 Legere Battalion, 3 x Ligne Battalions 2 x 36 and 1 x 30 (also -1 morale). 1 x 6pdr Foot Artillery. Set up in and around Dosen.
Brigade Dufour - 1 x 36 Ligne, 1 x 30 Ligne, 1 x 30 Legere and 1 x 24 Ligne (-1 Morale). Set up around the Farm.
Brigade Corbineau - 1 x 18 Hussars, 1 x 6pdr Horse Art. Set up between Dosen and the Farm.

French Cuirass

Oudinot  - Guard Corps (all in Reserve behind ridge, activated the turn after one of the front villages is either assaulted or fired on by musketry.
Brigade Pacthod - 4 x 32 Young Guard, 8pdr Foot Artillery
Brigade Curial - Italian Guard Grenadiers, Italian Guard Fusiliers both 30 figs, Italian Guard Velites 32 Figs, Italian Guard Foot Artillery 12pdr.
Brigade Bouresoulle - 3 x 24 Fig Cuirassier, 1 x 24 Dragoon (inferior mounts)

On a roll of 12 on initiative - Napoleon arrives anywhere on the French baseline escorted by 1 x 24 Guard Lancer and 1 x 24 Guard Chasseur.

Italian Guard on the ridge

Allied Army

C in C Schwarzenberg (remember Russian troops have been substituted in for Austrians)

Hesse Homburg - move on table opposite Dolitz
Brigade Roth - 3 x 48 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions one with -1 morale. 3 x 36 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions one with -1 morale. 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery.
Brigade Mezentzov- 1 x 48 Fig Russian Infantry Battalion, 2 x 36 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions both with -1 morale. 1 x 30 figure Prussian Landwher, 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery.
Brigade Vassov - 1 x 36 Fig Russian Grenadier Battalion, -1 morale. 2 x 16 Fig Prussian Hussar one with + 1 morale and 1 x 6pdr Prussian Horse Art.

Cossacks in a wood, what a surprise 

Gorchakov - move on table opposite Dosen
Brigade Grenadier - 4 x 32 Grenadier Battalions, 2 Prussian, 2 Russian. 1 x 6pdr Prussian Foot Artillery
Brigade Laelin - 1 x 24 Russian Guard Cuirass, 1 x 24 Russian Cuirass
Brigade Larkov - 2 x 24 Russian Cuirass

Russian Infantry Battalions attack

Barclay move on table opposite the Farm
Brigade Pirch  - 1 x 32 Prussian Fusilier (+1 morale), 1 x 32 Prussian Musketeer, 2 x 24 Reserve Prussian Infantry, 2 x 24 Prussian Landwher.
Brigade Von Kluse - 1 x 32 Prussian Fusilier (+1 morale), 1 x 32 Prussian Musketeer, 2 x 24 Prussian Reserve Infantry, 2 x 24 Prussian Landwher, 1 x Prussian Foot Artillery, 1 x 16 Landwher Cavalry.
Brigade Oldenkop - 5 x 32 Fig Russian Infantry Battalions (2 are -1 morale) and 1 Russian Position Battery
Brigade Zilowski  - 1 x 24 Russian Uhlan, 1 x 18 Russian Hussar, 1 x Russian Horse Artillery.

Prussian Reserve Infantry on the move

How did we get on 

We actually played through the scenario twice and it was quite an interesting experience having a go at a Central European battle after the Albuera Peninsula game. National Characteristics definitely give each army a personality and once you become aware of its strengths you start to alter your tactics to those of that nation, something I have been after in a game for a long time.

1st shot 6 gun battery, low ammo !

Normally I let the photos follow the story of the game but on this occasion they are a bit random, one because we played through twice and secondly because I was too busy taking notes about the rules rather than what was happening in the games.

Prussian Infantry attacking the Farm

In game 1 the match was over pretty quickly, the attack on Dolitz was a bloody affair with the Russians failing to gain any headway against the village and the Polish Infantry who had formed a line behind the stream. It wasn't long before the attacking Russians were streaming back to the baseline.

Another view of the Prussian attack on the Farm

In the centre the Allies sat there and got shot ! The Russian Guard Cuirass ended up retiring off the table without moving forward at all. That woke the rest of the troops up and there was a glorious charge against a gun line (see top photo) at the end of that game.

Waiting to go again in game 2

The Farm side of the table ground to a stalemate fairly quickly, the attack started on the Farm but all the French Heavy Cavalry came out to play, putting the Prussian Infantry in square ending any movement. With all the Russians running away at the end of our first session we decided just to reset and go again. I made a couple of changes to the orbat (the French started with the Guard Cavalry in game 1). Overall an easy Victory for the French in our first run through.

French Infantry in Dosen

Another aspect of game 1 was the atrocious dice rolling of the Allies (including myself) the double one for the Russian Artillery in the photo above was just the start, we have all had it, those days where you can't roll over 5 on 2 d6 until you need to roll low when you roll a double 6 !

French in the Farm

Game 2 went on for a lot longer (3 sessions) and was a much closer affair. We realised that we had been allowing too many people to shoot out of built up areas which made the approach to the villages a bit easier and the removal of the Guard Cavalry made the French player a little bit more cautious.

Attack on Dolitz in Game 2

The Russian attack on Dolitz was more sustained and they had a good deal of success against the French in the wood near the village, however the downfall this time was the Polish on the flank who pushed home their own attack in support of the village, there were some further shocking die rolls by the Russians but all in all a much closer battle.

French Cavalry mass behind the lines

In the centre the Allies wisely stayed out of range of the French Artillery, this time the French Cavalry massed behind the lines in the centre of the table but it all ended up with a lot of posturing. The Allies never got a clear run at a target whilst the French kept failing command rolls and remained on Hold orders behind the central village.

Cossacks skirmishing against Young Guard

The area around the Farm got a bit more fruity this time, this time the Russian Infantry led the attack, one thing we have quickly learnt is there is no point messing about firing Russian Infantry, get them stuck in as soon as you can. A battle raged over the woods adjacent to the Farm and the French sent two units of Young Guard to hold the line.

Prussian Infantry supporting the Russian attack

The Russians attacking the Farm failed to charge but those in the wood unceremoniously dumped the Young Guard out of the cover and into the path of a waiting Russian Hussar unit.

End of the Young Guard

The French committed the Italian Guard to hold the line in that area, the Allies had turned the flank but the new line at a right angle anchored on Probstheyda was pretty strong but was lacking Cavalry support.

We finished the game at this point entering a period of stalemate, the Allies had made more progress than before but had failed to get into the villages, with a bit more luck on dice rolls we could have got into the front line of built up areas but I don't think there is enough to get into the rear towns, it also felt that the French had a lot of artillery and with the ridge line they could often get multiple batteries on one unit when needed.

Italian Guard coming to the rescue

Rules Development 

The original Quarrie / GdeB mash up rules post can be accessed below,

https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/10/quarrie-to-general-de-brigade.html

There is still some work to do to get them perfect but I am happy with the progress and it's given me a renewed interest in Napoleonic gaming (which was my first gaming period) after years of inactivity so that in itself is a huge positive.

General de Brigade makes it harder to get into contact than other rules but when you do melee is over quickly, usually in a single round and there is none of the enormous black holes pulling in multiple units into massive combats which last 3 plus turns like say Gilders which needs a change of mind set from players of those sets.

The magic floaty tree

We found getting into contact a real problem in this game which is interesting as that wasn't an issue in the Peninsula bash, maybe we were expecting the British to shoot units off ?

The main discussion point and change from the game was the +1 for infantry charging in column. Infantry now has a charging factor for melee and a confused factor when not. We found that a plus 1 on top of the Impact factor was too much but we needed to reflect the impetus of charging in column so the decision was to count the Impact factor as the charging column factor and add a -1 to the Impact when charging in any other formation. The exception being the British.

I hope to get at least one more Napoleonic Game in before Xmas, oh the joy of too many collections ! Next game, currently on table is Spanish Civil War.

The Best Free Antivirus For 2020: Keep Your PC Safe Without Spending A Dime - PCWorld

The best free antivirus for 2020: Keep your PC safe without spending a dime

The Best Free Antivirus For 2020: Keep Your PC Safe Without Spending A Dime - PCWorld

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

The best free antivirus for 2020: Keep your PC safe without spending a dime

Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused Browser of 2019

Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.

An extremely productive year for Brave

Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.

Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.

The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.

Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:

"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"

Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.

Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now

If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.

The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.

AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.

For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.

Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.

Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser

Try Brave Browser

Get $5 in free BAT to donate to the websites of your choice.

Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused Browser of 2019

Posted by iNoticiero No comments

Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.

An extremely productive year for Brave

Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.

Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.

The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.

Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:

"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"

Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.

Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now

If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.

The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.

AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.

For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.

Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.

Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser

Try Brave Browser

Get $5 in free BAT to donate to the websites of your choice.

Suscribirse a: Entradas (Atom)