May the 4th Be With You 2026 Edition!

life, the universe, and everything

Happy Star Wars Day folks.

I think in the past I’ve talked about seeing Star Wars A New Hope for the first time. How my memories of the time seem to be mainly the Olivia Newton John and John Travolta You’re The One That I Want music video from Grease and the Star Wars clip of Han saying “don’t get cocky kid” to Luke during the escape from the Death Star scene in the Falcon shooting Tie Fighters.

However we are jumping ahead to 1983, possibly 1984 and the first time I played a Star Wars game.

Back then during the start of peak 80’s home computer boom in the UK, my first time playing a Star Wars game was the C64 port of the Star Wars arcade game.

Taken off the internet

In the fenland market town I lived in the main places you got to play arcade games were the odd cabinet sitting in a corner of an establishment like the roller skating rink, or maybe a pub. Otherwise you had to travel to the coast and visit the arcades there (not a great option for a teenager) or wait for the fair to come to town.

So the home computer boom and the many ports of arcade games to home computers were often the only opportunity for a fenland teenager to play them.

It was this way that I got to play the C64 port of the Star Wars arcade game. This was played with a joystick.

I wasn’t clocking up world record scores (not even close). But I was able to run through the three levels three or four times in a single play.

It was as far as I knew a pretty good port. It certainly was fun to play.

I loved the first person, 3D. Shooting tie fighters, avoiding their shots or shooting them too. Survive long enough and you were then flying across the surface of the Death Star shooting up towers and gun turrets. Survive that and you were in on the Death Stars trench making a run on that one weak spot in its design, the exhaust hole.

There weren’t many 3D games around at the time. Star Wars used wireframes just like the classic Battlezone.

At the time for a Star Wars fan this was a great game.

Happy Star Wars day.

Hotter than hell

#littlemonsters, #livefromperu, #SuicideSquad, life, the universe, and everything

That damn hot weather.

Once again we’ve had a few days of unseasonable hot weather. So much for those April showers.

The contents of the removed shed hasn’t gone yet. I’m waiting for the guy that did the shed to give me a date. Once it has the vision can start taking shape.

In the meantime I’m still outside with the dogs allowing them to enjoy being outdoors.

Obviously our routine has changed during this weather. Their first walk of the day is the only one. However it is a much longer walk. So it’s done and dusted before it gets too hot for them.

Using my brew kit for UKGE
Rigged this for the dogs

Using some bungees I put up a DD Hammocks magic carpet to give the Suicide Squad some shade. I almost look on this as a proof of concept for the summer.

It would come as no surprise that my coffee consumption has gone up. Being able to brew up without leaving my seat is fun. Plus it allows me to get familiar and comfortable using various stove and pot combinations.

Luckily as I write this post the weather has cooled a bit. Just in time for Diogo’s second paddock session this evening. He’s going to be tired this evening.

April 2026 Gaming Round Up Part 2

Gaming roundup

I’m writing this round up a couple of days earlier than normal because there will be no gaming before the end of the month. But posting on the last day of the month. Which is also known as my birthday!

Biblios Dice: I think this is the first time I’ve played this game since buying it years ago when it came out. It’s out of print. So was miffed a brown cube was missing. But it’s not going to be hard to replace that. Still this was a fun game to play. Love the drafting of dice, and the auction.

Skull: Colin had expressed a desire to try this game. Luckily I was able to find my copy of this bluffing game. We had fun, Colin liked it.

Pixies: Safe to say this is or is it has become a favourite.

Vegetable Stock: Love this drafting, market manipulation game. Just a great, quick, light game.

Twilight Imperium 4: In the end this was a rushed game cut short by clashing with an evening event going on. But still an epic four player game. The 3D printed insert made a massive difference in setup and breakdown.

3 Chapters: a fast trick taking game. What separates this one from the crowd is the drafting. Yep you start off drafting your hand to play for the trick taking round. Which is pretty cool because it starts you off with some tough choices. You don’t just draft on value but trying to get combos that will score you points not only during the trick taking round but also the final scoring round. Some cards score only during the trick taking round, others during the final scoring. You are hoping that others drafted cards you need to combo off. However it’s almost a dark draft where you are not 100% sure what’s been drafted because you don’t draft all of the cards, one goes back unseen.

Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking Game: although I like how this game handles two players with the dummy hand. It really does need the minimum of three players. We got to chapter 7. But the game kicked our butt too many times.

Bohnanza: a three player game that was just as good fun as the five player game.

New Arrivals

  • Halo Flashpoint latest wave all in pledge
  • Cat and the Tower
  • Dice Town Cowboy expassion

Alien Day 2026

#AlienDay, life, the universe, and everything

Happy Alien day everyone.

I’ve only recently (in the last week) found out there is an Alien 3 Assembly cut of the movie. Up until now I had always thought there was the Alien 3 theatrical release, and the Audible original dramatisation of the William Gibson Alien 3 screen play.

But now I find out that there is an edit of the film that attempts to recreate the director David Finchers work print for the movie. Fincher wasn’t involved with this, hence why it’s called the assembly cut and not a directors cut.

What makes this revelation shocking is I’ve had this new version of the movie for years! Since 2003 to be precise. It is on the Alien Quadrilogy.

So you know what I’m going to be watching today. Along with starting Alien Earth.

Yes I’ve still not got round to watching it yet. Like most tv series I watch I hate with streaming the drip, drip, drip of episodes. It’s so old school. Remember when streaming services were new we got whole seasons that they funded/created in one drop. I get why they switched. But for me that defeats the reason for streaming services. I’m more than happy to wait for all the episodes to drop. Then it relies on me remembering to go back and binge the episodes, or more likely not be bothered any more about the series. So in my case the weekly drop of episodes has had a detrimental effect, and I’m less likely to watch. Maybe not a massive or even a noticeable hit on their viewing numbers. But still I can’t be the only one.

Celebrating the Funko way

Alien Rogue Incursion Part One Evolved Edition was released digitally on the Nintendo Switch 2 last week. A surprise drop. And I’m looking forward to firing up the Switch to play it. I just wish there was a physical copy I could purchase instead of it being digital only.

However I’m pretty clueless about what this Alien game is about, style, etc. I know it started life as a VR game. So I’m guessing they might be going for that horror, jump scare, enclosed claustrophobic feel. But that’s just an educated guess. There is no reason why it can’t be a run and gun style game. But if I was doing a VR Alien game I’d be doubling down on that immersive horror jump scare angle.

But I look forward to finding out if my guesses are right.

How are you spending your Alien Day?

Operation A Dog Named Sue! #11

#littlemonsters

New photos and video clips have been shared of Ace. It’ll soon be time for his rabies shot and the count down to coming over.

I think Ace is going to love it over here.

The shed is gone. Now just have to get the contents to the council dump. Then extend the fence.

Once that’s done I need some top soil and meadow seed to give the little monsters some grass to chill on.

I’m hoping by the middle of May the vision will be complete.

Oh and I’ll close with the two video clips.

Two New Books

life, the universe, and everything

If you want to see what’s possible with just regular d6 dice, or a regular pack of 52 cards then the two Knizia books Dice Games Properly Explained, and New Tactical Games with Dice and Cards are a must.

I particularly like Dice Games Properly Explained. Scattered between the many explanations of games are some interesting chapters explaining probability and stuff. The game descriptions not only describe the rules but also give advice on tactics. I think my favourite game so far from this book is Ship, Captain, Crew, a Yahtzee style push your luck game.

According to Amazon I was missing two Knizia books, Poker Plain and Simple, and Blazing Aces! A Fistfull of Family Card Games.

So naturally I had to order them. And they arrived yesterday.

I don’t play poker. However I’m familiar with Texas Hold’em. Mainly from YouTube videos and tv. Plus whatever version of poker I’ve seen played in westerns.

I certainly know poker hands from numerous board games where they are used as a mechanic such as Dice Town, or The Gang.

One thing that has confused me about Texas Hold’em is the bidding, especially the checking. But not enough to google it. So I’m looking forward to Knizia explaining it.

When you throw in the likes of Regicide what you can play with a regular pack of cards is incredible. So I’m looking forward to seeing what Knizia has come up with in his western themed book of card games.

Anyways more for the reading pile for while the little monsters are enjoying the warmth of the spring sun.

Advance Advance

deck building, Deck tech, LCG, netrunner

Previously I came up with an Anarch runner deck. Still not been able to get it to the table for testing.

In the meantime I found a NBN identity that appealed to me in Pravdivost Consulting: Political Solutions.

So what’s the plan?

It’s trying to abuse that additional advancement counter. Not only with rushing out agendas, but the deck has ice and assets that can be advanced.

The deck also wants to spam out tags on the runner to get some value out of them.

Here is my complete deck list:


Pravdivost Consulting: Political Solutions (Midnight Sun)

Agenda (13)
2x Remastered Edition (Downfall)
1x Tomorrowʼs Headline (System Gateway)
1x Orbital Superiority (System Gateway)
1x Superconducting Hub (System Gateway)
2x Oracle Thinktank (The Automata Initiative)
2x Kingmaking (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x Stoke the Embers (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x Let Them Dream (Vantage Point) ••

Asset (12)
1x Daily Quest (Downfall)
2x Chekist Scion (Midnight Sun)
1x Ubiquitous Vig (Midnight Sun)
2x Federal Fundraising (The Automata Initiative)
1x Janaína “JK” Dumont Kindelán (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x The Powers That Be (Rebellion Without Rehearsal) ••
1x Idiosyncresis (Elevation)
2x Magistrate Revontulet (Vantage Point)

Upgrade (3)
2x Vladisibirsk City Grid (Midnight Sun)
1x The Holo Man (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)

Operation (11)
2x NAPD Cordon (Uprising)
2x Predictive Planogram (System Gateway)
2x Hedge Fund (System Gateway)
2x Backroom Machinations (Midnight Sun)
1x Bigger Picture (Elevation)
1x IP Enforcement (Elevation)
1x Flood the Market (Vantage Point)

Barrier (4)
2x Ping (System Gateway)
2x Paywall (Vantage Point)

Code Gate (5)
2x Funhouse (System Gateway)
1x Mestnichestvo (Midnight Sun)
2x Flyswatter (Elevation)

Sentry (6)
2x Vasilisa (Midnight Sun)
1x Unsmiling Tsarevna (Parhelion)
1x Starlit Knight (The Automata Initiative)
2x Doomscroll (Elevation)

4 influence spent (max 15, available 11)
23 agenda points (between 22 and 23)
54 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Vantage Point

Screenshot

Just like my runner deck this needs testing. And there lies the rub.