Ameritrash slumber party

Yesterday was just one of those great parenting days.

My son, who will be 10 in a few weeks has really been showing a lot of interest in various games I own lately. I've been making a point not to push anything much but I'm always willing to play when asked....OF COURSE!

We were waiting for his two buddies to arrive for the sleep over we played a couple games of our Goblins vs. Elves themed magic decks. He decided that maybe he was ready to make his own deck so we went to the basement and dug through a big box of magic commons. After a quick discussion of which colors specialize in what, and what sorts of creatures they have, he quickly decides on an all black deck so he can "fill it with zombies and evil zombie magic".

Unfortunately we didn't get to play as kids started arriving followed by the news that Mom and sister were leaving, us men were gonna have to fend for ourselves for dinner. As soon as the female crew is out the door we order the pizza and sit down for some Last Night on Earth. 4 player zombie smash scenario.

Following that was our pizza break and then the boys, three of them now, settle in for some Munchkin, without me, followed by a game of the new RISK edition, also without me.

After a little Heroscape free play, incorporating Dnd minis, 40K models and a good deal of gaming terrain of all types they decide to have a massive NERF dart gun battle with the TV box, now fort that is left over from our new 37 inch HDTV.

It's nearing bedtime, (They had school that morning, but not the next morning) they settle down with their sleeping bags out to eat some popcorn and watch a movie.

As if the day couldn't get any better (for me!) they decide (completely on their own)to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Of course they're asleep by 30 mins in but they've already seen the best part for them, the zany Llama bit. I think they might have made it to the catapult scene. It was a close call though they almost chose to watch "The Wild".

By the time I got back from class and a meeting at school this morning at 10:00 they are deep into Left 4 Dead on our two linked Xbox 360s. But then they want to play RISK again WITH ME to make sure they are playing it right and because they want some tougher compettition! I end up winning but only because one of them fails by one roll to get his third objective right before my turn.

One kid has to go home, but with two left they are still looking for something to do and they pick out Arena Maximus the simple yet pleasingly violent chariot race game from the FFG silver line. I knew that 5 bucks I spent three christmases ago would payoff someday and it did as we had a blast. We end up racing twice and enjoying the simple and quick play of Arena Maximus.

Overall I'd have to say it was the best day of no school of my life and I'm 38.

The other day I had to sit and listen to this guy give me a narrative account of his KINGSBURG game and I was thinking the whole time that I never, ever wanted to hear another gaming anecdote again for as long as I live. Thank you for restoring my hope for this blasted hobby with this awesome story.

That sounds like pretty much one of the best days ever. Some (hell, most) of my best gaming memories are from gaming with my old man. I still remember the first time I got to play in his long running D&D game, it was probably one of the top 5 days of my life. I still remember my first critical hit on his homemade handwritten critical hit chart. I rolled a 15 on the chart which was "Brains splattered over wide area."

Between him running D&D for my friends and I and him savagely and mercilessly crushing me at Battletech (I seriously have never beaten him in a single game, no matter who else was on my team) I had a pretty awesome gaming childhood.

Michael Barnes wrote:

The other day I had to sit and listen to this guy give me a narrative account of his KINGSBURG game and I was thinking the whole time that I never, ever wanted to hear another gaming anecdote again for as long as I live. Thank you for restoring my hope for this blasted hobby with this awesome story.

Clearly, you are spending time around the wrong people.

While I don't mind Kingsburg, how would the narrative go?

"First, I built a statue, then I worked for getting the farms, followed by the Chapel. Then, after defeating several rounds of orcs with the king's men, I fortified by village. I won by 2 VPs -- it was a close one".

That shit should only take about 1 minute, tops.

the after action reports are a good indication of how good a game is. See the spate of BSG session reports on TOS.

Jur wrote:

the after action reports are a good indication of how good a game is. See the spate of BSG session reports on TOS.

Yeah, basically. Anything that is actually fun will create a decent narrative. Clash of Monarchs has been good for that.