A Return to the Stars

After a veeeeerrrryyyy long, and mostly unplanned, hiatus, Stuart and I got together to play more Stargrave in recent days. It was good!

It was also a bit of a challenge trying to remember how to play the game after such a long absence, as you will see.

First up, on the 13th, was the Data Vault mission, which Stuart set up using black dominoes for a nice 2001 type feel.

This mission turned out to be a bit of a disaster for Stuart's crew, for a number of key reasons:

1) I was rolling 20s all over the place and Stuart barely rolled above a 4 all game, prompting numerous excommunications of Traitor Dice to the Box of Shame™.

This happened (to me) quite a lot.

2) We decided to use the "Unwanted Attention" rule for a bit of added drama, except all the drama happened on Stuart's side of the table, and the Space Cops and Space Bounty Hunters between them massacred his crew.

3) In the intervening 23 months we had both forgotten that Stargrave crews are limited to 10 members, and I seemed to have 11...

One of those two troopers toward the bottom of the picture shouldn't be there.

You can read Stuart's summary of the mission here.

A few days later, on the 19th, we met again to play(test) my homebrew mission Starfall. In the intervening time my squad had discovered that an alien shapechanger had infiltrated the crew, and the offending extra trooper had been encouraged to "walk the airlock".

Ahem.

Now, Stuart won the game (spoiler) as he got away with the loot and most of the xp, but he may not consider it a total victory, as you will see.

With only a rough idea of where the satellite could crash-land, the two crews fanned out to cover as much of the table as possible.

On the third turn it became clear where the landing point would be, and there followed a mad scramble. Alas, I had fanned out a bit too much, and the crew on my left never really got involved. Stuart's crew got to the satellite first, and managed to unlock the precious data, so I decided to hold back and blast away while they were exposed.

New -- and expensive! -- recruit Arnold the Power Armoured Bastard (Retired) got involved and managed to get away with the data, before two of my robots pounced and gang-stomped him into the dirt.

"Get to da (space) choppah!"

Stuart had better luck this game -- only one d20 was banished! -- and I'd used most of my 20s last time, although I'm not sure he'd agree, as I did manage to take out all of his crew aside from one lonely drone, but crucially, the drone had the data. My crew was too far away to catch or shoot the drone and my only hope was a lone wandering monster that saw the shiny thing and loped after it, but couldn't quite catch the mechanoid, so it zoomed off into the distance with the loot... and victory!

The scenario went quite well and we both liked how the pace and tone changed between the before-crash and after-crash phases. I had some worries about a couple of minor details of the mechanics, but Stuart assured me they weren't issues, so I've made no changes, beyond beefing up the xp award for "catching" the satellite. If you have a go at Starfall, please let me know how you get on!

We've both caught the Stargrave bug again and as long as real life doesn't intrude too much we are keen to play more in the new year. I've also had another idea for a custom mission...

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Lemon Mince Pie

Special #MincePieFest2024 special feature special day four! I've had the lemon flavour before and it's been a firm favourite, but how will it fare in 2024?

Alas, there's only a dash of lemon curd in this one, so it's basically just the normal one with a hint of lemon. So still very good, but not as lemony as I'd like.

But at least there are no huge chunks of cherry. 3.5 out of 5. #MincePieADay

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Custard Mince Pie

Non-Cornish Cornish mince pie #3! Custard!

The custard had set so I bunged this one in the meecrowavey to get the molecules a-jiggling. The result was absolutely gorgeous (but I am a bit of a custard fan) so much so that I was about to waive the usual -1 penalty for being a £4 pie, but then I remembered that getting some fancy mince pies and some custard would still be cheaper. So 4 out of 5 it is. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Chocolate Mince Pie

Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty mince pie day two! Chocolate today.

The pastry is really quite nice, with a similar texture to yesterday's, and a good chocolatey flavour. No discernable cherries in the filling mix, but there was a little nugget of pure chocolate -- or maybe a big chocolate chip -- that I assume was put there on purpose, but was a nice surprise either way. -1 for the price, obviously, but otherwise 4 out of 5. With an asterisk, because the chocolate is... untraditional. #MincePieFest2024 #MincePieADay

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Traditional Mince Pie

Special #MincePieFest2024 special feature special! The first of four mince pies from Brighton's non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Shop.

I honestly, genuinely, only went in for one.

First, the traditional mince pie, which somehow exploded in transit.

This has a lovely chunky pastry with a nice, almost digestive biscuit, texture, and a generous dollop of filling that probably would be quite tasty, were it not for the over-abundance of cherries.

(I don't like cherries.)

-1 for the cherries, and -1 for the price (£4 each! I'll just put this link here for no reason at all: https://ko-fi.com/thekelvingreen) for a decent 3 out of 5. #MincePieADay

It's Over Nine Thousand

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk, isn't really about one man's experience of reading 27,000 Marvel comics, although it touches on that. It's not a history of Marvel, although it touches on that. It's not a summary of the Marvel Universe story so far, although the final chapter skims through that.

Instead, this is Douglas Wolk, after reading 27,000 Marvel comics, picking out his favourite bits, and that makes for a compelling book, although it's not exactly how the book is marketed.

But it is interesting how, in all of those thousands of stories, Master of Kung Fu stands out as problematic as heck but also really, really good, or how the Dark Reign crossover turns out to be more clever and insightful than it appears, or how Jack Kirby was a genius but his Black Panther run was (probably) terrible.

I like that personal, my-favourite-bits, approach, and while a couple of chapters feel a bit perfunctory, I could quite happily have read another 15 chapters of this.

(Or maybe another 15 chapters by someone else. It would be lovely -- if impractical -- to get other people to read 27,000 Marvel comics and present their own favourite parts, just for a variety of voices. I'd love to read sequels to this by other authors.)

There are some disappointments -- there's an early interesting Grant Morrison-esque thought about the Marvel Universe being a unique fictional construct that doesn't go anywhere; the Black Panther chapter doesn't quite grasp the importance of what Don McGregor was doing -- and perhaps overall the book is a bit fluffy, but it's always entertaining, and well worth reading for the parts in which Wolk pulls out a surprise favourite, or delves a bit deeper into a subject, or both.

Mince Pie Fest 2024: The Results!

I'm certain I will be consuming more mince pies and mince pie related items in the coming days and weeks, but the testing is over.

THE BEST NATIONALLY AVAILABLE MINCE PIE OF 2024

COOP Irresistible, although it was a close thing this year. These taste fancier and more expensive than they are. Very good. Well done, COOP.

THE BEST "CHEAP" MINCE PIE

Holly Lane, from Aldi. Simple but tasty. The filling is the star here, and the price is good.

THE BEST NON-BOOZY MINCE PIE

Also Holly Lane!

PALM OIL?

Quite a few of this year's mince pies do not have palm oil listed in the ingredients. From best to worst score, they are: Iceland Luxury (4), Infinity Foods (4), Tesco Merry (4), Waitrose Un-Numbered (4), Morrisons The Best (4), M&S Collection (3), Lidl Deluxe (2), M&S Classic (1).

(I am told that COOP uses "sustainable" palm oil, but there is some debate over whether there is such a thing.)

So there you have it! As I noted above, my mince pie journey is not yet over, but those are my recommendations for 2024. Enjoy!

#MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

All Drummers Great and Small

BBC Four started a repeat run of The Box of Delights yesterday. I have fond but vague memories of the programme from its first broadcast -- 40 years ago! -- and I was excited to see it again. I'll maybe talk about it another time, as it ticks a lot of boxes for me: ancient British magic, mischievous hobo-wizards, time travel, snow and winter, wolves! It has some thematic crossover with Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, another childhood favourite that I should revisit at some point.

The real point of this post is what came after. BBC Four followed up with a 1978 episode of All Creatures Great and Small, and I hadn't seen that in years either so I left it on to see what it was like with adult eyes, and... it's really strange. If you haven't seen it, it's a gentle comedy-drama about a veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire in the 1930s, which is already quite niche for a prime-time show, but -- and I assume this is because it's the BBC and the BBC's public service remit means there has to be at least a token attempt at education -- it's also full of graphic on-camera medical procedures. Imagine tuning in on a Sunday evening, perhaps after your Sunday roast, and then watching Doctor Who trying to remember his lines while up to the shoulder -- and this is the actor, mind you, not a double -- in a cow's backside.

Still, it was massively popular, got millions of viewers, and seemed to run for years -- although now that I look it up, it had two three-year runs separated by a decade -- but what I want to talk about is the theme music. I had a memory of a gentle but jolly piano theme in keeping with the Sunday night broadcast. and that's sort of what it is, but what surprised me last night was how hard the drummer goes:



Alas the theme is only about a minute long; the drummer was just getting going!

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Greggs

The Greggs vegan sausage roll is rightly famous, but are the mince pies any good?

The pastry looks a bit anaemic, and so it proves in terms of taste, with a decent texture but a flavour best described as blaaaaaaaaand. The filling has some nice flavour, although nothing stands out, and as you can probably see, it's a bit stingy. There's something a bit sad about these pies. The sausage rolls are much better. 2 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Infinity Foods

No picture of the box, as they are bakery fresh, so here's a picture of the shop, which is sort of a big brick and concrete box, if you think about it.

The pastry is firm, and so thick it would stop the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan, but it has a pleasant crumble and a nice sweetness.

The filling is thick and rich, and there is plenty of it. It has a nice savoury, almost sour edge that is a perfect balance for the sweetness. There's no hint of booze, but I don't think the pie needs it.

The only downside to these lovely mince pies is the price. £2.10 each or £5.75 for three is a bit steep. They are good, but I'm not sure they are £2.10 good. 4 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024