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Robin
United States
Wilmore
Kentucky
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Good Morning all! Our new geek of the week is Brian Morris: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/mrbeankc
So, on with the questioning. . .
1. I have learned many things from your many geeklists. What is your most popular geeklist, favorite geeklist, and the geeklist that you are most proud of?
2. Do you know a ballpark number of how many people you got to pre-order GMT games because of you P500 list?
3. You said that you enjoy Avalon Hill games. What are the biggest changes in the company? What are the best/ worst changes in the game company?
4. You have said that you are a Civil War buff. Have you been to a Civil War Reenactment? Have you been to Morgan's Raid in Georgetown Kentucky?
5. Which Civil War battle fields have you visited? What do you learn from your visits? How many have you seen? Have you been to Shiloh?
6. Have you read the short story Shiloh by Bobbi Ann Mason? Are there any stories related to the Civil War that you enjoy?
7. What do you do for a living? Do you work as a historian or is it just a hobby? Do you a degree in history?
8. You mentioned that you game a little with your wife. What are your favorite games you play with your wife? What are your least favorite?
9. I noticed the you listed as a hobby history of Manned Space Exploration. How do you feel about where NASA has been and where it is going? Do you think that space exploration should be privatized?
10. You also listed football as a hobby. What are your favorite teams? Do/ did you play football? Which is better college or pro? Have you tried any games with a football theme like Pizza Box Football?
11. You also listed Harry Potter as your favorite novel. What do you like about Harry Potter as a character? From the series, which is your favorite book? Are you one of those people that stood in line at midnight to get the new hardcover as soon as it hit shelves?
Please list the BGG members who you regularly game with.
There's the game truth, truth, lie. Please tell us three things about you, one of which is a lie.
Enjoy your week Brian!!!
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L Myrick
United States
Pasadena
California
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Congratulations, Brian!
I've enjoyed your geeklists and forum posts for some time now and I just want to say that it's your fault I've purchased as many GMT games as I have and it's your fault my P500 list is as long as it is now. Okay, maybe it's not all your fault, but you certainly contributed. In fact, when I stopped lurking on BGG and actually registered, you were the first geekbuddy I added to my list.
Best to you, and keep the informative geeklists and forum posts coming.
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Mo Caraher
Canada
Thunder Bay
Ontario
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Well done and well deserved!
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Congratulations on being GotW. I look forward to learning more about you. We have a few things in common. I just finished reading Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (which took a while), and I have a strong interest in 19th century history. We also both enjoy reading Larry Niven.
I noticed your favorite movie list includes The Princess Bride, which seems a little out of place among the others you listed (I also enjoy it and enjoyed the book). What is it about that movie that makes it one of your favorites?
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Rage is just love with more volume
United States
White Trash
Idaho
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Finally! Another fan of war games as GotW. About time.
You and I like a lot of the same games and one on your list sticks out: Fortress America. So, with that in mind:
* Are you aware of any effective strategy to keep America from winning if the invaders are played by seperate people?
* In one calender year I won over 50 straight games playing America. Do you think it's because a) the game is broken b) I had inferior gaming buddies or c) I'm brilliant?
Anyone who has the time to create 60 Geek Lists in under a year is probably either a deviant personality, a loser who lives off his wife's income, a geek with an inheritance or really types fast.
How did you do so many Geek Lists? And why?
Thanks for all the lists and keep them coming!
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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Helenoftroy wrote: Good Morning all! Our new geek of the week is Brian Morris: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/mrbeankcSo, on with the questioning. . . 1. I have learned many things from your many geeklists. What is your most popular geeklist, favorite geeklist, and the geeklist that you are most proud of?
There's two that are my favorites. One is the tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield using games. I'm really tempted to redo that one. The other was the one on Napoleon which I enjoyed because in doing it I really learned a lot myself about the many ways the man is viewed today.
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2. Do you know a ballpark number of how many people you got to pre-order GMT games because of you P500 list?
LOL. No idea. If people have ordered games because of my lists I only hope that they really enjoy them.
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3. You said that you enjoy Avalon Hill games. What are the biggest changes in the company? What are the best/ worst changes in the game company?
Well I don't consider the current Avalon Hill brand to be in anyway truly associated with the classic Avalon Hill game company. The old Avalon Hill is dead and buried and Hasbro can claim to be producing games in the tradition of the old company all they want but they aren't that company and the games they publish are not in the tradition of them. Yeah they reprint a few titles like Diplomacy that were products of the old company but it's a completely different animal.
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4. You have said that you are a Civil War buff. Have you been to a Civil War Reenactment? Have you been to Morgan's Raid in Georgetown Kentucky?
I have been to a number of reenactments (I got to fire off a cannon once which was really cool) but I've never gotten out to the one in Kentucky. I'm not a reenactor myself because being a Civil War soldier was nonstop misery and I have no interest in recreating that but God bless those who do because they bring history to life for so many of us.
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5. Which Civil War battle fields have you visited? What do you learn from your visits? How many have you seen? Have you been to Shiloh?
I've vistited a great number of battlefields on the east coast. Likely more battlefields in the east than I have out here in the west. I have an annual convention in Harrisburg Pennsylvania which is only 30 miles North of Gettysburg so I always get to spend a few days there every year. I've also driven down the east coast visiting battlefields such as Antietam, Harper's Ferry, The Wilderness, Richmond and others. I have not visited Shiloh yet but will likely either this year or next year depending on whether or not I attend Gencon in Indiana.
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6. Have you read the short story Shiloh by Bobbi Ann Mason? Are there any stories related to the Civil War that you enjoy?
I haven't read a lot of Civil War fiction except for Killer Angels which is a masterpiece. Mostly I read factual history with the occational Clive Cussler, Larry Bond, Michael Crichten and especially Harry Potter tossed in. On the Civil War I've read over 70 books on Gettysburg alone and own about 300 books on the Civil War on a whole.
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7. What do you do for a living? Do you work as a historian or is it just a hobby? Do you a degree in history?
I tell people I do the same thing as Al Capone. He once said he was in the import/export business. In my case it's actually true. I commission and import English porcelain collectables.
I have a degree in Theater Arts. I was an actor for a short time in my 20s until the need to eat drove me into working in marketing. I actually took history classes all the time in college as elective courses to the point that I think I'm one class short now of a history minor.
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8. You mentioned that you game a little with your wife. What are your favorite games you play with your wife? What are your least favorite?
We just discovered Jambo and she seems to like it. We tried Lost Cities last year and after two games she refused to play it again.
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9. I noticed the you listed as a hobby history of Manned Space Exploration. How do you feel about where NASA has been and where it is going? Do you think that space exploration should be privatized?
The golden age of space exploration with it's huge budgets are long gone. I think the future is in the private sector but that doesn't mean NASA should get out of it. On the contrary, I think NASA needs to get a healthy budget increase and a new launch vehicle and retire the shuttles which are using outdated. The biggest mistake was the killing of the Saturn V production. We would have been able to do much more with the ISS if we still had the lift capacity of the Saturn V.
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10. You also listed football as a hobby. What are your favorite teams? Do/ did you play football? Which is better college or pro? Have you tried any games with a football theme like Pizza Box Football?
I am a long suffering Vikings fan and 49ers fan. I was a Vikings fan since I was a kid but growing up in Sacramento which is Niner's country I was also a fan of them. I was fortunate that my cousin had season tickets to the 49ers so I got to see them every year plus their summer training camp in Rocklin was only 5 miles away from where I lived so I went to see them workout all the time. However even with all those Superbowl wins, I still dream of the day my Vikings will win it all.
I tried APBA football years ago but never got into it.
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11. You also listed Harry Potter as your favorite novel. What do you like about Harry Potter as a character? From the series, which is your favorite book? Are you one of those people that stood in line at midnight to get the new hardcover as soon as it hit shelves?
I have stood in line at midnight the last two books to get copies and then it's a fight with my wife to see who gets to read the book first (I won both times). My favorite book is Goblet of Fire or Half Blood Prince. I've read all the books twice except the last one and I have no idea why I love the books so much.
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Please list the BGG members who you regularly game with.
I know two fellow BGGers. chaddyboy_2000 aka Chad who is a part of the Thursday night game group I play with and Eric Hays who I met through BGG and we enjoy playing the more serious wargames. We just did Terrible Swift Sword this weekend which was a blast and we played Twilight Struggle last week and plan to do so again this week.
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There's the game truth, truth, lie. Please tell us three things about you, one of which is a lie.
I was once given a huge kiss by Marina Sirtis from Star Trek TNG
I'm a licensed pilot.
I'm allergic to bananas.
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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I only hope it's my fault you've purchased games that you really like! I was actually out of the hobby for a few years starting in the late 90s until about two years ago. In coming back into the hobby I first tried to simply buy back all the Avalon Hill games I had sold in my big purge about 5 years ago. When we moved to Kansas City we were living temporarily in an apartment so I sold many of my old Avalon Hill games because we simply didn't have the room. So when I got back into the hobby I didn't have that many games anymore and went about trying to recover the titles I sold. I had tunnel vision because I believed that the hobby was pretty much dead, nothing new was being produced so I paid only attention to Avalon Hill games.
After a while however I started discovering that while I was out of the hobby a new generation of game companies had risen up. Of those GMT matched the type of games I enjoyed the most when I was playing in the 80s and early 90s. I love their games and I own over 10 GMT at the moment and have another 5 on order I think. I also enjoy Fantasy Flight, Rio Grande and Clash of Arms. I think we're seeing a rebirth of the gaming hobby or perhaps even a golden age at the moment.
lmyrick wrote: Congratulations, Brian! I've enjoyed your geeklists and forum posts for some time now and I just want to say that it's your fault I've purchased as many GMT games as I have and it's your fault my P500 list is as long as it is now. Okay, maybe it's not all your fault, but you certainly contributed. In fact, when I stopped lurking on BGG and actually registered, you were the first geekbuddy I added to my list. Best to you, and keep the informative geeklists and forum posts coming.
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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DWTripp wrote: Finally! Another fan of war games as GotW. About time.
You and I like a lot of the same games and one on your list sticks out: Fortress America. So, with that in mind:
* Are you aware of any effective strategy to keep America from winning if the invaders are played by seperate people?
Human wave! I played the red eastern invader once and employed a human wave strategy. I brought in nothing but infantry and bombers in the early rounds. Bombers get to choose their casualties while ground units must destroy fellow ground units before it can destroy air units. Thus when I attacked the Americans were losing tanks and APCs while the Russians were simply using infantry. By time I was forced to start bringing tanks up the Americans had lost most of their mech units and crumbled when my tanks joined the party. I've won with this strategy several times. There is a way to counter it....however I'm keeping that a secret. 
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* In one calender year I won over 50 straight games playing America. Do you think it's because a) the game is broken b) I had inferior gaming buddies or c) I'm brilliant?
You're brillaint I think. The game is definately harder for the Americans but they can still win. With my old gaming group we all took turns as American and won about 40% of the time. It's a classic game and one of the few games I kept from my purge because I loved it so much I couldn't sell it for any price.
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Anyone who has the time to create 60 Geek Lists in under a year is probably either a deviant personality, a loser who lives off his wife's income, a geek with an inheritance or really types fast.
How did you do so many Geek Lists? And why?
I have my own home office and sometimes I'm up to my ears in orders and other times I've got nothing to do.
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Laura Meyer
United Kingdom
Crawley
West Sussex
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Congratulations Brian!
I have two questions for you:
How is Shasta doing? Are you still thinking of getting a friend for her?
Will you ever do Return to Rock Island Asylum? That game rocked! I will never forget the pre game talk about the peanut butter phobia....and I would love to slaughter the French again!
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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gamesgrandpa wrote:
I noticed your favorite movie list includes The Princess Bride, which seems a little out of place among the others you listed (I also enjoy it and enjoyed the book). What is it about that movie that makes it one of your favorites?
Not sure but I love both the film and the book. I think the sword fight is the best ever filmed and I just love Wallace Shawn's circular logic in his battle of wits to the death.
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Mark Mokszycki
United States
Snohomish
Washington
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Congrats, Brian. I just wanted to say that I've always enjoyed reading your lists. I've also discovered quite a few new wargames through you. So thanks. Game on!
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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lauramath wrote: Congratulations Brian!
I have two questions for you:
How is Shasta doing? Are you still thinking of getting a friend for her?
Shasta is doing just fine. For those who don't know I am a lifelong cat lover and never in my life wanted a dog...ever....ever. Problem is my wife grew up with a dog and has always wanted a dog since we got married. I finally promised her when we got a house we could get one. Two years ago we bought a house and after months of me trying to talk my wife into getting an aquarium instead we got a dog.
We named her Shasta after the mountain near my childhood home in California. Shasta is a Shetland Sheepdog aka Sheltie. We got her from a rescue group in Tulsa Oklahoma. Yes we drove all the way from KC to Tulsa to get a dog but my wife saw her on the internet and simply fell in love with her from a picture. She was only 8-10 months old when she was abandoned at a Petco in Tulsa Oklahoma by someone who said simply "We don't want the dumb thing anymore". She was near starvation weighing only 9 pounds. Her hair was so badly matted that she had to have big chuncks shaved behind her ears, legs and stomach. Worse still to keep her quiet it seems the neglectful previous owner besdies not feeding her wrapped rubber bands around her nose. The result is she has a permanent mark around her nose from the rubber bands as they dug into her skin.
To make a long story short, this little dog that I fought so hard not to get is now my best friend in the world. I went from never wanting a dog to talking to my wife about getting a second one. She's now a healthy 20 pounds and the cats even think she's fun to play hide and seek with (They honestly play hide and seek with her).
As for being "dumb" as the previous neglectful owner said as he abandoned her, I taught her to sit in 2 minutes (Me who never had a dog before) the day after we got her. She can now do about a dozen tricks including the usual play dead, roll over, jump through my arms, and shake hands. We actually did an 12 week training class, as much to teach me how to train a dog as to teach her. She was so good in the class at learning behaviors that I'd only have to show her it twice and she knew it and then we'd spend the next 15 minutes watching the other dogs trying to learn them. Dumb? On the contrary, she's exceptionally bright.
The two pictures that made my wife drag me down to Oklahoma just to get a dog. Could you say no to that face?
Quote: Will you ever do Return to Rock Island Asylum? That game rocked! I will never forget the pre game talk about the peanut butter phobia....and I would love to slaughter the French again!
You were brilliant as the francophobic in that game Laura. I really do want to do a sequel and likely will as soon as I can come up with a way to do it without simply repeating the same game again.
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Brian,
You've spoken a bit about card-driven and chit wargamges, but I don't think I've ever heard you mention block games. What are your thoughts about blocks for wargaming?
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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I've never played a block game. I know a few folks who are really into Hammer of the Scots but for myself, I've yet to play any of them. Columbia I think has one out on Gettysburg that I might like to try.
sbszine wrote: Brian,
You've spoken a bit about card-driven and chit wargamges, but I don't think I've ever heard you mention block games. What are your thoughts about blocks for wargaming?
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Laura Meyer
United Kingdom
Crawley
West Sussex
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Brian,
Shasta Rocks! Sheltie through and through...and geez, you can LOOK at her eyes and she she is smart as a whip! I can't imagine what the IQ was of the previous owners but you guys got a real gem in her.
Thanks for sharing the pics!
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John Farrell
Australia
Aspley
Queensland
Averagely Inadequate
Buster Keaton from 'Go West'
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Have you tried teaching your dog to catch a frisbee? You might need to get a small one for her.
Also, why the Mr Bean? Please explain your feelings for Rowan Atkinson.
When we first met, you were a geekgoldless beggar, and now you're an UberGeek. How do you earn your geekgold these days?
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Ken Feldman
United States
Seattle
Washington
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Brian,
It's nice to see a fellow wargamer as GotW. I've enjoyed your geeklists and some of the discussions we've had about the items on them.
I know you're a big fan of the old Avalon Hill. Did you also play SPI or GDW games in the past? Which ones were your favorites?
My guess on the lie is the banana allergy.
Ken
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John Burt
Canada
Saskatoon
Saskatchewan
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Brian, it is good to see a strong advocate for wargames as GotW, so congratulations. I read your Geeklists with interest whenever they arrive.
Skimming throught your profile, I saw that you have about 5 GMT games rated 10. Now, what I would like to know is; which two of those GMT 10 games are your favourites and why?
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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Friendless wrote: Have you tried teaching your dog to catch a frisbee? You might need to get a small one for her.
I've tried but she runs along with the frisbee and then jumps on top of it when it lands. We even bought her a softer smaller one but she's more interested in attacking it after it lands.
Quote: Also, why the Mr Bean? Please explain your feelings for Rowan Atkinson.
When we first met, you were a geekgoldless beggar, and now you're an UberGeek. How do you earn your geekgold these days?
The Mr Bean goes back to the night my wife and I signed up for our first internet account. We had just finished watching Mr Bean on TV and chose the moniker as sort of a temporary thing and yet here we are 10 years later still using it.
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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Kenfeldman wrote: Brian,
It's nice to see a fellow wargamer as GotW. I've enjoyed your geeklists and some of the discussions we've had about the items on them.
I know you're a big fan of the old Avalon Hill. Did you also play SPI or GDW games in the past? Which ones were your favorites?
I haven't played to much in the way of GDW or SPI. I started playing boardgames in the late 70s and at that point Avalon Hill was pretty much in control of the market. I did play Invasion America a number of times with a high school buddy of mine and enjoyed it a lot.
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My guess on the lie is the banana allergy.
Ken
Nope, I am indeed allergic to bananas.
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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I've very quickly gotten hooked on Twilight Struggle. I rated it a 9 after reading the rules but now I think it's a solid 10. Best Cold War game that I know of. Growing un in the 70s and living in a quasi military family the Cold War was very much a part of my life. Seeing it in a game like this with historical events that I lived through makes the game even more fun for me.
The other is the Civil War game For The People. A much improved version of the old Victory Games Civil War. Uses a very similar system for the generals but completely replaced the sticky movement system of the VG games with the card based one now so widely used in card driven systems. It's a great game and with the historical events weaved into the game via the cards it's also a fine simulation.
Xlyce wrote: Brian, it is good to see a strong advocate for wargames as GotW, so congratulations. I read your Geeklists with interest whenever they arrive.
Skimming throught your profile, I saw that you have about 5 GMT games rated 10. Now, what I would like to know is; which two of those GMT 10 games are your favourites and why?
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John Farrell
Australia
Aspley
Queensland
Averagely Inadequate
Buster Keaton from 'Go West'
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mrbeankc wrote: Friendless wrote: Have you tried teaching your dog to catch a frisbee? You might need to get a small one for her. I've tried but she runs along with the frisbee and then jumps on top of it when it lands. We even bought her a softer smaller one but she's more interested in attacking it after it lands.
My dog didn't really get it until she saw some other dogs doing it. Once she realised what you were supposed to do, she did it easily.
In my household, my wife stresses about our son (will he be alright, has he eaten, is he clean) and I stress about the dog in the same way. My defence is that the kid can at least tell us what's wrong, the dog just looks at you with big brown eyes instead of saying "Dad, I think you pulled my tooth loose in that game".
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Mr. B @ Rockin' B
United States
Batavia
Ohio
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Congratulations. Couple in common items: I once had a dog named Shasta, and I have a sister living in Overland Park.
LIVE FREE! PLAY WELL!
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Christian Sinclair
United States
Shawnee
Kansas
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Brian,
(Local question here....sorry for those out of the KC area)
Do you ever go to the Shawnee Mission dog park off 87th st in Lenexa? My dog, Spot, (a Bassador - see Avatar)and I go there about once every two weeks. Maybe we might run into each other in person some day.
Here's my non-local question (sort-of...):
Are you much into World War One history? And if so have you visted the National WWI Museum here in Kansas City?
Despite not being to into historical wargames, I too have enjoyed your lists. Our gaming group is in Shawnee and plays more Euro-games, but also on Thursday nights. Maybe we should do a joint game group sometime.
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Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
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I took Shasta for a walk tonight and ran into another Sheltie owner new to the neighborhood walking her dog. Turns out her parents have a Sheltie named....Shasta. And here I thought I was being so original in naming her that.
cln777 wrote: Congratulations. Couple in common items: I once had a dog named Shasta, and I have a sister living in Overland Park.
LIVE FREE! PLAY WELL!
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Posted Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:08 pm
