domingo, 23 de fevereiro de 2020

The Game Awards 2018 | All The Winners



The Game Awards, the annual streaming award show honoring all things gaming, presented more than 20 awards in Los Angeles last night. 

Some of the top nominated games included AAA hits like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 as well as Indie games like Celeste and Return of the Obra Dinn.

Here's the full list of finalists and winners from The Game Awards 2018. 



Game Of The Year:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • God of War - Winner
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Celeste

Previous Year Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild



Best Action/Adventure Game:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
  • God of War - Winner
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Previous Year Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild



Best Action Game:

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken
  • Far Cry 5
  • Dead Cells - Winner
  • Mega Man 11

Previous Year Winner: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus



Best Game Direction:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • God of War - Winner
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • A Way Out

Previous Year Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild



Best Role Playing Game:

  • Ni no Kuni II
  • Monster Hunter: World - Winner
  • Dragon Quest XI
  • Octopath Traveler
  • Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Previous Year Winner: Persona 5 



Best Ongoing Game:

  • Destiny 2: Forsaken
  • No Man's Sky
  • Overwatch
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
  • Fortnite - Winner

Previous Year Winner: Overwatch



Best Art Direction:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • God of War
  • Octopath Traveler
  • Return of the Obra Dinn - Winner

Previous Year Winner: Cuphead



Best Narrative:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2 - Winner
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • Life is Strange 2: Episode 1
  • God of War
  • Detroit: Become Human

Previous Year Winner: What Remains of Edith Finch



Best Score/Music:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2 - Winner
  • Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • God of War
  • Celeste
  • Octopath Traveler

Previous Year Winner: Nier: Automata



Best Independent Game:

  • Dead Cells
  • Celeste - Winner
  • The Messenger
  • Return of the Obra Dinn
  • Intro the Breach

Previous Year Winner: Cuphead



Best Audio Design:

  • Red Dead Redemption 2 - Winner
  • Marvel's Spider-Man
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  • Forza Horizon 4
  • God of War

Previous Year Winner: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice



Best Performance:

  • Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2 - Winner
  • Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War
  • Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel's Spider-Man
  • Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human

Previous Year Winner: Melina Juergens as Senua



Best Fighting Game:

  • Street Fighter V Arcade
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ - Winner
  • Soul Caliber VI
  • BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

Previous Year Winner: Injustice 2




Best VR/AR Game:

  • Firewall Zero Hour
  • Tetris Effect
  • Moss
  • Beat Saber
  • ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission - Winner

Previous Year Winner: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard



Games for Impact:

  • Life is Strange 2
  • 11-11 Memories Retold
  • Celeste - Winner
  • Florence
  • The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories

Previous Year Winner: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice



Best Mobile Game:

  • PUBG MOBILE
  • Reigns: Game of Thrones
  • Fortnite
  • Donut County
  • Florence - Winner

Previous Year Winner: Monument Valley 2



Best Family Game:

  • Super Mario Party
  • Overcooked 2 - Winner
  • Nintendo Labo
  • Mario Tennis Aces
  • Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Previous Year Winner: Super Mario Odyssey



Best Sports/Racing Game:

  • FIFA 19
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2019
  • NBA 2K19
  • Forza Horizon 4 - Winner
  • Mario Tennis Aces

Previous Year Winner: Forza Motorsport 7



Best Multiplayer Game:

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  • Fortnite - Winner
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Sea of Thieves

Previous Year Winner: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds



Best Debut Indie Game:

  • Donut County
  • Florence
  • Moss
  • The Messenger - Winner
  • Yoku's Island Express

Previous Year Winner: Cuphead



Best Student Game:

  • RE: Charge
  • Combat 2018 - Winner
  • Dash Quasar
  • JERA
  • LIFF

Previous Year Winner: Level Squared



Best eSports Game:

  • DOTA2
  • Fortnite
  • CSGO
  • League of Legends
  • Overwatch - Winner

Previous Year Winner: Overwatch



Best eSports Player:

  • Dominique "SonicFox" McLean - Winner
  • Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi
  • Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao
  • Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • Sung-hygeon "JJoNak" Bang

Previous Year Winner: Lee Sang-hyeok "Faker"



Best eSports Team:

  • London Spitfire
  • Cloud9 - Winner
  • Astralis
  • Fnatic
  • OG

Previous Year Winner: Cloud 9


Best eSports Coach:

  • Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu - Winner
  • Christian "ppasarel" Banaseanu
  • Danny "zonic" Sorensen
  • Dylan Falco
  • Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi
  • Janko "YNk" Paunovic


Best eSports Event:

  • ELAGUE Major: Boston 2018
  • EVO 2018
  • League of Legends World Championship - Winner
  • Overwatch League Grand Finals
  • The International 2018


Best eSports Host:

  • Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez
  • Alex "Machine" Richardson
  • Anders Blume
  • Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere - Winner
  • Paul "RedEye" Chaloner


Content Creator of the Year:

  • Dr. Lupo
  • Myth
  • Ninja - Winner
  • Pokimane
  • Willyrex



Best eSports Moment:

  • SonicFox side switch against Go1 in DBZ
  • KT vs IG Base Race
  • C9 comeback win in triple OT vs FAZE - Winner
  • G2 beating RNG
  • OG's massive upset of LGD




quinta-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2020

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Part II Summary

We covered the Private Victories (Habits 1 through 3) in the last post, so we'll carry on to Habits 4 through 7. I found Habit 5 the most powerful of these, but the most challenging habit to master, so we'll spend the most time on Habit 5.

HABIT 4: THINK WIN/WIN

In general, the best approach is Win/Win as it seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. It sees life as cooperative, not competitive. Whole books are dedicated on how to achieve Win/Win in actionable steps, demonstrating the powerful impact of this book.

However, Covey takes a more fundamental approach, so you can apply it to all areas instead of a formulaic, simplistic way. He notes that character is the foundation of Win/Win, and we need three character traits to achieve this.

Trait One: Integrity. You need Habits 1 to 3 to develop and maintain integrity. When we identify our values and what we want, we can go for the Win. You can't go for the Win if you don't know what your goals and principles are, because what are you fighting for in the first place?

Trait Two: Maturity. This is the balance between courage and consideration. You need to be very courageous because you must show your vulnerability as you discuss your needs and wants openly and honestly. This must be balanced with consideration of the other person's needs and wants. Maturity validates BOTH you and the other person as important. This also boils down in self-compassion principles where you honor yourself as much as others.

Trait Three: Abundance Mentality. Covey was the one who coined the term Abundance Mentality, as well as Scarcity Mentality.  The concept of Abundance has also led to tons of books written on the subject.

When you have Abundance Mentality, you recognize that there's enough in the world for both parties to succeed. Your success does not have to take away from another's success.

With an Abundance Mentality, you realize that there is plenty out there to go around so you can share prestige, recognition, profits, decision-making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives and creativity leading to Synergy (Habit 6).

Again, self-compassion allows you to have Abundance where you rejoice in your successes, and you equally rejoice in others' successes, even if they have more success than you. This feels infinitely better than having that pinched feeling of jealousy and envy toward your friends.

With Abundance, you come from a position of open-mindedness and whole-heartedness - you can achieve more together in a connected, holistic manner. Two heads are better than one.

Whereas, Scarcity Mentality is where you feel that you have to destroy the other person to succeed, otherwise that person will take your spot. You refuse to help others who are struggling in your field, for fear they will take over your resources and eclipse you. You may profit from Scarcity Mentality, and indeed, malignant Narcissists can be highly successful with this approach (even at the level of CEO), but this position is soul-crushing.

By attacking the other person and refusing to share, you become disconnected from others. Disconnect leads to despair, depression, anxiety and even suicide. Realize that connection is an even more basic need than food and water per the Harry Harlow experiments (baby monkeys prefer cloth mothers with no food to wire mothers with food).

Win/Win example:

I saw a father who was too strict with his daughter, Jane (for anonymous purposes) because his wife was killed when Jane was only 3 years old. Therefore, he doesn't want any harm to go her way like his wife. Jane is obviously suffocated as she wants to go out with her friends on weekends, but she can only socialize with her friends in school.

It was obvious that they both love each other, even though they fight constantly about this issue.

We problem-solved and sought a Win/Win. I mentioned to Jane if she's okay with her father taking her friends to the mall (many teenagers would rather drop dead), and she was absolutely delighted, much to my surprise.

I discussed with the father, and his face also lit up. He said he would be very happy to drive Jane and her friends to the mall, movies. This was an obvious solution, but the father was so trapped in his fear that he couldn't think of alternatives, and clung to a Win/Lose situation (he wins by over-protection, and daughter loses).

Breakdown: The father is happy because he can "insure" his daughter's safety, and Jane is thrilled to go out with her friends.

Application Suggestions: 
  • Think about an upcoming interaction where you have to reach an agreement. Commit to a balance between courage and consideration. 
  • Make a list of obstacles that keep you from applying the Win/Win paradigm more frequently. Determine what can you change about yourself to eliminate the obstacles.
  • With your most important relationship, think of a perpetual disagreement you have. Try to put yourself in your loved one's shoes, and figure out what that person sees as the solution. Write down what you see as a solution. Approach and work this out to a point of mutual beneficial agreement.
HABIT 5: SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD

We will spend more time on this habit since Empathic listening is so difficult to do. Carl Rogers expounded on Empathic listening, and Covey did a superb job conveying the elements.

Empathic listening is exceedingly difficult, and I've committed all the non-empathic listening "sins" frequently, so do not judge yourself if you do all the "wrong things".

Covey starts out with seeing an Optometrist due to vision complaint. The Optometrist listens to your complaint, then takes off her glasses and hands them to you.

"Put these on," she says. "I've worn this pair of glasses for 10 years now, and they've really helped me. I have an extra pair at home, so you can wear these".

You put on the glasses, and it makes your vision even worse! When you tell her it's gotten worse, she retorts, "You're so ungrateful, after all I did to help you".

You would never see this doctor again, as she clearly doesn't understand your problem, barely listening to you, and then giving you advice that doesn't fit who you are or your situation!

We all do this, often well-intentioned, because we want to help our friends, and we think giving advice, telling them what worked for us when we encountered this situation, but has no bearing on what his specific problem is, as everyone and every situation is different.

We also tend to listen to reply, because we think this will make us look clever and witty, when in reality, no one cares! When your friend is hurting, being there, listening empathically is the approach, not trying to one-up her.

Empathic listening is the opposite. You remove yourself from the equation, and understand what the person is not only saying from his viewpoint, but also understanding the emotional nuance of what he's going through, without judging (you're neither agreeing or disagreeing), giving advice, or putting your 2 cents in.

You are focused on him and doing your best to see what he's going through. You are diagnosing the problem, and once you have all the facts and they feel understood, they'll be more receptive to problem-solving. Your advice will also fit the issue at hand, as opposed to being the wrong prescription.

Step one: Remove yourself from the equation. Do not inject your autobiography when listening. These things are:

Evaluate: To agree or disagree. Does it make sense if the optometrist says, no I don't agree that this lens is worse than this? You're wrong (even though this is YOUR eyesight). WTF, how can she say she's right, she doesn't have your exact eyesight.

Probing: asking questions from our own frame of reference, for your own benefit, not for theirs. "Have you really tried your best?" Advise: You give counsel from your own experience, but you are you, not the person you're talking to! "I've been through the same thing myself, so this is what you need to do", but maybe not for someone else!

Interpreting: Figuring people out to explain why they're doing something, based on our own motives, feelings and behaviors. Everyone's unique, you can't make assumptions like this. "What you're trying to do here is this" when in fact, that's not the case.

Advising: Telling them what to do from your own point of view, not taking into account their unique concerns and issues. "What has always worked for me in these circumstances is..." Yes, that worked for you, but not for me!

Instead, Empathic listening requires this step-by-step approach:

Level 1: Mimic content. You just spit out what the person says. At least you're paying attention, but it's very limited and stilted:


          "I hate school, Mom!"
          "You hate school"

Level 2: Rephrase the content. This is a bit better as you don't sound like a parrot:

          "I hate school, Mom!"
          "You don't want to go to school anymore"

Level 3: Now that you know the content, you reflect the feeling only. Here you accurately sense his frustration, but you focused more on the feeling, not so much the content:

          "I hate school, Mom!"
          "You're feeling really frustrated!"

Level 4: This is the highest stage of Empathic listening. You use all three levels simultaneously. You digest the content, rephrase it to show you understand, and reflect the feeling:

          "I hate school, Mom!"
          "You're feeling really frustrated about school!"

In level 4, you got the feeling and content down all at once. As you listen authentically to understand, by rephrasing content and reflecting feeling, the person feels that you're on the same wave-length and creating a safe, nonjudgmental space.

They will feel more open to discussing how they truly feel. To get a sense of why empathic listening works, please refer to the 25th anniversary edition, pages 259 to 260 (what not to do), and pages 260 to 261 (empathic listening).

Once the person feels understood, you can then problem-solve with all the facts and feelings in a much more effective way.

If the above skill-set sounds hard, that's because it is. When I was in college and volunteering for crisis center, we underwent a very vigorous program on empathic, nonjudgmental listening.

Sadly, there are no classes that I've seen outside of volunteering, but you can always improve. Work on level 1 and get that down to perfection (i.e. you're actually paying attention with no electronic devices and other distractions). When you're able to 100% focus on the content, then work on level 2, and so on.

We can't be perfect listeners, but as long as people see you making the effort, doing your best not to interrupt, allowing them to talk freely without judgment, reflecting on their feelings, that can go a long way in your relationships.

HABIT 6: SYNERGIZE

Once you have a good grasp of habits 1 through 5, you can now synergize, which occurs between two or more persons. Example is two separate plants, by themselves, they can only grow so much, but when they're planted together, they grow even more since two plants close by can enrich the soil more.

Whole books are written on synergy, as results can multiply in a "whole is more than the sum of its parts" kind of way.

Here's a typical example of synergy. One person is very creative and brilliant but so disorganized that nothing gets done. He meets potential girlfriend in class who's extremely organized and can streamline things.

She was struck by the genius fragments of sentences and poems he wrote, and then collates them in perfection, taking a couple of days. He is struck by what she put together because that's exactly what he meant, he just couldn't organize it.

They publish the book and becomes a national bestseller. This is a parody of the typical Covey example when you do something using the habit, and you end up being a billionaire, Kappa (gamer emoticon for sarcasm).

In other words, you respect other people's differences and talents (i.e. one is very creative, the other is strategic, the other is good at actualizing) and come up with something greater than you could've accomplished on your own.

In this step, it's crucial to recognize how there are different ways of looking at things, there's no one right way, so each will be open to using these different perspectives and skills, to synergize.

For instance, in this famous picture, some will see an old woman, others a

young woman, but both perspectives are right. However, when you put both perspectives together, we get a fuller truth, that this picture is BOTH an old and young woman.

HABIT 7: SHARPEN THE SAW

You've arrived and "mastered" all 6 habits, but don't rest on your laurels. In this habit, you must preserve and enhance the greatest asset, you! Build on what you have to improve.

Physical: exercise, sleep, nutrition, stress management

Social/emotional: Service, empathy, synergy, intrinsic security

Spiritual: value clarification & commitment, study and meditation

Mental: reading, visualizing, planning and writing

These habits are difficult to follow, so you need good sleep and nutrition to even have the energy to carry them out!

It's also good to review if you're following your values, by taking a breather and re-evaluate - it's so easy to get stuck in the details, that you forget the big picture.

Conclusion: It's no wonder that Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People continues to this day. I appreciate how you must hone in on exactly what you want in life because it's important to have a map, otherwise you'll get lost. By cutting out the crap and meaningless things (i.e. keeping up with the Joneses), you can cut to the chase and be more effective in actualizing your goals, and having deep, meaningful relationships.

The How of Happiness Review

Stars, Ships And Bases!

What's going on everyone!?


Today for the #2019gameaday challenge my lovely wife and I played a game of Star Realms before bed.


It was a nice change up to all the digital versions I've been playing. There's nothing like actually interacting with the person across from you.


Unfortunately for me, Sam kicked my butt as usual, lol. But it's still fun and always will be. It seems every time I get that PERFECT hand that would give me the win she kills me!


As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stop and smell the meeples! :)

-Tim

DE: Extending Threat With Obsidian Rose

Looks like meat is back on the menu boys!

One of the ways we're going to min-max my Black Heart Kabal list is to explore other Obsessions.  I've already got myself a rock solid list, the only thing I'm going to do now extending the threat range.  We just have to make sure we have enough units in a detachment to buy enough dedicated transports and the right mix of Obsessions.

What I'm going to do is turn the majority of my Blasters and Kabalite troops into Obsidian Rose.  This gives them 6" more range on all their weapons; which gives them 24" Blasters and 30"/15" Rapid-fire Splinter Rifles.  After, I'm going to stuff as many of them as I can into Black Heart Raiders so the 6+++ makes them harder to kill.  I can do this because all our transports have the Drukhari keyword and no Obsession specific ties.  This allows me to mix and match our Obsessions to get the most out of our units.

Quick note:
In case you're wondering, I think Flayed Skulls' extra 3" movement can be nice for more Wych-oriented lists using Raiders as the delivery mechanism.  Just keep in mind that not every Obsession works with others.  It just happens to be that Obsidian Rose and Black Heart's bonuses work simultaneously, without conflict and in perfect concert with one another.  It's a match made in hell.

Don't fret guys, this is very much with the fluff and it looks like it's intended.  We're supposed to be able to mix and match different Kabals, Cults and Covens to make a better army.  I think, if I'm to be completely honest, that people are just so used to Dark Eldar being a punching bags of the fucking game that all of a sudden, everything is question when we're suddenly powerful.  While I can see crap like the infinite CP loop and Agents of Vect not requiring Black Heart units as a problem, this is something I see as intended.  Just think of it as bribes and deals being struck before the battle.

Anyways, I didn't mean to rant.  This is what the updated list looks like:

1999 // 8 CP
Obsidian Rose Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster, PGL = 94

TROOP:
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114

+++

Black Heart Spearhead +1 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91
Warlord: Cunning, Living Muse

TROOP:
7x Warriors, Blaster = 59

PARTY BUS:
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
Raider, Dark Lance = 85

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Black Heart Air Wing +1 CP

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135

Stalk thy enemy.  Slay thy enemy.

Increasing overall threat range is exactly what we want as a shooty army.  It gives greater distance between our fragile units and our enemies, and allows us to easily threaten even the most heavily armored units in much greater volume.  Extra range allows us to set the tempo of the game and control our opponents through the use of kiting and forcing desperate situations.  With Strategems such as Fire and Fade, you'll be able to pull off some amazing circumstances that your opponents will surely loathe you for.

Let's take a closer look at our Firepower with respect to Range:

15 Disintegrators at BS3+ at 36"+ range
9 Dark Lances at BS3+ with 4 of these shooting from 42" range
9 Blasters at BS3+ with 8 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Blasters at BS2+ with 2 of these shooting from 24"+ range
3 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+ at 48"+ range
41 Splinter Rifles at BS3+ with 28 of these shooting from 30" range, 15" Rapid-fire

The pluses at the end of the range represent all the unaccounted movement.  As you can see here, extending the range of our weapons is primarily to benefit the multiple Blasters I have in each unit.  If you think about it:  Moving a Raider within 24" of something pretty much turns the thing into a Ravager with Dark Lances.  You get the extra S8 AP-4 D6 damage shots at full ballistic skill and if you have Archons nearby to give re-rolls, all the better.  The one thing I want you guys to take away from all this is that extra range is always good for a shooty army.  You want to be able to control the battlefield with your movement and through sheer firepower.  The extra threat range gives us the ability to control virtually any engagement as long as it's favorable for us.  This is control at its absolute finest.

I hereby decree this list as the Kabal of the Black Rose using the units that I've selected.

quarta-feira, 19 de fevereiro de 2020

HOTT 52 - It's All About The Lines And Remembering The Rules Correctly!

I took a quick moment to knock out another game of HOTT over Friday night/Saturday morning. It was a quick game, as I'm starting to remember how things flow and the combat factors/modifiers. I did have one unique situation come up that I'm going to ask the "experts" on.

I have a whole gaggle of elements for orcs, goblins and humans. From these many stands, I can generate quite a few armies, so I have tables that I roll against. The biggest determining factor is if the army is mostly militia, mostly regular/professional (trained) or a mix of the two. 1d6 tells me who fights who! I also found that the "random" generation of terrain once again was lumping it into one side of the board, but I went with it. I am working on flatter replacements for HOTT.

So... how did this battle go?



Once again, a Human army was defending their stronghold against a force of Orcs and Goblins. The human commander sent their knights dashing to the left around the woods, in hopes to threaten the Bestial's right flank and peel off some of the elements from their long line.



The Orc Warchief had a similar idea and sent his goblin wolf riders dashing past the humans and the rough terrain that was ill suited for the woods-friendly goblins. They had an excellent view of the human stronghold and the human commander themselves!

  

The Orc Warchief details two elements of blades to confront the flanking knights. They are evenly matched and the Warchief prays to Moloch that his "Bloody Fangs" will rend human flesh! Meanwhile, the orc line starts to shift and expand, to hopefully overlap the humans!



The Warchief's prayers to Moloch fall on deaf ears, or the foul God was unimpressed, as the orc Blades fall to the human knights! Meanwhile, the orc line marches towards the humans and falls under their missile fire. Several units recoil from the casualties and the advance is blunted a bit.



Desiring to retake the initiative, the Warchief orders his troops to close to attack! The human commander decides to detail a warband to confront the flanking wolf-riders.



The battle goes badly for the attacking bestials! Orcs fall to the spears and blades of the defending humans and the warband destroys an element of the goblin riders! The goblin warband manages to turn to flank the human line, but the brave archers from a nearby village manage to hold them off! Desperate to regain some initiative, the Orc Warchief closes to give battle to the Knights, only to see his personal bodyguard driven back!



The casualties mount for the Bestials and the Warchief reluctantly orders the withdrawal of his forces from the field of battle. The humans cheer in victory - their losses were light and they'd given the Orcs a Bloody Nose instead of facing Bloody Fangs!


The dice told the story of this battle as well. The Orcs/Goblins lost 12 AP and the humans only lost 2 - a resounding victory! I expected the long line of the orcs would come into play, but the knights flanking and some timely shooting that resulted in the orc line splintering really set the tone of the final outcome.

That is something I like about HOTT, getting to the meat of the meal quickly!

My only question was regarding this one situation.



The humans attacked the Orc Blades (outlined in red) in a front/close the door flank attack. The orcs scored VERY well and forced the frontal human spear to recoil.

Now, at this point, I had forgotten about a rule in HOTT which I **JUST** remembered and confirmed right now...



So both the frontal and flanker should have recoiled, but I didn't recoil the flanker!

Instead, I became concerned as to whether the blades should turn to confront the flankers, or proceed forward towards the frontal spears. I made a dice roll and they turned to face the flankers. Who ended up destroying them anyway. So I guess I just answered my own question of which was the right choice in my own blog post.. NEITHER were the right choice. Duh. (smacks my forehead).

This is one of the reasons I'm not throwing in a lot of extra elements like magic, gods and the like for now... I just need to get the basic rules down!

I did get my 15mm Saxons for my human warband elements, to fill those empty Wb stands; they are jumping to the front of the painting line. I do need to buy a 15mm human mage, priest, and make some orc/goblin/human hero elements. THEN move on to more land elf, sea elf, chaos humans, kobold, halfling elements...

It never ends, does it. The madness. The obsession... *happy sigh*

sexta-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2020

Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused Browser of 2020



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.

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