Merry Christmas from the End of the World! From the land of a thousand delays, we wish you a little cheer and romance and excitement. 

Part 7: A virus on the rise and a podcast under perpetual scheduling maintenance. Just a short communique for the season and a list of also-rans. We shall resume regularly scheduled content shortly.

In this episode we get our 4x gaming on. Session reports on games set on land and in space.

Also, if a game falls in the forest and there's no one there to play it, is it a game? Our first and last segment in the ongoing series we call Non-existent Games.

INDULGENCES

00:04:41 -- Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy (session)
00:26:46 -- Rococo
00:29:07 -- Joe's Off the Fence on Feudum
00:34:51 -- Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition (session, in-depth)
01:19:24 -- Non-Existent Games: Call to Post (session, in-depth)
02:09:53 -- The Final Word?

It's October. The rains have returned. The World is still in flux. And we played some games. Discussions contained herein.

FRONTS:

00:13:35 -- State of the Podcast (and life)
00:48:15 -- Blitzkrieg! (session, short take)
01:02:43 -- Rift Force (session, short take)
01:18:34 -- Anno 1800 (session, in-depth)
02:17:34 -- Music (bang for your buck)

If you want some takes on what's new in the board gaming hobby, this is not the episode you're looking for.

However, if you want to hear some tales of adventure in the gloaming of the pandemic, and a discussion about the state of the hobby as we see it (Told through Arkwright eyes), then come on in.

YARNS:

00:11:50 -- A Brave New Musical Journey (Live at the Pat Metheny Show)
00:37:22 -- 40 Minutes of Joy: The Horses and the Hounds, by James McMurtry
00:45:25 -- The Last Great TV Show: Mr. In-Between
00:52:07 -- School's In? And Rocking?
01:12:37 -- Arkwright Revisited and a Hobby Gone Wrong
01:47:40 -- Peak Gaming with a Controller
02:19:36 -- A Door Cracked and Unlocked?

The rock came rolling back down and crushed us for a good part of the Summer. We got some levers and some rails and we've managed to push it back up the hill far enough to breathe a little. So, here we be, talking about life and games again. 

LIBATIONS:

00:00:23 -- Last Call
00:34:14 -- Coffee Traders (quick take)
00:45:37 -- Great Conversations and Good Buzzes
01:03:34 -- Oath (in-depth session)
01:35:19 -- The King's Dilemma (in-depth session)

We call this one "The Epic." Press play and enjoy the ride.

HEROIC TALES:

00:04:22 -- Cloudspire (in depth session)
01:03:27 -- BenRiach 21yo Single Malt
01:07:11 -- SpaceCorp: Ventures (sessions)
01:31:10 -- Tawantinsuyu: The Incan Empire (preview)
01:34:52 -- Revisiting, and purchasing, Le Havre
01:40:19 -- When Things Went Well: Lorenzo Il Magnifico
01:49:06 -- 2021 in Music so far.

Maladies, Mortgages and other assorted obstacles successfully conquered, we finally present to you episode 199 of the 'cast. Chock-full of stories about games and games about travel and travelling stories.

It's all in there.

And the book club returns.

Enjoy.

TALES OF WOE:

00:21:02 -- Apex Legends
00:34:06 -- Another Trip, Another Story, or Three
00:59:56 -- Da Games
01:01:25 -- Are You Dexterous? (Cubiko, Carreau, Bamboleo, Hamsterrolle)
01:20:55 -- Knife Tank: Why???
01:28:15 -- Praga Capvt Regni (revisited)
01:41:16 -- Two-Player Showdown (BH: 2045, Wir Sind Das Volk, Space Corp)
01:53:30 -- Die Handler, a Year Later
01:56:34 -- Kaivai
02:03:36 -- Wizard
02:08:00 --The Dwellings of Everdale
02:23:08 -- The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene

Chirping birds. Barking Dogs. Screaming Children.

Yes, we're back outside to record this episode. The pops and clicks of the previous effort replaced by the flora and fauna of mid-Spring. We weave in and out of various topics, creating some loose connections and trying to show that nothing occurs in a vacuum. 

MELODIES:

00:10:20 -- Libation Time
00:13:40 -- Technical Issues and Memory Loss, and Some Stuff In-between
00:33:25 -- Kicking and Screaming: Getting People to Play Games, Food Chain Magnate Edition
00:46:58 -- A Few Words on Board Game Aesthetics
00:49:53 -- The Journey of 1822
00:57:10 -- Stickering Games
00:59:12 -- Detour: Music on Our Minds
01:27:30 -- Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles
01:35:30 -- Brotherhood & Untiy
01:47:09 -- Better than Board Games: Trials of Fire, Monster Train, Nowhere Prophet
02:19:13 -- 18XX Online and Other Infractions.

Sometimes you just can't get things right. You find a ghost in the signal chain and try to fix it only to find you've made things worse. Apologies in advance for all the pops and clicks.

Among the noisy abberations you will find a fair amount of game discussion and enough salt and vinegar to properly dress your chips.

POPS & CLICKS:

00:09:49 -- Drinkin' and Vaxxin'
00:20:06 -- The Long and Winding Railroad
00:35:05 -- Kickstarting, Streaming, and Video Gaming
00:52:13 -- Freedom: The Underground Railroad
01:00:07 -- Last Will
01:04:03 -- The Sands of Time (Joe's visit)
01:22:15 -- Apocalypse Road
01:42:55 -- The Red Cathedral
01:57:36 -- Nidavellir
02:27:53 -- Of Golden Eagles and T-Shirts

This is us, as you might find us should you wander into a watering hole where we might be holding court at the bar.

This could very well be a prime example of the conversation you might stumble upon.

The nature of this conversation spirals around, over and through the games and topics, so timestamps have been kept to a minimum.

ROUNDS:

00:00:25 -- Baseball, Disease Maintenance and a Word About Home Improvement
00:31:29 -- Rampant Game Talk and Misdemeanors 
01:35:29 -- Random Game Talk (Q&A)
02:25:09 -- That Old Country Music, by Kevin Barry

Winter is gone. The Sky is clearing. Birds are singing. Bees are buzzing. Temperatures are warming. Discussions are getting heated.

Welcome to the latest installment of As the Cardboard Turns.

JABS:

00:29:36 -- Lots: A Game of Weights and Measures (friendly game announcement)
00:33:45 -- Little Bits: Dominant Species Marine (initial take)
00:42:58 -- Merv (Joe's take)
00:50:40 -- Blackout: Hong Kong (Joe again)
00:58:15 -- The Magnificent (forgotten short take)
01:11:30 -- Maharaja: The Game of Palace Building in India (no take)
01:16:38 -- It's a Wonderful World : Corruption and Ascension (in-depth)
01:20:38 -- Stellar Horizons (in-depth session)
01:59:15 -- Rusty Brown, by Chris Ware
02:08:22 -- Pagan Virtues, by Stephen Dunn

Another show emerges from the stasis. We cover several games, new and old. We discuss some vital music and a page-turner of a book. We carry on as that's really all there is to do.

CARNAGE:

00:14:28 -- Newton (finally)
00:34:33 -- Lorenzo Il Magnifico (revisited)
00:52:59 -- Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road (in-depth)
01:42:28 -- Tunes (Nick Cave, The The)
02:03:35 -- Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby

Hey kids, it's No-fun February, 2021 edition. And this February has been the most No-fun in years.

We've got your ice storms and power outages and never-ending pandemics and Criminal Orange-men still on the loose. All that and so much more.

However, rebels that we are, we try and make something out of this mess and talk some games, both video and board. We discuss some music and get back on track with the books. And yeah, yeah, we also gripe about and question everything else under the pandemic soaked sun. We are who we are after all.

Welcome to the fun-house! Enjoy all the mirrors.

ATTRACTIONS:

00:31:15 -- A Destiny 2 Session to Die for (over and over and over again)
00:52:23 -- Antike II
01:00:20 -- Race for the Chinese Zodiac
01:22:05 -- Slay the Spire
01:26:37 -- Some Renewed Energy, Baseball Draft Style
01:40:33 -- Not Too Long for Whatever it is
01:53:59 -- Tunes: Shame, The Besnard Lakes and Transatlantic Revisited
02:17:12 -- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk

Three games and four albums discussed.

This should be easier.

SELECTIONS:

00:14:05 -- The Online Boardgaming Space and Acquiescence
00:19:01 -- Res Arcana (revisited -- Joe's thoughts)
00:39:34 -- Praga Capvt Regni (in-depth)
01:23:28 -- Carnegie (first take, session)
02:20:02 -- Tunes: Goat Girl, Arlo Parks, Transatlantic, The Notwist

As 2021 seems an awful lot like 2020 we are still finding the time and energy to get some games to tables, both virtual and physical. And these games are surprising, entertaining and frustrating us in the ways they always do. Here are some stories about those games.

Some things change (someday) and the rest stays the same.

CHAPTERS:

00:29:07 -- Wir Sind das Volk: 2+2 (in-depth session)
01:01:41 -- Res Arcana and Res Arcana: Lux et Tenebrae (in-depth)
01:31:32 -- Dos Rios (in-depth)
01:47:10 -- Those Golden Moments
01:49:39 -- Tunes: Old School and New
02:10:16 -- Still-life Talking
02:37:24 -- Book Selections for January and February

This is a pretty rough and raw episode. We're fighting off the depths of despair, the height of a Pandemic, and an attack on our way of life from the people who are sworn to protect it. Can a two-mile high frog be the hero we need to get us through this episode. Tune in and find out.

DESPERATE MEASURES:

00:03:02 -- Polis, Fight for the Hegemony, 2nd edition
00:10:26 -- Siena
00:25:05 -- Angola (session report)
01:00:15 -- Cosmic Frog (in-depth)
02:07:25 -- Resolutions
02:09:05 -- Call to Post is a Dead Parrot
02:27:48 -- No More Windmills