Right on cue we woke up to the Easter bunny in the sky! Unfortunately, with the strong winds, before I was able to get the camera it disappeared but looked something like this one.
When the Grand-kids came over it was time for lunch followed by hot cross buns, chocolate, more chocolate, and then Easter eggs just for a change. Then for the more intellectual pursuits. The children were indoctrinated into “Pass the Pigs”.
The big pigs are great fun as they bounce everywhere.
Guru Pig was like a pig in mud but this didn’t help his pigs bounce to the right scores. Granny pig ended up winning three of the five games with her more conservative approach. Maybe more successful but boooooooooring!
Slippery piggies can be handful
We then when on to play Snowman dice. A great game about building your own snowman, destroying your opponents dnowman by flicking die at them and being the first to reach the North Pole – what’s not to like.
Two snowmen completed with the race to the North Pole (in the centre of the table) in earnest.
A final push is successful.
Chocolate and excellent fun games with the rug rats, who can complain?
After my first game of Zona Alpha I have been a huge fan of Patrick Todoroff’s game systems.
Last Tuesday I had my first game of Mission Critical which is a lite version of Todoroff’s “Exploit Zero”. I have downloaded both from Wargames Vault.
According to Wargames Vault:
MISSION CRITICAL is a complete game for two players, designed to simulate short, sharp actions between elite, three-person teams in contested locations over critical objectives.
Mission Critical is about focus, brevity, and intensity of action in a world of cyberpunk espionage and mayhem.
Initially miniatures are not placed upon the board but markers are used for their location. Once discovered the markers are replaced with the figure.
Personally I prefer the use of acrylic figures as they look more the part. These are from BP laser
It uses the same terminology, dice mechanics, and basic procedures as the core Exploit Zero Cyberpunk Espionage and Mayhem rule set, but is modified to fit the smaller format, figure count, and scale of combat.
My Hacker/Combat Medic interfacing with an objective.
Mission Critical is played between two people in a 2 x 2 game area with a medium density of Cyberpunk or Near-Future terrain.
Jason’s corrugated cardboard “Shanty Village”
Games require six miniatures – three per side – and are played for six turns, with players gaining points for achieving mission objectives, eliminating enemies, and hacking local assets.
A single game can be played in 60 minutes. Less, if things get ugly fast!
I really enjoyed the game. Fast paced and minimal text to absorb!
My only criticism is the pages are not numbered which is a pain when one section of the rules refers you to a numbered page – WTF. I am not sure that the 73 page full version Exploit Zero: Cyberpunk Espionage and Mayhem will add any more enjoyment, but more on this in another post..
Stegosaurus is another of those “classic” dinosaurs form that highly regarded primary source “The Flinstones”!
Bare back riding
The firefighting stegosaurus from the first intro was never named and not really seen much within the show itself, but the later mobile games called it a “Fire Dino”, but since it was only named in post-Hanna-Barbera media, the name is likely not canon to the original franchise.
From the Flinstone’s fandom as are the pics.
Fire truck
Logging truck
It appears that child exploitation was not a thing in the Cretaceous period!
These are from the British Museum of Natural History.
In Colorado, there is a trackway of adult and baby Stegosaurs, showing them and smaller ornithopods moving together. This suggests that Stegosaurus cared for their young and socialized with smaller herbivores, indicating they likely moved in herds.
Even well armed and armoured ground forces will occasionally require air support.
The question s is are they CAS or bogeys!
These big bat “thingies”, although simple to paint were quite a process to put together.
Having completed the basic painting, I needed to put together the flying base. I needed the hex base with the centre marked out and the same for two 40mm poker chips. I also purchased three inspection mirrors from Bunnings hardware to use as the the telescopic.
The mirror was cut off leaving just the telescopic component.
A matching hole was drilled to fit the and the pocket clip and screw removed.
The hex was drilled to fit as was the poker chips.
All three were assembled and glued.
Solid foam was cut with a hot wire to fit around and hide the poker chips.
The foam “rocks” were painted and the rest of the base flocked.
The finished squadron.
A similar aerial stand system was used for some WW2 planes back in March last year. See here.
T-Tops and T-Rex were the classic rivals of the Cretaceous period. Weighing over ten tonne and almost nine meters in length Triceratops was one of the biggest land animals to have ever lived.
With its three horns, parrot-like beak, and large frill nearly one metre wide, the skull of Triceratops is one of the largest and most impressive of any land animal.
Triceratops likely used its impressive horns to protect itself from the formidable attacks of Tyrannosaurus, one of the most powerful predators of its time. A significant fossil discovered in 1997 has provided valuable insights into this ancient battle for survival; it features a horn that was bitten off, bearing distinctive bite marks that closely match those of Tyrannosaurus.
The detailed examination of this fossil also reveals that the horn healed, indicating not only the resilience of Triceratops but also suggesting that some individuals managed to survive after these dangerous encounters.
Puncture marks on fossil frills show that male Triceratops used their horns to fight, likely during mating season.
Unlike a lot of fossil finds the skin impressions allow us to see the large pebble like scales which covered their bodies.
A Triceratops fossil found in 1997 has a horn that was bitten off, with bite marks from a Tyrannosaurus, indicating the predator-prey relationship of the Late Cretaceous period. The horn healed after the bite, suggesting some Triceratops survived these attacks, demonstrating their resilience.
This evidence shows Triceratops, known for their three distinctive horns and large frill, were formidable herbivores capable of enduring encounters with fierce predators. The healing process indicates robust biological systems that allowed recovery from traumatic injuries, showcasing their adaptability in a threat-rich environment.
Many horned dinosaur species lived in herds, as shown by fossils found together in various locations, which indicates a social behavior among these creatures that likely provided benefits such as protection from predators and enhanced foraging opportunities.
However, Triceratops is different from these other species because their remains are usually found alone, often scattered across different sites, suggesting that these remarkable dinosaurs may have spent much of their lives by themselves, although herd living cannot be rules out.
And yes there are still more dinos to come tomorrow!
Dilophosaurus was shown in movies with a neck frill like a frilled lizard and portrayed as spitting venom. However, there is no proof that real Dilophosaurus had a frill or venom glands.
A Navajo man named Jesse Williams discovered the first partial Dilophosaurus skeletons in Arizona, USA. Samuel Welles first thought the fossils were a new species of Megalosaurus, but after finding a fossil with unique head crests, he named it Dilophosaurus, the first meat-eating dinosaur identified with skull crests.
In 2001, more Dilophosaurus specimens were found, showing new parts of the skeleton.
Dilophosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur from North America. Its name means ‘two-crested lizard,’ which comes from the double crests on its head.
Nobody is certain what the crests were for. The most likely theories are that the dinosaur used them to identify other Dilophosaurus or to attract a mate.
The crests probably weren’t strong enough to have any use in combat.
