Zombicide: Black Plague wave 2 is here

This just showed up on my doorstep. Luckily I happened to be home, because it's certainly warm out here in Maryland today.

Yeah, I bought big. The sculpts are great, and useful for so many games.

But man, with this here and Massive Darkness starting soon, I really, really need to come up with a better storage solution, before my wife kills me (and no jury would convict her.) (She fully supports my gaming habits, but does her best to help me keep my pack rat nature in check. And the gaming area was already overflowing.)

Oh, and it's been a fortnight since the last update. In that time, I think I played all of two games of Frostgrave, and three games of Guild Ball campaign. And kept meaning to post here, but would get a couple paragraphs in before I was boring myself. So, yeah, still struggling with that. But! Gaming! People are talking about Bushido again, and we have a standing offer for This is Not a Test whenever I can starting making it up there. Plus a Pulp City day in the near future. Many opportunities for which I need to make time.

As noted previously, I am spoiled by my generous friends. Today's example is shown above. Aaron made me these fine tokens for our upcoming This Is Not a Test games. Speaking of which:

The kickstarter for This Is Not a Test is in full swing, and has been meeting and exceeding goals at a nice steady clip. No, this isn't one of those kickstarters where you get mountains of stuff. It's a relatively modest affair, but there's a lot to pick up, and you will definitely get your money's worth, while supporting a great game.

Long-time readers will recall the great time I had when I discovered TNT many moons ago, and I have been a fan ever since. Hands down the best post-apocalyptic system, and I have read through many. But the #1 complaint interested players had was, where is the printed rulebook? Hence this fine kickstarter. And it's working great; many people are interested and getting factions started.

So, yes. Check it out. Sign on. Tell 'em I sent you. The affair wraps on April 7th. You won't regret it.

Oh, and while you're waiting, you can download the demo rules from the files section on the TNT Facebook group, and even download the images for the tokens seen above, to get you ready to duke it out in the Capital Deadzone.

Why I keep losing, and why I am OK with this

First couple games of 2016 have been us finally trying out the Batman Miniatures Game. So far the game seems decent (and there's a lot of support online) but it's definitely been an uphill struggle getting anything going for me. Like, scoring any victory points. But that's OK!

Game one with some creative lamp posts. Deadshot draws a bead on a Black Mask goon.

Right away, to try it out I went with figs I already had assembled (see top pic.) Which I chose by starting with the coolest. Now, from reading up online, I knew this was something of a sub-optimal build. I was using the most expensive model in the game, plus an expensive but fragile support figure to boot. And both had a passel of special rules to learn.

Game two with the store's mishmash terrain. Not a lot of batclaw-worthy terrain, but we also didn't bring any batclaws, so...

But really, it was more a matter of finally getting figs down on the turf and getting some dice rolling. As always, the first couple games are about me figuring out how the rules work. I can read a set of rules forwards and backwards, but until I play a few games, I won't really *get* them.

So even hammering through a few terrible losses does teach me how things are supposed to work, and what I should avoid going forward. As is, being snowed in here near Washington DC, I have spent some time assembling and basing more mercenaries and prisoners to bulk up the numbers of my gang. You can do an elite force of high-cost figs in the game, but I don't know the system well enough to run that out of the gate, But I will get there.

The year is off to a Batman-ish start then. I will likely get in another game of Guild Ball before too long. Next up on the agenda is likely trying out Otherworld, or giving Frostgrave another go. Thereafter, maybe Wolsung or back to Bushido after a long absence? We shall see.

--- Trying something new for 2016. On other social media, I am always posting articles from the news other other things that have caught my interest. So let's do that here too.

Interesting links:
* A good read on the demise of Alien Dungeon and All Quiet on the Martian Front. I've seen just enough behind the scenes of the gaming industry to see what a Shakespearean mess it is, and this article pulls back the curtain a bit there too.
* As we've been all Batman here, I've been listening to the Blood Damage podcast for some interesting overviews of the various factions and other game-related talk. The one on the scenarios is especially nice.
* I haven't really played RPGs in many a year, but the Dungeonomics column is always fascinating.
* And I am always a slut for zombies, so I will be eyeing Mantic's Walking Dead kickstarter when it drops.

2015: not a bang, but a whimper?

Starting an Otherworld warband. I've had these Reaper Lizardman partially painted for like ten years.

Yeah, this. I have started and discarded many posts in the past few months, even before Zomtober. I've played Guild Ball a handful of times (and even fully painted my team) and played in a day-long tourney for it to boot. That's... been about all the minis gaming I have done recently. (Started playing Pandemic Legacy with the family as well, on the board gaming side.) (And of course Team Fortress 2, my long-term video game vice.)

So I have about no excuse as to why I couldn't get posts back to the regular here. For a while I told myself that I was sick of putting up pics of my half-painted figs, figuring it wasn't interesting to anyone else either. And the holiday season is always busy, so gaming always suffers this time of year, naturally. But honestly, I have just been feeling uninspired. Haven't picked up a paint brush since I finished the Guild Ball team about a month back.

I'm still reading gaming blogs and Facebook groups? And perusing various rulebooks on the daily commute (Otherworld, Frostgrave, etc.) So I am still emotionally invested. And enjoy it! Just haven't had the drive to get anything finished up to post here to my liking. (Insert 'performance anxiety' joke here.)

Frostgrave Sandtomb!

No, this isn't a walking-away letter. I am looking forward to having the energy to get back into gaming projects, and yes, spamming it all up here. I'm working on getting everything together to give Otherworld a real try; I think it could be a good substitute for a regular D&D evening. Maurice and I did a run-through of Frostgrave not too long ago, and I think we're going to give it another as well. (It's really caught on online.) And finally, finally, giving the Batman game a go.

But the topic has been on my mind these days. I am old, well, I feel old. And I have been gaming for a couple decades now. The past few years, I have been more attracted to broader rulesets that could play multiple genres/settings, or something close to that. Rather than more focused games that will go out of style in a year or less. Because I have a library full of those rules, and an army or two I bought for each. I never catch up with really learning the rules of the season, never really master the latest ruleset, and never get things fully painted. So my alternative is figuring out a ruleset or three I can really work with, use various figures for, and most importantly, get the locals to enjoy enough to play it with me on the regular. That's my working treatise going into 2016. And a happy new year to all of you out there in gaming-land.

interregnum: the mid-move edition

My Guild Ball proxies until I have time to finish the actual models.

My year of no gaming moves along apace.

Well, it’s not no-gaming. There have been occasional spells of the New Hotness (earlier this year, Wrath of Kings and Dark Age.) Also, some exciting new finds (currently, Guild Ball.) And even new treasures on the near horizon (This is Not a Test and the second edition of 7tv.)

But between those spells, it’s been some long gaps, for various reasons. For one reason or another, I’ve missed multiple games, and had to pull out of pretty much every attempt to hit a convention or major gaming event so far this year. NOVA Open is looking unlikely for anything more than a day trip (see below) and Fall-In is the same weekend as my birthday, so I have to pick and choose what to do there.

The biggest hit from the past month and change was a surprise move. We rent, and our landlord chose to terminate our lease (with more than enough warning) so he could do something else with the house. As soon as we heard that, I started packing up my entire gaming collection, which has given me plenty of time to think and mull things over, while I pack up figs I haven’t touched in years.

The past few years has been a lot of throwing in with the New Hotness. I always advocate playing what your local crew plays, because that’s the best way to find games. And I am just as guilty of buying into the new thing for my playgroup (the golden age of Kickstarters has also been a contributing factor here. I can resist anything except temptation.) But I am starting to think that’s not what I need.

More Guild-Ball-by-proxied goodness.

Y’see, I am bad at learning rules. Like, not great at all. Half my games feature my ever-patient playgroup re-explaining some game to me and reminding me how things work.Even when I go to tourneys, the first thing I do when I sit down at the table is let my opponent know that if I get something wrong, I’m not cheating, I just have a crap memory. I’m there to play a bunch of games, not use my rules-knowing to seize the brass ring.

I think what I need in my life more is a 28mm skirmish game or two per genre/setting that I like. Post apocalyptic, steampunk, supers, zombies, etc. Categories like fantasy and scifi need to be broken down to something more specific (like, say, dungeoncrawl.) The eye should be on games that are great for using whatever fig you have in your collection (hello, Frostgrave) and not one with a really limited scope (damn your great figs, Wrath of Kings.)

Games that can be reading adapted to other settings are just value added (see also: 7tv and even IHMN, which can also do Old West and even pirates.)

So yeah. A lot of time to think means a lot of rambling on such matters. So here we are, surrounded by cardboard boxes and figuring out on what to focus my limited efforts.

(And, no, not everything is tragic. My local crew has been great about inviting me out to game, even when they know time is tight, and offered to help with the move and all. And even though the next place will be more or less temporary on the way to a more permanent residence, more gaming will be on the horizon soon. Still, good to get these things off my chest and in writing, if for no other reason than to remind myself later when the next must-have Kickstarter deal rolls in.) 

Side note for those who have stuck with me so far: No one in my playgroup is really into the idea of Age of Sigmar, but we've had discussions on the topic, since it became a topic for debate on the Facebooks. And this article is a great read that really mirrors my gaming mindset these days. As well as my love of Marvel, and Adventure Time, and Lego, and etc. It's a great read, highly recommended.

Wrath of Kings: assembly in a snap

One day. That's how long it took to assemble the above figs. They're from my Wrath of Kings kickstarter package. The figs have a great amount of detail, and mine had little to no flash. And I am terrible at assembling, especially things with tiny bits. But these practically assembled themselves.

Looking forward to trying the game out in the near future. Team Hadross!

unexpected surprise!

Just recently, I was picking on Aaron for bailing on the Bushido challenge from last month. (This is mainly because Aaron is a great painter, unlike me, and I need to get these things in when I can.) Tragically, I can no longer pick on him about that, because it turns out he chose to skip the challenge to sneak in painting presents for Mo and myself! So outta nowhere, he hands these two Hasslefree treasures over to me, fully painted.

Knowing my love for the Hunger Games books*, he painted up Laurie, including an incredible freehand mockingjay graffiti on the base.

Seriously, fantastic stuff.

Next up was Sgt. Spanner, painted up faithfully as everyone's favorite, Captain Hammer. The pic makes it look more shiny than it is, but yes, the symbol on the chest is freehand as well.

I am spoiled.

* - I also love the movies, but I love the books slightly more.

ambition for the new year

Games I want to play more of in 2015, alphabetically:
* 7tv/7ombieTV/7th Voyage
* Bushido
* IHMN
* Pulp City

Games I want to try out in 2015, alphabetically:
* Batman
* Dark Age
* Relic Knights
* Wolsung
* Wrath of Kings

I never have enough time to game, much less prep and paint all the miniatures and terrain I want to for said games (or even for all the minis I buy, whoops.) So I try to plan for games I am playing, and games I want to play (and games the crew wants to play.) Prepping for the future is always a crap shoot, but luckily you'll notice some distinct overlap with the settings and themes of the above games.

Side note: looking at the big list of games I have (don't ask) and figs I've obtained (really, it's embarrassingly long, don't ask) one weird thing I have seen is that I really don't play a lot of fantasy games. Like, at all. Steampunk, yes, but that's not the same. Bushido is fantasy, but falls into that nebulous and poorly-named Oriental/Far East genre. You'd think with fantasy being such a stable of gaming, I'd have something swords-and-sorcery as a go-to selection, but nope. 

Fall-In 2014: day two: Zombie Apocalypse!

Saturday morning rolls around, and for whatever reason we all wake up early. Good news because that means a leisurely breakfast at IHOP with a surprise appearance by a hostess with the magical gift of oversharing early in the a.m.

As noted in the Friday report, I did pretty well at Wally's Basement, so let's talk shopping at the con. I never know how much my dozens of readers really care about what someone else is buying. I mean, maybe? So let's hit the big topics instead.

Definitely fewer booths in the dealer's hall than before. I mean, I still found things to spend money on (thanks Brigade and Recreational Conflict!) but there wasn't a lot of competition.

Perfect!

I have a few big Kickstarter rewards showing up in the next few months, so as for strategies for spending my money I stuck mostly to things to supplement games/genres I already have. Better to add more terrain or figs or whatever, to keep me focused. So more Victorian scifi (Wolsung, IHMN) and modern (Pulp City, Gotham.) Was happy to see Brigade had some of the Midnight Workshop figs from Artizan, in addition to their Empire of the Dead offerings.

I didn't pick these up, but it's an inspirational concept.

I should also note that the one big purchase I made at Wally's was a handful of Skaard figs for Dark Age. Older models, but lovely, and priced so I couldn't refuse. Second army started!

And now my big Saturday event. I'd seen them run  games like this before, but this was the first time I was able to reserve a seat at the table.

From the description:

S160 Hold the Line - Z+60 Days
Sat 3:00:00 PM, 3 hrs, 6 players
GM: Henry Kyle
Period: Modern, Scale: 25mm, Rules: Zombie Apocalypse (Home Brew)
"Sixty days after the dead began to rise, your small Texas town is in danger of being overrun by the walking dead. Luckily, word has reached you of a safe zone a few counties over. As the non- combatants are loaded into a convoy to be taken to safety, it is up to the town's ragtag defenders to hold back the undead horde long enough for them to flee."

Yes, those are all 28mm figs.

Arriving at the table, it's a hell of an impressive layout.

The plotline is: we're some of the remaining citizens of Arlen, TX. The city is surrounded by a massive horde of the undead, and we're the defenders gathered on the south side of town, trying to hold off the zombies until a convoy of non-combatants can get moving (in eight turns.)

(They specified the southside of town, as previous runnings of this scenario have been the one of the other three sides of town. Clever!)

Suffice it to say, our work is cut out for us.

The rough outline. The deck of cards was massive, with many options played in different phases of the turn.

The rules are straightforward and fast. Within a turn, we had all the basics down, and we only had to ask for specific rules or 'creative' ideas. Initiative was by cards, worked wonderfully for the ten or so players they had. Victory points were earned for killing zombies (and other things) and points were lost when zombies began attacking the convoy (and a couple other things, I think.) Yes, this means we're encouraged to screw over the other players. Each turn each player got a random event card. Which helped them out or hurt opponents.

No, they don't have these rules available yet. Yes, when they do, I will be picking them up without hesitation.

My crew of ne'er-do-wells.

When I arrived, I had my choice of which themed crew I wanted to play. I went with the Dirty 1/3rd of a Dozen, four hardened criminals who didn't care so much about saving the town as saving our own hides. We didn't lose points for walkers getting to the convoy; this was instrumental to my strategy.

Other factions included: the local donut-eating cops, the local gun club, the A Team, the Sons of Arlen Motorcycle Club, the heavily-armed strippers, some Blackwater mercenaries, and many more. Each had their own little advantages and characteristics. Great to sit down to that kind of variety.

See that light blue police car in the middle of the barricades?

Turn one starts, we start taking shots into the undead crowd, and a few zombies get over the cars. The local cops, who have found some dynamite (via their random event card,) toss it into the horde. It bounces back a bit, and takes out... the police car in the middle of the barricades. This is bad.

My crew spots an ambulance nearby. Curiously enough, we have the rules on our card for how to hotwire a vehicle. We're stationed next to the A Team, so we take some shots at the zombies with them while falling back to our new ride.

Couple turns pass, and the barricade is now more of a speed bump. Zombies are streaming through the breach. Thanks to those random event cards, other zombies have popped up from buildings in town, from the sewers, and from one of the table edges. Eek.

My posse has jacked the ambulance and is heading to the road west. We can't get offboard until turn five, at which point we get VPs for saving our own necks. I did mention we weren't nice guys, right?

I should say most of my posse. Jefferson was tied up in hand to hand combat with one of the walkers that got through, and when he was able to break free, thanks to some help from the A Team... his buddies had driven off. No honor among thieves!

Seriously, it was a firefight!

My ride makes it to the edge of town, but needs to wait a couple turns until we can slip off. We pick off any walkers that are near us. Other townies are suspicious of my motives, but don't know what exactly I am up to. Other than, you know, running away. Snee hee hee.

LOOK AT THAT. So cinematic.

Thanks to someone else's random event card, a zombie breaks into the ambulance, and attacks us. After a turn or two, I go from three criminals fighting one zombie to one criminal fighting two other zombies, including the driver.

Remember Jefferson? Inexplicably still breathing, he sees the writing on the wall, and is sticking like glue to the other survivors, falling back to the convoy.  

I could write three more blog posts about everything else that happened in this game. Walkers ambushing survivors, one-in-a-million shots, terrible turns of the tide. One of the things that went really well for a con game is that each player had their own characters, and thusly their own story in this larger event, enhanced by their own cards and cards others played on or around them. Highly effective, and a real plus for the folks behind this game.

Posey, the lone surviving criminal from the ambulance, gets out, gets in another ambulance they randomly ended up packing next to, and uses that to secure his escape and me a fair number of victory points. (As bad guys, we didn't care about fallen comrades.)

Oh, and Jefferson, the luckiest bad boy in town, makes it out to the convoy at the end and off the table. Victory points are tallied. I come in second, after... another bad guy player who didn't care about the convoy getting attacked. Having zeds pop up so early, before we could muster a rearguard to keep them off the civilians cost a lot of points from the good guys, which really gave us criminal types an advantage. But I speak without fear of contradiction when I say that everyone had fun.

Huge game. Great times.

After that epic battle, we headed out of town early. Swung by Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, since it was on the way and I'd never been before. Believe the hype, it's pretty close to the ideal game store. Clean, well-lit, well-stocked. Plenty of space for gaming. The downside is... that's it's too far from my house. Ah well.

in-between days

Fists of fury

Just a quick post before I finish up the Fall-In report.

See the above pic? Within there is a total of 50 rice worth of Temple monks (and friends) for Bushido that I am challenging myself to finish painting by the end of the year. OK, technically it's a challenge for my whole playgroup, but I'm taking up the banner here.

As noted, halfway through the con report. Always hard once I get the writing rolling, since I find I had a lot more to say than I thought I did. Especially when it's a game I particularly enjoy and want to pass that joy along.

November and December are typically light as gaming goes. Just hard getting folks together regularly. We're working to keep each other motivated, however. My bases have come in, so I am looking to get a playable force for both Dark Age and the Batman game. On top of that, past Kickstarter treasures should be arriving before too long, both Pulp City and Wrath of Kings. And even Wolsung not too long after that, I suspect. That's... a lot of figs I will need to assemble, base, prime, and paint. I'm looking forward to getting it done and on the table. Busy season! (Plus, it should keep me away from getting more things on Kickstarter, heh.)

Straight outta Arkham...

"I am Gotham's reckoning. Here to end the borrowed time you've all been living on."

Heading out to Fall-In tomorrow, but wanted to drop this here first. Today is my birthday (I am old) and Mr. Conte, who has fallen off the minis gaming bandwagon, came out of retirement, picked up the paintbrush, and bought and painted the Arkham Bane for me as a birthday present. 150 points of Bat-smashing power! He left the basing for me, so it'll match the rest of my figs, and coincidentally my Dragon Forge bases showed up just the other day.

(The Batman miniatures game certainly seems to be having a moment right now, and that's a great excuse to pick up some of these fantastic figs. Definitely more to come from this later.)

Kickstarter stumping: Stonehaven Half-Orcs

OK, quick aside here. Stonehaven Miniatures is coming up to the deadline on their latest fantasy kickstarter, this one for a wide variety of half-orcs and other odds and ends.

I bring this up specifically because I have a couple pulp and Victorian scifi fans among my leadership. In the recent past, I also signed on for Wolsung, which is best described for me as "Shadowrun steampunk." It's a pulp Victorian scifi-fantasy setting, which includes among other things the Triad of the Lotus Dragon, an orcish immigrant criminal organization. And coincidentally enough, there's a number of figures in the Stonehaven offering that would be perfect for your demihuman VSF needs: the Nobleman, the Pistoleer, the Mechanist, the Scholar, and more. Stonehaven really shines in making highly characterful figures, each one practically writing their own story for you. Take a look, you'll see.

The kickstarter can be found here, and as of this posting has about 36 hours left. You can pick up the figs from their previous kickstarters here.

There's already plenty of backers, so I am not trying to push the kickstarter 'to the next level.' Nor is getting a huge number particularly a great deal, truth be told. It's a deal, but not an investment. The sole reason I am post this is because I think this company is great, they are putting out some figs unlike anyone else, they are very responsive to their customers, and I don't think enough people have heard about them. Plenty of reason to take the time out to spread the word.

Gencon 2014: day two

Friday! Up early a.m. for day two of Critical Mass demos. Today we used my Kaamados figs against Aaron's Protolene. We had four players, all of them into it again.

Things are about to get hairy.

Didn't get many pictures (that weren't blurry) unfortunately. The game was good, with an even back-and-forth. The Protolene seem like a more even match for my big guns, but it might just be his smaller-number-of-force-fields doing the talking there.

Also day two of my Bushido dojo action!

My game was a fun little skirmish against the Ito, played by a charming gentleman named Bill. 35 rice, we went for the Seigyo scenario. Scenarios in Bushido greatly improve thing, and you need to keep aware of what's going on and how you can tactically sore the scenario points to win things. It's hard thinking, but it's good hard thinking.

For example, this game quickly turned into 'how can I tactically keep the Ito from killing me.' 35 rice made for a nice quick game, and once things turn against you, you better redouble your efforts fast. I hope to learn how to do that soon. My take away from that game was that: walls are jerks, and the Ito are jerks. I conceded in turn four (out of six.)

Meanwhile, Maurice's Silvermoon were taking on those dreaded Oni.

Swung by Aaron's Hell Dorado tourney. I like the variable terrain setups. Gencon probably should have picked a non-pink tablecloth, in my opinion. Was real easy finding the table in the hall, however.

Wandered past this crazy huge 3D Robo Rally board.

I didn't take a lot of pictures in the dealer's hall this time around, because honestly, I could spend four days there and be happy. Lots to see, lots to do. Buying things immediately (Pandemic: Contagion,) planning to spend the rest of my con money (more Bushido,) planning things to buy later (Mice and Mystics, perhaps.)

Friday night was a tasty steak dinner at a lovely establishment. Pricey, yes, but worth it, and with a great crowd of friends.

Afterwards, back to the con and late night wandering around and taking pictures of other people's games. I am such a voyeur.

Dark Age! Always tempting. Very rich setting, and it strikes the right post-apocalyptic tones for me. (Albeit an apocalypse on an alien planet, but really, it's Mad Max-ish, that's all I need.) I was pretty much convinced to buy in to this game even before I saw these beautiful table setups.

Seriously.

Quite the scenic overview.

Speaking of lovely terrain, the fans behind Infinity never fail to impress.

You see.

Just table after table of this.

I can't even.

One of my other hobbies is taking a picture so I can remember to talk about some terrain or game I saw later, and then when I am actually going through the pics, having no idea why I singled out this game in particular. This was some sort of Death Race 2000 auto dueling game, with, like, cars and pedestrians to hit and what have you. Which appeals to me, sure, but why did I want to note this one specifically? Why?

Maurice was digging the All Quiet on the Martian Front boards.

I don't know why anyone would want to play something other than the tripods.

All in all, the Malifaux and Warmachine/Hordes boards were looking... unimpressive. This one was a standout, admittedly. But the whole play area was just... not inspirational. Especially because it was right next to...

INFINITY

INFINITY...

INFINITY!

I believe this was built for a Morat Prison Break scenario, which is a great idea. Infinity has a huge amount of fluff to their universe, in a good way. (Bonus: more here.) 

[The only reason Infinity is not as tempting as it could be, for me, is because there is a bit of intimidation factor getting into it at this point. If there was a casual/storyline circuit or something, I would be all in.]

This Infinity scenario I sought out while I was there because I actually tried to sign up for it, but didn't get a seat in time: "Raicho Initiation: command a Raicho in expanded close combat versus giant beasts of Ugarat to earn the right to wear Raicho Armor."

The beasts were from Mierce Miniatures, and are damn impressive in person.

Couple interesting Uncharted Seas games there. I am not into ship games, for whatever reason, but these looked neat.

A Savage Worlds factory raid, with sp00ky fog

One of the other events I was looking forward to at the convention was the premiere of the film version of Of Dice and Men. Full disclosure: I know a couple of the people responsible for bringing the movie to the big screen. However, as a guy who games a lot and watches a lot of movies, I can honestly say this is the best gaming movie so far. It not only is never condescending to games or gamers, but is the most honest explanation of why we gamers game, and what we really get out of it. Seriously, check it out, watch it with your significant other or close non-gamer friends. You won't regret it.

Walking back from the movie, wandered past this huge hall full of people playing Pathfinder. Past eleven at night, and going strong. Oh Gencon, you never cease to impress me.

Speaking of which, one of the Gencon staples is this large area packed with surplus gaming cards. Over the course of a couple days, people just sit around building these massive structures. Thereafter, people cough in a couple bucks for charity to be able to pitch coins at the constructions and knock things over. It's a little bit brilliant.

Soon: day three.