As if things weren't screwed up enough in Knicks-ville

Things just went from bad to worse for the New York Knicks. Apparently, at the game yesterday, Stephon Marbury's father left the Garden with chest pains, went to a local hospital, and died there. Marbury wasn't told about his father's distress until after the game (which, given how the whole thing went down, might have been an unavoidable circiumstance, or it might be yet another piece of evidence that Knicks are a whacked out organization). But this is sure to put a real clamp on the morale of Marbury, and by consequence, the team. And the team lost to the Suns last night, to boot.

At .313, the Knicks are far from the worst team in the league, nor are they close to being the most disappointing (that gorgeous distinction would most likely be evenly shared by the .286 Bulls and the .250 Heat, without a shadow of a doubt).

But they are most probably the most screwed up organization in the league at the moment, and having your erratic point-guard's father die while in attendance at a home game is not the kind of fortune that this team (or Marbury himself) needs.

As if things weren't screwed up enough in Knicks-ville

Things just went from bad to worse for the New York Knicks. Apparently, at the game yesterday, Stephon Marbury's father left the Garden with chest pains, went to a local hospital, and died there. Marbury wasn't told about his father's distress until after the game (which, given how the whole thing went down, might have been an unavoidable circiumstance, or it might be yet another piece of evidence that Knicks are a whacked out organization). But this is sure to put a real clamp on the morale of Marbury, and by consequence, the team. And the team lost to the Suns last night, to boot.

At .313, the Knicks are far from the worst team in the league, nor are they close to being the most disappointing (that gorgeous distinction would most likely be evenly shared by the .286 Bulls and the .250 Heat, without a shadow of a doubt).

But they are most probably the most screwed up organization in the league at the moment, and having your erratic point-guard's father die while in attendance at a home game is not the kind of fortune that this team (or Marbury himself) needs.

Recently played: the new Power Grid plant deck

No Old Huron Redoubt gathering this Sunday, but we did manage to play a game on Friday evening. We tried out an old favourite: Power Grid, with the new expansion, Power Plan Deck 2.

For the first time in a long time I got absolutely waxed; while the game was close to the end, first place was decided by money in a three-way tie between three of the four players. I ended up two houses back. To me, that's a waxing, right there.

The new deck comes with a little rule book that describes several ways to use the deck to change the basic game: use the new deck on its own (the one we tried), use the high cards in the new deck to extend the basic deck, combine all the cards in both decks, or build your own deck by mixing some of the cards together.

Cleverly, the cards in the new deck have a back like the cards in the old deck, but on the front, have a boldly different coloured background so they're very easy to distinguish from the original cards.

The range of basic card values is slightly wider than the original deck, and, there are more efficient and powerful plants in the mid- and top-end. This radically changes play (at least it did in our game): my finely tuned strategy, predicated on leaps at key times in the game, was completely thrown off. All the other players were able to get plants they needed on the final turn of the game (in one case, a grossly powerful '9' plant, whose presence put the player into the tie). I, and my finely tuned, just in time inventory strategy was nicely scotched as I really needed two turns at the end of the game to compete, and got only one. Ouch.

If you own, and like Power Grid, there's no reason at all not to pick up this expansion. First off, it seems like it will add variety to your game (good), and secondly, it is exceedingly cheap (very good). Money for worth, this ranks right up there with the best expansions I've ever seen.

post-script: A friend of mine pointed out that we were playing incorrectly. Right there in the little rule book it tells you to take out all the really high-efficiency power plants (plants with a minimum value higher than 50) for all variants but one. We did not do this. It did indeed affect the end-game, and because of those extra cards in the deck, probably also affected the length and tempo of the game. The game was still, however, enjoyable. But at least I won't get stiffed again on the last turn of the game by one player's lucky chance at getting a '9' plant and being able to use it... 8)

Recently played: the new Power Grid plant deck

No Old Huron Redoubt gathering this Sunday, but we did manage to play a game on Friday evening. We tried out an old favourite: Power Grid, with the new expansion, Power Plan Deck 2.

For the first time in a long time I got absolutely waxed; while the game was close to the end, first place was decided by money in a three-way tie between three of the four players. I ended up two houses back. To me, that's a waxing, right there.

The new deck comes with a little rule book that describes several ways to use the deck to change the basic game: use the new deck on its own (the one we tried), use the high cards in the new deck to extend the basic deck, combine all the cards in both decks, or build your own deck by mixing some of the cards together.

Cleverly, the cards in the new deck have a back like the cards in the old deck, but on the front, have a boldly different coloured background so they're very easy to distinguish from the original cards.

The range of basic card values is slightly wider than the original deck, and, there are more efficient and powerful plants in the mid- and top-end. This radically changes play (at least it did in our game): my finely tuned strategy, predicated on leaps at key times in the game, was completely thrown off. All the other players were able to get plants they needed on the final turn of the game (in one case, a grossly powerful '9' plant, whose presence put the player into the tie). I, and my finely tuned, just in time inventory strategy was nicely scotched as I really needed two turns at the end of the game to compete, and got only one. Ouch.

If you own, and like Power Grid, there's no reason at all not to pick up this expansion. First off, it seems like it will add variety to your game (good), and secondly, it is exceedingly cheap (very good). Money for worth, this ranks right up there with the best expansions I've ever seen.

post-script: A friend of mine pointed out that we were playing incorrectly. Right there in the little rule book it tells you to take out all the really high-efficiency power plants (plants with a minimum value higher than 50) for all variants but one. We did not do this. It did indeed affect the end-game, and because of those extra cards in the deck, probably also affected the length and tempo of the game. The game was still, however, enjoyable. But at least I won't get stiffed again on the last turn of the game by one player's lucky chance at getting a '9' plant and being able to use it... 8)

In the paranoia department...

... I cannot help but wonder if the recent "content flagging" features have anything to do with the acquisition by SUP. It all seems remarkably well timed to be made a term of sale. Hmmm...

In the paranoia department...

... I cannot help but wonder if the recent "content flagging" features have anything to do with the acquisition by SUP. It all seems remarkably well timed to be made a term of sale. Hmmm...