New Tanks

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Andy

I just took my SOAC comprehensive written exam yesterday, all 5 and a half hours of it! I won’t find out how well I did on it until next week, but I feel fairly confident that I passed. Needless to say, though, my brain is kind of burned out at the moment, which is why I’m going to spend some time today enjoying a couple of new tanks I have just unlocked in World of tanks! Take a look:

Panther

Unlocking the German Panther has been a goal of mine for sometime now. It was one of the best tanks of WW II, with good speed, mobility, protection, and awesome firepower. I’ve even read some authors that argue this tank was the true fore-runner of the modern main battle tank concept! So far in the game, it is doing OK for me. Part of the problem is that I still need to research and install many of the tank’s upgrades, which means that it is not exactly at the top of its game yet. Still, I’m having fun with it, and you have to admit it looks cool!

T20

The other tank I recently unlocked is the American T20, which was a prototype American medium tank that never actually entered full production. I actually got this tank a bit earlier than I had intended; I have been focusing on the German medium tank line (see above) and had kind of let my American progress stop at the M4A3E8 “Easy Eight” Sherman. However, last week they put the T20 on sale for half off, so I decided to go ahead and push through the effort to unlock it. To be honest, I’m less excited about this tank because it is somewhat “ahistorical” in that it didn’t see real battle service. However, it does lead to some awesome tanks down the road, including the M26 Pershing and the M48 Patton. I’ll be playing my first games with it today, so we will see how it goes!

Until next time…

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Labor Dabor

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Andy

As is traditional, today we celebrate our Labor Dabor!

I haven’t really been up to much. Mostly, I’ve been working on unlocking my Panther tank in World of Tanks (which I managed to successfully do, by the way!) and working on my latest modeling project. An really, with everything coming up, that’s not such a bad thing, I suppose. Right around the corner I got my comprehensive written exam (which will be a whopping 5 1/2 hours long!), a bunch of evaluated trainer sessions, and the PRT. So, there is not going to be a whole lot of loafing to be done in the near future!

I’d also like to take a moment to mark the passing of Baby the cat, one of my parents pets back in Indiana; he passed away yesterday. Baby was originally my sister’s cat, but he stayed in Lowell after my sister moved out. I’m definitely going to miss the little guy the next time I’m home visiting! Goodbye, Baby, and thanks for all the laughs.

 

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Recuperation

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Andy

As I mentioned briefly in my last post, there has been a lot going on! I’ve been getting a lot busier at SOAC, as I am now in the last 6 weeks of the program which means I have a lot of trainer sessions and written exams to do. And of course, the time I have in the evenings has been going towards stuff other than surfing the internet, like World of Tanks and other video games.

However, another factor has been that I have been putting a lot of time into my recently created naval wargaming blog, Man Battlestations. I haven’t actually talked about it a whole lot here, but I started this project at around the same time that I shifted this site to the WordPress format. Ultimately, when I’ve only had time to update one of the two, Man Battlestations has been getting the attention. I’m trying to get away from that though, so I’m going to try and start putting up more updates here. Fortunately, as I mentioned when I first switched ARS over, the WordPress software makes updating much easier, so there is less of a barrier to putting up new posts.

I also mentioned that I had some teeth pulled. That happened last Tuesday, when I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted. This process was necessitated by the fact that I had developed a cavity in one of them that was inaccessible due to its location. While only that one really had to come out, I kind of figured that it would be a good idea to get the rest of them pulled while I was at it. So, since then, I’ve been trying to take it easy and heal, paranoid that I’m going to get a dry socket. Still, it hasn’t been all bad; the Vicodin helped a lot, as did all the sleep.

Oh, and Navy had its home opener today, in Dublin, Ireland of all places. If you missed the game, that’s okay; you didn’t miss much. Long story short, Navy lost, but seeing as it was Notre Dame, I can’t say I’m horribly surprised.

Until next time!

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World of Tanks

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Andy

First, let me apologize for not getting this up earlier. I have been a bit…busy. And then came the teeth pulling. I’ll have to save that story for another time though, because today I want to talk about…WORLD OF TANKS!

World of Tanks, or just WoT, is a free-to-play game where you get to drive around a WWII era tank and shoot at other people as they drive their WW II era tanks. While the concept sounds simple, I’ve actually found the game to be both a lot of fun and very addictive!

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Mass Effect 3 and Me

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Andy

Just wanted to take a few minutes and share my feelings about a recent video gaming experience I had. A while back, the third installment of the massively popular video game series Mass Effect hit the streets. Being the huge sci-fi nerd that I am, I was eagerly anticipating this game. However, the release was greeted with a huge brouhaha over its Day 1 downloadable content (DLC), which many fans argued was a shameless money grab by the company that produced the game (not everyone agreed on that, however). Unforutnately, an even bigger brouhaha was just around the corner; as players started finishing the game, word began spreading that the ending was not so good. For my part, the ending just seemed rushed and fragmentary, with way too much left to the imagination. Others went a little further in their analysis, but it was pretty clear there was widespread dissatisfaction with the way the game wrapped up the trilogy.

There was so much anger that the company behind the development of the game, BioWare, went back to the proverbial drawing board and came up with some new DLC to further explain and expand on the ending. I got a chance to play through it last weekend, and I have to say, I think it is a significant improvement (I’m not alone in that regard). Overall, it ads a much better sense of closure to what has become one of my favorite game settings.

So, while we are on the topic of video games, I mentioned that I would be addressing a couple of games I’ve been playing, namely Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion and World of Tanks. Rest assured, these posts are coming soon! Until next time…

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Family Visit

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Andy

My Mom & Dad came out to visit Gwen and me last weekend, and we had a blast! We made trips to the Submarine Force Museum and rode the Essex Steam Train, both of which are local attractions. We also played a lot of Ticket to Ride, a neat boardgame that requires players to complete routes between cities on a map. As all to often happens though, it seems like they had to turn around and head back to Indiana almost as soon as they arrived. It was a great visit, and I hope I can see them again soon! Here is a selection of photos from the weekend:

 

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New England Carousel Museum

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Andy

Last weekend, Gwen and I went in to the ticket & travel office on the sub base to see what kinds of local sightseeing there was to do. Every major naval base has one of these offices, and they are great places to go to get deals on admission and the like. Anyway, the first place we decided to visit was the New England Carousel Museum, located in Bristol, CT.

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Rocky Neck State Park

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Andy

Gwen and I are settling in quite nicely. We have finally ordered a washer & dryer, and they should be delivered this week. We also have most of the clutter around the house cut down to size, although there are a few areas that still need some work. I’ve been able to get a few games in, as well, including my first game of Dystopian Wars here in Connecticut!

Anyway, yesterday we decided to take some time off and check out the near-by Rocky Neck State Park. The park features a very nice picnic and camping area, as well as a stone pavilion that overlooks the park’s beach. Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor also cuts though the park along the water, so we got to see a few trains (including the Acela!) rocket past while we were eating our lunch. Here are some pictures:

Until next time!

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Settling In

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Andy

Well, Gwen and I have found a house, and have spent the last week getting our stuff unpacked with the help of Gwen’s parents. We have finally gotten to the point were the house is liveable, though there is still a bunch of clutter left to sort through.

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In Limbo

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Andy

Well, Gwen and I have been up here in Groton for nearly a week (my, how time flies!), and we are still chilling in the Navy Lodge. We have had a few leads for more permanent housing, though, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel. We might end up moving into base housing, since I am due to head down to Norfolk for my sea tour. Speaking of which, I am currently slated to be the Navigator on the USS Boise, which is a 688i class SSN. I’m really looking forward to this new challenge!

In between looking for and looking at potential housing options, I have made some time for a little fun ;). I played a game of Axis & Allies War At Sea at Arkham Asylum comics in Norwich, CT on Tuesday. I’ve also been trying out a couple of games on my computer, including Vendetta and World of Tanks. Both of these games are MMOs, so they are a bit outside my usual gaming comfort zone. After I’ve played them a little more, I’ll tell you what I think!

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