LANINGRAD IV: Lost In Time

Well folks, sad to say that Laningrad as we know it is over, never to be repeated under the same conditions, it is time for it to grow and move on. Laningrad 6 was the last laningrad.

LUCKILY! Laningrad 4 was never held. So! If you're one of the lucky people who made it onto the short list (sorry to those who didn't, its nothing personal. My D6 just doesn't like you.) you will be receiving an invitation by email shortly.

Laningrad VI - Super Secret Combined Birthday Edition

Laningrad VI is expected to kick off in late July, to commemorate the birthdays of several regular Laningrad attendees. LVI will also have a super special birthday edition Eight Player Single Elimination Supreme Commander tournament, with prizes as follows:

1st: Pizza, side and drink*,
2nd: Side and drink*,
3rd: Drink*,

to be distributed at Laningrad VII.


I will also be giving out the prizes from the last tournament, viz:

1st: Morningstar (5-0), wins a pizza and drink*,
2nd: Madmockhaven (3-1), wins a drink*,
3rd: Sedim (2-2), wins a drink*,

Stay tuned for more super secret info.

*Where "drink" = 1.25 liter coke or similar, 900ml Ice Break or similar, a beer or similar.

Laningrad V: Great Success!!

Thanks to all of you who showed up, and special thanks to the guys that played in the tournament! Interesting games happenned all round, but Morningstar's bot rush remained undefeated.

However, there were definite signs of war weariness towards the end of the tournament, as people got sick of playing (and watching) round after round of SupCom.

So, I'm resisting an urge to take it as a sign of weakness on your part, and have decided to do the following (if you all like the idea).

Firstly, well all (bar one) have an internet, and have a hamachi, so getting a game of Supreme Commander during the interem is quite simple.

Secondly, the interem period between Laningrads is quite Larch.

Therefore, I believe, a better way to do it is to have a round robin during the interim. The length is long enough to facilitate such a competition without tireing out the participants.

The Top Eight players from the round robin (hopefully completed a week before laningrad is scheduled) get to enter a single elimination playoffs at Laningrad, and therefore get a guaranteed spot (and a chance at free pizza and drinks).

Supreme Commander round robin signups will happen over the next couple of weeks. Details will be distributed in email, if there is growing interest.

Super Secret Supcom Tournament: Results

PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

Round 1

1) Arania v Skorge (Skorge wins by Strategic Bomber)

2) Morningstar v Sam (Sam forfiets before game begins)

Round 2

3) Skorge v God (God wins by Commander Rush)

4) Hans v LaughingMan (Hans wins by Monkeylord)

5) NinjaJesus v Morningstar (Morningstar wins by Tech 1 Spam)

6) Sedim v Madmockhaven (Sedim wins by Tech 2 Spam)

7) Arania v Sam (Arania wins by Strategic Missile)

Round 3

8) Arania v Skorge (Arania wins after Skorge Comm-bombs)

9) NinjaJesus v LaughingMan (NinjaJesus wins by Amphibious Tank Rush, LaughingMan Eliminated)

10) God vs Hans (God wins by commander Rush)

11) Morningstar v Sedim (Morningstar wins by Tech 1 & 2 Bot Spam)

Round 4

12) NinjaJesus v Arania (Arania quits after NJ Tech 1 and 2 bot spam)

13) Madmockhaven v Hans (Madmock wins by Air rush induced Comm-Bomb)

14) God v Morningstar (Morningstar wins by Tech 1 bot spam)

Round 5

15) NinjaJesus v Madmockhaven (Madmockhaven wins by tech 2 destroyer micro)

16) Sedim v God (Sedim wins a Commander duel)

Round 6

17) Madmockhaven v Sedim (Madmockhaven wins by keeping the pressure on)

Grand Final

18) Morningstar v Madmockhaven (Morningstar wins by bot spam)

PLACES
1) Morningstar (5 - 0) wins a pizza and a drink.
2) Madmockhaven (3-1) wins a drink.
3) Sedim (2 - 2) wins a drink.

Dawn of War 2 Multiplay Beta

The Dawn of War 2 beta is out, and I'm here to tell you that it's quite a treat.

Gell and I have been playing it a bit today, and we've come to the conclusion that it's fun, and probably worth having when it's released in full, if only for the multiplayer.

Those of you familiar with Company of Heroes will find DoW2 somewhat familiar.  Dawn of War 2 uses the same engine (or, an upgraded version thereof), so certain things that were missing in the first Dawn of War found their way into the sequel.

Firstly, cover is slightly more than an abstraction based upon the type of ground a squad is standing in (ie: river, open ground, crater).  Now most objects of the appropriate size can be used as cover.  Also, the much needed garrisonable buildings are to be found.

Scale is something that makes an appearance in DoW2 as well, with tanks being the size of tanks, and the Ork Wartrukk really looks as though it can fit 6 boyz in there.

Last, but definately not least, is that base building has been totally stripped.  You start with a HQ and two or three defensive emplacements.  That's all you'll ever get, too.  Unit construction (for all units) is done at the HQ, as well as a rudimentry tech tree (levels 1, 2, and 3).  Unit upgrades are chosen much like in Dawn of War or Company of Heroes, by selecting the unit and choosing an upgrade.

The ONLY thing that resembles base building is the upgrading of power nodes, but this is a one-click affair, and each click adds power plants surrounding the node.  You don't choose where the power plant goes, it just appears, and you start getting more power.

This lack of focus on construction allows you to focus on your units, your resources, and your tactics, which is a nice change.  Most strategy games burden you with strategy, while tactics games have no strategy at all.  Dawn of War 2 is mostly tactics, with just enough strategic choice and chance for blunder to make the game easy to learn, hard to master, and fun every time (so far).

It'll be interesting to see if it has any longevity, but I suspect it will

TL;DR Dawn of War 2 Multiplay Beta is good.

Laningrad 5 date confirmed + attendees

After mucho back and forth discussion about the pros and cons of the different dates, and after asking you, the people, what was manageable, we have decided on a 31st Jan - 2nd Feb time slot.

We'll have internet.

Remember, this Laningrad is going to be Super Restricted. The following list are the people that are coming.

IF YOU ARE NOT ON THIS LIST OF 16, DON'T SHOW UP.

IF YOU ARE ON THIS LIST AND CAN'T COME, THEN TELL US.

IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THIS LIST, TELL US, AND WE'LL ADD YOU TO THE QUEUE, AND ATTEMPT TO FIT YOU IN!

KTHX!

ONE SPOT LEFT

Gunther

Sedim

Arania

Skorge

God

Cameron Blake

Gell

Hans

Madmock

Lockie

Brenten

Sam Dawson

Morningstar

Apple

Currie

BOLD ITALICS indicates confirmed gamers attending.


The following are on the waiting list:

No One

Laningrad 5 - Quantum of LAN

So as Laningrad 5 is still up in the air I thought I'd make a post telling everyone that the date for Laningrad 5 is er... still up in the air. However your votes will help us shoot it down before it evolves wings. Then we can carve it up into tasty pieces, and game on them.