Malifool's Campaign of Carnage Report - Part 2

#MCC Friday

Drive

Not quite Ryan Gosling, good old Jan turned up about 10 with his car, we got his drinks into my fridge and I double, triple checked I packed everything.
Turns out, I didn't pack any suntan lotion or after sun, something I walked passed approximately a bazillion times. A thing of note because, well, it was pretty damn sunny over the long weekend (and currently still is).

Yeah. My hair was going quite mental.

My original plan for the drive was to tweet abuse at the Thanet/ @IsleofFauxRecs lot on their drive up.
Post more random noises on twitter, possibly insulting Norfolk (I am quite predictable) and mostly anything funny I saw on the way.

One of the many "sites" on the way.
I laughed to myself about Roger Helmer.

Obviously, I was not going to be ignoring Jan, between listening to music from video games (Hotline Miami, Transistor), the radio and some good old Mad Capsule Markets we chatted a lot.
A bit of Malifaux talk, reading Jan's master achievements to him, wondering who we might be teamed with and who we were most looking forward to seeing.
The sun was beaming, but on the road, the breeze with an arm out the window felt like heaven.

One stop on the way because, well neither of us had eaten, saw us going into a McDonald's. Ugh.

I wasn't too keen so grabbed some cheesy bites and a double cheeseburger.
I also risked a Frappe and whoa, it was actually lush, cold chocolatey goodness.
Jan seemed to have a feast, a meal with sides and far too much shite but Jan was doing the driving so he would need the energy much more than I did.
Went to grab an energy drink, laughed at the "discount" price and did not bother.

"The NORTH" a site I was not happy to see.

Back on the road, more chatting and tweeting nonsense that hit an all time high thanks to the wonderful M25.

Near Heathrow was a standstill, one of those times where you realise you could get out and walk past the traffic.
This was horrid due to the heat, moving a snail pace meant no breeze and the sun was rearing it's yellow bastard face with it's biggest grin of the day.
A while past the M25 snail race, we could tell we were near Norfolk. Lacking signal, then signs about tractors, Marshall Manors was in sight.

Marshall Manors

Figuring out the right road to go up which Jan's sat-nav didn't even show, we pulled up the drive of the Marshall estate.

A view of not Mike's but Spooner's view from his.
What a beautiful day and a beautiful place to be.

The perfect double act were there to meet us.
Conrad (@nepalese_ninja) and Matt Spooner (@uberspoons).
These two are amongst the top most important people in the Malifaux community to me and I consider both great friends.

Like with Canterfaux a big factor of the weekend for me personally, which I am sure was the same for many others, was meeting people in real life that I had been chatting to on twitter for months or even over a year in some cases.
Matt and Conrad were on top of the list of people I was excited yet also nervous to see.
I said it in the Canterfaux report but where I may come across confident with my "Internet persona" for lack of a better term, tweeting, blogging and podcasting all over the place I have plenty of social anxieties.
At this point of my life things such as MCC are even harder for to deal with due some personal issues (do not worry I am not going to turn this into a sob section) and it isn't just difficult meeting new people.
It's scary.

Meeting new people is always scary, but I would like to state right here that for the most part, about 99% of the Malifaux community are wonderful people, even that 1% isn't bad eggs as such it's just not people I remotely click with.
Everyone is friendly welcoming and just generally, great, I probably said in part one but this was the single best thing about the weekend.
New people are scary as I have said, but for me the people I have become emotionally invested in via conversation through and over the Internet, the breakdown of that digital barrier is hugely frightening.
I was prepared a little better mentally thanks to meeting a good few people at Canterfaux, not to put people on tiers or pedestals but Spoons and Conrad are simply people I've spoken to a lot more.

Look at these fine young men.

The two of them though, sat in the shade at the front of Mike's house, cans of cider amongst them and in their hands; I could tell the heat was beating them up as much as it had me.
I got out of the car and one of the first things I did was go up to them and hug them both.

It seemed appropriate, some people it's a handshake, some people it's a hug.

As Jan and I got the car unpacked, the fridge being one of the important pieces as cold cider was calling me; it was great to just appreciate how nice Mike's house is and how awesome this weekend was without anything really happening.

Dave Brown aka Clouseau and some others were already at the hall setting up tables and possibly playing games.
A few tents were already up and once Jan got the car parked at the hall it was time to set ours up.
Now I will totally admit that as a "lad" "bloke" "real man" I am a failure, I dislike most sports, don't drink Beer, fill in the generic "manly" things here and I probably do not do them. I mean, I even put the toilet seat down usually.
Putting up a tent is something I had not done for about a decade and I was sure by his similar lack of skill that it was the same for Jan.
Luckily the tent was simple, just a nice four person pop-up summer tent.
We got the bits out, we pulled it up and it seemed very easy. Perfect.
Well, OK.
No.

See I missed what ended up being a simple case of pushing the top piece down to force the shape, I never looked for instructions and just didn't get (before figuring this out) why did it so easily fall down.
Frustration started to kick in a little because, let's be honest, who the hell wants to work this sort of thing out with the beaming hot sun and sweat on your brow.
Eventually we got there, after stopping, taking a few swigs of cider and clearing my head.
As a "man", though I definitely failed.

A few people having a nice drink in the shade.
At this point I was about to set the tent on fire.

During the tent fiasco Scott Porter (@barnaberible), the man that gave me the biggest Malifaux arse kicking I have had, dropped in to say Hi to everyone, as he could not be around for the evening.
Again, another nice social polite thing that was not necessary but added to the overall great atmosphere of the weekend.

Once this was sorted, Mike had arrived from (somewhere I can't remember) and it was good to see the man himself Mr Malifools in the flesh once more.

Dave Hill and Joe Wood were sat with their own chairs (something else I could have taken) and I believe at this point we were joined by Pete Wright.
Mike kindly offered Jan and I to be able to grab some chairs from the conservatory at the back of his house and we all sat down, drinking and enjoying the shade.
It was beautiful.

Some time passed and others started to arrive, the most memorable of which were the Thanet contingent of Ben, Austin and Jake.
Starting with Matt making a comedic reference to young Jake's "moobs" and typical @uberspoons chatter which I will avoid filling this blog post with too much.
One rude passing comment tickled Jan so much that he tried to laugh while drinking and coughed a Jager Bomb out of his mouth and through his nose. Later he stated it stung, I bet it did!

Where Jan and I had already failed at the tent game, Ben, Oz and Jake made us look good, instructions in hand and an extra person they still managed to take a lot longer.
Jake somehow ripped his shorts, which was extra hilarious and Oz after driving seemed far more bothered about getting to sit down.
They eventually got there too and Ben busted out pint glasses and some local beer he got a nice supply of before leaving.
The numbers increased, people started to return and it was time for some real food.
The Barbecue.

Sausagefest 

Another POV from Spooner, this time a kind of panoramic view.
I am holding my arm oddly thanks to the "Trucker's tan" starting to sting.

The group of us sat in the front in the shade picked up our chairs and moved around to the side of Mike's house, a garden bench started to be filled by plates, rolls and other bits while people either dropped off their meat.

Austin being the butcher he is was the main supplier of sausage, a couple of packs of gluten free for Mike's family were handed in then followed by two massive bags full of meat, more than enough to feed us all tonight and probably the next day.
Joe Wood took over cooking up the meat and as it cooked, it got stacked and more was put on.
Everyone being "typically English" (not that everyone was English) started a little too polite, not heading up to look like a pig.
However, it became apparent very quickly, that even having three hot dogs each did not even scratch the service combined with the burgers, sweet potato wedges, spicy chicken and all other amount of gorgeous food on display.

More people arrived, dropping off bits including food and the evening continued in this fashion for a nice while.
Sat between Ben Crowe and Jan, we chatted to Mr Bendyboards Lee Battrick about his new exciting terrain ventures as well as "the usual banter".
Austin Laughed.
Spooner swore.
The usual.

Amongst the people arriving, it was my first chance to ever meet Chris King (@lemonconstruct), easily recognisable as the longhaired student he first popped his head in and disappeared.
He did return shortly, came, and stood around with Jan and myself, who both really were glad to meet him.
I am sure Chris was nervous, as was I, but I feel that thanks to chatting over the Internet and even on @chasing_bacon his podcast, a lot of that initial barrier was already broken.
He is a good kid and I see a little bit of my young self in him. Which I'm sure if he reads this will freak him out.
Never mind.

As the evening went on, people got a little fuller and a little merrier, including myself thankfully borrowing a glass from Mike (which he did say I could have but I forgot, sorry Mr Marshall) and being able to make my favourite little Godfather-like cocktail of JD/Amaretto/Coke.
Ben had drunk his mega-sized bottle and already broke into some more booze in a box.
Several cans and bottles downed, Jan clearly a bit more than tipsy.
Off for some games.

Board. Games.

Oz's view from a game of Cash 'n' Guns from the corner.

As a big old human bus, we all trotted down to the village hall where the event would be.
The walk was thirty seconds to a minute at most, saying you could fall over and be there is an obvious exaggeration, but it was very close. Hell, my local shops are further away from my house.

Mike arrived with his daughter Rebecca, “Becks” and a copy of Cards Against Humanity in hand.
Becks was instantly a legend as any time Matt Spooner would swear she counted, making a tally of the filth that was coming out of his mouth and that he knew shouldn't around children.
It caused for quite a bit of laughter.
I decided to sit out but the Cards Against Humanity game must have had at least a dozen playing.
People were cringing, laughing, it was amazing.
One highlight for me was Becks getting a card that mentioned "pixelated Bukkake" with her saying, "I don't know what this is".
A lot of laughter with Spooner suggesting "Google it" with a sharp "NO!" by Mike.
In the end, I believe Rebecca even won the game, which was quite funny.

Between this I briefly headed back to the tent to get a drink and torch as were previously warned, "There is no street lighting".
Thankfully, Mike's house being as close as it was far from an issue to go back to just grab something.
Lee was still at the house helping and greeting some of the later arrivals and I could see some other great boardgames were going to have an outing. Rampage being a top one of note.

Speaking of boardgaming on my return, I noticed that Mike Hutchinson and his lovely wife Vanessa wanted to play something and had picked up one of the two games I had brought with me; Pandemic (the other was Blueprints).
Mike did not actually realise it was mine at first but I was not bothered, there were plenty of games lying around and I wasn't even there.
Mike and Vanessa along with Bruno Santos and his fiancé (if this is wrong I am sorry, I'm also sorry I cannot remember her name) started to set up and asked if I wanted to join.
Pandemic I believe is only really meant for four people but with five we all believed it might prove harder than easier.

For those who have not played Pandemic, shame on you, well unless boardgames aren't your thing.
Actually, shame on you for that.

Anyway, Pandemic is an amazing boardgame, easily in my top 5 and is all about cooperation.
The gist is that horrible diseases have broke out across the globe, you and the other players are all taking roles of people who are trying to stop these all spreading while also discovering the cures.
Roles range from Medic's who have the ability to cure a single place faster than others, to Operations Expert who can build facilities faster to the Scientist who is just faster at coming up with cures.
The game itself finds you fighting it, you need to find the cures for the four diseases while there is multiple ways you can lose, running out of cubes that represent disease representing that it has spread to far, drawing all the player cards meaning you've ran out of time, having too many breakouts which in a sense would show that it is all too uncontrollable.
Many other good games have used these mechanics in different ways and it is just brilliant in both its cleverness and simplicity.
Away from the mini review and into our own game, as with plenty of Pandemic sessions as a group we got very close to winning, three of four cures discovered, most cities under control but, probably thanks to the way the game works with more players we simply run out of cards and time.
Out of all four people I was playing with the only one who I had ever met in person was Mike.
Bruno and I had spoken on twitter but quite briefly and usually just me applauding his amazing painting skills.
Vanessa and Bruno's partner were both new to me, but a combination of things meant what could have been awkward really wasn't.

First off everyone was super friendly and nice, great people.
Secondly, I will say it again now and will say it again later, the general atmosphere was fantastic, friendly and welcoming and the last factor of note is Pandemic itself, it is a perfect opener for gaming.
You have to work together, the game is easy to get to grips with and the pacing is perfect.
As the game goes on, the difficulty ramps up and everyone gets more used to the mechanics and more importantly chatting to this person 10 minutes ago they had never met.
It was fantastic.

I think Matt may've been spying on me.

Note Becks and Mike giving people a schooling at Love Letter.

Everyone played more games, some serious sessions of 'Love Letter' were going down and I also got to play "Once Upon a Time".
I knew of this game before hand but unfortunately, late, with some slightly drunk people this game just turned into an advanced version of 'Snap'.
As a game, it didn't succeed but it was a great social experiment as such.

Last thing to note which was an epic start to the weekend was @iamsssk/ Dave had a present for me.
He had told me this on twitter a while a head and after receiving a lot of comedy mail from Spoons I wasn't sure what a "present" for me would consist of.
Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised, I was handed a brown padded envelope, inside were some chunky pieces, I open it and pull these wooden letters out one by one.
Then. I click.
M, E, a train? F, N, wait a second, G, another E, i, this spells Mei Feng.

Dave had this for himself but as he isn't playing her now and I guess I'm considered the Mei Feng player, it was passed on to me.

Thanks again Dr Dave

Thunderbolts and Lightning.

After grabbing Jan who had been watching Chris King playing X-Wing for most of the night.
11:30 we all were kicked out and headed back to the tent, my mini-lightsaber like torch helping us find the way in the pitch-black darkness.

Back in the tent after a very relieving poop (too much?) and nice chat with a few people at Mike's house we all got ready to sleep as it would be an early morning but Jan and I did have a good little chat.
Sleep however, was not on the menu as a main course for me.
First I was woke up as someone was being sick, I found it funny as I guess out of 30 people drinking it was bound to happen, all I hoped was it wasn't near the door of the tent.
I then woke up all of the sudden as I was freezing, shivering, the weather had changed and the temperature had dropped significantly, I grabbed a t-shirt from my bag in my sleepy state and almost instantly fell back asleep.
Until. Boom!

Thunder rumbled the ground a lightning so bright I could see it through my eyelids lit up the sky.
Along with this came rain, which my summer tent was not the perfect defence.
In an even more tired state, I sat up in my bed and just watched the flashes and water drip in a little from the sides of the tent.
I decided that, not knowing where the tent may leak I filled my bag with all my bits, watched the lightning a bit more and then gave up waiting for it to pass.
I guess I should be grateful though the weather keeping me up rather than Jan snoring was a relief.

On to Part 3

Next part will be #MCC as a Malifaux event truly kicks off.
If you only come to my blog for Malifaux solely then I apologise for the lack of it during part 1 and 2 of this report.
To me though, the social side of this event was more important than the Malifaux and most events you go to don't have the time to do so much with the social side.
This is why there is the evening meet up before September's Curse.
Saturday is where I will be kicking off the next part and as a spoiler, my stuff still got wet.

Cheers for continuing to read through this epic weekend report

-Ben (@psientologist)