#Brass birmingham upgrades

[pineroffshore]

Brass birmingham upgrades

It’s one of the best games in my collection. Over the years I think Bezier Games got the message about the look of this game since they’ve now released a really pretty looking Collectors Edition of Suburbia as well as a more striking retail version.īrass – Next up is a game that I know people avoided due to the way it looks despite it being one of the best route building economic games out there, and that’s Brass from Martin Wallace. What really makes this one shine is the amount of player interaction due to the way many of the building tiles are modified by having multiple of the same type in play. Each round you will be drafting tiles and adding them to your growing cityscape trying to balance population growth, reputation and income. If you’re not familiar with it Suburbia is a medium to slightly heavy weight city building, economic, resource management, tile laying game where each player is trying to build their own suburban area. I’m glad you picked this up, it’s really good!” I remember Deanna’s comment was something like, “I take it back. That night we played the game for the first time and both loved it. If it wasn’t for that research, I would never even have picked up this box to look at the other side. The thing is, I did my research before our trip and Suburbia was one of the games on my watchlist. And I remember Deanna pointing out that the back of the box looked even less appealing. Does that look like a fun and engaging game? I sure don’t think so. When we did meet up and I showed her what I bought her first response was “Of all the games they had there you bought that?!?” That game was Suburbia. I spent far too long looking at games, long enough that Deanna got bored and decided to meet up with me later. My wife and I were on vacation in Toronto, visiting the newly moved 401 Games (an FLGS that happened to have the most board games for sale in one place that I’d ever seen). Suburbia – When thinking about this topic the first game that comes to mind for me is Suburbia and the story of the day I bought it. One last thing before I get to the actual list, you can listen to Sean and I discuss this topic on The Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast episode 145, Not As Bad As They Look.īoard Games that played better than they looked: This isn’t something I have personal experience with (nor does anyone in my regular gaming group) and I didn’t feel qualified to include games with that problem due to that. Something that I did not get into is games that have their play impacted by the fact that they weren’t designed with colour blindness in mind. The goal here is to highlight some amazing games that people may have overlooked and to celebrate those games for being great regardless of how anyone thinks they look. That doesn’t mean these are bad games in any way, or that you should be insulted that a game you think looks great made this list of bad looking games. The point being is that the games on this list weren’t appealing to me and my group. What one player considers an ugly game another may think is perfectly designed due to the ease of play. Some gamers are much more interested in the mechanics of a game and how functional the components are over how visually appealing and tied to the theme they are. However, I feel that this particular list is even more subjective than usual.īesides the fact that appreciation for art, form and function are very personal, with board games, there’s another big divide, that of theme vs. It’s based on the games we’ve personally played as well as many personal tastes and aesthetics. Thanks so much for the great question and for your support Kevin!Īny time we put together a list like this it should be pretty obvious that what games make or don’t make the list is very subjective. What are some games that didn’t appeal to you by sight but you were blown away when you played them? Keven Renaud, Tabletop Bellhop Patreon patron, wrote to ask, You shouldn’t necessarily judge a board game by its appearance: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Using these links doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps support this blog and podcast. These are all great board games that were much better than they looked at first glance.ĭisclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. In this article, I present 15 such games. You know, those board games people may have skipped over because of how they looked. He was looking for games that didn’t catch our eyes but ended up being fantastic once we actually played them. Long time Bellhop fan Kevin wrote in asking if we had experienced any unappealing board games that ended up being great.

[lazymains]

Brass birmingham upgrades

#Brass birmingham upgrades serial numbers#

#Brass birmingham upgrades serial#

Although it was a German edition, the gameplay is completely language-independent. Playing time: 1-3 hours, depending on player countĬomplexity: heavy The game was kindly provided to us by Feuerland Spiele. Factsĭesigners: Jens Drögemüller, Helge Ostertag I think this gives this review extra value, especially for players that are not in the hobby that long. Therefore I can review and judge Gaia Project as a game on its own, without any prejudice. I have the privilege of not having played Terra Mystica. So a direct comparison is in order.īut not my review. Most of the Gaia Project reviews I’ve read start use Terra Mystica as a cue. Is Gaia Project rightfully at P8 of all-time best board games on boardgamegeek? Introduction to Gaia Project Board Game Review It’s the second edition of an excellent game, boarding perfection. The most obvious alteration, on completion of the conversion was a second roman “1” stamped onto the action to denote its upgrade, and the stock roundel was stamped with a second “1”.In this Gaia Project Board Game Review, read about one of the more complex strategy games on the market.

#Brass birmingham upgrades serial#

rifle only the Barrel, Action and Sight ladder were to be subsequently marked with serial numbers.

#Brass birmingham upgrades serial numbers#

During the process of upgrade the component parts became interchanged, as a result the serial numbers were no longer desired to be matching to the block and lever, as a consequence, from the MkII. third pattern, ultimately upgraded to a MkII. second pattern rifle, with the crescent shape infill to the axis pin and safety slot adjacent to the trigger, then upgraded to Mk1. Upgraded rifles, dated 1872-1874 showing the evidence of being a Mk1. Externally the sight ladder and sliders were altered, and the muzzle crown was filed to remove the countersunk head. The block was then browned (blued) in solution. 3/8” x 9/16” was milled into the base to clear the new tumbler. The breech block was stripped of pin, spring and lock nut, and a slot approx. (Brass will not accept blue, today, a thin brass joint can often be seen where brazed joint has been effected). The trigger assembly was de-greased the area and a hooded trigger axis was then brazed into place. A reamer was employed to cut away the original trigger axis in the trigger assembly. The tumbler, tumbler rest and transverse screw were dispensed with. In the process of upgrade the actions were removed and the following actions undertaken. By 20.1.79 it was reported over 300,000 Mk1's remained unconverted but work was expected to have been completed by March 1880.Ĭonverting those 450,000 Mk1 rifles produced by the factory and the two trade manufacturers to the new classification cost 2s per rifle. The Small arms store at Weedon had begun an immediate alteration to rifles in the store, with 125,771 being converted by March 1878 with components made at Enfield, those in service took longer, by only 18,000 Mk1 rifles in the hands of the troops had been converted to home and Ireland. Contrary to popular belief, the upgrade could not be carried out in the field by regimental artificers. **not always carried out**ĥ) The sight ladder had a deeper notch cut into the cap, It had been complained that the earlier Mk1 pattern shallow “V” notch did not facilitate accurate sighting, in particular at ranges between 100-400 yards with the ladder laid flat on the sight bed.Ī program of conversion began to be implemented of the 450,000 Mk1. The sealed pattern new arm was presented on 25 April 1877 and on the 27 April 1877 the MkII arm was accepted for manufacture, List Of Change 3193: Arms, Interchangeable,-Rifle Breech loading, Martini Henry, with Clearing Rod MkII.ġ) To remedy the miss-fire faults, the trigger assembly was completely redesigned and a far more robust single part tumbler introduced.Ģ) A shrouded axis to protect the trigger nose from dirt ingress was installed.ģ) The new sized tumbler required a 3/8” x 9/16” slot cutting into the bottom of the breech block to clear the top of the new tumblerĤ) The extractor was altered for the new parallel base pattern to give a more robust extraction. The alterations were approved on the 18th February 1876 by the Secretary of State for war Lord Cranbrook. “20 Rifles with the new pattern tumbler, trigger and altered guard gave to following results:Ģnd Tumbler rest axis screw dispensed withģrd Guard encloses trigger so no sand or dust can interfere with the working of the trigger.” Close forwarded a memorandum to the war office on 5th October 1875. 26th Jan 1876 a conference at the War office met to discuss the potential upgrades to the MkI Martini Henry, proposed by Supt Close of the Royal Small Factory.

[contentsoftable]

10 Games That are Still Good for Two

These games were designed for more players but come with 2-player variants and we still enjoy them.

1. BRASS: LANCASHIRE or BRASS: BIRMINGHAM

Designers: Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman, Martin Wallace Publisher: Roxley Theme: Industrial Revolution, England

We haven’t decided if we prefer Lancashire or Birmingham. For two players, Lancashire offers a smaller and tighter map so you feel like you are competing for limited locations to move your coal, steel, cotton... There is more tension. Birmingham is a larger map with more things to acquire, and more things to do (eg, all sales transactions require sufficient beer). On your turn you play 2 cards to build canal or rail links between cities, develop industries, buy and sell goods… Yes, this sounds like any other worker placement game, but Brass is really well-done, and the moody art is stunning.

2. CYCLADES

Designers: Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc Publisher: Matagot Theme: Greek Mythology

We love Greek mythology! If you are after a cut-throat battle in Ancient Greece, Cyclades is it! On your turn, you are bidding for help from the Gods (each one bestowing different powers), conquering islands, and recruiting creatures of myth and legend. The first player to establish three Metropolises (2-player variant) or collect four Philosophers is the winner. Sink your enemy’s ships! Release the Kraken!

3. BUNNY KINGDOM

Designer: Richard Garfield Publisher: IELLO Theme: Feudal Bunnies

We picked up a more intuitive 2-player rule variant from the BGG forums; and don’t use the official one in the rule book. In this game, you are controlling as much space and as many different resources as possible to get the most points. Points are calculated by multiplying castle turrets with unique resources in each “bunny fief,” plus bonus card bonuses. There is a lot of math involved...

4. TERRAFORMING MARS

Designer: Jacob Fryxelius Publisher: FryxGames Theme: Corporations compete to terraform Mars

We play with the “Prelude” and “Venus Next” expansions. 

On Mars, your goal is to raise the temperature, build cities, plant greenery to generate oxygen and create oceans, while making as much money as possible - which allows you to do more terraforming. The game ends when Mars is terraformed and the player with the most points wins. Warning: The card images are bland and awful, and the game itself is quite long and meditative. We play with upgraded 3D tiles (bought on Etsy) which make such a difference to the overall table presence of the game.

5. ABOMINATION: HEIR OF FRANKENSTEIN

Designer: Dan Blanchett Publisher: Plaid Hat Games Theme: Collect body parts to build a monster

A game sequel to Mary Shelley’s book. You are a scientist in 18th century Paris - sending your assistants to different locations (Cemetery, Hospital, Morgue, Docks, etc) to collect organs, muscle, bone and blood to build and bring a creature to life before the law catches up to ypu. You also need to keep your body parts fresh to score more points, and roll dice to charge your leden jars. The art is very gruesome and we love how thematic this game is. Better with 3 or more players but still fun with 2.

*We upgraded our components (purchased on Etsy).

6. GHOST STORIES

Designer: Antoine Bauza Publisher: Repos Productions Theme: You are Taoist monks fighting Chinese ghosts

This co-operative game is best for 4 players/monks but the 2-player variant is still fun. The imagery and components are amazing in this game. The ghosts come in four types - blue water ghosts, green plague ghosts, red blood ghosts, and yellow ghouls and zombies. They are relentless and there is a lot of tension in a whack-a-mole sense. To win, you have to exorcise all the ghosts (with die rolls and tokens), save the villagers, not die, and defeat Wu Feng, the most evil of them all.

*We insist on the White Moon expansion or you will never win!

7. TZOLK’IN, THE MAYAN CALENDAR

Designers: Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini Publisher: Czech Games Edition Theme: Mayan civilization

The board is amazing - with six turning “pyramid” wheels and so much to do. On each turn you either place or pick up your workers to gain resources (corn, wood, iron, gold etc), build buildings, advance on the “technology track” or make offerings to the Gods. There is a lot of corn involved which is also important for feeding your workers. Tzolk’in requires learning what all the icons mean, and serious forward planning because those wheels keep turning and worker locations change and the game can end before you get to do the thing you really wanted to do!

For the two-player variant, dummy workers are placed on the wheels.

8. BLACK ORCHESTRA

Designers: Philip duBarry Publisher: Game Salute Theme: Killing Hitler, World War 2

This co-operative game plays better with at least 3 players but there is no shortage of tension and excitement with 2. Over several rounds, you are preparing all the elements and planning the perfect moment to assassinate Hitler. At random moments, you are raided by the Gestapo, and being thrown in jail is really rough. However, winning Black Orchestra is the most satisfying board game victory ever.

9. YOKOHAMA

Designer: Hisashi Hayashi Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games Theme: Trading in the Meiji Period, Japan

Yokohama’s table presence can feel overwhelming at first because there are so many board pieces and different cards that go on top of the boards, in addition to your own “warehouse” boards consisting of workers, trading houses, and shops. The variability of this set-up makes the game fun and very replayable.

In Yokohama, you are a President moving around doing business:  manufacturing products (tea, silk, fish, copper), building shops, implementing new technology, importing and exporting goods. We love that there are so many different ways to score points, and we can never tell who is going to win until the very end. 

*In the two-player variant which has less locations, we prefer to replace the Bank with Chinatown.

10. THE BLOODY INN

Designer: Nicolas Robert Publisher: Pearl Games Theme: You’re a murderous innkeeper in 18th century France

We love the theme and art on the cards! The rules are a little complicated at first because each card has multiple actions that happen at different times. On each round, new guests arrive at your inn. You can either bribe them, murder them, build an annex, bury and rob a corpse, or launder money while avoiding the police. At the end of the game, the player with the most francs is the winner.

*This game plays up to 4. We play with “The Carnies” expansion.

[junker-town]

Can new head coach Joe Judge be the one who saves the Giants?

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Judge was a special teams savant with the Patriots. Can he save the Giants?

Bill Belichick’s coaching tree just grew another branch. The New York Giants, making their third major hire in four years, have pegged Patriots special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach Joe Judge as their next head coach.

After requesting interviews with candidates like Mike McCarthy, Josh McDaniels, Matt Rhule, and Eric Bieniemy, Giants owner John Mara settled on the 38-year-old New England assistant. Judge will take over a team coming off three straight losing seasons and six losing campaigns in the last seven years. Can he be the catalyst for a turnaround in New York?

There are reasons to believe he can — and reasons to doubt he’ll get there.

Judge did a great job with the Patriots’ special teams (but couldn’t help a depleted WR corps)

The latest Giants head coach came to the Patriots through one of Belichick’s favorite pipelines: Nick Saban. Judge, a former Mississippi State graduate assistant and linebackers coach at Division III Birmingham-Southern, was hired as a special teams assistant at the University of Alabama in 2009. Three seasons (and two national championships) led him to New England, where he assumed the same role for the Patriots in 2012.

Judge spent three seasons as an assistant before being promoted to special teams coordinator in 2016. He’d add “wide receivers coach” to his title before the 2019 season, overseeing a group that at one point featured Julian Edelman, Antonio Brown, and Josh Gordon but finished the season with Edelman, newly acquired Mohamed Sanu, and rookie N’Keal Harry as Tom Brady’s top three targets.

Let’s start with his work as ST coordinator. Under Judge, the Patriots became one of the most opportunistic teams in the NFL. After failing to block a punt in 2016, his units ranked sixth, third, and then first in the league in that category the last three seasons. New England’s four blocked punts were double the next closest team in 2019. Each led to touchdowns — including the team’s only trip to the end zone in a 13-9 win over the Cowboys.

There were other signs of the discipline and skill Judge instilled in his unit. The Pats ranked in the top 10 in opponent net yards per punt the last three seasons and in the top five each of the past two years. His group failed to allow a single blocked field goal with a healthy Stephen Gostkowski in the lineup from 2016-18. That impeccable record tailed off in 2019 as Gostkowski missed all but four games with a hip injury (and was visibly diminished in those four games). Still, New England managed to convert on 85 percent of its non-blocked field goals (14th-best in the NFL) in a season when it was forced to rotate through four different kickers.

Judge’s tenure as receivers coach wasn’t as successful, but was a much bigger challenge. Rather than working with All-Pros like Matthew Slater and Nate Ebner, the special teams coordinator was tasked with holding together an undermanned unit that was picked apart by injuries, attrition, and little help from a Rob Gronkowski-less tight end corps. While standby Julian Edelman had a typically productive year, Harry, Sanu, and Phillip Dorsett combined for just 709 receiving yards in 29 total games between them.

He’ll get the chance to work with an upgraded unit in New York, headlined by Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and rising rookie Darius Slayton. That’s cause for optimism — but the Giants should still be wary of hiring an assistant away from the Patriots.

Belichick’s coaching tree hasn’t borne much fruit

Belichick assistants have long been a hot commodity when it comes to NFL coaching searches. Ten of his former employees have been promoted to head coaching roles since 2000, with limited success.

Only O’Brien has sustained a winning record over multiple seasons as head coach. He’s also the only former Belichick assistant to have won a playoff game — though Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who spent eight years playing defense, special teams, and occasionally offense for Belichick’s Patriots was able to upend his former coach in this year’s Wild Card Round.

That hasn’t kept NFL teams from raiding New England’s coaching staff when they need to name a new sideline general. That practice has actually ramped up in recent years thanks to the hirings of Patricia (Lions), Flores (Dolphins), and now Judge. McDaniels, who reneged on an oral agreement to become the Colts’ head coach in 2018, could also find himself in a new home should the Browns come calling after interviewing him.

What does this mean for the Giants’ budding offense (and Daniel Jones)?

Honestly? It’s too soon to tell.

Judge doesn’t have a background as a play caller, though he must have impressed the Giants’ brass with his plans for the future. His tenure in New York will ultimately be judged on how Jones develops under his wing. The 2019 first-round pick had moments of absolute brilliance — he’s only one of three rookies to throw 4+ touchdown passes in at least three different games — but was also racked by avoidable mistakes and a myriad of regrettable turnovers.

He won’t be solely responsible for Jones’ growth, which is why the team’s offensive coordinator hire will be so important. Though Jason Garrett’s name was bandied about early in the hiring process, Judge will be given the latitude to hire his own coaching staff:

A clarification from earlier: The Giants have NOT requested permission to speak to Jason Garrett about their offensive coordinator job, per a source. Their request was for their head coaching job, obviously before they decided to hire Joe Judge. Judge will get to pick his staff.

— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) January 7, 2020

Installing the right scheme around Jones, dynamic dual-threat tailback Saquon Barkley, and an underrated receiving corps (Tate, Shepard, Slayton, and game-breaking tight end Evan Engram) will be paramount to this team’s success.

Some of that responsibility will fall on general manager Dave Gettleman, however. The Giants need to plug the holes across a leaky offensive line and upgrade a defense that ranked 30th in the NFL in points allowed for Judge to have a shot at improving a disappointing New York team. And Judge, thanks to a limited history as a coach, will have to find the right assistants to turn whatever potential Gettleman brings to the roster into on-field production.

Judge is an outside-the-box hire as a special teams coordinator, but also a conceptual retread as the latest assistant plucked from under Bill Belichick’s wing. The Giants are taking a risk on a relatively untested commodity just one season after a similar bet failed to pay off for Freddie Kitchens and the Browns. Promoting a special teams coordinator worked for the Ravens when they hired John Harbaugh (previously special teams and defensive backs coach with the Eagles), but otherwise it’s a lightly trod path in the NFL.

Can Judge be part of the select few who can turn his experience with the Patriot Way into a Patriot-like run to the top of the division? Or will New York ultimately regret its decision to hire a more experienced up-and-comer like Matt Rhule, Eric Bieniemy, Kris Richard, or even McDaniels? It may all come down to who Judge surrounds himself with in his head coaching debut.