Author insight: Blueprint Vocational

Why Did You Choose That Book?

Readers of Blueprint Vocational might want to understand why we included certain stories and movies. First and for most for BP Voc was the need to have exciting and engaging texts that vocational students would enjoy. Secondly they had to fit the theme of the chapter. So let’s take a closer look at each text.

Chapter 1

Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney

This novel excerpt was chosen simply because it involved a scary meeting, not between two people but between a human and a rattlesnake. This was generally considered the most tense and page-turning text in the book.

Falling Down

I couldn’t think of a better scene from a movie that demonstrates the principle “The customer is always right.” If you are wondering what happens to Bill Forster, rent the movie and watch his violent downward spiral.

Chapter 2

Until Proven Guilty by Nigel Hinton

Could my dad be a murderer? How many times have you thought that? Probably not very many. Nathan Holden probably never thought that either, but now he’ll be wondering that everyday. An interesting text that makes you wonder if anyone you know is criminal. Maybe you nice English teacher is hiding some dark secret in their closet.

Chapter 3

The Devil Wears Prada

Interviews are very nerve racking. If you say the right things, the job is maybe yours. If you come off like a baboon in the zoo, well … there’s always McDonald’s. Most of you haven’t had an interview yet, but it’s good to start thinking about what to do and what not to do. Learn from Andy’s mistakes.

Chapter 4

Trying to find a good text about advertising seemed impossible. I first thought about including an excerpt from e by Matthew Beaumont, but the texts were too difficult to follow for English 5 students. Then I happened to stumble across Canadian author Peter Seller’s “Advertising Hell.” Here was very interesting idea. So the devil comes to your ad agency and wants you to sell Hell as a tourist destination. How on Earth can you sell the devil. If you can find the out-of-print book, Whistling Past the Graveyard: Stories of Bizarre Crime and Dark Fantasy, you can read the entire story and sell how the devil traps these two hot-shot ad peddlers. This was my personal favorite text in the book.

Chapter 5

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I studied Native American literature in the US and Canada, so I was happily surprised when Monica suggested this text. Sherman’s book poignant, humorous and insightful. I know there aren’t many (if any) Native American’s in Sweden, but Arnold’s school troubles should be familiar to any minority in Sweden. Those of you who are in the majority, might want to read this text to see what it feels like to be shut out on the outside looking in.

Extreme Measures

I haven’t seen this film, but the excerpt clearly defines a life-and-death moral dilemma. If you could save only one person which one would you choose. For some it’s an easy question for others, it’s not so black and white.

Chapter 6

Totally Joe by James Howe

This one’s mainly for the manly vehicle program guys (and gals). But everyone, no matter what your program, should think about gender roles and stereotypes. What is a boy-boy or a girl-girl? Why does our society make such stereotypes? 

Dear Nobody by Berlie Doherty

This may seem like a girl-only story, but even any guy who has heard the phrase, “My period is late,” should be able to relate to this story too. A touchy subject, but Berlie handles it well as you get to go into Helen’s confuse and bewildered mind.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Again! Yes, this text was the best we could find about a common situation we’ve all faced at one time or anther: to lie, or not to lie. Arnold’s getting along better with his white classmates and is even dating one. Will he still be dating her if she finds out he’s been lying? 

Review: Space Infantry

Space Infantry

Lock n’ Load Publishing

Number of players: 1

Time: 20–30 mins.

Web: http://zak965.it/spaceinfantry/

Price: 399 SEK

Space Infantry is a solo, squad-level,  sci-fi wargame. Gottardo Zancani has tried to make a fast and easy game that simulates space marines on various missions against 6  different alien enemies. The game comes with 8 standard missions and 6 special Hive missions. Your squad is chosen from 14 different soldiers and specialists (e.g., medic, demolitions, scout).

The components have nice realistic illustrations that should appeal to people, like me, who find GW’s space marines too comic-booky. The game looks nice even if it only has cards, chits, tiles and paper. Most of the components are of very high quality, with glossy coating. However, the mission and enemy sheets are printed on low-quality paper. 

The quality of the bits was tested by my 7-year-old son, Miles, when he spilled milk all over my Hive tiles and numerous chits. While screaming and cursing, I frantically cleaned off all the bits and pieces with a microfiber washcloth. Nothing was damaged due to the quality of the bits. I posted a comment about the incident on boardgamegeek.com and the owner of Lock n’ Load offered me a replacement. I declined his offer, but was pleasantly surprised to receive it. Since then I have laminated the sheets. 

There are three ways to play the game. You can play a standard mission, a Hive mission, or run a campaign. For most missions, you have only 30 turns to reach your objective. 

A standard mission feels like puzzle. You have the map with all skill checks (e.g., Advance, Science, Repair, Melee, Fire), resource caches and most of the objective information (depends on the mission) shown right on the map. After you randomly pick the enemy, all you need to do is study the map and enemy well before picking squad members and 8 resources. You should be able to plan exactly where you will go and what skills and resources you will need to reach your objective. Then it is just to play the game watch your plan unfold. 

Hive missions, however, are much trickier, since there are many unknowns. The map is made by placing tiles as you explore. There are strict rules for tile placement that can force you to place a favorable tile far away from your marines. You need to prepare for different contingencies and be ready to backtrack to get to a different tile. Time is more of an enemy than the aliens during Hive missions. 

When playing in campaign mode, you go through 8 different missions randomly chosen from both standard and Hive missions. Squad members earn XP that they can spend on special traits, becoming veterans or increasing skill levels. Before starting a mission, you can also choose to use up to 2 strategic options, like giving 2 marines power armor, recruiting a new squad member to replace someone who has died, and extra resources.  You earn victory points for achieving the objective, saving resources, getting it done quickly, using few points worth of soldiers, and using less than 2 strategic options. You will lose victory points for aborting and failing (especially if everyone dies). The invested interest in your troopers and the risk involved in trying to get more victory points adds a great deal of tension to the game.

The game uses numbered chits that you draw from a cup to created a random number instead of using dice. There are 20 different chits for this: 1 zero, 3 of every number from 1–6 and 1 + that allows you to pick to more chits and add them together. “Okay,” you think, “they could have just used a special 20-sided die.” However, in the game, all numbers are unique and are placed on the squad member’s card or by the enemy on the enemy sheet each time a skill check or firefight is made. So during a battle between 5 troopers and 5 aliens, you take out 10 (or 12 if the + was drawn) chits and place them in order on your troopers and then the aliens. This is much quicker than rolling the die 10 or 12 times. Also if you draw lots of high numbers and the + for your guys, the enemy will have worse number to choose from (the reverse is also true). Having the numbers right there on the cards allows you to very quickly see how many successes you got. 

So if you love solo games, Space Infantry is a fantastically fun game when played in campaign mode, in which you have an invested interest in your soldiers. You have to take risks by bidding low (fewer marines) and not using strategic options to gain victory points, but you don’t want you newly buffed-up vets to get wasted either. However, if you just play an isolated mission (especially a standard mission), the experience will not be as rewarding. This game has kicked Space Hulk: Death Angel out of my gaming shelves. 

Blueprint Vocational!

My latest book, Blueprint Vocational, has been out for several weeks now. I still haven't been paid for it. Grr.

You can buy it here: http://www.adlibris.com/se/product.aspx?isbn=9147092165.

Oh well. At the end of a grinding rewriting period, I really started to hate this book. I can't even read it now.  However, it should be a better teaching tool for all the hard work Christer, Monica and I put into it. I think it's the best textbook for vocational students in Sweden, but then again, I'm a little biased. :-)

Video Review #7

Island of Wak-Wak #7 Space Hulk Death Angel from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.

Back from vacation!

I tried to sneak this review in while all the kids were out. Marek came back in and wasn't happy with his papa.

See why we think Fantasy Flight Games's Space Hulk: Death Angel the Card Game is a total dude and the winner of the 2010 Turkey Award.

Maybe we just don't grok this game, but for us it is absolutely no fun and a frustrating waste of time.

Cthulhu Hex Prototype

Here is a sneak peak at the first prototype for Cthulhu Hex. I'll make color prototype in July when I have access to a color laser printer.

Overview

The high priest for the secret cult Cthulthu’s Dreams approaches you with a mischievous smile. “Acolyte, I need to talk to you,” he says while putting his arm around your shoulder. “Now is the time for you to show your worth to our order and your willingness to further Cthulhu’s great will. You have been chosen to enter the Dreamlands to recruit creatures for our cause. When the stars are right, there will be a great battle and we need to make sure our forces will come out on top.”

“B … b … but … how can I do that?” you ask while hoping that the high priest doesn’t notice the large drops of sweat that have started dripping down your forehead.

“Easy, my son. You’ll convert them by force.”

Cthulhu Hex is an abstract game between two players. Each player fields a force of monster tiles to place on a hex map, trying to convert each other’s tiles by inflicting enough damage to make them “see the light.” When all the hexes are filled, the player with the majority of tiles in play wins.

Playtesters Needed

Let me know if you want to playtest this game.

Video Review #6

Island of Wak-Wak #6 Tannhaeuser Equipment Cards Challenge from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.

Marek and I take a light-heart approach to seeing how much time is saved when using the Equipment Cards to set-up the game.

This isn't really a review, but a light-hearted look at the Equipment Cards that should have come with the base game. If you play Tannhäuser, you really need to get this pack to speed up set-up and game play.

Okko Era of the Karasu review and more

Here is a link to Marek and my video review of the expansion for Okko (Era of the Karasu).

Island of Wak Wak #5 Okko + Era of the Karasu from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.
Marek and I give our opinions on how Era of the Karasu improve the tactical miniatures game, Okko, which is based on Hub's graphic novels (Okko, the Cycle of Water, the Cycle of Air, etc.)

Next we'll be going over how Equipment Cards affect Tannhäuser.

I've also received many custom-built hex tiles that I'm using to make a protype for a new game: Cthulhu Hex. I'll post a how to play video about the little abstract game soon as well.