Games you are playing or enjoyed playing lately (except FL/CF)

Heh, I also have a similar game known as Chuzzle, I play it when I just want to relax
Also, Plants vs. Zombies has Bejeweled and Bejeweled Twist style mini-games.

soz Michael for the accident dislike, was trying to hit reply

Another game I found which was really time consuming and fun at the same time, is Age of Dominion RTS. You start off with a town post and a hero and you are supposed to upgrade and make a kingdom out of it, the catch is that you also have to kill other creatures who often try to attack you. Due to the fact that your soldiers are weaklings in the eyes of these creatures, you have to try train numerous ones which cost a heapload of resources and later on upgrade them. Killing monsters has it's usefullness due to the fact that they drop heaps of gold. However, it may not be worth it if your whole army died just to kill a Skeletal Shaman or Capt.Orc.

Some games I played in the past which were also great.

Worms Armageddon
Age of Empire (incl. addon) and Age of Kings (incl. addon).
Unreal, Unreal: Return to Na Pali and Unreal II: The Awakening

Yeah, I've gotta admit, Worms is hella fun.
By now my interest is well taken by Warcraft III TFT, I am making a couple of campaigns for it. I pretty much equally like all four factions.
My most favorite units, however, are Death Knights and Crypt Lords. The former, despite a scary title, is actually your healer: he's got a healing ability (or a combat ability) and a regeneration aura. The latter is a tank, plain and simple. Well, the bug can also stunlock a bunch of units and create some reinforcements.

Quote from [DP] dark68360

why all your message in swat portal have the "<p>" and "</p>"

because for whatever reason it puts them in whenever i quote someone or something, and I couldn't be bothered to fix it.

but then sometimes it's just find, idek.

Played Hearthstone yesterday, finally crafted Patches the Pirate (1 mana legendary 1/1 Charge, when you summon another Pirate, put this from your deck onto the board). Put down most of my dust on it and had to disenchant Sergeant Sally, but I suppose it's gonna be worth it.
So basically I jammed him into my midrange Warrior deck and started wrecking faces. I was all "we need no brains anymore, everything goes to the face, Lok'Tar Ogar".
That is, until I got a couple of misplays and then got into a standoff with a Warlock, which I won thanks to 14/14 C'Thun. Yes, that unholy contraption worked somehow (C'Thun decks tend to be slower, afterall C'Thun is 10 mana and requires to be buffed up first - so you also have to take his crew). Opponent had Y'Shaarj on the board but still needed 10 more damage to wreck my face, meanwhile he was on 2 HP and I had Heroic Strike in my hand.
It's fun how when I just got C'Thun (a player gets him if they open a Whispers of Old Gods booster pack), I wanted to disenchant him. Now, I think he's quite a valuable addition that allows you to build a decent thematic deck. Not to mention he and his crew won me quite a lot of matches.
And when he gets shifted off Standart (which is next year) I'll probably get 1600 dust for having him. Not to mention the dust I'll get for having some C'Thun-synergetic cards. How convenient.

I do have a pure Pirate Warrior deck in development, just need a couple more cards. Probably I'll just stuff two Wolfriders (3 mana basic 3/1 Charge) and Mortal Strike (an offensive spell) and call it a day.

It's ironic how Warrior class can either play either as Pirate Warrior who can wreck your face by turn 4 or Control Warrior who simply outlasts the opponent (player characters start taking fatigue damage when they run out of cards). The two are polar opposites.
My current Warrior deck plays like a mix of both. I had games where I pulled out turn 7 lethals, and the games where I had 3 cards remaining and >30 hit points total (Warrior's Hero Power gives +2 Armor, which is basically additional HP - which, however, doesn't count towards purposes of Mortal Strike, Revenge or Lexy; there are also Armor-generating cards available as well as Shield Slam).

A bit of an update, had a freaking pitched battle yesterday, as Shaman vs. Mage. The opponent was full of spells to try and keep the board clean as well as flak ton of Spell Damage minions. But not quite enough meat to finish my face off. He spent two Flamestrikes, two Arcane Explosions and IIRC two Frost Novas, and still got finished off by a bunch of totems under Bloodlust.
(Bloodlust: 5 mana basic spell: your minions have +3 damage this turn)
My University groupmates who also play HS keep telling me Bloodlust is an awful card. I think it's rather situational. If you have an empty board it does nothing. If you have a full board you get +21 damage total (not accounting for Windfury minions). Works as a sudden finisher for when your opponent decides to spare your board full of seemingly harmless 0/2 tokens you summoned with your Hero Power.

I still have to craft the Doomhammer (5 mana epic weapon 2/8 Windfury, Overload 2) because dealing 10 damage from face under Rockbiter Weapon is just rad. Smack, smack!

I managed to obtain a copy of Starpoint Gemini 2 as well as the Origins DLC for free around the time of the release of Starpoint Gemini Warlords. This game feels very much like Freelancer except with a X Series level of complexity. I'm thinking i'll write a blog on here about my adventures. The amount of content in this game in incredible! It's rather repetitious and definitely a grinder. There is a dynamic-enough economy and a fairly simple way to track prices of commodities across the Gemini sector.

Ship Combat can be a challenge. You can adjust power to various systems (engines, shields and weapons) and set your turrets to "fire at a will" which certainly helps combating multiple enemies. All the ships within the game could be considered "capital-class" with at least 30+ crew members and can reach up to 600 meters long. There are only a handful of weapons types: Beam, Plasma and Projectile and each has different characteristics to invoke different damages. You can also add sub-systems to different components including cloak, engines, grapple claw, weapons, sensors etc and augment their abilities.

There is a storyline and i'm only a handful of missions in. There are also storylines and freelance missions far more varied than Freelancer has ranging from maintenance ops, science mission, taxi and deliver people and goods, smuggling, escort and patrol missions plus a few others. don't forget side missions!

And it looks good too. The music is not bad either. Battle Music could be more epic i think.

Unfortunately, no multiplayer. Maybe for the better who knows?

Starpoint Gemini: Origins is supposedly the first game remastered into a free DLC. Will play that after i finish SG2

I heard MechWarriors making a comeback

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

well, i do it again ...

since there is coming a new part of this series (as posted here)

oh, and don't forget about the prequel of the new order:

Not sure if any of you play or have played Arma but i'm getting a tournament started. We have a server with 30 custom made maps based on King of the Hill.

[Recruiting]Global Conflict Arma 3 : FindAUnit

^ Link to the reddit post which has server and forums info

The Forest

Mom to son: "What did you do this afternoon?"
Son: "I was in The Forest"
Mom: "Oh good, finally you go outside again"

CoD: Infinite Warfare

Contrary to what people says about it, I think they are just having a hissy fit due to being killed by Bots/players all the time.

Unlike most other CoD, this one features Thrusters and wall running. Which enables you to jump atop other buildings and whatnot to surprise the enemy. However sometimes the enemy can surprise you. It still features some weapons found in other CoD like the M1 and a few others.

My favourite weapon loadout was the Type-2 AR which also features all the extras like Muzzles, and sights which render's this weapon a favourite for some people. Shotguns are absolutely OP up close. Whenever you run past the enemy without knowing, you barely have a second until you get PWN'd in the back. Then there are the campers, I camped once and it satisfied all my needs. My ideal choice for this is the widowmaker, as it delivers two bullets per shot which if you aim rightly, can sometimes often kill two or more people in a row. My first and only time camping, I managed to get all my perks as well as my Rig weapon/utility unlocked to use. However, it is more fun to camp in CTF.

All in all, those who don't think it's fun, once you try all the possible ways to win, it gets a whole lot more fun, and even more strategies open up to you.

Well, something along these lines... Call Of Duty World At War, multiplayer against bots (I usually don't play online). Basically classic CoD, except it's a bit more graphic (explosions, shotguns, heavy machine guns and PTRS-41 tear player characters apart).

Offers several classes of weapons: Rifles (semiautomatic rifles and full-auto StG-44), Submachine Guns, Machine Guns (either light machine guns like Type 99 or BAR, and heavy MG-42 and Browning M1919), Shotguns and Magazine Rifles (bolt-action, except for semiautomatic PTRS-41). Pistols are backup weapons which are handy if you have Second Chance, I tend to stick to .357 Magnum (if I have a fast reload perk) or TT-33 (If I don't).

My personal favorite is DP-28 LMG. To me it offers a good compromise between accuracy, rate of fire, damage and magazine size (47 rounds). The downside is that said magazine obscures a sizeable part of view when aiming, but it has good iron sights. It also has a high recoil and rather hard to control on long bursts. Can't mount anything that isn't bipod, not that it needs to. Unlocked quite early too. As I have noticed the DP eats through ammunition pretty fast, even though compared to other LMGs it has larger ammo reserve (with Bandolier you have 4 disks total, 188 rounds).

Another LMG the Type 99 seems also decent: accurate and decently powered, it also has high rate of fire combining with the 30 round mag and a bit long reload. However, aside form usual bipod, it can mount a bayonet, extending your melee range. Accuracy also improved by decent iron sights.

There's another LMG, FG-42, which is one extended mag away from being a good weapon. It has 20 round mag and INSANE rate of fire, and low damage. Also has low recoil and quite controllable in short bursts. Can mount optic sight or bipod, which might be good since its iron sights take a while to adjust.

Heavy machine guns - MG-42 and Browning .30 - also notable with their low accuracy, high (insane in case of MG-42) rate of fire, drawn out reload and decent power. They have more ammo to compensate, 350 rounds with Bandolier.

As for rifles, M1 Garand can be noted since it has faster reload from empty, can mount a sniper scope, grenade launcher or bayonet (usually allowed for magazine rifles) along with flash suppressor.

M1A1 Carbine also has unusual addon choice: suppressor, bayonet, dioptric sight (i think) and extended mag.

StG-44 can be used as SMG but not that efficiently. It has extra range to compensate, pretty decent iron sights and attachments typical for rifles.

Gewehr-43 mounts a silencer instead of flash suppressor and grenade launcher.

The actual "basic" rifle is SVT-40, and it seems to be not half bad except for drawn out reload.

SMGs are fun topic altogether. Thompson basically cries "unlock the darn drum mag already", since high RoF and 20 round mag are bad combination. However I came to dislike its iron sights so it's a tough choice between dioptric sight and drum mag.

MP-40 is an overall good weapon, accurate, decently powerful and with 32 round mag. In actual multiplayer MP-40 is the only weapon worth using. Its iron sights are better so dioptric sights are by preference, and so are double mags since 32-rounder combined with its slower RoF already make reloading not such a pressing matter.

Type 100 is more powerful but with bigger recoil and same iron sights as Thompson.

PPSh-41 basically takes FG-42 and tweaks its drawbacks - while it has low damage and very high RoF, it has 35 round mag and has an extended mag unlockable. in addition it is quite accurate when firing short bursts. It still gobbles up ammo though so take extra ammo and Sleight of Hand too. Unlike Type 100 and Thompson, PPSh also has good iron sights to supplement its accuracy, so dioptric sight also goes by preference.

Shotguns, as it was already said, are OP up close. The double-barreled shotgun especially, I still have fond memories of running it with a grip and Sleight of Hand in FFA and painting Sub Pens red. The Trench Gun, on the other side, is a 4-round pump-action and can mount a bayonet, which is decent for camping in a corner. The bayonet also hacks people apart.

Magazine rifles are basically your sniper guns.
Springfield even comes with sniper scope pre-unlocked, which is good 'cos you ain't be making any headshots with its default iron sights you CAN make headshots with Springfield's iron sights, it just takes some time to adjust to them. Arisaka, Mosin-Nagant (Looks like M36 carbine, but can mount a bayonet like regular M91/30) and Kar98k have no such troubles, having better iron sights. All four can mount either scope, bayonet or rifle grenade launcher. They also have different bolt cycling rate, with Mosin-Nagant having slowest rate of fire. PTRS-41 is an odd one out - this monster (a freaking anti-tank rifle, does nothing to tanks though) is semi-auto, has smaller ammo reserve and can't mount attachments (has an inbuilt scope).

You also have option to choose your primary and secondary grenades. Primary can be either frag, sticky and Molotov. Frags are quite trivial, sticky grenades can stick not just to surfaces but to other players too and can't be thrown back, Molotovs explode on contact but you will most probably be shot up before you manage to actually throw the darn thing and even if you do their blast radius isn't big. Secondary grenades are smokes, flares (produce blindingly bright light) and debilitating gas.
Your first perk is usually equipment. Extra primary/secondary grenades, extra ammo, ability to see enemy explosives, TNT, bazooka, Bouncing Betties and a flamethrower. However, if you mount a grenade launcher or a foregrip on your weapon it replaces your first perk.
Second perk tweaks your character's capabilities. More bullet damage, more health, faster reload, faster RoF, more damage from explosions, resistance to explosions, immunity to gas, flares, etc.
Third perk adds another tweak. Unlimited sprint, more accuracy when not aiming (bread and butter of run&gunners), hold breath for longer, etc. The funniest perks in here are Second Chance and Martyrdom. Second Chance allows you to fight for some time after getting critically wounded - except that you can only use a pistol, can't move or use grenades. If you don't have one (swapped it for a trophy gun or have two primary weapons via Commando perk), you get a M1911. Note that teammates who also have Second Chance can revive you. Martyrdom is a thing of legends - you drop a primed frag on death. I think later on Martyrdom was got rid of in later CoD games due to how notorious it was.
WaW briefly introduced a transport perk. On some maps (Downfall, Outskirts, Roundhouse, Seelow) there are tanks available to be used by players. One player controls the tank and its main gun (and a hull-mounted machine gun if they have Coaxial MG transport perk) and another can man the turret MG. Tanks can be immobilized by destroying their threads, or destroyed by artillery, explosives, bazookas, sticky grenades and other tanks. What bugs me is that T-34s pictured have Browning .30s as turret/hull MGs. Would make a bit more sense if it was DP-28 (IRL there was a sister design the DT), but oh well.

It is also fun to get this class:
1st perk: M2 flamethrower
2nd perk: Commando
3rd perk: <whatever is the name of the unlimited sprint perk>
1st weapon: PTRS-41
2nd weapon: Browning M1919.
and laugh as your character runs laps around Downfall with an anti-tank rifle, heavy machine gun and a backpack flamethrower.

k, it's been a while since the last post, so sorry for doubleposting.

I've played a couple of Challenge missions in Red Alert 3 Uprising. Basically Challenge mode works this way, at the start you get a limited arsenal with only basic stuff unlocked. Each Challenge mission unlocks a type of troops/defensive structures, can be played as either side (Soviets, Allies and Imperials) and has specific conditions.

For example, mission to unlock Archer Maidens (Imperial T1 infantry) features two opponents that fight each other until you attack them, at which moment they strike a cease fire and double-team you. Mission to unlock Tesla Coil (Soviet T2 defensive tower) makes aircraft unavailable. Mission to unlock Assault Destroyer (Allied T2 assault ship) gives you and your opponent three Military Academies (resulting in your forces instantly getting Heroic rank).

Completing missions not only makes that specific type of troops available for you, you also gain money. You can later withdraw it during a mission - when it gets too hot to handle, a Big Red Button appears. Pressing it withdraws a wad of cash from that account and makes all your units Heroic.
I had a couple of moments when I had to use nontrivial tactics.

For example, in a mission to unlock a King Oni (Imperial T3 heavy assault mech), there are four Heroic King Onis at opponent's disposal which rush to your base. There's also a pair of Ore Mines in the water to the southeast. "Walls will not stop my King Onis for long!" Walls will not, but water will: I usually pack my MCV and move there. I used the same move to unlock Desolator Trooper (Soviet T3 heavy infantry), Harbinger Gunship (Allied T3 heavy gunship) and Reaper (Soviet T2 assault walker).

Usually unlocking Mecha VX (Imperial T2 AA mech/assault chopper) allows you to pass most missions by spamming Choppers VX and Jet Tengus (Imperial T1 anti-personnel mech/jet fighter). Unlocking Harbinger Gunship furthers that as Harbingers are very powerful. Playing as Soviets is situational; unlocking their star player the Kirov Airship (Soviet T3 heavy bomber) is too hard. However in some cases it works.

For example, I played a mission to unlock Century Bombers as Soviets and used Desolators to fend off the paratrooper attacks while Apocalypse Tanks literally buzzsawn enemy base down, then ran a clean-up with Twinblades. While Apocs are slow, far from invulnerable (As long as Iron Curtain isn't involved) and have their hardcounters (such as smartly controlled Tesla Troopers), they have some self-repair capabilities, can crush lighter vehicles and heavy infantry, and their Magnetic Harpoon alternative fire mode allows them to drag enemy light/medium vehicles closer, towards front-mounted grinder threads. It can't drag vehicles heavier than itself or buildings though, so it immobilizes them and drags itself towards it. Soviets have a passive support power that allows vehicles to regain HP by running over stuff and IRON FLAKKING CURTAIN to add up. Also, despite their weight, a Twinblade can pick one up to drop it off elsewhere, because Twinblades are amazing. Okay, they aren't invincible either, but they can transport five troopers or a single vehicle and have some decent firepower on their own, fitting for a Mi-24 ripoff. They make Soviet land force deceptively mobile, along with Bullfrog APCs.

Their Hammer Tank (Soviet T1 MBT) is also fun when you consider their secondary fire mode: the Leech Beam. It can't target infantry and deals less damage, but it:
a) has longer range
b) repairs the tank it's mounted on
c) if it destroys a vehicle, it jacks the weapon from that vehicle and stuffs it onto the tank's turret. Now that weapon will fire alongside the tank's main gun in Primary fire mode. If multiple Hammers destroy that vehicle, only one of them gets a new weapon. And it applies to most, if not all, vehicles. It can steal a flak cannon from a Bullfrog (you can force-attack your own Bullfrogs), a second cannon from an MBT, tesla coil from Stingray, cruise missile launcher from V4 Launcher, King Oni's head with eye blasters, or an attack drone from Aircraft Carrier.

Final thing deserving a mention is the game's awesome soundtrack, with faction themes fitting their playstyle. Soviet themes are heavy metal, Allied - fast rock and Imperial - techno. Especial mentions go to Rock And Awe (Allied low-tech combat theme), the nameless Allies theme added in Uprising, Red Rock For Mother Russia (Soviet low-tech combat theme) and Perseverance (Soviet Uprising combat theme).

My dad learned to play Red Alert 3 Uprising too. I even found out he unlocked a Particle Collider (Allied Ultimate Superweapon) by spamming Giga Fortresses. I didn't even see how did he do that; I just come to the countryside one day, launch the game and see that the mission is marked as completed. He also learned to use MCV offensively in a Prism Tower mission - in this mission all troops available are main battle tank and tech support. Mobile Construction Vehicles are considered tech support (like Ore Collectors and expansion vehicles) and can crush main battle tanks.