Looking forward to time with friends and family this weekend. Planning some games, of course.
1. Lords of Waterdeep
2. Valley of the Kings
3. Trans-America
4. Pigpen
5. Age of War
6. X-Wing
After Action reports on all the fun, in a few days...
musings and meanderings concerning the many gaming activities in the land of chuck
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
The power of Theme for Boardgames
So, just recently, I attended another session of the Fredericksburg Game Guild - this time it was a Sunday night meetup at the local game store - Game Vault.
First, a few kind words about Game Vault. A very nice store. I met the owner (Cathy) as well as some of the guys who work behind the counter. Knowledgeable about games and gaming, certainly willing to entertain different opinions and interests, and eager to help a customer. The store is clean, has all that a game store needs (drinks, bathroom, plenty of game space, lots of in-stock product, nice environment, and handfuls of gamers in the store doing what that tribe does...). I enjoyed my time there, and will likely be back.
Second, the game we played - Stone Age. Great game, from Rio Grande games (originally Hans Im Gluck, but I have the first English edition, from RGG, from 2009). Worker placement, dice for tension, lots of win strategies - what's not to like? And a ton of caveman jokes.
But playing Stone Age got me thinking. Along the lines of the theme idea we had during our last gameday at the house - where we combined three games, to come up with a melded theme. The games were Age of War, TransAmerica, and Trains - melding the themes of Japan (Age of War and Trains) with Railroad Building (TransAmerica and Trains).
Theme is separate from mechanics, but theme is important also. At least to us here at Gaming With Chuck HQ, its important. So I started thinking about picking a theme (as in the case of Stone Age - primitive man, prehistory, caveman - you choose one), and then trying to come up with three games (of different types of mechanics) to go along with that theme.
Sticking with Prehistory, lets go with:
1. Stone Age (worker placement)
2. Settlers of the Stone Age (civilization building)
3. Fossil (set collection)
Equally, just pulling from titles that either are currently, or used to be, part of the GwC library - these could have also been counted in:
4. Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (tile laying)
5. Bitin' Off Hedz (roll and move, racing)
6. Neolithibum (dexterity)
7. Triassic Terror (area control)
8. Sticks & Stones (wargame)
9. Trias (area control)
10. Og (wargame)
11. Dino Hunt (dice push your luck)
- probably some others I am forgetting...
Depending on the group, I might include Carcassonne: Hunters and Gathers in for Fossil. If I wanted to shorten the session, I might include Dino Hunt instead of Settlers of the Stone Age. All of these have a similar (or at least within the same family) theme - but very different mechanisms. Even the similar ones - such as both Sticks & Stones and Og being hex-and-counter wargames - they are very different from each other.
First, a few kind words about Game Vault. A very nice store. I met the owner (Cathy) as well as some of the guys who work behind the counter. Knowledgeable about games and gaming, certainly willing to entertain different opinions and interests, and eager to help a customer. The store is clean, has all that a game store needs (drinks, bathroom, plenty of game space, lots of in-stock product, nice environment, and handfuls of gamers in the store doing what that tribe does...). I enjoyed my time there, and will likely be back.
Second, the game we played - Stone Age. Great game, from Rio Grande games (originally Hans Im Gluck, but I have the first English edition, from RGG, from 2009). Worker placement, dice for tension, lots of win strategies - what's not to like? And a ton of caveman jokes.
But playing Stone Age got me thinking. Along the lines of the theme idea we had during our last gameday at the house - where we combined three games, to come up with a melded theme. The games were Age of War, TransAmerica, and Trains - melding the themes of Japan (Age of War and Trains) with Railroad Building (TransAmerica and Trains).
Theme is separate from mechanics, but theme is important also. At least to us here at Gaming With Chuck HQ, its important. So I started thinking about picking a theme (as in the case of Stone Age - primitive man, prehistory, caveman - you choose one), and then trying to come up with three games (of different types of mechanics) to go along with that theme.
Sticking with Prehistory, lets go with:
1. Stone Age (worker placement)
2. Settlers of the Stone Age (civilization building)
3. Fossil (set collection)
Equally, just pulling from titles that either are currently, or used to be, part of the GwC library - these could have also been counted in:
4. Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (tile laying)
5. Bitin' Off Hedz (roll and move, racing)
6. Neolithibum (dexterity)
7. Triassic Terror (area control)
8. Sticks & Stones (wargame)
9. Trias (area control)
10. Og (wargame)
11. Dino Hunt (dice push your luck)
- probably some others I am forgetting...
Depending on the group, I might include Carcassonne: Hunters and Gathers in for Fossil. If I wanted to shorten the session, I might include Dino Hunt instead of Settlers of the Stone Age. All of these have a similar (or at least within the same family) theme - but very different mechanisms. Even the similar ones - such as both Sticks & Stones and Og being hex-and-counter wargames - they are very different from each other.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Boardgame Meetup - Fredericksburg Game Guild
I attended my first meetup with the Fredericksburg Game Guild last night, which met at the England Run Library, in Fredericksburg. The Group gets together several times per week and per month, for different meetings in different venues - and the individuals I met last night seem like it is a very good group.
The shortcoming of the weeknight meeting at the library, of course, is that it is time constrained. They meet from 6-9, which isn't a bad length for a meeting, but about 1 hour too short, if you want to play two meaty games. It is time, however, for a reasonable length game, and maybe a short filler or two.
Last night I played two different titles, one new to me, and one somewhat familiar. The first was the new title - Room 25. The folks in the game were really excited because the theme is evidently based on the very successful and very popular trilogy of Cube movies. I don't know anything about them, sadly. However, I get the gist of the game.
The people I played with were extremely friendly and fun to play with. The guy who owned the game, and introduced it to us, was very pleasant and did a good job of introducing the rules. The game, however, was one I probably won't play again. As I mentioned in my notes on Board Game Geek, this was a perfect example of a game session where "I loved the group, and had a good time, but I wasn't really crazy about the game."
The components of the game were excellent, and the idea (using programmed movement to explore a maze that the players have to escape from, together) was pretty good. I like how 1 or 2 of the group members might be working for the Prison Guards. But overall, there just didn't feel like there was enough going on. And it felt like the end game was decided a priori. In both our sessions, there was little (or nothing) that one side or the other could do about changing the endgame situation, over the last 3 or 4 turns of the game. And considering that once the endgame mechanism is triggered, there are 5 or fewer turns left, that is not so good in my opinion. Maybe an expansion will come out that will change things, or a similar theme but different mechanics. I hold out hope to become impressed enough to play again.
The second game that I got to play was... Glass Road. This is a great game by Uwe Rosenberg. Unlike many of his other titles, this is one that could be played in as short as an hour or so, by experienced players. There is a lot going on with this game, with a very large decision space, and a lot of potential strategies that the player could take, in order to try to win. It has great components, terrific theme, and excellent mechanics (with some innovations too).
The theme is basically, the players are all competing manufacturing interests in Medieval Germany, building up the facilities and resource sources to enable them to be profitable manufacturers of glass and bricks (similar processes with similar resources required). Game play is in turn, selecting roles, and then carrying out actions related to those roles. Actions involved either collecting resources, modifying the consist of your local countryside (filling in ponds, digging sand pits, harvesting forests), and then building facilities that benefit you in some way. Great game, as always, and a bit lighter than other Rosenberg titles.
I had a great time playing, with three other players all of whom were new to me, and will always happily play this one again in the future.
Overall, the meetup was a great success for me. I met some really nice local gamers - some of whom are also Roleplayers and Wargamers - and I plan to attend some more in the future! Hopefully next time I'll get to teach a game or two to some people. Nothing is better about the gaming hobby, than sharing with other fans.
* = These images are from Board Game Geek
 |
| England Run Library - the meeting rooms are down the hallway you can see to the right. |
The shortcoming of the weeknight meeting at the library, of course, is that it is time constrained. They meet from 6-9, which isn't a bad length for a meeting, but about 1 hour too short, if you want to play two meaty games. It is time, however, for a reasonable length game, and maybe a short filler or two.
Last night I played two different titles, one new to me, and one somewhat familiar. The first was the new title - Room 25. The folks in the game were really excited because the theme is evidently based on the very successful and very popular trilogy of Cube movies. I don't know anything about them, sadly. However, I get the gist of the game.
The people I played with were extremely friendly and fun to play with. The guy who owned the game, and introduced it to us, was very pleasant and did a good job of introducing the rules. The game, however, was one I probably won't play again. As I mentioned in my notes on Board Game Geek, this was a perfect example of a game session where "I loved the group, and had a good time, but I wasn't really crazy about the game."
 |
| Components of the game Room 25 * |
The second game that I got to play was... Glass Road. This is a great game by Uwe Rosenberg. Unlike many of his other titles, this is one that could be played in as short as an hour or so, by experienced players. There is a lot going on with this game, with a very large decision space, and a lot of potential strategies that the player could take, in order to try to win. It has great components, terrific theme, and excellent mechanics (with some innovations too).
 |
| Layout of game, showing player map of countryside, with terrain tiles and building tiles * |
The theme is basically, the players are all competing manufacturing interests in Medieval Germany, building up the facilities and resource sources to enable them to be profitable manufacturers of glass and bricks (similar processes with similar resources required). Game play is in turn, selecting roles, and then carrying out actions related to those roles. Actions involved either collecting resources, modifying the consist of your local countryside (filling in ponds, digging sand pits, harvesting forests), and then building facilities that benefit you in some way. Great game, as always, and a bit lighter than other Rosenberg titles.
 |
| Setting up to play - from Game night at Moxie (Columbus, GA) |
 |
| The very clever resource clocks - also from Game night at Moxie (Columbus, GA) |
I had a great time playing, with three other players all of whom were new to me, and will always happily play this one again in the future.
Overall, the meetup was a great success for me. I met some really nice local gamers - some of whom are also Roleplayers and Wargamers - and I plan to attend some more in the future! Hopefully next time I'll get to teach a game or two to some people. Nothing is better about the gaming hobby, than sharing with other fans.
* = These images are from Board Game Geek
Monday, November 3, 2014
Boardgaming Evening
Gaming with Chuck HQ (now in historic Stafford Virginia - "George Washington played Settlers of Catan Here!") was recently a scene to a pleasant autumn Boardgaming evening. All of the staff members (and two of the staff cats) were present, as well as a local visitor. We originally had three things on the menu, bringing together a nice suite of themes and different styles games. The original plan was to play Reiner Knizia's Age of War dice game from Fantasy Flight, also Franz-Benno Delonge's Trans America, and finally capping it with Hisashi Hayashi's great deck building game, Trains.
The thinking was this - these are three very different games, mechanically. But the themes were the connective tissue. Age of War is themed for Feudal Japan. Trans America is themed for Rail Empire building. And Trains is themed for Rail Empire building in Japan. Voila - secret sauce is made! The mechanics, however, are what made the mix very interesting.
Age of War is mechanically a dice game that preserves the same structure of the game Risk Express. Now, this same mechanic found its way into Elder Sign, but in that game, the simple "assign dice to targets; complete all targets to capture a goal" mechanic is complicated with many, many different options (some goals require targets to be completed in order; many different benefits exist to help the player such as equipment and spells; extra targets can creep into a goal, in the form of monsters; there is a whole meta game around the basic mechanic; etc.). But, since the admirable dice game, Risk Express was on the "to acquire" list for Gaming with Chuck HQ for quite some time, this new version out (with a feudal Japanese theme, no less) is very welcome. And as a game it does not disappoint - it is a pretty easy game, simple to play, and fast turns, but there is enough strategy going on, and possible paths to winning, that there is some amount of decision making - a bit more than many dice games, a lot less than many more complicated games. Just enough to make you feel as if you are waging a campaign to capture the country.
Trans America is mechanically a network building game. It has a rail empire theme, but unlike many railroad themed games, there is no concept of cargo or passengers to pick up and carry. The focus on railroading in Trans America is much more strategic than that of merely pushing cargoes around - it is of building a network of rails to connect cross-continental cities. As a game, it is pretty simple to explain and play, but it still has some good decision making built into it - chiefly of timing. As in - do you push and build your own network, or concentrate somewhere else and rely on your opponents to fill in the network infrastructure that you can also make use of , later? A fun game, and if there were such a thing as Trans Japan, we might have tried that, to fit in with the theme. There is a Japanese tie in for the game - in 2002, Trans America won the Japan Boardgame Prize for Best Foreign Game for Beginners. Something interesting to look out for - a document of 20 different Trans America variants. Mixed in with the Vexation variant (which typically ships with Trans Europa), there is lots there to complicate or change this simple little decision making game.
Once we played Age of War and Trans America, however, we then broke for dinner (excellent Chinese food), and decided to watch Dr. Who. We'll get to play Trains next time, I'm sure. I wanted to bring up the mix, because I thought there were some interesting aspects to the three games we had originally planned for. More game days are definitely needed.
* = images from Board Game Geek.
The thinking was this - these are three very different games, mechanically. But the themes were the connective tissue. Age of War is themed for Feudal Japan. Trans America is themed for Rail Empire building. And Trains is themed for Rail Empire building in Japan. Voila - secret sauce is made! The mechanics, however, are what made the mix very interesting.
Age of War is mechanically a dice game that preserves the same structure of the game Risk Express. Now, this same mechanic found its way into Elder Sign, but in that game, the simple "assign dice to targets; complete all targets to capture a goal" mechanic is complicated with many, many different options (some goals require targets to be completed in order; many different benefits exist to help the player such as equipment and spells; extra targets can creep into a goal, in the form of monsters; there is a whole meta game around the basic mechanic; etc.). But, since the admirable dice game, Risk Express was on the "to acquire" list for Gaming with Chuck HQ for quite some time, this new version out (with a feudal Japanese theme, no less) is very welcome. And as a game it does not disappoint - it is a pretty easy game, simple to play, and fast turns, but there is enough strategy going on, and possible paths to winning, that there is some amount of decision making - a bit more than many dice games, a lot less than many more complicated games. Just enough to make you feel as if you are waging a campaign to capture the country.
 |
| Age of War - excellent components, in a small box. * |
Trans America is mechanically a network building game. It has a rail empire theme, but unlike many railroad themed games, there is no concept of cargo or passengers to pick up and carry. The focus on railroading in Trans America is much more strategic than that of merely pushing cargoes around - it is of building a network of rails to connect cross-continental cities. As a game, it is pretty simple to explain and play, but it still has some good decision making built into it - chiefly of timing. As in - do you push and build your own network, or concentrate somewhere else and rely on your opponents to fill in the network infrastructure that you can also make use of , later? A fun game, and if there were such a thing as Trans Japan, we might have tried that, to fit in with the theme. There is a Japanese tie in for the game - in 2002, Trans America won the Japan Boardgame Prize for Best Foreign Game for Beginners. Something interesting to look out for - a document of 20 different Trans America variants. Mixed in with the Vexation variant (which typically ships with Trans Europa), there is lots there to complicate or change this simple little decision making game.
 |
| Excellent components from Trans America - Dinner table accessories, not included. * |
 |
| Trains - next time, definitely. * |
Monday, July 7, 2014
Traveller Amber Zone - Sword Dance
There was a good looking Amber Zone contest over at Amber Zone. Unfortunately, with my travels (real life) lately, I missed the submission date.
Here it is - set inside one of the two super powers on the balkanized world of Margesi in the Vilis subsector of the Spinward Marches.
Amber Zone - Sword Dance (1105, Margesi/Vilis)
Location: Western edge of the Chergen Mountains, in People's Republic of Gome (PRoG)
Patron: Commander Sinew, Imperial Naval Intelligence, contacting the travellers clandestinely, in the Kingdom of Evariidi, or perhaps the Margesi starport.
Mission: Travel to the western edge of the Chergen Mountains, contact some of the local clans of Chergen cossacks, who never fully assimilated into the People's Republic. One in particular, Katrinka the Knife, has agreed to serve as a guide. She knows the location of a Sword World Military cache buried underground, at the old Gram Star-Militia troop site - situated to provide a training cadre for the capitol city of Isenstadt, on the other side of the Mountains. When Gram controlled Margesi for the Sworld Worlders, Isenstadt was the world capitol, and home of the main starbase. The cache has unknown amounts of military supplies buried in protected containers, but of interest to the Imperial Naval Intelligence, are some memory tanks with technical details of a Sword World missile frigate being designed 20 years ago, and now coming into production.
Payoff: The Intelligence officer will offer some consideration in removing past offenses from the records of the travellers, and also agrees that they can keep half of all the military stores they uncover, with the other half going to Katrinka the Knife, and her band of Cossack warriors.
Complications: The location is deep inside a militarized Soviet style country that is still very loyal to the Sword World, even though 20 some years ago, the planet came back into Imperial protection. Also, the location is rural and hazardous (the cache is in a rocky highland valley). Dealing with the Cossacks is not going to be easy, and in fact, to prove themselves the players will have to spend a night successfully carousing with the band (Carouse or Liaison skill test to be successful), and one of the members of the group will have to try the sword dance (Art: Dance, modified by Dex). Three dice rolls are required, of successful harder difficulties (6+, 8+, 10+) representing faster and faster Cossack music. If the player passes all three, the Cossacks are completely loyal allies, lesser results will have the Cossacks being less tightly allied to the players.
Reaching the cache is tough enough (survival and mountaineering may be required), but occasional patrols of PRoG solders (flak, autorifle, hand grenades) may cause additional problems. The extremely rough terrain precludes the use of long-range radio, but after 2 or 3 days the loss of PRoG army patrols will be noticed.
The cache is underground, inside a small bunker complex. Katrinka knows the location of the entrance, but not how to get in. The complex is protected by a series of TL10 security measures. The stash includes the digital memory tanks for the Intelligence officer, as well as dozens of TL10 small arms; cloth armor; ammo; and most important, a dozen each of TL10 communicators and TL10 medikits.
The special challenge for the travellers, will be escaping with the goods. On the way out of the area, with whatever stash they can carry on horseback (or vehicles if they risk it), they (and Katrinka's band of cossacks) will be attacked by another band of Cossacks, intent on thieving the goods. They will be armed with a variety of small arms, but not grenades or armor. They make up for their lack of armor in excellent ambush skills and fieldcraft.
Here it is - set inside one of the two super powers on the balkanized world of Margesi in the Vilis subsector of the Spinward Marches.
Amber Zone - Sword Dance (1105, Margesi/Vilis)
Location: Western edge of the Chergen Mountains, in People's Republic of Gome (PRoG)
Patron: Commander Sinew, Imperial Naval Intelligence, contacting the travellers clandestinely, in the Kingdom of Evariidi, or perhaps the Margesi starport.
Mission: Travel to the western edge of the Chergen Mountains, contact some of the local clans of Chergen cossacks, who never fully assimilated into the People's Republic. One in particular, Katrinka the Knife, has agreed to serve as a guide. She knows the location of a Sword World Military cache buried underground, at the old Gram Star-Militia troop site - situated to provide a training cadre for the capitol city of Isenstadt, on the other side of the Mountains. When Gram controlled Margesi for the Sworld Worlders, Isenstadt was the world capitol, and home of the main starbase. The cache has unknown amounts of military supplies buried in protected containers, but of interest to the Imperial Naval Intelligence, are some memory tanks with technical details of a Sword World missile frigate being designed 20 years ago, and now coming into production.
Payoff: The Intelligence officer will offer some consideration in removing past offenses from the records of the travellers, and also agrees that they can keep half of all the military stores they uncover, with the other half going to Katrinka the Knife, and her band of Cossack warriors.
Complications: The location is deep inside a militarized Soviet style country that is still very loyal to the Sword World, even though 20 some years ago, the planet came back into Imperial protection. Also, the location is rural and hazardous (the cache is in a rocky highland valley). Dealing with the Cossacks is not going to be easy, and in fact, to prove themselves the players will have to spend a night successfully carousing with the band (Carouse or Liaison skill test to be successful), and one of the members of the group will have to try the sword dance (Art: Dance, modified by Dex). Three dice rolls are required, of successful harder difficulties (6+, 8+, 10+) representing faster and faster Cossack music. If the player passes all three, the Cossacks are completely loyal allies, lesser results will have the Cossacks being less tightly allied to the players.
Reaching the cache is tough enough (survival and mountaineering may be required), but occasional patrols of PRoG solders (flak, autorifle, hand grenades) may cause additional problems. The extremely rough terrain precludes the use of long-range radio, but after 2 or 3 days the loss of PRoG army patrols will be noticed.
The cache is underground, inside a small bunker complex. Katrinka knows the location of the entrance, but not how to get in. The complex is protected by a series of TL10 security measures. The stash includes the digital memory tanks for the Intelligence officer, as well as dozens of TL10 small arms; cloth armor; ammo; and most important, a dozen each of TL10 communicators and TL10 medikits.
The special challenge for the travellers, will be escaping with the goods. On the way out of the area, with whatever stash they can carry on horseback (or vehicles if they risk it), they (and Katrinka's band of cossacks) will be attacked by another band of Cossacks, intent on thieving the goods. They will be armed with a variety of small arms, but not grenades or armor. They make up for their lack of armor in excellent ambush skills and fieldcraft.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Theremin Thursdays - two Mashups, one musical, one wargaming
It has been a while since a Theremin Thursdays entry has been made here at Gaming with Chuck. This entry is being made because of two different things coming together that I want to write about. The first is a cool (actual Theremin) mashup music piece I came across, and the second is a gaming item that is as much a mashup as the first.
Mashup Number One - Musical
So the first (musical) mashup is this . . . a room full of lovely musicians, playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy, using Theremins inside Matryoshka Dolls. It's just so wonderful . . . sort of like Astronaut Bowman looking into the Stargate and seeing all those stars. . .
So, evidently that group is a Matryomin (Matryoshka Theremin) ensemble. I can't think of two things that are possible cooler to mashup than Matryoshka's and Theremins. Except . . .
Mashup Number Two - Wargaming
The second mashup here is one of wargaming. A friend of mine (Geo) and I had been talking about a couple of different 15mm wargaming projects. These have come together in an unlikely way.
The first one was fictional forces in a modern African setting, with countries, coups, warlords, and international forces bashing over temporary objectives and unlikely ideological clashes - in short, the game "AK47 Republic" by Peter Pig. We started assembling miniatures, coming up with backgrounds for our forces, and in general securing the ideas for a gaming setting and some battles to fight.
The second one is wargaming with 15mm science fiction forces in the Traveller universe. I had recently been running a table top Traveller RPG game (although only a few sessions before my schedule kicked into high gear), with details over at The Collace Rift. Still in a Traveller mood, we started talking about wargaming - and began assembling forces, painting miniatures, talking about former battles, etc.
Then it happened - local conflicts on worlds within the Third Imperium (Traveller) resemble the brush wars described by AK47 Republic, but with the addition of some different levels of technology, and the attendant science fiction hardware. But, what if we kept the battles MOSTLY to the tech levels of, say, 5,6,7,8 (corresponding to the military hardware of, respectively, WW1, WW2, 1960s, 1990s) - then we would be right on target for the wide variety of forces found in AK47 Republic. But, if it was going to be in the Traveller Universe, then it needed a planet.
Enter, Margesi - a world on the edge of Imperial space, that was (until recently) contested, and controlled by the Sword World Confederation. The world is balkanized, many a bunch of competing governments. After checking what the Traveller Wiki has to say, it appears that there are (conveniently enough) two super powers, the Kingdom of Evariidi and the People's Republic of Gome. Having also posited that there would be any number of smaller nations, allied to one or more of those super powers, we have the third world setting of Earth, transposed to another world. To make things even more interesting, we made the two super powers being aligned with the two interested Interstellar Governments - the Kingdom of Evariidi is the current ascendant power, and is backed by the Imperium (clandestinely), but the world's Starport (Margesi Down Station) is located within the Kingdom, and is operated by Imperial Starport Authority. The other nation, the People's Republic of Gome (representing Brezhnev-era Soviet style rule), is backed (clandestinely) by the Sword World Confederation.
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| The world of Margesi, in the Vilis subsector of the Spinward Marches |
A. Kingdom of Evariidi (major power)
B. Latavia
C. Boruckistan
D. Sinnibad
E. Siluria
F. Nordkapp
G. Geonia
H. Burland
J. Ionus Island
K. Mogumba Island
L. North Windango
M. South Windango
N. Droma
P. People's Republic of Gome (major power)
Q. Snowwald
R. Icetor
S. Sudland
T. Oakstaal
U. Pargonia
V. Zo'Osia
W. Umbongo Freistaat (free states)
X. Termania
Pictures of miniatures and military details to follow . . .
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Lots of Boardgaming recently
There has been a lot of boardgaming in recent months for the staff of GwC.
This includes the local weekly boardgame night at Moxie games (the game store here in Columbus) every Wednesday.
And the weekly Saturday meetup somewhere around town with the Meeples of Columbus.
And, while school was in session, there was the monthly Boardgaming session in the Computer Science department of Columbus State University.
And there was the Atlanta Game-o-Rama - which the entire staff, minus cats, attended for all five days.
Coming up in July, there will be ConGregate, which the staff intends on invading for the purpose of helping out in the Con Suite, and also encourage the proper application of Boardgaming.
Through all this, there have been a number of new titles that have made their way into the GwC repertoire as regular games.
One of the most commonly played, lately, has been Lords of Waterdeep. Great worker placement game. Extremely well balanced, and lots of different ways to get what you need - which is victory points from fulfilling quests (achieved by collecting adventurers, by applying your workers to different worker collection schemes).
Lots of tablet play of Le Havre (on the iPad) had been taking place lately, and a tabletop showing is scheduled for an upcoming Wednesday night. Speaking of the great Uwe Rosenberg, the staff of GwC recently played some extremely satisfying games of Agricola, including some teaching games (for new players) at Game-o-Rama. Also, one of the newer Rosenberg titles, Glass Road, is scheduled to make an appearance soon.
At the most recent (June 7) Saturday meetup, two new games came out of hiding - Suburbia by Ted Alspach, and also Portobello Market, in the Playroom gateway games series. Suburbia is a great strategy player's game, again with lots of ways to victory. Portobello Market is a game of building (in this case, market stalls), not too deep, but sort of fun.
A recent, coveted acquisition is that of the Mayfair edition of Cosmic Encounter (with the supplement, More Cosmic Encounter). These two boxes recreate everything that Eon ever did with the original. One problem? The cards are somewhat worn. So, against the usual practice and policy of the Games Archivists and Librarians Guild here at GwC, these cards have actually been put into sleeve protectors.
This Wednesday's game night (June 11) is due to include a first time playing of Russian Railraods by Ohley and Orgler. Definitely looking forward to that.
Saturday is due to include some Boss Monster, played recently, and fun enough that it is worth promoting and teaching to others. Also, the new word game, Concept. Both of these are lots of fun, and worth spreading around. Concept could easily become a gateway game to those who like party games and word games.
This includes the local weekly boardgame night at Moxie games (the game store here in Columbus) every Wednesday.
And the weekly Saturday meetup somewhere around town with the Meeples of Columbus.
And, while school was in session, there was the monthly Boardgaming session in the Computer Science department of Columbus State University.
And there was the Atlanta Game-o-Rama - which the entire staff, minus cats, attended for all five days.
Coming up in July, there will be ConGregate, which the staff intends on invading for the purpose of helping out in the Con Suite, and also encourage the proper application of Boardgaming.
Through all this, there have been a number of new titles that have made their way into the GwC repertoire as regular games.
One of the most commonly played, lately, has been Lords of Waterdeep. Great worker placement game. Extremely well balanced, and lots of different ways to get what you need - which is victory points from fulfilling quests (achieved by collecting adventurers, by applying your workers to different worker collection schemes).
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| Waterdeep. From http://deusuum.deviantart.com/art/Waterdeep-Nights-158933817 |
Lots of tablet play of Le Havre (on the iPad) had been taking place lately, and a tabletop showing is scheduled for an upcoming Wednesday night. Speaking of the great Uwe Rosenberg, the staff of GwC recently played some extremely satisfying games of Agricola, including some teaching games (for new players) at Game-o-Rama. Also, one of the newer Rosenberg titles, Glass Road, is scheduled to make an appearance soon.
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| I'll take the wood option. |
At the most recent (June 7) Saturday meetup, two new games came out of hiding - Suburbia by Ted Alspach, and also Portobello Market, in the Playroom gateway games series. Suburbia is a great strategy player's game, again with lots of ways to victory. Portobello Market is a game of building (in this case, market stalls), not too deep, but sort of fun.
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| Stalls at Portobello Market in the 1950s, fifty years after our game ended. |
A recent, coveted acquisition is that of the Mayfair edition of Cosmic Encounter (with the supplement, More Cosmic Encounter). These two boxes recreate everything that Eon ever did with the original. One problem? The cards are somewhat worn. So, against the usual practice and policy of the Games Archivists and Librarians Guild here at GwC, these cards have actually been put into sleeve protectors.
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| From BGG - perhaps the best version of the game? |
This Wednesday's game night (June 11) is due to include a first time playing of Russian Railraods by Ohley and Orgler. Definitely looking forward to that.
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| Real Russian Railroad. Note the lack of strategy gamers. |
Saturday is due to include some Boss Monster, played recently, and fun enough that it is worth promoting and teaching to others. Also, the new word game, Concept. Both of these are lots of fun, and worth spreading around. Concept could easily become a gateway game to those who like party games and word games.
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| Just imagine how awesome a version of Boss Monster would be with Don Bluth art, a la Dragon's Lair |
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