May the Gamer Gods forgive me...

...but I've introduced the kids to D&D.

AD&D to be precise - hauling out and dusting off (fairly literally) the old Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition books that have been sitting in the old 'nostalgia' back corner of a cupboard.

On short notice, a few Friday afternoons ago, L and I discussed and agreed that I should organise a game for that evening to give the kids a try at the game.  Fortunately I had already been considering a plot arc for the kids, but hadn't committed on anything yet - so I made some hurried notes in my notebook and that would have to do for a start.

So it was with some trepidation that I launched the kids (and, unexpectedly, L) into a tale starting in a quiet village called Hurstbridge, a crossroads a day's coach-ride out of Stirling, the local port city.  The kids were a pair of foundlings, probably related, who had been taken in by the local shop-keeper and had done quite well in their simple village life.  Unfortunately the kind shop-keeper had died a couple of years ago, but the couple who took over the shop allowed the pair to continue to live in the upstairs room.

Trixie, the girl, has been working at the village tavern and often runs other errands around town.  Her speed and gift for short-cuts giving her a reputation for efficiency.  She has occasionally found that locked doors get in her way, so has developed methods to rectify matters...

Nic, the boy, has been working in the small library attached to the council buildings.  Old Hopkins, the librarian has been generous in adding to Nic's education when there are no chores to be done.  This education has included some dabbling in magic, as Hopkins is a retired Wizard.  Nic has proven to be a willing and talented pupil, already able to memorise basic spells.

Appleby is the village oddity.  A vaguely green-hued lady who spends most of the time out in her apple orchards outside the town.   

Events are conspiring to throw these three together on an adventure they never could have imagined...

 

Munchkin: Legends

Kr quite enjoyed Munchkin on the big games arvo a few weeks ago, so capitalising on that enthusiasm, L and I picked up Munchkin: Legends in the city last week. It was L's idea to get the Legend themed one, as it could then be educational for the kids as well.

We got it out today, as part of our Melbourne Cup afternoon.

As it was one of the plain card decks, I had to draw up a quick copy of the dungeon board you get in Munchkin: Advanced to provide the same feel we had last time.

The Legend deck is cool, and I got to point out some interesting obscure myths, like Baba Yaga, the Russian witch with the walking house. On duck legs. Even though Kn had decided to sit out on the game, he still came over to check out the myths

The game ran as a usual Munchkin, although it ended up with Kr and I trying to stop L who proved unstoppable.

Good fun, and we'll be back for more.

Blast from the past!

Went to the FLGS the other day determined to make a purchase.
First option was not available, so I put that on order and instead found ...
RoboRally!
I remember playing this years ago at the CGS! Good times...

So brought it home and finally got to unbox it and start a game yesterday.
It's just as much fun as I remember, and Kn is loving it as well. Hopefully we'll have many more games.

Game Arvo!

Yay! An afternoon of boardgames! Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon (while I recover from a 10km fun run I did that morning)

Had the regular gang from work over. J, T and C joined us for TexMex lunch and hours of games.
We started with a round of Star Fluxx as we waited for everyone to arrive and lunch (Nachos) to finish baking. Kn loves Fluxx, but this time I drew a 'soft win' from a 'Draw 3 Play 2'.
We then tried the Pirate flavour of Fluxx for a few hands. Wins were evenly spread as it is a less complicated set of rules.

Then Small World came out. This time the race/ability combinations were great. Highlights included; my Commando Ratmen that netted me 12 coins on the first turn, J's Trolls that sat in their lairs for most of the game in the North East corner, C's Flying Amazon's causing chaos across the map, such good times! Came down to a close finish where I was only 4 coins ahead of J! Then C and then T. Everyone thought I was going to be miles ahead, but as usual J is sneaky.

Zombies! Next out was 'Last Night On Earth', J ran the zombies and T, C, L and I took a hero each. We just did the simple 'kill 15 zombies before Sunset' scenario, but that was hard enough with our inexperience. It was looking bleak for a while, but then T's nurse Becky stepped up and nailed about 8 zombies herself before finally being brought down. We managed to get 6 more zombies but at the last minute my student girl failed a shot and was brought down, so a win to the zombies by a whisker!

How good was it?  Well, I'm gonna buy it asap!

Final game of the day (after some tasty tex-mex for dinner) was Munchkin!
T had already left, so we had C, J, L, myself and now Kn joined us as well.
The deck was a bit stingy with the good equipment and lower level monsters, so it took a little while to get going. We had some good little combats and backstage, but we ran out of time and had to call it a night.

A great day, and everyone agreed that another will have to be held again soon.

Got that sinkin feelin

Friday night is game night! Tonight we opened with a couple of hands of that old trusty card game - "Uno!"

For a change, Kn didn't win. Kr pulled off a nice finish blasting us with some Draw 4 's and then finishing off with a Wild. L won the other hands and we then moved on to the main game of the night...

Forbidden Island!

Four adventurers searching for lost treasures on an island that is rapidly slipping under the waves. Cooperation is the key, as skills are combined to get the treasure and get off the island. It was a close run thing, with all of our swimming, engineering, pilot and adventure skills being required. I think the most valuable skill was L being able to judiciously bend the rules when needed. We escaped just in time!

Kn and I then finished off the evening with a couple of hands of Star Fluxx. Which he won.

FWC thoughts

Still keen on FWC with an Epic flavour. So, after a random thought this week, I've thrown together a few formation cards to facilitate the selection of standard companies/squads/etc for a battlegroup.
It's fun thinking up combos for cards, but makes me realise I need to paint up a number more stands.

Friday night Who

Nostalgia for Doctor Who continues, and Kr chose to play the Doctor Who Family Trivia game. We've blinged it up a bit with some of the minifigs that are available.
Simple game: roll dice, move, answer questions and so on. A nice mechanic where the center flips over and can trap you.
Kn continues his roll, winning both games. Jammy kid!

Pandemic - closure

Well, we got back to the game after a few evenings. Kr stood in for L (who had an early night) with the 'Epidemiologist', and Kn and I picked up with the 'Medic' and 'Liaison Officer' respectively.
We did our best, found the cure for 'Zombies' (Black), but this time we ran out of player cards - which means the clock ran out and we hadn't worked fast enough to stop the pandemic.

There was disappointment, but right away we started discussing what we could do differently next time. So the enthusiasm remains high, which is cool.

The 'In the Lab' expansion is interesting, adding some nice flavour to the game - but I think you need to be careful of it taking extra turns to discover cures. At our skill level, we may need to make sure that we have more players on the board to keep everything ticking over.

Great game though. I'm a fan.

Rampant disease! Again?!?

Another Friday night, and yet again the world is caught in the grips of Pandemic.
This time we're trying the 'In the Lab' expansion, adding extra flavour to the process of discovering the cures for the four diseases.
Just L, Kn, and myself playing tonight -pausing the game about halfway through as Kn ran out of puff.
So far blue (the "Blue Flu") has been cured, but black and yellow are getting away from us. (Black = Zombies?)

Star Wars!

K and I enjoyed a game of the Star Wars TCG Pocketmodels game on Saturday night.

I decided we should 'team up' and play against an imaginary opponent, as then K and I could discuss our card selections and tactics freely - making it more of a learning experience as well.

We decided to play the Rebel Alliance, and so I chose the Imperial opponent forces and K and I worked out what might make a good Rebel force.

Unsurprisingly, the 'opponent' made a couple of poor decisions and K and I managed to destroy the opposing fleet.

It was a fun evening with K, and I have to admit that the Star Wars TCG is not a bad little game.  (and to be honest, something about all the little Star Wars ships is hammering on my collectors button)

  

Saved the World!

Woot! Smashed the game Pandemic today. K played the Medic brilliantly. Love how fast he grabs the intricacies of these games :)
S was with us after a business trip from Perth, and I have to tell you - playing Pandemic with two trained medical scientists who actually work fighting diseases adds a whole extra level to the game :)

Dice... In....Spaaaaaace!

Taken on the ISS

Friday Night Games - Rampage!

Gonna try to remember to blog the Friday night games regularly for the rest of the year.
So tonight was "Rampage!" - our four kaiju attempt to eat the most of the city. Kn has a strong game, playing his attributes well in attacking our kaiju and going for extra points, but in the end it is L who pulls out the big win with many eaten meeples and a good number of teeth claimed from us as well!