Just an afternoon this time

After the previous weekend's full 12 hour marathon of gaming, we kept it to a more respectable few hours when L's friend D came over on Saturday the 23rd of May.
After a yummy big Asian feed up at the China Bar, we launched into some gaming.  I piled a bunch of our games on the table, and we started with Tsuro, which D had not seen before.
As always, Tsuro impressed with it's beautiful presentation and fun gameplay.  A couple of games were had.

D then introduced us to Saboteur, a great little game where you are dwarves trying to mine your way to the gold, but someone is trying to foil you - or maybe isn't, as the role of saboteur is randomly assigned, and there is a chance that none of the players are it.  I was the saboteur for the first two rounds, and had a great chuckle as L's naturally aggressive gamestyle drew the attention to her, allowing me to succeed with my nefarious schemes! Muah ah ah ah ahhhh!

Then we got to the main game.  D is a longtime Catan player who introduced us to the original game, so we wanted to share our new Egyptian themed Catan with her.
The game went well, but experience won over enthusiasm in the end, with D securing a comfortable victory over L, Kr and myself.

For a whole day!

So the new local FLGS ran a whole day of board-gaming a few Saturdays ago.  On May 16th, the game day called GateCon was an opportunity for Kn and I to get there fairly early and play as many games as possible - to be joined by L and Kr later in the afternoon.  Also there were LnK who were running the D&D 5th Ed demonstration game.

Kn and I paid our gold coin to access the game library and then started with one of our own games brought from home... 

Boss Monster
We bought an expansion for this a couple of weeks before, and this was the first chance to use it.  Lz joined Kn and I as we broke out the "Tools of Hero-Kind" expansion which adds new cards to the game.  The 'Items' give the Heroes some new powers as they enter the dungeons but if they die in a room you (the 'Boss') get to keep and use the item yourself.  In our game they provided a nice little touch, but didn't throw out the game balance or anything.  It was amusing that 'The Fool' hero managed to get an item that allowed it to get through Lz's dungeon and cause a wound to her.  That was a first!

 

Smash Up

We borrowed this from the game library as Kn and I had been keen to have a go since we saw it on TableTop a few days before.  

A card battle game, you randomly put together two factions as your side and then attempt to invade bases with your minions.  When the base is destroyed you gain points based on how many of your minions were on it at the time.  It's a pretty good game, and I was very happy with the performance of my Pirate UFO's.  Kn enjoyed his Ninja Dinosaurs as well.      

We had another game in the afternoon when L and Kr joined us at the con.  

King of Tokyo
Another game that we had seen on Tabletop, and we could borrow from the game library.  Just like SmashUp we were lucky to have found another 'con goer who had experience with this game and could run us through the rules so we could jump in quickly.
Having selected our giant critters we jumped in and started battling it out.
Rolling dice, pushing your luck and working to a strategy all come together for a fun little game.  I managed to buy a heap of added ability cards which helped in the end to secure a win.  Kn loved it enough that we had a second game right away, and then another game later in the afternoon once Kr had joined us.
 

Dominion
Kn took a break from the board games to try some D&D 5th Ed (doing a good job as a Dwarf Fighter) and so I joined in with some others who were setting up a game of Dominion, which looked interesting.
Dominion is a 'deck building' game where you have your own stack of cards that you draw from and add to during your turn, buying new cards to improve your deck and get extra victory points.  At the end of your turn you shuffle your deck again and deal yourself a new hand for your next turn.
It was ok, an interesting concept - and very Euro, with a nice Medieval theme, but I'm not all that taken by it.  Maybe just not enough Ninja Pirate Dinosaurs eating cities.

Munchkin - Legends
Kr and L had joined us by now, after lunch, and it was time to bust out my Munchkin board and get to kicking down doors.
I was hoping for a few more players, to get the back stabbing really going, but there were just four of us this time.  Still had a good game though, and it was nice how the board was received.

Camel Up. Cup? Up.  I guess...
Is it Camel Cup or Camel Up?  Will we ever know?
Great game of racing camels around the pyramid and betting on who will win the sections and overall places.  Interesting mechanism where the pyramid is used as a dice cup to roll out one die at a time to move each camel, the player having to decide how to bet based on the previous players' turn with the camels and then if they want to move a camel or not.
The board is beautiful, the camels are well done - including their stack-ability as they share spaces around the track (hence the Camel Up confusion) and there are nice cards and coins, and the pyramid dice dispenser is a great touch as well.  Fun game.

Smash Up - again
As mentioned before, we had another go at Smash Up so L could have a go.
Kn was on to his third D&D character by now, as Krl worked on his total-party-kill skills.
 

Takenoko
It was really late now, 9pm heading towards closing time at 10pm.  But L and I wanted one final game, and jumped at a chance to try out Takenoko (another Tabletop game).
The lateness was the biggest hurdle as we got our head around the gameplay, but it rapidly became clear that this is a very elegant game with some nice strategy decisions to work with as you build the garden, tend to it and look after the dietary requirements of the panda.
We didn't get to finish it, but we'll happily have another game when the opportunity is found.
 

The End
That was a big day of gaming.  The kids did very well, and we all had a great time. 

Settlers of Catan, but not in Catan

We have a new FLGS! Down the road in Nth Fitzroy is a new game store that also has space for gaming. We checked it out this Sunday, and were badly tempted to buy much stuff. But reason prevailed and we escaped with just the collectors edition of Settlers of Catan - Egypt. Which is just Catan with an Egyptian skin on it, and some nice pieces and an extra scenario.
We also grabbed an expansion pack for Boss Monster, just some extra cards.
L and I managed to get a game in yesterday of the base Settlers rules. It was fun, although we had to fudge a third player as the kids weren't interested this time. It worked out and L won 11vp to my 7vp.
It's a fun game, I can see why it is regarded a classic.

Grrrr! Arrrgh!

Friday night games, and Kn chose "Brown Bear" and 'Rampage!' (aka Trouble in Meeple City)
Brown Bear a simple little game of turn based card drawing with a memory aspect if another player picks up a card you want and puts it back. Fast, so we had four games before moving on.



Then Rampage! Lots of Kaiju fun. Some of us may have tried to focus a bit too much on knocking the teeth out of each other while L snuck away to a good meeple-fed win.

First ever game of Settlers Of Catan

Had our first ever game of Settlers Of Catan on Saturday night. Played at a friend of L's place using the expansion to get it up to a 5 player game. Awesome.
Kr and Kn got the hang of it right away, and played well even after a big day. The three adults had a great time and I almost pulled off a win! But was beaten at the post by D 😄
Great game, and I will now definitely be buying it as soon as I'm near a FLGS again!

More for a galaxy, far far away...

So the Star Wars itch continues to need scratching.  Thanks to the magic of eBay, a new wave of ships joins our Star Wars TCG fleet.
First a 'limited release' of a Star Destroyer and some rare cards. (although, they are everywhere on eBay, so it can't have been all that limited!)

Then I found another guy in the States who was selling another Star Destroyer, then it turned out he had some other cards to sell as well ... and... OK, I may have gone a bit overboard here - but the guy was giving a great deal, a bargain and it was too good to pass up :)

So now I'm pretty sure Kn and I will have plenty of options for our next few battles.    I'm looking forward to our next battle where I can bring out a classic Imperial fleet with plenty of TIE fighters and a Star Destroyer or two as the backbone.  Yeah.

Dice tower - part 1

Dice towers aren't for everyone, but with the kids chasing dice across the table - especially when we play Munchkin (and I'm not keen about them tossing the dice into the Munchkin Dungeon rooms) I figured it was time for a tower.

Thick card for base and half the walls,

 Thin card for the other walls, giving the 'boot'shape,

 Thick card struts to support the rolling surfaces,

 All glued together,

 Starting to add the texture to make it a bit more exciting,

Stay tuned for the next update!  :)

More Munchkin

Had another game of Munchkin tonight.   The new board is getting some good use.

I've finished it off a bit more since the last post - it now has a flocked grass surface and I've added some extra fittings to the rooms.

So now we have the rooms with the following thematic influences:
1- Greecian mythos
2- Water myths
3- Destroyed by lava
4- Knights and Kings
5- Witches hut
6- Egyptian tomb
7- the Dark Forest
8- the Labyrinth
9- standing stones
10- the cave of gems

then as we played a game the other day, and the dice went for a roll - I thought "hmmm, maybe we could use a dice tower?"....

Gaming, gaming, gaming...

Invited the (now ex-) work crew to come around for another day of board and card games.  These are regular successes, and I think we are starting to make a tradition of them.

We got rolling at 1130am and first game on the table was ...

"Boss Monster". C brought her copy over that she got for xmas.  It is a great little game where the players are the monsters that rule their own little dungeon.  Each turn you try to improve your dungeon and try to either attract or avoid the adventurers who are ready to head out from town.  If your dungeon is dangerous enough, you can kill off 10 adventurers before being wounded 5 times yourself.
Neat little mechanics, easy to play (Kn grabbed it immediately) and the eight-bit game graphics on all the cards look great.  I'm gonna buy this ASAP.

Then we played 'Gloom'.  A game where killing off your own cards is the way to win.  You make your own family of cards as sad as possible, while cheering up the opposition, and then arrange an untimely demise for them at their lowest point.  The transparent cards are a great mechanic for altering the 'pathos'on each card, and the way the game becomes enhanced by each player telling the story of their family (and other families) as each unfortunate or fortunate occurance it played adds to the dark humour.  Kr loved this one, as did everyone. 

Then I introduced the crew to "RoboRally", being a bit more crunchy I wasn't sure how it would be received.  I shouldn't have worried - the first game didn't take too long, and everyone got into the mechanics and learnt a few lessons... and were challenged.  So (and this is pretty rare for our game days) a second game was called for.
Awesome RoboRally funtimes.  Lasers lased, Robots crashed, pushed and fell down pits (multiple times), flags were captured and robots wandered off in the wrong directions.  All great fun.  Went down really well.

Then 'SmallWorld' came out.  All the usual good stuff.  Trolls are becoming a favourite way to churn over coins while in Decline, as no one usually wants to go through the effort of digging them out.  Amazons provided the usual scary invasion, and I took the DragonMaster Dwarves more for the fun of using the Dragon than for more good tactics.  C, J and myself finished close - but T streaked away for a solid win. 

Then we all gathered around the new Munchkin board for a game of Munchkin: Legends expanded with Únnatural Axe'.  The board was warmly received, which was gratifying, and we had a great game of Munchkin with plenty of monster slaying, wheeling and dealing, a few backstabs and a final thrilling race to the finish - as C stole monsters from Kn to fight, and everyone threw in efforts to make the monster too hard for her to defeat, but she kept coming back with another card and finally got the win.

It was time for the crew to go home then (after about 10 hours of gaming) so that left the family to try "Hey, That's my Fish!".
A cute, simple game to set up and play.  Works a bit like checkers where you move your piece (the penguin) in straight lines to capture tiles - picking up the tile you just left.  The player with the most fish at the end wins.  Elegant.  Kn is enjoying it.

 Then we finished off the night with a final game of "Gloom", which everyone wanted to try again.

A great, tiring, but really fun day.  We'll line up another one for sometime soon.

Sometimes, ya just gotta go overboard

So, you may recall that after playing Munchkin at the last big game afternoon we held I ran out soon after and bought Munchkin: Legends for the home collection.  I then drew up a basic version of the game board that can be used to indicate Level progress for the Munchkins, rather than just the counters that the basic version suggests.

Well, I then got all carried away, and L got carried away, and we brainstormed, and decided to make a big board for Munchkin...

So I...

-got some foam (that nice denser blue foam, for improved carving)

-drew out the 'dungeon' (roughly based on the original Munchkin Advanced layout)

- started carving out the rooms, card spaces, discard spaces and dice holder.
- let it age for a couple of months.  (Like a home brew, it should be laid down for a while to mature. Or maybe I just got distracted by family and pre-xmas for a while)

- realised that I wanted to use it soon, so frantically got back into it.  Adding a base and starting to cut out and stick down cardboard pavers and the numbers on the floor.

-eventually had to pull an all-nighter where I paved and bricked the rooms, floorboards in one case.  Added room dressings to give each room a unique theme.

-got out ye olde airbrushe to base coat the rooms in black...

- used the airbrush to add texture to the pavers, bricks and walls.  This was fun as I hadn't used the airbrush as a detail brush in a looong time.  Had to re-learn how to get the right consistency for the paint and adjust the needle and seat and keep the tip clear...  Really happy with the result though. 

- did more drybrushing, detail painting, and painted the 'surface'green in readiness for flocking.

-ready enough to go for the games day.  (which was only a few short hours of sleep away) However, each room needs more detail, and there still is flocking to do.  So there will be more to come on this project!

Yay!  clunk...snooooorrreeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Christmas bounty

So its been Xmas time again, and this year I made sure we all got a bit of gaming goodness under the tree.

I was lucky enough to score 'Gloom' from T at work, and I gave him the Munckin starter set.

Kr also got some Munchkin goodness, expanding the home deck with the "Munchkin 2: Unnatural Axe" deck.

Kn got "Hey, that's my fish!", a game of penguiny fish snatching.  He's quite enjoyed it.

And L got "Last Night on Earth, the Zombie game", which she really enjoyed at the last big game afternoon we held.

The hoard grows!  Muah ah ah aaah!

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.

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!