What happens in Dungeon Crawling ...

... stays in dungeon crawling! The words "This doesn't go on the blog" were specifically invoked. So I'm afraid that those of you who missed gaming for something so trivial as writing, sleeping, or science will have to just imagine the funny that happened. Because it was funny. Oh my.

Scott and I opened with a game of Blue Moon. Then, after Jacqui got back from some errands we tried my copy of Homesteaders (graciously brought back from BGG.Con by Toggy). I have high expectations for this game, and so far I'm pleased with the results. A complicated auction/resource management game is right up my alley.

The we broke out Dungeon Lords. And played it twice. Paladins were dispatched to our dungeons, then (sometimes) dispatched by our dungeons. Fireballs were flung. Trolls did things to Imps that should not be mentioned on a family blog. Life and Death and Taxes, Tears and Laughter, Dragons, Devils and Slime! And Imps. And at the end of the game, kissing! Bet you didn't expect that! But you don't get the story, you who skip gaming.

So, here's the thing. The truly great stories all deal with redemption. (Successful, or non-). So, you have your very own chance to redeem yourself and earn some stories tomorrow night, at Dragon's Lair. Will Imps be there? Of course, who can stop those little guys?

Games Workshop Uproar

Don't know if ya'll have seen this, but apparently games workshop it putting a massive smackdown on a whole lot of people at the moment, in order to protect their intellectual property. Its an interesting read.

http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48933

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/467096

Post Turkey Gaming

After our formal and elegant Thanksgiving, our thoughts turn to leftovers ... and gaming! Given that Jeff and Amy can't host this year, Jacqui and I will throw open the doors to Casa de Bankler at 10am for all your gaming needs. From BGG Con, I picked up Homesteaders and Dungeon Lords, and who knows what else will be available? Depends on what you bring, I guess. RSVP in the comments below.

Update -- I've had something come up on Friday, so we'll host on Saturday. Sorry for the inconvenience.

My Trip to BGG Con 2009 and the Meat Sweats

I made it to the Con site around 11:00 AM Friday to find groggy Chris, Jon, and Rob filing out of the Denny's across the street. The past 24-hours had clearly seen some serious gaming. My Geek List has the specific details of my time at the Con. After 1.5 days or so, I was starting to get totally brain fried. I think I must be totally out of shape when it comes to gaming! So, I decided to take a late night flight back from Dallas to San Antonio Saturday evening rather than do another late, late night of gaming.



But... before I departed, I joined the group for a large, confined geek feeding operation. I don't think I've ever seen that much meat consumed in such a short period of time. One of the Austin folks at the end of the table predicted we'd all have the meat sweats on Sunday. He was right.

Best game of the Con for me: Hellenes.

Other must-buy games: Power Grid: Factory Manager
On my strong maybe list: Dungeon Lords, Stronghold

Those of you not at BGG Con ...

... can respond to my newest Geeklist. And plot our Monday night gaming. And (maybe, just maybe) plot Thanksgiving Weekend gaming. Do people have Friday off? Saturday? (I do). That game of Seven Ages won't play itself...

Holy cow it's here...

BGG is here!!! Can't concentrate at work...

That's it. Move along...nothing to see here.

Commands & Colors: Napoleonics announced

Hooray! C&C has exhaustively covered the Roman Empire, and now they move on to a new time period. For a C&C fan, this is fantastic news. I'm really looking forward to reading the rules, especially since the game description page on the GMT website says that the new ruleset is slightly more complex than the previous C&C games. However, I haven't seen the rules posted anywhere yet, so if someone else finds it, let me know. Also, a look at the sample scenario shows that they've got new symbols for the units. I can figure out "HC" and "LC"--heavy and light cavalry--but I'm not sure yet about the other abbreviations for the units that they show. Looks like I have to figure out where I'm going to make room for the inevitable 5 or 6 boxes this series will spawn and the nonstop week of stickering that will be required.

Ticket to Ride Tournament at BGG.con

There is a qualifier tournament for the Ticket to Ride National Championship at BGG.con this weekend. Although most tournaments can be entered with a signup at the registration desk according to this post, the Ticket to Ride tournament website states that you have to sign up on the TTR website AND at the convention. It's free, so for anyone who wants to take a shot at the big prize (including a trip to the Gathering), why not sign up?

Not a geek of the week, but it's still cool (and geeky)

I finally won a contest. Still waiting to see what my prize is.

Gaming Report

Thanks to everyone who came! Nine people showed up, and I enjoyed the variety of games played.

Steve, Jon, and Michael were the first to arrive and we got in a few Rock Band songs before Chris and then Dennis arrived. And then the games were on.

First up was Battlestar Galactica with the Pegasus expansion. This was my first time playing the expansion, so I didn't fully appreciate all the nuances of the new game features. The humans won, thankfully. I think an unfortunate Cylon loyalty distribution made it easier on us at the expense of the early execution of Adama (sorry, Steve!). I look forward to playing it again.

By then, more people arrived in time for a round of Arkham Horror. Yog-Sothoth was our enemy, and thanks to some overlooking of the little fine print of "when you're lost in time and space, you get devoured" rule, we managed to win fairly easily. Woopsie. Better vigilance next time.

While Arkham was raging in the kitchen, a few other games were played in the dining room, but I forget the names.

We got in two games of Shadow Hunters, which is always light and mischievous fun. In addition, 25 words or Less was played, followed by Dominion: Seaside.

As far as easy-to-setup party games are concerned, I liked 25-Words. I'd definitely play it again.

Dominion continues to grow on me. Seaside adds some new dynamics that create for some interesting synergies. I have much love for the Treasure Map and Treasury cards. Embargos can kiss my grits. At least until I play it.

Thanks again for attending!

BGG Con Spinup

Now comes the phase before every gaming Con where I do mass cramming of wargame rulebooks. Luckily I'm now in the phase of life where I no longer have delusions of mastering the 50-page monsters... just three to five 15-20 pagers... Come to think of it, perhaps this is a greater challenge.

Right now I have semi-solid plans to play Britannia, Successors, and Hellenes scheduled, though I'd also like to get Lock 'N Load, Unhappy King Charles, or even Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel to the table. We'll see... Luckily there are several of us going up with similar game tastes, so hopefully we'll be able to muddle through as a team. Who knows, we may just all end up having fun playing Tumblin' Dice and Crokinole for half the weekend.

Anyway... just a short post here to freshen up the blog a bit. Have a great weekend!

The Latest Time Sinks

Here is another in a continuing series of updates on how I'm spending my precious decompression time... Perhaps there are others out there enjoying the same diversions or have others they'd like to share:

• Kremlin: I'm slated to play in a six-player game of this at BGG.Con, so I went ahead and ordered the version still in print in Switzerland, which supposedly has the original, superior version of the rules, but drastically inferior components. I haven't actually received the game yet (undoubtedly my copy is strapped to the back of a rum-toting St. Bernard somewhere near the Matterhorn), but arranging the order was quite an adventure. Strangly enough, whenever I look up Kremlin on BGG, the banner ads ask me to click here to line up a Russian bride. Yikes.

• Gratuitous Space Battles (pictured above): I was doomed from an early age after seeing the original Star Wars in theaters (1977?) to love things that go boom in space. At $20, this game gives you lots of that, and really not much more, though its still quite fun. You do get to customize your fleet by deciding which of the many weapon types goes into each of the many hardpoints on each bristling gargantuan, give each ship some very basic directions, then hit the play button and get ready to take screen shots. If you don't have time for Sins of a Solar Empire, but want to spend 15 minutes watching a huge fleet battle, this is your game.

• Torchlight: Another $20 PC game... essentially an unholy marriage of Diablo with Saturday morning cartoons.... or, perhaps its Angband on LSD. Whatever it is, I am enjoying it. There are three character classes, each with three skill trees. Each character has a primary pet, that can run back to town for you to sell loot while you keep diving. The quests are quick and full of technocolor excitement, with the boss monsters being suitably huge and ridiculous, surrounded by tons of minions to stack like cord wood. My ancient, circa 2004 PC somehow grinds along just fine with all the whistles turned on, so no worries there. If you like your RPGs light, violent, and colorful, look here.

• SkyBluePink: While looking for a variety of opaque and transparent dice to replace the ridiculous cardboard battlebox in Axis and Allies: Guadalcanal, I stumbled upon this interesting board game component seller. I know there are a few of these merchants on the web, but this one seems particularly well stocked and reasonably priced for those looking for such trinkets.

• Prince Valiant: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant is probably my all time favorite comic strip, and this new collection consolidating the strips from 1937-1938 is very well produced. Just reading these again makes me quite excited to play Britannia at BGG.Con next week.

• Heroscape Wave 10.5: Finally, after around 400 unique figures or so into the system we get the Sasquatch. Sasquatch vs. Ancient Red Dragon? Hmmm... Probably not much of a fight there. Sasquatch vs. Elf Princess with Stick... That sounds more like it. I did quite enjoy the old Six Million Dollar Man episode where Steve Austin fought Big Foot... but I digress. Of course, the formerly promotional figures being included in the set is just awesome fan support. Still, part of me hopes there won't be much more to this game system. My closet just can't take much more.

Alright... that's probably enough blog real estate to consume with one single post. Hey, I didn't even mention the new Panzer General on X-Box 360 (which is good). Oh well....

Megacorps, anyone?

This game hasn't been getting a big buzz, but it's coming out at the end of this month, hopefully.
Has anyone checked it out or had any thoughts? Looks like a lot of horse-trading and backstabbing fun is to be had. And all in 60 minutes! Here are the rules. I am intrigued.

Wikisyndicalism. Heh.

Mo Monday

Well, while ya'll were playing games I was at ZDT's, which was shockingly good. But that means that I'm tanned, rested and ready for Monday gaming. (I'll be bringing stuff to dump on BGG con, in case ya'll want to peruse it). As usual, if you have gaming requests, dump them in the comments.

Because all the cool kids are doing it...

This are the games I'm selling at BGG. I might be adding more to the list (Asia/Europe Engulfed???), but these are in for sure.

Arkham
Battle Lore + expansions
BSG
Black Beard
Brass
Hammer of the Scots
Industria (German)
Thebes
Kingsburg
Leonardo da Vinci
Pacific Victory
Saboteur
Shifting Sands
Soccer Tactics (new edition)
Texas Glory (on the "might keep" list)
Thurn and Taxis (with Spielbox expansion)
World of Warcraft w/ expansions
Tigris and Euphrates
Middle Kingdoms

Most of these I don't HATE. I just don't feel like I need to OWE them anymore. Basically if they stayed in SABG, I wouldn't mind playing them.

Because Tiffany asked for it..

I'm having a game day again at my domicile, the week before BGG con. I posted the info on our new meetup site. Arkham Horror is definitely on the menu.

After seeing the preview video of the Lord of the Rings Collector's edition, I'm getting rather impatient for the holidays...

One Edition to Rule Them All

Fantasy Flight Games [News] - One Edition to Rule Them All

Oh, Baby...

Tenuously Related to Gaming

Mainly because the title of the song is "Poker Face"

I don't listen to Lady Gaga, so I don't know what the original song sounds like. But when Christopher Walken performs it, I'm sold.



I would say it's marginally safe for work. Though clearly the song lyrics are suggestive. Now if you live under a rock (apparently like me) and haven't heard the original song, here it is.

Don't try this at home

Mark and I met on Saturday for a game of WotR. As always we had a good session and you cannot really go wrong with this choice. Neither of us had played in a while and so the first few turns we were consulting the rules for some of the finer things.

I played a little differently this time and a valuable lesson was learned. In an attempt to enter Mordor with little or no corruption I pretty much neglected the defense of the home lands letting them fall to the Dark Forces with little resistance with one exception. Minas Tirith while under siege did mount a counter attack that drove off the orcs and and allowed the Fellowship a peaceful resting place before entering Mordor.

But before they could get started, Marks amphibious attacks all but seal the free peoples fate and earned him the needed points for a military victory. In all the games I have played as the free peoples I have never actually destroyed th ring, but I have had some very close calls. But yesterdays strategy is certainly NOT the way to do it.

Monday Night Gaming

Do I really have to post to remind everyone that gaming is on for tomorrow? No.

I want to. Also, just to mix this up, does anyone else get November 11th off? I've got the day free for bonus gaming, and if we can get a crowd then that would be a good time for a longer title, like 7 Ages or Here I Stand. (Not that I have anything against Endeavour or the other new Euros, but I just haven't laughed as someone's Civ gets destroyed by a Volcano, or burnt anyone at the stake in a long time).

In fact, tomorrow might be the time for a mid-length game ... perhaps Through the Ages belongs in the bag. And it's been a month (or more) since I've played BSG! (Those may not help with the meetup crowd, but if we get a lot of interest there will be multiple games...)