Full
GMT West aka The Weekend at the Warehouse is a twice yearly gaming event that takes place at the GMT Games warehouse in Hanford, California. GMT basically let a bunch of rabid gamers take over their warehouse for 4 days, and what a great job the GMT staff do in accommodating us.
The cool thing is 80-100+ gamers take over the warehouse, stare in awe at stacks of impressive games, and then we get to play all sorts of games, not just games published by GMT Games themselves. There are usually a number of game designers in attendance. You get to talk with these game designers, and play their new game designs. Many gamers have aspirations to design a game themselves. It is always enlightening to talk with an actual game designer who have turned that desire into an actual game.
Let us not forget Mike Lam who runs a Down In Flames area, and has been doing so for donkey’s years.
Click on an individual image to see a larger version
Thursday
Games were already in full swing when I arrived in the early afternoon.
A good multiplayer game to wind down with.
The white cards alone filled one table
It was good to see Pyramid Lake so full.
Yup, there is such a thing as too many cards
This was before the errata was revised.
Every time I looked Terry was playing Twilight Struggle, he was also using the Turn Zero expansion
T&T was a popular game. Sandy (left) came all the way from London.
Pick a card
Oerjan came all the way from Sweden. He run a playtest corner for COIN games
Otherwise known as Samurai Swords
On Thursday night we wound down with a horrible game of Cards Against Humanity. I had to pick this winning answer.
Eric, Karl, and Greg with another game of T&T
Jerry has some very creative game ideas.
Battle of Flerus from the Musket and Pike system
On Thursday night some horrible people wound down with Cards Against Humanity
Friday
The weekend was in full swing on Friday. The squeaky ceiling vent was oiled, but the nearby welders added their symphony of noises to replace
Sword of Rome
More T&T, I think this was the single most played game
Fellow Brit’s Jon and Sandy were newcomers to Nappy Wars. They had a fun time playing the game three times on Saturday
The new Mark Herman game was a popular game
Hands in the Sea
Yet another game of T&T, this time it includes Brett and Steve
Terry and yet another game of Twilight Struggle
Greg showing 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble to Mark Simonitch
Kurt and Mike playing Nightfighter
1914 Race to the Sea
Kurt showing his game Fields of Despair, to Roger
Sandy and Jon learning Nappy Wars
Falling Sky
18Ireland with Steve, Mike, and Morgan
Brett showing Terry and Mark his baseball game
Pericles
Greg demoing his game 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble
Wing Leader
Bomber Command
Eric, Matt, and Larry playing Unconditional Surrender
Roger Miller playtesting a new Rinella game
Greg and his game 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble
Saturday
The main day of the Weekend started with doughnuts, was punctuated with copious pizza, and ended with a great game of Battlestar Galactica. So say we all!.
A few games of Churchill were observed
Saturday night was capped with a 6 player game of Battlestar Galactica. The cylons won. No one suspected that Ken was the second cylon
Another COIN game being played, Falling Sky
Roger Miller showing off Pacific Fury
A full game of multiplayer Epic Command and Colors Ancients
7YW Frederick’s Gamble: Dave and Eric being shown the game by the designer Greg Ticer
Mark teaching Twilight Struggle
Matt, and Kurt with Pax Rennaissance
Black Orchestra: Allen was sent to jail and Leggat got him out.
Combat Commander Pacific hitting the table
It was good to see Karl and Ken play Thirty Years War
It was good to see Command & Colors Napoleonics being played, why didn’t I think to bring the Epic version?
Sunday
By Sunday people are beginning to travel home. After the noise and commotion of Saturday, peace descends on the warehouse.
Karl getting Clank!-y
Bruce, designer of COIN series Gandhi, with Allen, and Oerjan
Ken and John with Operation Dynamo from France ’40
Once again Mike Lam ran the Down in Flames area
Gene, Chris, Eric, Doug, Dave, and Jerry discuss the new design from Jerry
Many thanks to the GMT staff for hosting another successful weekend. It was good to see a bunch of regulars, and to meet a bunch of new people.
cheers
Tim
25th April 2017
Link to all the photos in a Flickr Album
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