Tuesday Night And Preparing For TableTop DOG 2017

Posted on by Tim Porter

We had a good crowd with 30 on Tuesday night. A good mix of new and old games were played. Two games of Battlestar Galactica were played, the humans won both games.

Once you go Blackmail…. aka Archer Love Letter is still my favorite version of the hugely popular Love Letter micro-game. It does not have the trip-up Countess card.

VCSB 25th April 2017
VCSB 25th April 2017
VCSB 25th April 2017
VCSB 25th April 2017
VCSB 25th April 2017
VCSB 25th April 2017

 

April-Lyn organized a board game themed bingo at DOGCAT 2016 last November. It was a big hit with the attendees, but there are some issues. People were getting very competitive, and as there was a limited number of prizes those people who showed up late were out of luck.

This time it is a board game themed raffle bingo. Players who play games can cross out squares. Completing at least one square gets you two raffle tickets. If you complete a row you get five bonus tickets. There are also discretionary tickets for ‘style’, good sportsmanship etc. Late in the evening the winning raffle tickets will be drawn, and the lucky players will win prizes. I’ll let you know how it goes…

The TableTop DOG Raffle Bingo sheet
The TableTop DOG Raffle Bingo sheet

3500 games played, 10×10 update and TableTop DOG 2017

Posted on by Tim Porter

This is a longer post with three, no make that four main topics.

First, let me focus on one of the reasons why I started gaming back when I was a young pre-teenager. After my father bought me a second-hand library book on WW2 I gained an avid interest in history.  Back in the 1970’s historical wargame’s were they only type of ‘real’ games available for me to play with my brother, and my school friends. So a connection between history and board games was formed that continues to this day. Therefore it was great to see an airworthy B-29 named FiFi at Camarillo Airport. My inner historian, coupled with the rampant gamer , immediately wants to break out a game involving Boeing B-29 bombers. Wrooommm.

3500 Games Played

It was only when I got back from last weekends GMT West “Weekend at the warehouse” did I realize that I had passed the grand total of 3500 games played. And by games played I actually mean games that I have logged on BoardGameGeek. The number of 3500 does not include all the board, and card, games that I have ever played. I first began logging my games played back in 2007, and my start was rather erratic. I have covered my thoughts, suggestion, and ideas for game logging, in too much depth, in an separate article here.

Let me sum up some snippets based on these 3500 game playes:

  1. I have played Battlestar Galactica 521 times, and it is still a great game.
  2. With 68 plays, Codenames is my most played party game.
  3. My most logged wargame is Labyrinth: The War on Terror with 58 plays. This is a game when I was proud to take part in the playtest process.
  4. The game that made me hit 3500 logged games was Cards Against Humanity. This game is one where you actually do not want to play it too often. It is a horrible game, for horrible people. I am a horrible person. With the right people this game is an absolute hilarious experience, and we do not bother tracking who won.
  5. Despite playing the game 15 times, I have never won a game of  Wings For The Baron. Even so, it is a great economic-wargame hybrid.
  6. Some games I play for the benefit of other people. With 46 plays, Battle Cry is a game I purchased primarily for use at the Wargame Bootcamp as an introductory wargame.
  7. There are 279 games that I have played only once each.
  8. I have met many good people, and a few not so good people playing these games. I have also made many good friends playing these games.
  9. I still cannot effectively shuffle cards, and dice still hate me.

My twisted 10×10 Challenge for 2017

For a joke I twisted the standard 10×10 Challenge into a BSG focused grid. My joke backfired on me as I committed myself to the challenge. After a few hectic weeks of gaming it was about time for me to update my 10×10 grid.

10x10 grid
10×10 grid with the games played so far in 2017
Games played
Games played so far in 2017

This Saturday is TableTop DOG 2017 on International Table Top Day

I am hurriedly plotting activities for the attendees at this weekends TableTop DOG in Oxnard. This is our 4th event on Table Top Day. With over 40 people already signed up we are expecting a bigger event than last years event.

As this is an official Table Top Day event there will be kiddie and family friendly games at hand; along with the usual mix of euro, strategy, wargame, thematic, and party games we normally play.

Tim

 

GMT West – 20th to 23rd April 2017

Posted on by Tim Porter

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.
Eric, Karl, and Greg with another game of T&T
Yup, there is such a thing as too many cards
This was before the errata was revised.
Pick a card
The white cards alone filled one table
T&T was a popular game. Sandy (left) came all the way from London.
On Thursday night we wound down with a horrible game of Cards Against Humanity. I had to pick this winning answer.
Jerry has some very creative game ideas.
It was good to see Pyramid Lake so full.
On Thursday night some horrible people wound down with Cards Against Humanity
Oerjan came all the way from Sweden. He run a playtest corner for COIN games
Otherwise known as Samurai Swords
Every time I looked Terry was playing Twilight Struggle, he was also using the Turn Zero expansion
Battle of Flerus from the Musket and Pike system

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

Kurt and Mike playing Nightfighter
18Ireland with Steve, Mike, and Morgan
Wing Leader
Sandy and Jon learning Nappy Wars
Roger Miller playtesting a new Rinella game
1914 Race to the Sea
Kurt showing his game Fields of Despair, to Roger
Hands in the Sea
Terry and yet another game of Twilight Struggle
Falling Sky
Sword of Rome
More T&T, I think this was the single most played game
Eric, Matt, and Larry playing Unconditional Surrender
Fellow Brit’s Jon and Sandy were newcomers to Nappy Wars. They had a fun time playing the game three times on Saturday
Greg demoing his game 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble
Brett showing Terry and Mark his baseball game
Pericles
Greg and his game 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble
Greg showing 7YW: Frederick’s Gamble to Mark Simonitch
Bomber Command
Yet another game of T&T, this time it includes Brett and Steve
The new Mark Herman game was a popular game

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!.

It was good to see Command & Colors Napoleonics being played, why didn’t I think to bring the Epic version?
A full game of multiplayer Epic Command and Colors Ancients
Black Orchestra: Allen was sent to jail and Leggat got him out.
Matt, and Kurt with Pax Rennaissance
7YW Frederick’s Gamble: Dave and Eric being shown the game by the designer Greg Ticer
It was good to see Karl and Ken play Thirty Years War
Roger Miller showing off Pacific Fury
Mark teaching Twilight Struggle
Combat Commander Pacific hitting the table
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

Sunday

By Sunday people are beginning to travel home. After the noise and commotion of Saturday, peace descends on the warehouse.

Bruce, designer of COIN series Gandhi, with Allen, and Oerjan
Gene, Chris, Eric, Doug, Dave, and Jerry discuss the new design from Jerry
Ken and John with Operation Dynamo from France ’40
Once again Mike Lam ran the Down in Flames area
Karl getting Clank!-y

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

Boeing B-29 FiFi at Camarillo Airport

Posted on by Tim Porter

One of the major reasons why I like board games is because I love history. Games give you a chance to comprehend, replay, and remake, history. One side effect is that if I see a documentary, a film, or visit a historical place; then I have to check out games on the subject.

The Commemorative Airforce (CAF) has a base at the nearby Camarillo Airport. As part of their Airpower History Tour they were bring several historic airplanes to Camarillo for a few days. One of the featured planes is a Boeing B-29 bomber called FiFi. It is interesting to note that until recently FiFi was the sole B-29 still flying. This was a once in a lifetime chance to see an airworthy B-29 in all of her glory. With GMT West starting on Thursday the 20th, the only chance to see FiFi was the day before. So on the Wednesday afternoon I went down to Camarillo Airport to look at Fifi and the other exhibits on display at the CAF museum.

The very small, and cramped ball turret from a B-17 bomber. Note the tennis ball for scale,
The B-29 FiFi on the tarmac at Camarillo Airport
The flying C-45 Expeditor in British RAF colors, note the black and white invasion stripes on the wings, and fuselage.
It is rare to see an historic aircraft partially disassembled. Here is the Packard Merlin on a frame outside the aircraft.
The bomb bay doors of the B-29 FiFi

This really wants me to break out my copy of Wing Leader: Supremacy.

Wing Leader Supremacy 1943-45 box cover
Wing Leader Supremacy 1943-45, by GMT Games, is a tactical squadron level air combat game. Unusually the game focuses on the vertical element of air combat.

 

 

Midweek Update – 4th April 2017

Posted on by Tim Porter
Unfair

Good crowd last night in Newbury Park with 26. Alex made his first appearance at Greg’s, and Ben rejoined us after a stint in South Korea. Carl brought along Flamme Rouge, which was fun. Serge Clanked, twice. Baker Josh mucked up the rebels plans with the timely nabbing of the Corcuscant card.

Games played included: Great Western Trail, Keyflower, Unfair, Oracle of Delphi, Star Wars Rebellion, Concordia, Pandemic Iberia, Manhattan Project, Coup x4, Fuse x3, Clank! X2, and Flamme Rouge x2.

Note that next week we have a change to our normal schedule: Greg is hosting on Monday, and Ted is hosting on Tuesday.

VCSB 4th April 2017
Games played at the VCSB meetup 4th April 2017
2Capture
Games played at the VCSB meetup 4th April 2017

A local-ish (Santa Barbara county) gamer friend of mine, Jerry White, is interviewed about his upcoming solitaire game on the Doolittle Raid. The interview is on The Players Aid site.

TableTop DOG is fast approaching… I am plotting some type of competition… hee hee