Knavecon IV begins today
10:00am Castletroy Park Hotel. Let’s game ’til we drop
Huzzah!
Vic
Breakfast of Heroes
Knavecon is a long day, best to prepare with a good hearty breakfast. Myself and a few of the knaves as per tradition will be meeting around 8:30 or so for a big fry up in the hotel before kick off. By all means join us!
Huzzah!
Vic
What should I bring to Knavecon?
What should I bring?
Bring yourself. If you have a game or two you like bring them too. If there’s a game you own and haven’t tried yet, bring it along and there’s bound to be someone who knows the rules and will be happy to play with you.
What Time and ’til when?
Knavecon is a one day event albeit a LONG day. We start at 10am and finish some time Sunday morning. Come along whatever time you like. Play as a little or as much as you like.
Will there be competitions?
There will be a number of fun competitions running during the day, nothing serious. Prizes will be games or tickets to other cons.
Are kids welcome?
Absolutely. Accompanied children are admitted free. All unsupervised children will be sold to the goblin king
 
Will there be any events during the day?
We plan on running werewolf, cash and guns live, 30 seconds, x-wing, pegasus bridge and one or two other games during the day along with all the impromptu games that will happen. Grab a game and try it or join a group for a game their running, whatever you fancy
I’ve never played games before will this convention suit me?
Absolutely. You’ll be a veteran gamer by the time you leave 🙂
Are there any rules of conduct?
Don’t be a dick and respect the games you’ve been leant. Return them in the same fashion you received them
Anything else?
Have fun, relax and enjoy the day. It’s going to be good
Huzzah!
Vic
25, 26, 27
Psssttt!! Want to make some money? Go have a look at the game Ascending Empires on ebay. Here use this handy link on BGG
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37919/ascending-empires
$200 for the game in the states, €15 in France. Buy low sell high (send me half the difference as a finders fee)
When I got Ascending empires as a swapsee I had thought it was a standard enough 4x game (Expand, Explore, 2 other exes), I was a bit surprised when I found out the movement around the board was controlled by flicking the pieces. Having played one game I was hooked, this is genius and all games should have a flicking mechanic. Or NOT.
It’s been a while since I’d played it but I remembered how to setup the board so it was all go after that. In AE you start with a handful of troops and two small ships. The board consists of a scattering of random colored planets (facedown) and you flick your ships across the uneven surface and if you get in orbit of a planet you can land your troops and take it over. Once established on a planet you can build colonies and cities (adds defense and bonus points at end game) and research centers. These are key and allow you extra abilities and options depending on which tech branch you pursue
There’s a finite amount of planets so inevitably (i.e. after turn one) conflict ensues (much to the chagrin of the players) and planets are sieged, ships destroyed and empires humbled. What’s lovely about it is unlike most map based conquest games where it’s often trench warfare, due to the flick mechanic it’s quite possible to sneak interdiction attacks into the heart of your enemies empire.
Tech plays a big part in this game, getting ahead will give you major benefits.
There are four different colours of tech which correspond to planet colours. Each branch does different things like increase the amount of ships and troops you can have, how many flicks you get during movement, allow you to build a bigger battleship craft and so on. To tech up you first need to conquer a planet of the appropriate color and build a research station on it then research the tech to move up. To get to a particular level of tech you need to own that many planets of the corresponding colours with research stations on them. A Tall order when everyone is fighting for resources.
Getting to the fourth level of any tech colour grants some awesome powers. in my case I teched up brown and could teleport to unowned planets nilly willy. It was like having moles in your garden.
The game for a map conquest is relatively quick. Turns shoot around (pardon the pun) and there’s practically no down time.
I like this game a lot. I’ve only played it a few times and usually only 1v1 so with extra players (it takes up to four) it gets really interesting. Now it does have it’s faults, the board is notoriously poor in design. It’s a set of jigsaw pieces that should form a flat surface for flicking around but it doesn’t. There was more than one curse when a ship careered off a joint. It’s certainly not a show stopper and it makes the game a little bit more crazy golf than billiards. No-one really complained as everyone was working on the same playing field.
The game is simple to play, the rules are all contained on your play board and it’s very elegant. There are no grey areas or what ifs, everything is covered. I’m surprised this game didn’t make a bigger splash and that it’s out of print, I would have loved to see more games like it but who knows, games have a habit of reappearing. As it stands it’s a tasty little game and if you can get your your hands on it go for it. It’s a goodie
Oh lest I forget i won. 27 points, my opponents scored 26 and 25 points 🙂
it will be at Knavecon IV
Huzzah!
Vic
Holy Monkeys only 3 days to Knavecon IV
Next Saturday is Knavecon IV. It’s going to be a GOOD day. A lot of work has been put in place to make sure it all runs smoothly and I’m looking forward to it. I’m currently in the eye of the storm having done a lot of prep work and come Saturday I’m looking forward to a good, extended, relaxed day of drinking coffee, eating rubbish and playing some awesome games, more than likely against people who don’t know me that well and have not been told “don’t trust Vic”.
The stage is set, the wheels are in motion, additional generic metaphor.
Let’s rock up, kick some ass and take names
See you all on Saturday!
Huzzah!
Vic
Last Thur we gamed
Well the weather was starting to look all boardgamey so it seemed only appropriate to not fight with it. I’ll come back to the main game of the night later but for now I have to mention the wind down game we played or more accurately survived
Panic Lab!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121073/panic-lab
is a kids game. Seeing a trend here? Which is very simple but with the addition of a few rules makes it’s an adult game and a complete head wrecker. In one of the circles of Hell they’re playing Panic Lab right now with pitch forks and electric shocks. If you wanted to break and enemy agent or find out where treasure is buried, force them to play Panic Lab, they’ll crack sooner rather than later.
I reckon (a scientific measure) that as a kids game, someone that masters this game should be locked up away from the rest of society. It’s like mirrors, it’s not natural.
The game of course is simple. You spread the cards in a circle and they consist (depending on how hard you want to make it and how much you hate your brain)
- Start Points
- Creatures
- Transformers (optional)
- Vents (optional)
You then roll the four dice and it dictates
The colour creature you’re looking for (red/blue), Spots or Stripes, Travel Clockwise or Anti-Clockwise and whether it’s a ghost or a slug type creature. First one to spot it sticks a finger on it and claims a point, get it wrong they loose a point. Simple so far….
Here’s where it all goes wrong. Along the way you have Transformers (not those ones)
And these little honeys swap around what you’re looking for. So now you’re looking for a striped creature and now you’re looking for a blue one.
Let’s not stop there, along the way are vents, go onto one and you teleport to the next vent and continue from there. It’s quite possible to wind up (in your mind) doing a few revolutions of the circle before you find the little fella you want. Do this before everyone else does it, ignore the foam on players mouths. Mind Blown.
Seems very simple but try it and you’ll find a new level of profanity issuing from your lips as you get it wrong again and lose a point
The game is cheap as chips. About a €10 or so. It is very intense so you couldn’t play more than a few games but while you’re in that masochistic zone it’s a very “interesting” experience. It’s great with kids, start them off without the transformers and vents.
I’m certainly going to pick up a copy of it but I’m not sure if that says more about me than the game
It’ll be a Knavecon
Huzzah!
Vic
The Gathering in the house!
It wouldn’t be a Knavecon without the guys from The Gathering in Limerick. I Dropped in yesterday evening and we agreed a loose soon to be less loose plan. The guys are going to be bringing some really nice toys to the party
Pegasus Bridge
Anyone who went to conclave will remember this incredible Bolt Action scenario. They guys are going to be running it at the con
Expect a showing of BattleTech and Magic the Gathering on the day too
The Gathering is running Magic on the Sunday as well so if you’ve down for Knavecon make a weekend of it and jump in to the MTG competition on the Sunday as well
Can’t ask for better than that!
Huzzah!
There are Four Lights! – Thur part 1
I should have known better, WE should have known better than to get involved in a game picked by Krystian from The Boardgame Guys. His last head wrecker was Dobble and I’d only just recovered from that. Krystian subjected us to Cockroach Salad.
http://www.boardgameguys.ie/productdisplay/cockroach-salad
Cockroach salad just like Dobble is a simple game which consists of a stack of cards which are either Tomatoes, Peppers, Lettuce or Cauliflower (or cockroaches). Now it took me a bit to get my head around the rules, mostly because my mind was going “Is that it?”. This is a weird game, it shouldn’t work but it does. The deck of maybe a 100 cards is split amongst all the players and your goal is to get rid of your hand as quickly as possible. Now the fun starts. Here’s the rules if you don’t understand them give me a ring and I’ll try to explain them as best I can 🙂
You lay a card and call out what it is so Pepper, Tomato, Cauliflower, Lettuce or cockroach. Easy so far..
Now if the card you are laying on has the same type as the previous one you have to call out a different veg e.g. you play a tomato and there’s one already below it directly you call out say Pepper or one of the other four vegetables (yes I know tomatoes are not vegetables). Still with me?
Now if a cock-a-roche appears it has a vegetable with a cross through it so you can’t call that one out for a bit at all. Losing you?
On top of this you only have 3 seconds to call out your veg and it’s a recipe for a lot of effin’ and blindin’
Screw up and call the wrong one and you take the stack of cards that’s built up.
I liked it. It’s Not a game you could keep playing, it messes with your head in the same way as “yes, no and yeah” does, I reckon a few too many games of this and your synapses would be rewired irrevocably and you’d have to communicate purely by mime and clicks.
Great kids game. Once again we have a polish game that’s great for kids and adults (brain damage accepted). It’s going to be at Knavecon and I reckon I’ll be getting a copy. As one of the guys said last night (and I’m paraphrasing), “in hell there’s people playing this game as punishment.”
Huzzah!
Vic
Last thur a DJ saved my life*
*Not actually true
But we did play Skull and Roses.
Skull and Roses is the simplest game outside of alternative kicks until one person passes out. I’ve never done it but I would love to grab a stack of beer mats and make the game with a pen in a pub and have it played with noobs. Probably work better if I knew a number of noobs, I went to pubs and I owned a pen but there you go
Since we had a noob last thur and we had over the six player mark two copies of skull and roses fitted the bill. It’s a great warm up game and a great game to introduce non gamers to gaming (not that our new guy was a stranger to gaming). S+Rs is the very essence of poker. There’s elements of prisoners dilemma, bluff, beer mats, you name it, it has it all (insofar as those three mentioned just now). Could you play it for money? yes you could. Would I? absolutely not. Gambling and gaming are two very different things.
There’s something special about skull and roses that brings me back to it time and again. It’s probably the simplest gateway game for people. I tend to play it in two phases with new players. Play with only one card in front of you and the first player calls a challenge. Give people a few rounds of this then introduce the concept of stacking more cards OR calling the challenge. Play a few more rounds of that then take it away and have people wanting more. I’ve found this game a great filler at poker nights too, especially if you want to recruit new players. Watch their little faces and see how they react when you explain about bluffing.
I once hosted a game of Diplomacy at a con in UL many years ago with a buddy of mine and seven complete newbies sat down and as I explained the rules I said “obviously none of the agreements are binding”… I spotted two good gamers straight off the ones with the slight grins. I spotted one Really good gamer, the one who didn’t react but completed screwed over everyone else very quietly and succinctly
Selling someone a deal or bluffing is grist for the mill when it comes to gaming. I think it’s one of the key skills you need to learn in life. Doubly so if you plan on being and evil overlord and let’s be honest… whom doesn’t dream of that!
Huzzah!
Vic
More from last thur and How to be a Good Evil Overlord
Since the village up the road has been suffering biblical floods (probably for sinning) it seemed appropriate to play lords of waterdeep. That plus I didn’t give that much thought about this preamble
Lords of Waterdeep was the darling of Knavecon 1 and 2 and it’s still a crackin game. Truth be told it had been a while since it hit table and i’d forgotten how good it it. It’s very good. Event without the expansion the base game if wonderful. With the expansion it’s a bit longer but it’s sublime.
I’ve ranted about this game before. I probably mentioned that for a pretty simple worker placement game it punches way above its weight. There’s something special about LOWD i have played it a few dozen times and I’m always more than happy to play it again.
Oh and the fact that I left everyone IN THE DUST from the get go helps a lot. Usually when i play this game someone who shall remain Drax goes out of his way to rain on my parade. The gaming gods were in a good mood and from early on i stole a march on the other players. I landed two 25 point missions in quick succession and the others were hard pressed to catch up. At one stage a player was heard to say “this game is over were fighting for second”.
Much as you might think this is a wonderful position to be in.. It’s not. It’s too public. If you’re going to become an accomplished evil overlord the trick is not to do it visibly. Being and Evil overlord is all a out snatching away victory from someone at the last moment. You’re never going to break a spirit if they know it’s coming. Your opponent has to believe they’re winning or at least that victory is in their grasp before you AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT take it away by the smallest or if you prefer largest margin.
Winning a game early is just no good you take your opponents hope and that’s a tragedy. If your going to excel at being an evil bastick pace yourself, don’t expect instant results, be content to be a BIT evil and be comforted by the knowledge that one day you will rule the word (evilly)
Huzzah!
Vic
Victor Gannon Games 