Boardgames, Card Games, Gaming
Once again Dec Noonan (famous for the “Deccie” deal) will be running the Knavecon Buy and Sell. This has become renowned for some amazing deals and the appearance of some rare games.
If you have any games you want to Sell, THIS is the place to do it.
Huzzah!
Vic
It’s a new year so let’s make a set of resolutions for what we want to play this year. For me it’s simple because I’m a simple person.
Dead of winter.
I’ve had this on back order for a few months on Amazon and I got to play it once last year and was pretty impressed. A lot of zombie games I’ve found tend to be sluggish (pardon the pun), this I liked, it was suitably different
Fire in the lake
I like Vietnam. In answer to your shouted statement I agree I don’t know and that’s correct I wasn’t there. The game intrigues me. I’m not sure how it compares to a distant plain but hey it’s Vietnam. I’m sure I’ll pick this up at some stage and by sure I mean I have no idea if I will but will try.
Capital ships in x-wing
I really like the look of the new imperial big ship for xwing. I thought the big ships were a bit one sided and the transport left me a bit cold but now! look at it, LOOK AT IT
XCOM
Now the fact that this is coop might be an issue. I haven’t researched it enough but truth be known I LOVE xcom, always have, back since laser squad. I really liked the reboot of the pc game particularly the enemy within variant. Truth be told if they were selling xcom flavored apples id probably buy one. Someone around me is going to get this game this year and I will play it. I have no doubts
The Last Banquet
This is another one I’m intrigued by if only by the number of players who can take part 6-26. Could be a real interesting con game.
Imperial Assault and Star Wars Armada
Nope. Blasphemy as it may be im not really bothered with these games. They’re too expensive. I have plenty of dungeon crawlers and I have xwing. I’m out.
(That said if someone else brings it I may play it)
Right that’s my 2 cents for now, I’ve labelled it part 1 as I’m sure something else will come to mind, until then
Huzzah!
Vic
Thanks to all those supporters who went out of their way to vote for Knavecon in the Geek Ireland awards. We got a LOT more votes than expected and finished third (just pipped at the post for second) for the best con of 2014.
Even though it’s a fairly new con and it’s not based in Dublin, it’s always been a con that’s punched above it’s weight and the fact we rated so highly is a great start to 2015 and a testament to the gamers who come each time and make a good con a great con. Well done everyone
I’m looking forward to gaming with all of you in 2015, drinking coffee and above all talking shite with conviction. Knavecon V is on the 11th April. Make sure you’re green lit for it. It’s going to be good. Actually it’s going to be REALLY good. Until then, keep gaming, keep talking and keep the faith,
“May we game a thousand years”
Huzzah!
Vic
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you’ve enjoyed gaming and reading my blog as much as I have gaming and writing it. I’ll be back (probably) before the new year, but then again I might be busy doing a bit of gaming too. Join me soon for more fun and frolics, so until then, enjoy what is best in life…..
Beating Limerick gaming at Twilight Struggle
Huzzah!
Vic
Right then, who wants a game of Twilight Struggle?
I recently found out you can play Twilight Struggle VERY nicely by Email via Vassal for free. I’ve been playing an excellent game against Limerick Gaming for the last while and fancy more.
So who fancies a game?
Vic
I’ve had a copy of Iron Sky gathering dust at home since Knavecon 4, it’s about time I whipped it out and played a test game. Can’t say I’ve watched the movie but it looks good enough to warrant my attention. Huzzah etc.
I’m big enough to admit that occasionally I get the odd rule wrong (waits for shocked muttering to stop) when playing a new game. Occasionally.
When a game has a about five rules and you’ve missed about four of them that’s gross negligence. In the case of Art of War these proper rules make an OK game into a very nice game indeed.
On the plus side when you get a rule wrong and then correct it you get value for money because you’ve gotten to play two different games! So… I’ll leave it there *cough*….
Age of War. Great game. Read the rules. Stay in school
Huzzah!
Vic
Zombie Dice 2 is a three dice expansion for the base game. It’s called “double feature” as in a Matinee Movie and Stars three new dice.
the Hunk (let’s assume his name is Brad) : Lots of shotguns, including a deadly double shotgun, but also a double brain, so this dice is a real gamble when it turns up. In addition if he shoots you and you happen to have the Hottie or Santa Claus in your brain pile he rescues them and you lose their brains. Boo hiss! he’s behind you etc.
The Hottie : a Pink Dice (of course) has a lot more run aways. The pink dice is a real pain the snag and as slippery as a greased up deaf guy
And the piece of resistance
Santa Claus : This is the most interesting of the dice, as well as featuring the normal brain and blasts, you can make out like a bandit with this dice as he features presents of and energy drink which allows you to catch up and change run aways to brains (red bull does indeed give you wings) and a Helmet that allows you to take four shotgun blasts rather than the normal three that lesser less helmeted zombies succumb to
As expansions go, it’s a bit expensive for what you get. It’s a tenner or so for three dice and two of them are pretty boring. That said, if you’re willing to fork out it does fit in well with the base game and just like an object of beauty it’ll be a joy forever.
I’ve had the expansion for a long time and it does improve the game. Shop around and see what you can get it for
Huzzah!
Vic
Nigel : “You’re all about coffee aren’t you?”
Vic : “OH YES!”
Nigel : “There’s a place in Dublin that does the best coffee in Ireland, it’s near enough to Gaelcon, fancy a coffee break during the con?”
Vic : “Game On!”
So it was that Nigel and Matt from NWG and my good self set off for 3fe (Third Floor Espresso) to have afternoon coffee last Sunday. WOW! They make good coffee.
Nigel is a bit of a coffee buff and Matt is French so he has a robust, march in the street opinion on most things and I just like coffee.
They were right, it was good, in fact it was very good. The place itself was full of people when we arrived, but they knew their business and served us up our coffees pretty quick. For what you got it was good value compared to a lot of coffee houses. The place reminded me of Starbucks a little but with a much more raw feel to it. They do food too, but it’s not about that it’s about the coffee experience. They don’t (which was a surprised) have sugar or milk, oh no no this is about the coffee and the stuff was good, I went back for seconds.
As far as atmosphere went it was pure hipster, I was probably hip for a good ten minutes because I was so out of touch and then we went back to not being hip at all. Everyone who didn’t have a book had an apple mac and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see USB ports on every table (there weren’t). I liked the coffee a lot, I liked their setup, I’d like some of their coffee now. If you’re up that way I recommend a visit, just for the experience. Wear any old thing you’ll more than likely be hip
Huzzah!
Vic
as a PS here’s where they are
https://www.google.com/maps?q=32+Lower+Grand+Canal+Street+Dublin+2+Ireland
MrSaturday (not real name) is a long time gaming buddy of mine (there are no buddies in gaming only ladder rungs). Dave is famous for his amazing art work and model painting skills among other things. He also runs a fine blog on painting and oldhammer which I Highly recommend you visit. He’s been good enough to write a guest article for me on a game he likes, something a little different …..
I’m a big fan of skirmish level wargaming. Back in the day I would have been playing Necromunda, Mordheim and Gorkamorka. These days you have games like Infinity, Malifaux, Deep Wars and a ton of others. Right now though, my skirmish rule set of choice is Pulp Alley.
I was introduced to Pulp Alley by the Irish Oldhammer group, and I was hooked right away. There are a lot of settings for skirmish games I am are keen to try out. Warhammer 40k inquisitorial warbands, Strontium dogs hunting down criminals while dodging the local cops on some dusty backwater planet, bands of undead cowboys raiding the town bank in an alternative Wild West, the list goes on, and Pulp Alley can handle them all.
Part of the reason I am quite keen on games at this level is there is an outside chance I might get the relevant models painted. Sure, I like painting big armies, but by the Gods it takes me ages. Having some smaller painting projects going on to break up the big stuff keeps it fresh. Anyway, Pulp Alley.
The biggest draw for me is that Pulp Alley lends itself heavily to narrative play. In fact, it’s the main driver. Instead of victory points you have plot points, so that gives you an idea of the lean of the game. Its intended setting is Indiana Jones style adventure, but you can apply it to pretty much any setting or period with no effort whatsoever.
Its mechanics are very simple indeed. A 4+ is a success for any roll. What changes is the dice you use to roll the test. A leader might use a D10 for the roll, whereas a sidekick might only use a D8. The types of dice you use will change in game as characters are injured and so on. There are several tiers of character that can be heavily customised with skills to represent pretty much anybody, or anything. Your group of characters is called a league, and they can be as small or as large as you like. There are several expansions for the game with rules for vehicles, larger models and so on.
Added to this are fortune cards and perils. When a player attempts to resolve a plot point, (effectively an objective), they make a peril roll depending on the difficulty of the plot point. Hacking into a security panel, searching a corpse, that kind of thing. Other peril tests come from terrain, wild animals etc. Jumping a ravine, hopping a fence, fending off a bear and so on.
Fortune cards are drawn by the players each turn, and have wide variety of effects. The fortune cards are essentially ways to boost your own guys, or much more entertainingly, mess with other players. Having a character spectacularly fail to climb over a high fence and get caught on it by a sensitive part of his anatomy for the remainder of the game due to several cards being played on him in quick succession provides (and did provide) much hilarity.
So, if you’re looking for a light and very entertaining skirmish system to suit any models or setting you like, give Pulp Alley a go.
Victor Gannon Games 