My problem with Knavecon as an organizer has always been getting time to play games. What with all the walking around, talking shite, drinking coffee and eating donuts it leaves very little quality gaming time. As the con has matured I’ve found I can get in a good long game late at night/early in the morning along with a few quick ones during the day. The last two Knaves it’s been one of my favorites. Twilight Struggle. This one it’s been the magnificent (and new) New Angeles. 
I spoke recently about New Angeles. It’s a new one from Fantasy Flight and if you were really pushed for time you COULD call it Battlestar 2017. You’d be wrong of course because it’s nothing like it but some people seem to think it is. It’s not. It’s got a traitor mechanism in there. So has Battlestar. So has werewolf. So has life. 
The reason I’m back banging on about this game is it was the late night game I got to play with the full compliment of six at Knavecon. This is my favorite game so far this year without a doubt
Some games you know you’re going to love before you open the box. New Angeles for me was that game and coupled with the rum selection of gamers that took part on that faithful night, it truly knocked it out of the park. 
A typical game of New Angeles should take you no more than two hours to complete. Three if you’re learning it. This was no typical game of anything. The sheer level and quality of BS meted out during the course of the game was incredible. Not a single person could keep a straight face when players tried to justified they’re blatantly obvious opportunistic proposals. Our game rattled on for over five hours. Five hours that flew by. At the end we were exhausted, talked out and relieved but it was time well spent. We laughed our collective asses off from start to finish of that game and that’s what it’s all about. It just happened we had a really really good game as a host 
Huzzah!
Vic 

Cthulhu, Neil Gaimen, Martin Wallace, Sherlock Holmes. The blessed trilogy in four parts. When I heard about a study in Emerald some years back I did something I rarely do. I pre ordered it. Shock! It was well worth it. I still have it, it’s a great game and it appears on the table every so often. So why you might ask did I go and buy second ed which from all reports is a cut down not as good version? I was curious. 

I’m here to tell you that second ed of a Study in Emerald is as good if not better than the original. Well not better. Maybe different but a really good game all the same. It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper. Best of luck getting a first ed copy (yes yes I know I was selling my copy at once stage but that was a long time back and Quick look over there!)
ASiE was ahead of its time. A map based conquest game with a card drafting driving mechanism. All it was short of was sculpted minis. Actually… there’s an idea! Maybe the ones from mansions of madness! Being ahead of it’s time does not make it old btw. It’s a damn fine game. Anyhoe
Briefly the game is set in the nineteen hundreds. The great old ones (the plucky rascals) have appeared and taken over the Victorian world. In fact they’ve been in Situ for a number of decades and apart from the enslavement and endless misery it’s worked out pretty well for everyone and by everyone I mean the great old ones. The players take the hidden roles of either loyalists who think everything’s grand, lets not rock the boat or restorationists who want to bump off all the old ones and return the earth to the earthlings. The game plays out on a board with a dozen cities like London, Paris and Madrid as well as more exotic (and potentially dangerous) spots like Constantinople. Each city has a stack of face down one face up card which you want to take to add to your deck. (This is the drafting part). You do this by putting influence cubes and agents (more than your opponent’s) on a city and then grabbing the card in the following round. It’s a kind of bidding mechanism with ample opportunity for cock blockery. Cards in turn grant resources and powers, assignation being a key one for bumping off old ones and enemy agents. 
Certain actions such as killing old ones are SOO restorationist. Likewise killing agents is so the kind of thing a loyalist would do. Of course this could be a ruse to trick people into thinking you’re something you’re not. Easy how you go though. At the end of the game you lose any score that wasn’t specific to your alignment. 

The game has a number of mechanics running at once all of which meld together nicely. The hidden alignment is key. Really you want to Identify who’s who and either aid or hinder them. Now even though you want your team to win (go local sports team!) you just want to use them to be number one and losing five points at the end because one of your team mates came last is not part of the plan. 
The real question here is how does it compare to 

to the first edition. I have to say before I’d gotten it I had heard a lot of negatives about the new edition and I’m glad to say they’re not true. First the negatives. The map is not as nice as the original it’s now a fairly compact map with cities lined up on a grid. The cards aren’t as pretty as the original. The art work has changed for them. I preferred the old illustrations… that’s about it. Everything else checks out. 
In first ed the game had a touch of unfinished about it. Now don’t get me wrong first ed is one of my favorites games. Second ed is much tighter. Gone are some of the superfluous bits like double agent tokens (which rarely ever happened). Insanity is simpler. Everyone starts with three Wooden disks on their alignment cards and roll on the insanity dice when required. There aren’t as many wooden pieces knocking about. Setting up is quicker. It take a bit less table space this time around. 
City ownership no longer changes hands. Once you claim a city card it’s yours. The scrabble for ownership late in the game that slowed down first ed. is gone. Old ones are mixed in with the drawn cards (as are the city cards) and are only attackable when their cards appear. Now certain cities become more important for a period rather than all of them being important all of the time. It makes for a much more focused contest. Most of the mechanics that made first edition special are still in place albeit in a simplified way. It only improves the game. 
From a lot of the negative reviews I’d read I’d expected a very weak game indeed. I was very pleasantly surprised. The game is improved. People who loved the first one (I loved it) may feel like a step down. It doesn’t have the same rich deluxe feel as first ed. That’s ok. I can live with that, it’s the game play I’m interested in. 
Second ed is definitely worth having a look at. First ed was amazing and this is a fine revision
Highly recommended 
Huzzah!
Vic 

I reckon I was single digit aged when I got my last and maybe only nose bleed. Recently I played Time and Space and I felt myself drifting back to that day. You think Dobble or Cock a Roche salad is a brain melter? Wait’ly you get a load of this. It’s cheap. Too cheap maybe for what you get in the box. €15 the two times I’ve seen it for sale. But I digress. 

The game is played with …. two egg timers each. Around 40 seconds per timer and every action you take requires you to kick off a timer. The theme is you and up to two other players (yes it’s one of those weird three player games) are trying to complete contracts by delivering different types of resources to players that are requesting them. 

Each player starts with a handful of contracts. They simply show 1-3 of a particular resource. They stick those out in front of their player card and players scramble to be the one to zoom in with their ship and deliver these goods. Goods themselves have to be harvested, moved to the teleport station and finally delivered to the player via the ship which acts as the end point for the teleport. Each of these actions requires one of your timers to run its course before the action is completed. Add to this the ability to upgrade your factory (again requires timer to complete) and moving your ship around (again timer powered) and it quickly becomes like a circus act with three players on unicycles throwing juggling clubs to each other while the sabre dance plays. 
It’s a different game. I’ve never played anything quite like it. It’s unusual too in that you have to know all the rules (relatively simple) before the game starts because you can’t really pause the game once it begins. 

It’s fairly lite. There’s no grand strategy, it’s all reactionary and whilst not as frenetic as dobble or it’s ilk it’s a tiring game. This is not one you would want to play a few hours straight. 
I’m not 100% sure what I think of it. I’m not rushing out to buy it but I’d happily jump onboard if it pulled into view. I suspect this will remain a unique oddity definitely worth a look but not essential for your collection. That said. It IS really cheap….
Huzzah!
Victor 

Thanks to the Mighty BLACK KAT GAMES who will be front and centre at Knavecon tomorrow we have a rather nice copy of

for the raffle….

If you’re not familiar with the guys, Black Kat is one of the best games shops in the country. Situated centrally in

, the guys are passionate about their hobby and their love for all things gaming spills over into the business.  I recommend you go to their page and follow it, there’s always something awesome gamewise brewing or about to kick off with these dudes.  Better still make a daytrip to them, you won’t regret it

https://www.facebook.com/blackkatgames/

This is my 500th note on my phone. Outside of things like shopping, grudge and world domination notes I’ve written most of my posts for Knavecon aka victorgannongames via notes on my phone. You can probably tell. 
The game I’m going to talk about is Premium Love Letter which I unboxed recently in my first unboxing video (I’m expecting a phone call from the oscars for best supporting hand). 

Chances are you’ve already played love letter. It’s a nippy four player game which features a small (16) set of cards, deductions, subterfuge and luck. The theme goes right out the window with this game. In case you missed it you want to impress the local princess and gain her affection. One of the cards IS the princess another one is a priest and a number of other rum characters a princess worth her dowry wouldn’t look sideways at let alone throw her affection at. Maybe it’s a particularly shitty kingdom but the cloths say different 
But theme aside the game is fun. It’s quick to learn and the first times you play it it seems new, fresh and exciting
There have been a stack of themed versions of this game Batman, the Hobbit, Adventure Time, all of them basically the same game. Premium edition adds about the same amount of cards again this time with different roles. You now have the assassin which if someone uses a guard to guess your card kills them (nice) and the fool that bets on another player winning (nice again). All in all the new cards have been well thought out. They remind me of the dark city expansion for citadels. There’s been a good bit of thought in this expansion, I prefer the new cards to the old truth be told. 

I’ve played it seven player and it does whip around pretty quick. It’s going to take a while to get used to the new cards but that’s fine. I have time (at least I think I have)
Build quality is really good. The game comes in a lovely lavish box with a nice red flocked insert. The cards are oversized and come with unique love letter sleeves. Gone are the inhale able wooden cubes for keeping score. Now we have bigger (safer) heart shaped ones. That’s it. It’s a nicer version of the game with extra cards. Is it worth getting ? That’s up to you. I was pretty bored with love letter original having played a lot of it and having up to eight players possible is nice. I can see myself getting a bit of mileage out of this game but it will never rise above a nice filler albeit a Purdy one. 
Try it at Knavecon. It’s perfect for a con and see what you think
Huzzah!
Vic 

Ok Dudes/Duettes, here’s the update on the road trip

The Ferry leaves Dublin port at 8:05am on Friday 2nd June with a return from Holiyhead at 14:10 on Sunday

We would be arriving in Birmingham at 15:00 on Friday afternoon and leaving again Sunday around 10am

Those coming from Limerick would be picked up around 5am. Yes it’s an early start

The bus has seating for 43 with 8 seats around 2 tables, wifi and 4 x 4pin ac power sockets

for those coming on the trip I will need to get a desposit of €50 on or before Knavecon 9 (4th Match) so we can book the Ferry.  The full price for the Coach Return and Ferry per person is €140

I’ve already booked a room with Leon, Jimmy and Mike.  It looks good and it makes sense we all stick together so we can game together/shenanigan together

Tickets for the Con are available from

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

I recommend booking these in advance to avoid the queues

Let’s get this show on the road!

Huzzah!

Vic

Seven is a lonely number in boardgaming. Especially if you’re the seventh player and late for games. But being the gentlemen we are and since everyone arrived in twos we decided to break out some seven player (or plus sized) games. A long serving gaming buddy who was away for a while but is back again has brought back with him his love of all things card games so in the wink of an eye we were playing something I hadn’t played in a long time. The filler that is 6 Nimitz. 

6 Nimitz is a controlled exercise in chaos theory. You draw ten cards each. Lay out four cards from the deck onto the table and everyone picks a card to play from their hand. The cards are numbered 1 to 104 and not all of them if even half will be used in a round so card counting is harder. Each of the rows on the table can take five cards no more, when a sixth is placed the hapless placer takes all the cards and a new row is formed. Taking cards is the last thing you need to do. Cards are worth varying amount of points (usually one but sometimes as high as seven) and it’s the player with the least points at the end that wins. So dump your cards and don’t gain any. 
To get your cards out (oh err missus) you pick one along with the others and all are revealed at the same time. The lowest card goes first and slots in after the closest value card below the one played. Sometimes you can’t get a break because your cards are lower than all the cards on the table so you have to just suck it up and take a row into your negative scoring discard pile. Sometimes the bases are loaded and you wind up being the sixth card in a row and taking the lot. Equally you might slide in just before another player and force them to take a row. This is fun, actually this is the sizzle seeing others getting screwed over by your rough plan. 

There are tactics here. You have to adjust to every round. There’s luck. You could by accident wind up just missing out on losing a round. It’s fun. It’s certainly not a serious game but it has enough traction and skill to be enjoyable. It’s not something you’d whip out regularly but it’s a welcome change that shouldn’t outstay it’s welcome like an interesting relative. 
It’s cheap. It’s simple. It’s filler. It’s fast. It’s German. What else could you want ?
Huzzah!
Vic 

I like Dead of Winter. I don’t LOVE the game. It’s good. It’s very good but there’s so many very good games out there this game often gets overlooked. Enter Dead of winter long night. Last Thur to be precise. It’s a stand alone expansion. Let’s be more accurate. It’s Dead of Winter 1.5. 
It can be played with the first version but I didn’t see a reason to. It’s already got all the elements of the original with a number of extra rules and locations added on. I say added because it doesn’t feel like a bolted on expansion. It feels like a revised version of the base game. 

Everything from the base game is there but there’s just more to do. If you’re not familiar with Dead of Winter. It’s a semi coop with a possible traitor in there. Every player starts with a secret agenda they need to complete to win the game for themselves. They also have to win the group objective drawn at the start. Usually these individual agendas don’t conflict terribly with the group objective unless you draw the traitor objective and you want the group to fail. In which case it is as ever oodles of fun. 
The game sees players protecting their compound, trying to gather resources and control zombie incursions over a number of turns until they complete their mission. It’s set in Winter and frostbites as well as zombie ones are a constant danger. Like every zombie game it looks straightforward at the start then something unexpected happens, it all goes pear shaped and half of you are zombie chum with a mission still to do. 

The map is made up of a central compound and a number of key locations nearby like the police station, school, library and so on each containing resource cards and themed to that location so you’re more likely to find weapons in a police station than a library and so on (or at least I don’t think it’s set in America). 
Ok that’s the base game in a nutshell what long night adds is extra benefits and hazards. A new location Raxxon corporation has been added. These rascals are the ones responsible for the zombie outbreak in the first place and what’s worse their location needs to be minding or it spits out nasty weaponized zombies like hunters and witches. These are much harder to kill and more bitey and stabby than the normal Zees. The flip side of raxxon is searching there can turn up super weapons like plasma shields and warp cannons (actual names may vary). 

Another feature is the bandits. These turn up and stand around like father stone at various locations and if a player gets kicked out of the compound for being a dickish traitor they get to use these guys for their own gain. The bandit hideout is another visitable spot that accumulates face up cards which can be pilfered. 
All in all I found long night good. Not excellent. I forgot how many tokens and cards were in this game. A few more have been added. 
The new features were fun but some of them like the experimental weapons seemed a bit overpowered and finding them was luck so by extension these added more luck to the game which I’m not for. The key question would be should I get this if I own the original? I wouldn’t but the only way to see if it’s a fit for you is try it at Knavecon. If I didn’t own Dead of Winter and wanted it. I’d definitely go with long night. As I said it’s like version 1.5. A fine game improved on average by this release
Huzzah!
Vic 

Hamsterolle sounds like something hilariously funny you could order for lunch in a hipster bistro. It is in fact more like an infinite game of jenga.  
The upoyumous hamsterolle is a wooden hoop about 50 cm across and about 10cm wide. A scale mode of Halo if you will. In the inside of it are a dozen or so uprights and when the game starts the black cone or spike of Doom as it was named by my 5yr old is placed in the center and a direction of roll picked. Don’t worry it doesn’t shoot off the table. Gravity is our friend for once here. 

Players start with a selection of New Order True Faith pieces and have to take it in turns to place one of them going away in one direction around the inside of the hoop on a Ledge where the previous player placed one of theirs or on a higher ledge up. They can pass too. Passing is a tactic. If they get rid of all their pieces first they win. If pieces fall off while they’re placing they have to take them (after a few requisites swears and mutters).
It’s piddly simple. That said it’s not without skill and I’d be pushing it if I said strategy since the only strategy is to get rid of your bits faster than your opponent but tactics center around getting rid of one of your pieces and making it difficult for the next person. The ol’ shitting in the hot bunk ploy so often used. 

Games are pretty fast. Five or ten minutes maybe. There is a fantastic one more go element to it. The game is a looker. It will attract people in for sure at a convention because it looks so different. The pieces are nice and Germanic chunky. It’s a sweet game to play. It’s also a big game. The box is a half size again above most Fantasy Flight games. 
I’m curious to see how it goes in Knavecon but I reckon it will attract a lot of curious gamers
Interesting game, try it on the 4th March
Huzzah!
Vic 

Now adding the following to the Raffle, what is it?

Don’t forget in there too we have

MORE TO FOLLOW

SO! how do I get tickets early and beat the rush on the day and benefit from the 2 for 1 offer before the friday before the Knavecon?  Simples just paypal my Swiss bank account at

victorgannon@yahoo.com

Prices are currently

• 2 x raffle tickets for €1
• 20 x raffle tickets for €7
• 50 x raffle tickets for €12

Should you feel inclined, feel free to pre-book your tickets for the event too.  Tickets will be available on the door on the day as usual.  It’s going to be a busy con!

• Adults €18
• Students and unwaged €10
• Accompanied Children Free

Huzzah!

Vic