Thinking Outside the Box

I'm a little later than I'd planned to be in writing this particular entry.  As I mentioned previously I wasn't able to attend the show in 2011, so I was quite looking forward to this year's expo.  William and I met up shortly after lunchtime on Friday and headed down to the grounds around 2pm.  Parking was no problem as we were quite early, but the line inside was already a substantial one! I stood in line while he went off to find out how the volunteer stuff he'd been signed up for was going to work.  While waiting for his return the doors opened and I was able to make my way in with JR and his group of fellow nerdlings.  Once inside we found a table to sit at and I looked through the schedule to determine where I needed to go to get some items signed.  I had figured that Friday would be a good day to acquire signatures as the attendance would be lighter than Saturday or Sunday.  This hypothesis would later prove correct. Once the convention offi...

Well I ended up buying a few more miniatures for Strange Aeons last week, but I haven't actually painted any of it yet.  I've cleaned them all up and based them all, so they're ready for painting sometime soon.  But in order to actually play a game, I needed some terrain for my agents and lurkers to fight over.  So I made some. I've always wanted to make my own terrain, but didn't really know where to start.  When I started playing 40k a few years ago the starter box came with a bunch of pieces of a crashed spacecraft.  That stuff looked pretty good when it was all painted up, so I bought the "How to Make Wargame Terrain" book and read it through.  Then I picked up a few small scenery kits but never bothered to do anything with them; they just sat collecting dust on my shelf.  Last week I was digging through my box of scenery bits looking for things I could use for a Strange Aeons game and found the rock making kit I had and thought, "what the hell,...

For the past 6 months or maybe longer Chris and Sebastien have been trying to get me to play a game called Strange Aeons . I have a love of horror and dark fiction, and have run games of both the Call of Cthulhu LCG, and Arkham Horror at various times. Both are excellent games, but are large in scale, difficult for new players, or perhaps just too niche to get some folks into. So I was interested in the premise, but didn't look into the game any further. Having spent hundreds of dollars on Warhammer 40,000 and a only a little bit less on Hordes miniatures and books…I was reluctant to give it a try. Both of these games boast huge selections of miniatures, countless scenario and expansion books, and lots of room to exercise one's creativity when painting their figures. On the flip side however, they were expensive to acquire and build and it's time consuming to paint large armies for even a smallish battle. However, the biggest difficulty I have with both games is that ...

The Expo has grown a lot since Kandrix, Laurie and their team started things up way back when.  It's funny to think about, since I used to spend a lot of time them when they were running their artist collective many years ago.  We've since both moved into the same neighborhood, but don't maintain any real contact in recent years.  What they've done to start and grow to expo though is a feat to be lauded, not only by their friends, but by the city in general. I think the expo is a great idea, and has drawn more eyes to the city throughout North America.  Having celebrities, entertainment professionals, artists and all sorts of attendees come to Calgary for the event is not only fun and exciting, but also good for business.  Hotels, shop owners, restaurants, tourism and the city's reputation and culture are enriched simply by playing host to the ever growing event. I've been an attendee and an exhibitor at the expo, and generally it's been a good experienc...

Last week for my regular Sunday gaming night, I finally had five people who were willing to sign on for Risk: Legacy . After our customary snacks and drinks (beer...at least for some of us) William, Sebastien, Scott, Collin and I all sat down to break open the game and get things started. The components and rule book were separated and everyone helped get things set up. Each player chose a starting color randomly and selected one of the starting powers for their faction. Sebastien and Scott secretly attached extra coin markers on some of the region cards and then we rolled off to start placing our bases and initial forces. While our new world looks like Earth, that will soon change! Sebastien chose China, Collin the southern tip of South America, William western Europe, me in Eastern Australia and Scott in the southern regions of the African continent. The first few rounds were quiet, while everyone stockpiled arms and armaments, solidifying the regions around their bases. Collin w...

For the past while I've been asking about doing another fan-set to supplement to two that we've already had done. Based on verbal responses from the members individually there are enough people to warrant me putting it together and having it printed. However, I haven't really got the feeling that people are excited or interested in the set, or even continuing with the game. I'll fully admit that my schedule hasn't allowed me to be at the store for events much this year, but it's pretty discouraging for me as our group dwindles and stagnates. I'm always trying to keep things fresh and fair by doing things like sealed events, and various fun formats, but as people opt out of (or in some cases aren't able) purchasing our fan-sets, it makes the group increasingly difficult to manage. For example, if we don't all have access to a new set, it's simply not feasible to plan any kind of set-based events, like a release party, without planning around...

Deals and discounts. Everyone is looking for a great deal. They want to feel like money was saved, triumph was had, or just that something is worth more than was paid. I don't begrudge anyone these things, because I think they're inherently human drives. "What's he talking about now?" thinks the reader. Well as much as I love buying a brand new, shiny, shrink-wrapped box of board gaming goodness, I have also made the leap on occasion and picked up used or clearance games as well. The first one the I can recall buying was Age of Conan a little less than a year ago. The box was a little dinged up but when I opened it, I found that all of the contents were still sealed in their original plastic. Triumph indeed! Age of Conan is a spectacular looking game which I've sadly only tabled once, but is noteworthy as my first used game purchase. Over time I have found other games in a similar fashion...and have yet to be disappointed. Arena Maximus was the...