18th December Games

We had a better turnout than expected, given the pressures of the season and some particularly grotty weather late in the evening. Steve Slater kindly ran a Valley of the Dinosaurs board game. This allowed me to reprise my traditional Beast Master role for the Christmas game - suffice to say that I was able to spread a little misery around the various players during the course of the game. Steve accumulated the most loot but had no surviving characters to spend it with!

Dave Kightly ran a Zombiecide game for the remaining members present; I didn't get much time to look at this but those playing appeared to enjoy the game, which I suspect will be played again soon.

The next two Wednesdays will not see meetings due to Christmas and the New Year; our next scheduled meeting will be on Wednesday 8th January 2014. I look forward to seeing you then.

In the mean time, have a very Happy Christmas and may 2014 be a good year for us all.
Neil

11th December Games

A fair turn out last night; Mark,Bob and Andy ran a Lord of the Rings game based on a scenario from The Two Towers. Word is the Uruk-Hai have a couple of halflings to play with as a result; I have checked my copy of Mary Gentle's 'Grunts!', but cannot currently find a receipe for roast hobbit. It's important to use the right sauce you see.... picture attached. Of the game, that is.

Steve Harbron was kind enough to bring along a new board game called 'Euphoria' for a play test. Not being directly involved in this game I wasn't paying close attention to the play, but I gather the game was enjoyed by those involved.

Next week it appears we will be a bit thin on the ground. Steve Slater has therefore offered to run a Valley of the Dinosaurs board game as the Xmas entertainment; I have picked up a board game based on the first of the Hobbit films (via The Works in Southend) which might also be worth a try.

See yer soon,
Neil.

20th November Games

A reasonable turnout last night; thanks as always to Mark for running his SWAT game for the bulk of those attending; didn't have much time to look at the state of play (see below for the reason), but picture attached anyway.

I was somewhat preoccupied with umpiring the rather delayed Napoleonic naval game; Ed had his baptism of fire, including a fierce boarding action launched by Contre-Amiral Slater as the French commander. Thanks to Steve Harbron for acting as Ed's 'sea-daddy' (and no, there isn't any unnatural connotation there!) I realised there were a couple of tweaks to the rules I had not included during the last review, and will attend to these; picture attached at an early part in the action, with some nasty close broadside action in the offing.

Next week I gather that a Warhammer 40K (or Fantasy - some uncertainty here) has been proposed. I will run a further Napoleonic naval game at the request of Ed and the two Steves, and would welcome anybody else interest in a bit of nautical mayhem.

See yer soon,
Neil

13th November Games

My Napoleonic naval game was put on hold due to the absence of Ed and Mike (for whose benefit the game was intended) and also due to a relatively high number of players required for Steve's Doctor Who game. This featured most (if not all ) of the Doctor's incarnations, with comparable guest appearances by The Master - picture attached. Thanks to Steve for the entertainment.

Next week, I will attempt to run the Napoleonic Naval game, and Mark has agreed to run his SWAT game (by special request from Laurie).

See yer soon,
Neil.

6th November Games

A decent turnout last night. My Angels 20 game set over Finland during the Winter War was fast and bloody - attached picture shows the state of play after the first round of firing! Russians had the best of it but the game was enjoyed by all.

Mark's Victorian Gothic horror game is also illustrated; high angle picture was the best I could get unfortunately. This went to the wire but I think the good guys won....

Next week, Steve Slater has offered to run a Doctor Who game (appropriate given the 50th anniversary episode is to be broadcast soon) while I will bring the 1/1200 Napoleonic naval game along for a bit of nautical mayhem.

See yer soon,
Neil

30th October Games

Fairly busy last night; we were able to try out Star Trek Attack Wing for the first time, which resulted in the Federation forces coming off second best against the Klingons. Laurie tried out the Dead Man's Hand Western Gunfight rules, while Bob and Andy ran a Malifaux game. Pictures of Star Trek and Malifaux attached as the Dead Man's Hand game ended before I could take a shot!

Next week, I have been asked to run an Angels 20 game set during the Winter War 1940 in Finland, and Mark will run his Victorian Gothic horror game.

See yer soon,
Neil

23rd October Games

Mark, Bob and Andy ran a Warhammer Fantasy game, and I ran the ACW naval game rescheduled from last week. This turned out to be a dour struggle, resulting in a Confederate victory by preventing the Union force from proceeding upriver. No pictures this week as I was busy umpiring....

Next week, Laurie has offered to run a Western Gunfight using the Dead Man's Hand rules; Bob and Andy will run a Malifaux game, while the remainder of us are likely to be engaged in a first game of Star Trek Attack Wing. Mike has played a few games already, and believes it to be a better game than X-wing - praise indeed!

See yer soon,
Neil