Showing posts with label International Tabletop Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Tabletop Day. Show all posts

Monday 7 April 2014

International Tabletop Day 2014

Last Saturday was the second International Tabletop Day and unfortunately it wasn't possible for my regular Friday night group The Hobbits Hole to host an event this year.  So a bunch of us did the next best thing... we went to someone else's event.

The Role Play Haven RPG Club are based inside Lewisham Hospital at The Lewis Club and they were a very friendly bunch.  They meet on Wednesday nights for RPGs and Monday nights for Boardgames.  

Game of Thrones - House Stark on the move
I got to play a couple of games, namely:

The Quiet Year

A free form drawing game based around a year in the life of a post apocalyptic community.  Players draw cards to determine what random events affect the community and then choose to either discover something new or plan a project.

Of course the temptation with this sort of game is for it to go totally gonzo and we ended up having Ninja Rabbits attacking a Nazi Zeppelin whilst a party of explorers went to the mysterious pyramid and discovered the ark of the covenant.

A Game of Thrones

With season 4 of the TV series just around the corner I couldn't resist playing Fantasy Flight's epic game of royal houses fighting for control of the Iron Throne.  I was playing House Tyrell and although the lack of any court influence at the beginning was a bit of a pain, I had a fantastic tussle with House Martell.  Sadly I couldn't stay to find out how it all turned out, but I will definitely play this again.

Thanks guys it was a lot of fun and roll on 2015 when we can "Play more Games!!"
 

Friday 12 April 2013

International Tabletop Day 2013 - Orpington - Photos

Better late than never, here are some photos from the first International Tabletop Day held at the Temple URC in Orpington, Kent, England.

Renier Knizia's Formula Racing
(this game is far more fun than this photo!!)
Formula Motor Racing

Reiner Knizia's fast paced formula 1 card game was totally new to me, but it was laughably easy to pick up the rules.  Essentially each player tries to get one or more of their cars to the front of the pack by playing cards which either promote a car (and the one behind it) or demote or remove a car. 

This game is all about knowing when to make your bid for the for front and making sure you have the cards to do it.  

I fell instantly in love with it's simple yet fiendish mechanic and I will definitely be hunting down a copy in the future.  Currently out of print

Pandemic

R to L: Paul, Richard, Apo and Mark
play my shiny new copy of Pandemic
A couple of days before International Tabletop Day, I left my job on voluntary early release after 21 years.  My work colleagues kindly gave me a copy of Pandemic as a leaving gift, so  what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than trying to rid the world of four deadly and highly infectious diseases. 

Jonas also brought his copy along including the "On the Brink" expansion.  Always fun and always fiendishly difficult we ended up playing four games without a single win.  Never mind there's always next time (unlike real life!!)

Robo Rally

R to L: Mike, Simon, Kai and Chris
getting their Robo Rally on
This classic game of robot programming chaos is a firm favourite with my regular friday group and it proved to be the same at Tabletop Day.

Not pictured but also played were;

Corsari -

A pirate themed suit collecting game which was far too abstract for me.

Metanauts
Paul's homebrew tabletop mecha fighting virtual reality arena game.  Like Battletech but with a unique theme which only Paul can explain.

Rto L: Carol, Jonas and Mel
playing Pandemic with added chocolates.
Microscope

The GM-less game of epic history timeline creation.  We ended up creating a Victorian sci-fi alternate future where the Americans were in league with Alien invaders held off by a British Chinese alliance.

King of Tokyo

A fun little Yahtzee style dice game of giant monsters battling over Tokyo.  Another instant hit, simple to learn but with lots of tactics, strategy and of course luck.

Thanks to everyone who turned up and made the event a success despite falling on the Easter weekend.  Hopefully next year's event will be bigger and better.  Play more Games!!