LGS on the Road - Le Beginner

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

This was my third time back in Montreal since November and my last trip was so busy I didn't have time to link up with the local players so I made an effort to reach out this time since I would have some down time on this trip.

Le Beginner is a great joint on the east shore of Montreal in Longueuil. Coming off a main street I pulled onto the parallel side roads and parked across from the shop. In the dark I saw folks playing in the front play area with screens on the one wall showing movies and pairings for Magic the Gathering. I popped my trunk and walked up the short flight of stairs and entered into what I thought was going to be a small space but instead turned out to be a well lit, clean, and organized shop that had a dozen smiling faces of folks playing games.

Well stocked front cash with all the goods.

The shop also boasted a great selection of Manga that was well placed on the side with it's own dedicated area. Great selection of mangas that brought me back to my younger days working in a comic shop. The one owner has a great taste in older manga and we chatted for a bit about some of my favorites like Berserk, Gun Smith Cats, and Battle Angel Alita. 

Right away past some display cases and shelves I saw the dedicated table top game area where Martin and two brothers were setting up a table with one of the store owners Etienne. Passing the well stocked front cabinet I saw drinks, snacks, and plenty of cardboard crack and supplies. At first glace this place looks small, in reality it's much larger and the space is very well organized making products easy to access and create more space to play.

The dedicated play space past the comics and the front game area

The place space was so well put together. Three tables side by side with a fourth off to the side. Spare folding seats were available for players at longer games. Players were surrounded by displays of great selections of Infinity and Warmachine/Hordes. There were well labeled bins of terrain that we neatly placed for players to use. I was very impressed started to get excited for the night.

Well organized and clean play area. 

I had met Martin last year at Capital Conflict. On my first trip he showed me L'Abyss but this time I was free on the regular Friday night game at Le Beginner and boy was I happy to show up and see a familiar face. As we set up I told stories of Rumble and GENCON and we went on about how Infinity was evolving, excited about new factions and upcoming releases.

Martin introduced me to the two brothers, Alex and Richard and we split the sibblings pairing off against one each. I was paired with Richard. I recommended the ITS scenario Capture and Protect because it was so much fun as the last game at Rumble. The finished setting up the boards as I grabbed a snack and a Dr. Pepper. The candy selection was very large and their was plenty of different drinks. I was trying to avoid candy and sugar but my weak will was no match for a classic night of snacks, sodas, and dice rolling.

Two tables ready and set to play 

Capture and Protect is a very simple mission that can fall to pieces very quickly.

Each player has a beacon that sits centered along the edge of their deployment zone. You need to get any unit to beacon, pick up the beacon as a short skill (attack), and for extra points get it back to your designated datatracker and/or into your deployment zone. Their is one point for a classified objective adding a bit of a twist to the scenario.

Since I was packing up my hobbies getting ready for a move in less than two months time I had only packed up my Battlefoam Beta Bag and had one of my two Rumble Lists. I was sporting three camouflaged forward observers, my Lizard, an Interventor, my Mobile Brigada LT, and three remotes. It was a tight list representing the best that Nomads had, plenty of strong hacking options, plenty of dirty tricks, and some solid tech. Richard was playing a Yu-jing force with some Monks, Line Troopers, a Tiger Soldier that would pop in round 2 to ruin some fun, and a few other excellent reps to the Imperial Courts. He also added two Krakot Renegades to trip me up and slow me down.

He won the roll and took deployment and me to setup first. I wanted to try my list out in a more aggressive manner and decided to go first. At Rumble when I played this game I took second because I wanted to have my opponent waste orders going through my speed bumps while I kept the scoring units out of sight ready to run up and grab the Beacon once the way was clear.

Richard hid everything from my view so I walked Kipling, my Lizard TAG with Heavy Grenade Launcher up into the middle of the board and starting engaging with units. I followed up with Arthur my Seraph knifing Mobile Brigada going up the middle under cover. Richard followed up my advance with some careful but aggressive fire. My dice continued to roll high and Kipling was down to two wounds but with the last shot Arthur died crouched next to some stairs in the center of the board.

Kipling has 2 wounds and enemies surround it
Kipling is right where he needs to be

The second round was not looking good. My LT was down and I forgot to use a command token to call in my Hellcat that I had off board. I wasn't ready to reveal my camo tokens because Richard was still well in cover with little LOF for my Forward Observers. Using my irregular orders Kipling died from return fire. Z3RO tagged one of the Renegades twice earning my Classified Objective and I fired a guided missile to only see the Morat dodge it. My turn continued to go wrong when I moved my Interventor down the side street and suddenly seeing from the far end of the board Richard's Hsien with HMG. The dice rolled high but now it cost me my next LT, I was going to be in loss of LT on my last round.

Richard brought in a his Guilang and it killed Z3RO. His Tiger soldier dropped in but was stopped in his tracks with a Flash Pulse from my Zond. His turn quickly went south and he was left with off his guys on the back end with few orders left. It was getting late and we talked about how he could gain points. We were tied and he did not look like he could take my Beacon so in an effort to tie the game he took a long shot to medic one of his Morats Mercs.

My last turn was quick, using all my command tokens my Hellcat landed and we discovered that he would not be able to take the beacon. Richard had only two units outside of his deployment zone, the Tiger Soldier and Guilang but not enough orders to be able to rip through my scattered speed bumps of units. A quick count realised that it was over and the game came to an end. Richard and I shock hands on a tie and a great game against a great opponent.

Le Beginner is more than a game shop it's a gamer community. The name of the shop advertises the casual place space and welcoming atmosphere to new players. Etienne was really passionate about the attitude of the shop and the folks who play there. We agreed on fun and competitive are not exclusive to each other.

I stayed on a few more mins after we all cleaned up and chatted more about where Infinity was going and the excitement of the new Uprising books before heading back into the cold and driving back to our homes and hotels.

If you are new to the Montreal area and Longueuil hit this place up. Take up a table or join in one of the many regular events posted on the board.

- Cheers

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Everything Games

By: Dozer

This post is very late. I was here in January and it took me a long time to write this up because of things going on with me.

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

When Yasha picked me up from downtown Victoria on Vancouver Island I was excited to see the place that allowed him to keep playing Infinity and giving him a sense of community since he moved to British Columbia. I was tired and I didn't have my minis but I was looking forward to catching a game if folks were able to lend me an army.

Everything Games is that local neighbourhood styled game shop. Small but packed with games and places to play with a great feeling the moment you walk in. You're welcomed with a smile by one of the two owners Rob and Kahzen while they plug away. Once you're in a for a few minutes and have taken some time to look at what they have, they will put down whatever card set they are organizing or finish with the customer at the counter and ask if they can help. It's very relaxed and when the games start up that does not change.

The father and son team of Rob and Kahzen have made a place easy to search for wares and even more so made it easy for folks to stop by, play a few games, and resupply. They start from the gamers point of view as they are both gamers themselves. Rob was playing a game of 40k with one of the locals while Kahzen was going through sales packing them up for shipping.

Games being played everywhere from D&D in the back to 40k, Firestorm, and Infinity.

The night I was there I saw a small group of gamers playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition in the corner. Up front three tables were set up, one for Firestorm Armada, one for Infinity, and one that Rob was playing Warhammer 40k on.

I spoke with the crew playing games and they were all friendly. Yasha was having game of Infinity while I scouted out the shop. I was able to borrow a force but there was only three Infinity players and Yasha had arranged this match before I had landed in town. So while waiting for a possible player to show up late I puttered in the shop.

I was really happy that I was able to talk to Rob and Kahzen. We chatted about Magic, 40k, and the current trends in their areas. After Yasha finished his game I chatted up the folks who we playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, more specifically the recent Castle Ravenloft adventure module. The group was new and enjoyed playing there because no one in their group could host the game comfortably. This was their second campaign and I was really impressed with the minis, maps, and various props the team was using the make their game unique and more enjoyable.

When the shop started to close up, with a few purchases Yasha drove me back in Victoria and dropped me off at the hotel.

Great shop, great community, great place to show up and play games.

- Check this place out.

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Thunderground

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

When I first walked into Thunderground Comics and Games it looked like a well stocked and clean shop. It was a warm December day so the shop door was propped open. The place was bright (I tried to clean up the pics) and very open.

Bright and clean Thundergrounds is not your average shop

Some tables were out and a local was sitting down working next to a box of Shadespire. Another person was hanging out at another table with some magic laid out looking over some cards from the most recent set UnStable.

Board games, RPGs, and a nice selection of comics.

A nice guy walked up to me within a few moments. He waited for me to get my baring and softly introduced himself as Roy and asked if he could help me with anything.

Normally this exchange is brisk and to the point. For some folks they hate doing it and as the person being asked you can feel that at the edge of the voice. Other times it's motivated to get the punter in, buying something, and then helping them out of the store. I'm familiar with the drill, I've worked in a half dozen comic/game/card/anime shops in Ottawa when I was in high school.

This was the farthest thing when Roy approached me. He did not make me feel like a walking wallet with opinions. Roy welcomed me, he offered me a soda from the fridge at the end of the shop. We waved to the tables and told me to help myself to the treats laid out. It took me a second to notice that on each table were plates and bowls with an assortment of candy and chips. I had a flash back to every game I've played at my or a mates house where you lay out nibbles for the folks coming down to play.

It was a sudden but powerful wave that rolled over me. A feeling that told me I was truly welcome and this place is special... it's all Roy's fault.

I showed up on a Saturday. One of the local Infinity players sang praises for Roy's selection of Infinity miniatures. Knowing that I'd be playing there with a few other folks on Sunday I decided to leave my Hotel, grab some pizza from a nearby spot, and roll into Thundergrounds.

Boy was I really happy to do a RECCE and check the place out. I posted some pics of the ware in the shop and sent them out to folks who I knew are always looking for Infinity minis.

Within minutes I was bombarded with requests from players from Ottawa to Victoria and I picked up a few items from the vast selection of boxes and blisters.

I noticed a few more folks were showing up. I asked Roy if it was for a draft of UnStable. Roy nodded and continued to set up for the event. After a few minutes of wishing I had the play mat I picked up at Warp Two the night before I asked Rob to add the draft to my charge.

Round 1 - I was playing the father in Bobba Fett gear.
I would play his eldest son (seen next to him) the following round.

Instead of hanging out in my hotel room for the day I played magic with some the local of the shop. A father and his two sons had just gotten into Magic the Gathering at the end of the summer were sitting next to three of the long time locals. No one made a peep or groan when I joined the table putting the number odd and creating a 'bye' (where one player sits out a round of play).

As we settled in Roy introduced everyone at the table. Roy explained the rules and then went around the table asking what each person was hoping to do or what strategy they were looking at exploring. New players would feel at ease here while veterans would know who to help out when playing them. I was floored. I've been playing Magic the Gathering since September 1994 and never has an event started this way. Once everyone was deck building he fetched everyone a drink from the fridge. Where was I - Thunderground obviously.

So we drafted for the afternoon and played three rounds. During this time I spoke with Roy on and off. He was always curious about his customers, which I am proud to include myself. We were regularly interrupted whenever a new or familiar face would enter the shop. He knew each person by name and he pointed out new things that would peek their interest. Each person walked away with a purchase and no one left empty handed.

When kids came in he asked the parents if they could have the candy and then point them to a table where it waited. He spent time with each kid showing them some of the new cards he had laying around. If I had kids, I'd be down here each week making it a part of our weekend routine.

Throughout the event Roy would pull out a cordless vac and quickly sucked up fallen snack bits. He mopped twice while I was there. In every case he did so with consummate skill never attracting attention from the players in the event. The quiet shadow in the background keeping his place of business running to a high standard.

I left that afternoon raving to all of my mates on the phone about Thunderground. I spent an hour talking Shonty's ear off. I was looking forward to the next day at the shop to play Infinity. My RECCE turned into a full blown day hanging out in a place that was just fantastic.

Sadly the next day I blew out my Superior Peroneal Retinacula, an old injury that's gotten back to me a few times over the last year. So I was limping once I showed up. I also knew I would not be able to stand for longer than a game of Infinity. It hurts like the dickens and I know it sped me up when I played Aaron one of the locals and fellow Rumbler (those are folks that play at Rumble on Route 66).

Getting ready to play Aaron

Walking in the place was already abuzz with folks setting up tables for Warmachine and Hordes, and Infinity. Roy had also set out some snacks. Plates of Tim Horton's doughnuts and bowls of Tim Bits. As per the day before, Roy greeted everyone by name and offered up the yummy sugar pills on the table. When things started up, he walked around with some bottles of water and some cans of soda for folks to snag a drink.

See the snacks - I sure did. 

So limping and sitting down regularly I played Aaron's PanO against my limited selection of Nomads. We were playing Annihilation, so no HVT just a Data Tracker and the desire to wipe each other off the face of the board. I was happy for a simple game because of the injury but I was really hoping to play a deeper game so Aaron would have a good time. Lucky for me I tended to roll lots of 18s and higher. Not great for shooting and not coming up enough times for my armour rolls. Which meant Aaron had a great time beating me up.

Our forces ready for Aaron's first turn. 

His Seraph walked down the side and got a uncovered look at Kipling my Lizard. After a few orders of exchanging fire out of the pack of Pi-Well, Zoe, Kipling and Arthur (a Mobile Brigada and LT) I was only left with a Mobile Brigada behind my TAG wondering what happened to everyone.

A few more orders and he took out my Zonds near and far. Aaron was surgically cutting up my forces with precision. He's a great player and it was easy to see and fun to watch a master at work even if it meant I was the guy getting cut up. We slowed down when other players took note of the first round slaughter and we came up with some point for me to follow in future matches. Once more the community of players educated each other. My mistakes were an easy trap that a few other guys piped in 'I would have done the same thing'.

When it came to my turn I had few minis left on the board, a Seraph hidden behind a building and very little for me to do but get Arthur out of his fox hole and into the fray. So I moved Arthur back to me but closer to the Seraph who was deep in my deployment zone. I had to drop him else this one sided game had no chance. I had a Hellcat and a Spektr ready to show I just needed some breathing room. I'd deal with the Jotum and the rest of Aaron's forces later. One thing at a time.

So Arthur moved up and started shooting at the Seraph who had only taken one wound during Aaron's first turn. The Boarding Shotgun with 2 shots on the active turn was handy. Using the AP ammo was hopefully enough to dent if not drop the crazy flying TAG.

Aaron missed a dodge but saved both shots. I had used all three of my remaining orders to get Arthur there and making a shot and I was left with only some missing paint.

I popped the LT order, revealing that Arthur was my LT for the match. This time things changed and Arthur landed one hit but it also failed to passed through the TAG defenses.

Now it was Aaron's turn. He had full control of the board. I was in a bad place and fighting an guerrilla action instead of a stand up fight. He had more firepower and more movement. He had me to rights. He also had a Serpah with a big sword and a great CC (close combat) stat ready to eat my LT.

So with a pause in my breath and now sitting down because my ankle sucked I watched as Aaron spent his first order on the Seraph. It moved in base to base contact with Arthur. I imagine Arthur grim faced shotgun roaring in defiance as the TAG slowly walked up to him swinging that giant sword.

What I didn't imagine was Arthur hitting the Seraph and stunning it with a round as it wounded the TAG. I smiled knowing it was a nice parting shot but Aaron had 9 more orders to go, a TAG with a CC of 20 swinging an EXP (explosive = 3 wounds per hit) close combat weapon. Arthur with his CC of 15, a now useless Boarding shotgun that had finally done its job, and only a knife to fight back with. The TAG had only a wound left but it was now it its wheel house and Arthur was not in a good place.

A swing of the sword and Aaron's TAG scored a hit. Lucky for me this was one of those times that those previously mentioned 18s showed up on the die. Arthur made two of the three armour rolls as he slung his Boarding shutgun for his knife.

Luck was making Aaron spend more orders. I and Arthur were ok with the exchange. So Aaron spent his second order bent of ridding the board of my LT. Arthur decide he had enough of this TAG killing him and his whole team and decided to go all Master Chief on the Serpah. Rolling a 15 was a crit, forcing the TAG to take a final wound with no armour save. Arthur had his pyrrhic victory - the Seraph was down but there was no one else to celebrate the win.

So Aaron nodded and spent the rest of his orders moving up his Jotum to coup-de-grace my Lizard behind Arthur. It cleared the way even when my Spektr revealed and started shooting the Jotum in the back. It's heavy armour ignoring the rounds. With Aaron's final orders he killed Arthur in a hail of gunfire.

I had no LT, in retreat. It was over. The Spektr was unable to damage the heavy armoured TAG. My Hellcat waiting in orbit watching it all fall apart. He turned to the pilot and waved to go back. There was no point in jumping into the fray it was already over. I shook Aaron's hand for the great game of cinematic moments and sat down. My ankle screaming for me to take a seat.

After a few minutes and getting out of the way for Aaron's next opponent I hung out with Roy who introduced me to the players at the other table who were playing Warmachine and Hordes. I sat down with Roy and we talked game philosophy and about the relationships between shop, game, and players. When things got quiet Roy and I played some Magic the Gathering Commander. I played my Blue toolbox deck while Roy played a really slick sharing deck with Zedruu as his commander.

The game went well until my deck took off and it was only a few turns later when I won. Roy's deck was interesting and after a Wrath of God I figured he'd be swinging the game for a win but I had a lot in my hand to get me back up. Thassa had also came out really early in the game and never left. Commander is not much of a one on on format and is always better when you play it with at least four players.

The day was shorter then expected but I was done. So with my ankle screaming to go back home, I packed up. I said my good byes and left Thunderground.

I have been in this hobby since I was in the fourth grade when my parents played with me, running my first game of Dungeons and Dragons. I have worked in my first shop in by the seventh grade. So when I say that Thunderground was the best experience I've ever had in a shop it carries weight.

Roy makes this shop special. So stop by and say hello. You owe it to yourself to visit my favorite shop in Canada.

- Cheers

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Warp Two

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

It's Friday 09 December 2017, the Draft Weekend for Magic the Gathering's newest set UnStable has begun. I walked less than twenty minutes from my Hotel to the local Magic shop - Warp Two.

Walking in you are suddenly drowning in comics, games, and toys. It takes a second to register the sheer collection of product. Everything is in it's place, the products are well organized, and shop is very clean. It is easy to see why folks pick up their boardgames and play Magic the Gathering here.

I was able to pick up the Tokaido: Matsuri Minis expansion for Shonty's copy of Tokaido. We have everything a non-backer of the kickstarter can get. When the Masturi expansion came out we didn't have the minis for the new characters in the expansion. Just by walking by their multiple copies of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, did I see the last piece of our Tokaido puzzle. 

Just across from the cash is a pathway between the playmats, deck boxes, and shelves of card storage solutions, that takes you to a doorway into the play space. When you get into the play space it's very evident that this part of Warp Two is designed for only one thing. 

Host players and their games. 

The place is a long space with tall ceilings. The walls are decorated to the nines in nerd culture. Comics, movies, games, their is a poster of it here. Large flat screen TV's are high on one side allowing staff at the cash to manage the various events.

The night I showed up their were four Magic the Gathering events going on. Modern, Legacy, Ixalan Draft, and UnStable Draft. On top of the all of the Magic events, their were two role-playing groups set up with their GM screens, maps, and characters playing through an adventure.

On top of all of the play space their is a veritable buffet filled with all sorts of snacks, foods, and all you can drink soda. I've never seen anything like this snack stand and as much as I was trying not to avail myself to the snacks, I just couldn't stop myself.

I jumped into the UnStable Draft event and I had a blast. It started just after 6:30pm and lasted until closing. One round to draft and build decks leaving enough time for three rounds of play. The staff were on point while they were running three other events and everyone was very nice and positive.

I was very happy with my first pack as I drafted a card that held a very special place in my heart. I drew a Sword of Dungeons and Dragons as my first card in my first pack. It would win me my third match but I was just happy to have drawn this iconic card.

The UnStable draft was pure fun. Everyone there was just bursting with joy of drafting and playing some Magic the Gathering without any of the serious play that can accompany the game. Each player was going on about their crazy pull or explaining some of the odd ball game mechanics that 'Un' sets are known for.

My group of players on round 2 (I had a bye)
I did play in the game between the two gents in the foreground

In my first round of play I was paired with a local named Joe.

To say that he beat me is an understatement. We both drafted Black/Blue and in game two he even Milled my only milling creature in my deck.

The games were almost one sided but I didn't care. I was not alone in my Hotel room, I was playing Magic the Gathering with a group of very positive players who goal was to have fun and draw awesome John Avon full art lands.

At one point of time Jon played Skull Saucer. Which would only stay in play so long as Jon kept his head on the table. This was funny as all get out. Working his hand, checking his board state, tapping mana... all the height of comedy because his flying 4/1 creature said so.

I eventually blocked it, killing the creature and letting Jon back to sitting in a normal position. I felt bad after watching him struggle as his kicked my butt in the game for two turns.

My last game I won 2-0. The cards were in my favor, as were the dice to my Inhumaniac who just got bigger each turn much to my opponents Alex groans. The last match was Alex looking at me when I equipped the Sword of Dungeons and Dragons to an Overt Operative and he smiled and gave me the game.

My favorite time of the event was when I got asked to join the game when the player with the glasses played Better Than One and suddenly his opponent needed a partner to play two headed giant on his turn.

I was called in to play with another player duing a game
...we still lost

It's really hard to not have fun at an event like UnStable drafting in a place where everyone is just there to have fun.

If you're in northern Edmonton on 97 Street check out Warp Two. The treated me really well and made a visitor fell really welcome. Thanks for the great games. 

- Cheers

Dozer

LGS on the Road - All Star Cards and Collectibles

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

I'm in Edmonton for two weeks and last night I was lucky to meet up with a few folks from Edmonton Infinity Gaming at one of the local shops, All Star Cards and Collectibles.

Right off the bat I walked in Henry waved from behind the counter and said hello. The small shop is loaded with snacks, drinks, and plenty of odds and ends to support their local gaming groups. The prices were nice and the shop had that family owned vibe to it.

Soft lit and cozy shop run by some really nice folks

After picking up some snacks I stepped towards the large door leading the gaming area. It takes a person coming into the shop less than a second to notice the red trimmed doorway to the brightly lit play area.

Right away I ran into Aaron a Rumbler (those are folks that play at Rumble on Route 66) who I had met last year at Rumble. Hungry after a day at work and very early to play he was able to point me and my mate towards some food that was only a few kilometers away.

Plenty of product and the red trimmed door

The play area is littered with tables, more shelves for the collection of various action figures including some older collectibles. There are a set of tabletop wargaming tables that can do four games that need 4'x4' to play at the back of the room next to the sliding barn doors of reclaimed wood.

Reclaimed, sliding barn doors - for a gaming space.
Does your LGS have this fancy feature. 

There are another four tables in the large open space that are perfect for games of Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! (I saw six people playing it that night), X-Wing, and other table top games.

Huge and open gaming space

This was one of my favorite gaming spaces that I've visited. It was very well lit and it felt open due to the high ceilings and light coloured walls. The room is really clean and well kept. Behind the sliding barn doors is the warehouse filled with store terrain and other products. I'm not sure, but it looks like they could expand the play space for events into the back area.

So I played a game of Commander with my mate and his cat deck beat up my Blue Toolbox Commander deck. It was close he had 1 life left and then he stomped me with a well equipped cat. I did get my drop my Marit Lage but it was condemned when it first swung.

Later I played fellow Rumbler and Canadian, Matt. We swap some patches and played a quick game of Infinity (Decapitation scenario).

Thanks to a Tikbalang I had started to run out of KO tokens.
This was brought to by the number 20 - which I rolled a lot of.

 Lets say it didn't work for me. I learned lots from Tim who was TO'ing our game and giving lots of advice. Folks were offering up tokens and templates since I had packed light and was only able to show up with a measuring template, some orders, wound tokens, and my minis.

For me the night was awesome, great place and friendly folks putting minis and dice on the table. Way better then sitting alone in my hotel room.

If you're in Edmonton look this place up to grab a game.

- Cheers

LGS on the Road - Snakes and Lattes

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

If you're into the tabletop scene and you live in the Greater Toronto Area you know of Snakes and Lattes. If you're passing by please go ahead and stop by this neighborhood game shop and play area. Now they have more than one location. The College location is the original spot and where I was last night. It's where I played my first board game with Shonty. It was introduced by her oldest friends, Britsky and J-Rex, to a first edition of Pandemic which we played two back to back games. It was the first weekend of the College location's expansion and they were sorting out a liquor licence.

When you walk into the current version of the place you'll find a warm space of a non-corporate coffee joint where you're asked to wait to be seated. The entrance is littered with Ikea book shelves with copies of new games ready for sale. I was very happy with the selection of board games and I was tempted more than once to pick up a new game. The charge last night was six dollars (CND) for each person and we were walked into the game area to out table. There we ordered a selection of coffee, milkshake, and tea with a gummy bucket to snack on.

Tables were a mix of bench tables that can sit six easy with plenty of table space. While other smaller tables and round table were available for players to use for groups small and large.

Introducing my friends to Forbidden Desert

Candy is at 2 full buckets

- We lost, it was close, so a normal game

I was sent out to find a game. JRex was hungry for a experience similar to Pandemic. A coperative game where you as a group try to beat the game. So I left the large table and hit the game shelves and snagged a copy of Forbidden Desert. Each staff I ran into ask if I needed help with the game. This will be the norm since every staffer is familiar with most of the games they have for you to play. If a staffer is unfamiliar someone else knows the game. Also each of the parts of the games are organized and cards are normally sleeved.

Since JRex and Britsky introduced me to Pandemic I introduced them to another game by Matt Leacock. We played a very novice game, with no new sand for the first round. Eventually JRex had 3 of the parts, I passed on the last one and on my sand turn we died. I was screaming "get to tha choppah!". It was close... so all in all a normal game.

Introducing my friends to Love Letter

With some juice still in the tank they wanted to play another game. So I went and found another easy game with Love Letter. We played the basic 4 player version and after a round or two JRex caught up to Britsky's lead of three points. I was stuck at 1 point of affection when they knocked me out and the loving couple fought for that final fourth point of affection... in the end the princess won.

While we played the staff approached us twice. Once when a staff offered an alternative in a new game about animals. The second time a staffer chatted with us about the mechanics and asked how we liked it. These folks are awesome and friendly.

So a night out with friends while away from home turned into a brilliant evening after a few games at Snakes and Lattes. Come on in, grab a game, grab a coffee and some food. Sit down and enjoy your time with some folks  you like.

- Cheers

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Le Grimoire

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

Montreal has a really big gaming scene and there are plenty of great Local Game Stores. While I'm in the city I need to hit more than one and lucky for me there was Le Grimoire.

Cases loaded with great looking minis for sale.

A few kilometers from my hotel was a small and really active shop Le Grimoire. The moment you walk in you know where you are. Tables go down the whole shop and the walls are lined with products and cases filled with painted miniatures for sale.

It was showing Warmachine/Hords, Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar, Flames of War, Team Yanky and more. There was plenty of painting supplies. I spotted plenty of large bottled Vallejo paints, air brush hoses, and an excellent selection of traditional sized paints from more than one paint range.

Right after walking I was approached right away but the shop owner and other players who asked if I needed any help. There was an immediate sense of community. The day I showed up was the last event of a league for Warhammer 40k that had been going on for over a month.

It felt like a club house, or community shop where the players were direct participants on how things were going in the shop. I was even offered pizza just because they had some extra slices from their lunch order.

Le Grimoire is a shop that focuses on one thing, Tabletop Miniature Wargames. Speaking with one of the owners who explained that they do have a some RPG's and some Magic the Gathering for the local FNM.

He explained that the goal for the shop was to support what his players were playing. Everything in the shop was there because players wanted it and played that game. Every night of the week had a regular game being played.

Joshua aka the Doctor, one of the players at Le Grimoire

I spent a lot of time with Joshua who was there to hang out and help out while the event was going on. A med student who painted commissions on the side. I was there for almost two hours chatting away. At first it started on the hobbies and the games before we broke into other topics like ethics, leadership, languages, neuroscience, and teaching.

I hung out for a while before I had to head off but I have a feeling I'll be stopping by again before I leave Montreal.

I was able to snag a few more pics below between rounds of the event. Take a look and if you get a chance stop by the small shop called Le Grimoire and stay a for a few mins. It won't take long for you to get pulled into a conversation about what's happening on the table.

- Cheers

Dozer