Enjoy the end of 2017

From all of us here who contribute to the Canadian Tabletop Gamer enjoy the end of year festivities and I hope 2018 treats you well.

We've been doing this for eight months with many ups and downs. The end of year is a time of contemplation.

During the holidays we hope you all get some down time get to spend some of that down time with friends and family at the table.

- See you next year.

Twilight Imperium - Unboxing

By: Dozer

Twilight Imperium has a new edition.

I was at GENCON 50 when they showed it off. Where they let people play it and later on buy it.

It looked awesome. I waited in line and by the time I got into the Fantasy Flight games booth proper someone had bought their last copy.

Yet I knew I would get it. Twilight Imperium has shaped all board game experiences since I played it. All great games are not just great by themselves. Instead they challenge the everyone. They challenge the industry to do better and go bigger, they demand more of their players, and the experience is so defining that it shapes all other game experiences.

So I picked it up when I got back from Toronto. I was sick all week and I stopped by Out of the Box and there it was. The owner offered me at no extra cost a poster and the deluxe rule book plus the 15% off from the Black Friday sales.

So I picked it up.

Now lets go look inside and see what's new with this beast.

Scythe: Wind Gambit - Unboxing

By: Dozer

Scythe is the best thing I ever picked up on Kickstarter to date. It is one of my favorite games for my table. It's gorgeous in style and craftsmanship. The game play is simple, varied, and slick.

Slick has been the only word I've been able to describe the feel of play in Scythe. No matter what thing you want to do, mechanically it feels like a well oiled machine. So smooth you forget the mechanics and yet you feel in control of the action on the board.

The world feels alive with the art of Jakub Różalski, who is how I found out about the kickstarter for Scythe. His art and the small bits of world building fiction we get with the game makes it so easy to love Scythe.

By the by it looks like his next project is called Wolfpack and looks like Vikings and Werewolves themed project.

Wolfpack concept art by Jakub Różalski

Wolfpack concept art by Jakub Różalski

Man does he do such good work and I hope what is next works out well.

After the break I have an unboxing of the expansion that just dropped Scythe: The Wind Gambit.

A few days ago I and the other backers of the game got an e-mail update from the creator of the game - Jamey Stegmaier.

I've got it posted below:

"My general philosophy behind Stonemaier Games is that if enough people want something that we think we can make well, we'll make it. That's why we have a form on our website where people can literally tell us what they want."

"For Scythe, there's an endless stream of things that thousands of people want. Just look at all the different promos we've made. Or look at the Legendary Box."

"I love that you've shared your passion for this game through your purchases of these expansions, accessories, and promos. But at a certain point, I feel like I have a responsibility to you--especially you backers who brought Scythe to life--to bookend the world of Scythe."

"That's why we've decided that the third expansion to Scythe will be the final expansion. It likely won't be the final product, as we have a few other things in the works and some possible games set in the Scythe world. But we'll be concluding the Scythe story in the third expansion."

"The only details I've released about the third expansion are (a) that the box is the size of the first two expansion boxes put together and (b) we'll be announcing the name and box art in our January 1 e-newsletter."

"However, today I'm going to drop a small teaser for you. The illustration below is from The Wind Gambit, but it features a hint of things to come in the third expansion."

Art from the expansion The Wind Gambit

Now lets look inside The Wind Gambit.

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

Twilight Imperium - History

By: Dozer

Twilight Imperium has a special place in my board gamer heart. Second Edition was my first board game that I played right after I joined the military. One of the guys on my basic had picked up the board game and we played after we met up a few weeks later.

It was my first mature boardgame that felt like Axis and Allies, Catan, and one of my favorite video games Masters of Orion. You vied for political power every turn, there were plastic ships that represented the Cruisers, Carriers, Dreadnoughts, and Fighters. There were alien systems to explore and epic battles to be won. Six races each with their unique abilities were ready to be played.

TI 2nd Edition in all of its glory.

It was awesome.

By the time I was wanting to pick it up something magical happened four short years later that changed my life as a board gamer.

Twilight Imperium Third Edition and it was truly epic.