Gaming in Sep 2022

 

• 4 Sep - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face
• 7 Sep - Traveller
• 18 Sep - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face
• 27 Sep - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
• 30 Sep - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming

The Beast of Errinsford

The open table OSE game at our FLGS is becoming so popular again that we've made arrangements for a second table for when too many people turn up.  I volunteered to GM it and, given less than a week's notice, decide to dig out the campaign I ran online earlier in the year.  This is The Beast of Errinsford, loosely based on the module The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack. 

Of course, in the first session the party went off in a direction that the other players never reached...  Player agency!

• 4 Sep

Constable Ward -
my favorite NPC

The party had an ice-breaking encounter with a wild boar, entered the town of Errinsford, where they met several of the leading inhabitants (upon some of which they made a better impression than others).  There was a big info-dump (with more to come!), before an afternoon's stroll in search of the delayed caravan ended with a leathal encounter with goatmen and the desecration of bodies.  Then home for tea and XP!

• 18 Sep

Joined by an old friend, the party continued its interviews with the townsfolk, getting madeleines and Maderia wine (and some lore) from Fr Willem the priest before deciding to head out to see Vivienne, the witch that lives in the forest.  On the way, they came across the body of an elf being devoured by giant centipedes, which managed to poison Winston the dwarf.  Vivienne got their trust by curing him and, over tea, told them about the curse that had created the original beast.  Yet another tussle with goatmen - this time they didn't desecrate the bodies, but instead fed them to the wolves.

On Day 3 of their stay in Errinsford, Derek the thief cased out the abandoned General Store, while the rest went to spoke to Riffin, the traumatised hunter who is the only known survivor of an encounter with the beast.  After picking up their packed lunch, they then headed out of the village, with the aim of getting to Sir Errin's tomb to reciover magic weapons.  They renewed their acquaintance with the local bridge-troll, who gave them directions, and had a night in the woods.  Sprites were plied with spirits.

Day 4 saw them come to the border of the marshes.  There they came across a strange shrine, which they debated robbing, but instead made offerings and petitions.  This led then the the missing Friar Dirk, who had spent the last few days in a pit after unsuccessfully trying to loot it.  Over elevenses, Dirk told his story.

Classic Traveller

• 7 Sep

Our band of Free Traders did a bit of arms smuggling, almost immediately returning to the site of our last crime.  Contracting the Corporate goons who'd previously employed us as assasins, we were offered a black-bag job.  We very efficiently managed to exfiltrate a turn-coat scientist with minimal casualties.

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

• 27 Sep
• 30 Sep

My solo play of a version back in August of the Battle of San Domingo, 1806 at The Games Table worked out well, so I thought I would give it another go.  At the end of the first session, the rear of the French line had been forced to strike, but more damage had been done to the British van.  There was enough to call it as a French victory, with a good chance of them successfully withdrawing.  However, I thought I'd carry through on the scenario and and see if the approach of the rest of the British squadron made any difference.

In the end it didn't, the French were able to concentrate their fire as the British came into range, and ended up winning the day.

The Games Table...

Although I obviously didn't need much scenery for the BBIB game, I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of that on the neighbouring tables.  This is one of the reasons The Games Table is an excellent place to play a game.

Gaming in August 2022

 After a few month's break, I plunged back into gaming.

• 1 Aug - Classic Traveller - face-to-face RPG
• 3 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
• 5 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
• 6 Aug - Barrowmaze (OSE) - face-to-face RPG
• 8 Aug - Classic Traveller - face-to-face RPG
• 13 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
• 15 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
• 21 Aug - Barrowmaze (OSE) - face-to-face RPG

Classic Traveller

• 1 Aug
• 8 Aug

My first face-to-face RPG session since a Hallowe'en one-off game of 'Chill' last year.

This session was an experiment by the GM to see if there was any interest in running Classic Traveller as an open table.  Not only did he have the table-full above, but also others waiting.  As is his Old School way, everything was player-led and randomly generated.

In classic Traveller style we had five deaths in character creation (not me!) - much to the amusement of the staff at The Games Table.  

We then spent a lot of time trying to find trading opportunities, before hitching our star to a local smuggler.  During our week in hyperdrive, a great deal of speculation took place on whether our inexperienced gang of newbies could over-power the heavily-armed and experienced crew.  In the end, we went along quietly, and made a small profit on our trade goods.

Almost immediately ater hitting planetside we got hired as assasins in a corporate war.  A fortnight was spent on survellance and planning before we carried out an old-school mafia hit, gunning the exec and his bodyguards down in the street as he visited his mistress's appartment.

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

It's that time of year again!  With International Naval Wargaming Day (INWarD 2022) on 6 August, my mind turned to playing some solo games.  I wanted to sit down for an afternoon and do a fleet action, but first I needed to familiarise myself with my ruleset of choice - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls.  

I've decided that I quite like BBIB.  It may be too simplistic for some, but it suits my needs nicely at the moment.

• 3 Aug

In a single-ship action, Sir Henry Fearless of HMS Possum (74) faced-off against a Frenchman, with predictably disastrous results.

See write-up here.

• 5 Aug

This session was based on an engagement in which two British frigates engaged a French 74 on a lee shore.  

About an hour in, I realised that I was forgetting an important rule.  This had the effect of reducing the British firepower by 57%, but the French by only 22%.  I played on under those conditions, but perhaps unsurprisingly, both frigates had struck their colours by Round 7.

• 13 Aug

Same as above, but now with added marines!

In the end, only one ship's marines got to fire (once), and they missed.  This was because the frigates failed to engage the 74 at close range.  After a game of long-bowls, the French managed to withdraw and complete their victory conditions.  Nevertheless, I've made a record everyone's positions and damage, and may play it as the start of a chase-engagement (a bit of a forlorn hope for the British, but we'll see).

• 15 Aug

And I finally got the fleet action I'd planned for INWarD, courtesy of a big table at my FLGS.  Write-up here.

My version of the Battle of San Domingo, 1806, played solo over four and a half hours (refreshments were on hand!).  On this occasion, the French won.  Highlights included the collision of two British ships and the French piling fire into the confusion.

Having a big set-up at The Games Table worked very well, I will do it again.

Barrowmaze

• 6 Aug

Regular readers will know that this is a long-term, open-table game at my FLGS.  With lockdown and me now working on Sundays, I've not been to a session since March 2020.

Six years has passed in game-time, during which time my character has been wandering the earth, preaching the Word of Solis and, in particular, telling of the Solstice Miracle that took place in our stronghold.  Unfortunately, he didn't survive this delve, but his legacy lives on.

• 21 Aug

My new cleric turned up at the stronghold expecting to start his training, only to find his mentor dead and they weight of his responsibilities thrown on his shoulders.

We took our new boats for a spin and got lost in the marshes, ending up near what looked suspiciously like a dragon's lair and a temple occupied by a Medusa.  We beat a retreat back to the barrows we knew!

Going to the entrance we'd planned to start in, we had a successful delve, defeating a Black Pudding and finding what we hope is the key to a locked door that's been holding us up.  We then fell foul of "one more room" and had an encounter with a couple of Mummies, which left one PC dead and another comatose with Mummy Rot (we abandoned him).  

Apparently smashing the capotic jars doesn't destroy Mummies. 

*smash* *smash* *stamp* *stamp*

"Any effect on the mummy?"

"He's absolutely furious."

BBIB - The Battle of San Domingo

 Almost week late, but I finally got my big game in for International Naval Wargaming Day (INWarD '22).  

It was a solo game over four hours, using the Blood, Bilges and Iron Balls ruleset.  I don't have a convenient table at home, so put my little cardboard ships into a bag and headed down to The Games Table, who provided a mat, scenery, refreshments and BlueTac to repair damage received by the fleet in transit.

The Scenario

The scenario was a simplification of the Battle of San Domingo of 1806.  I won't give a blow-by-blow account, just some pics.

The set-up.  The French are at anchor, with some officers "conducting their business" ashore.  The British approach in two divisions.

Unsurprisingly, Brave and HMS Superb took the brunt of the damage, but the British second division headed to cut off the French retreat to the West and targetted Alexandre and Imperial in the van.  This proved a wise decision - damage to Imperial's comand chain early on, which she was unable to repair, meant that she was never able to bring the full weight of her 120 guns into action.

Superb, badly damaged, allows Northumberland to come forward and take some of the heat.

As the French van moves around the shallows, it and the westward division (now the British van)  are in close range.

A calamity!  The badly damaged Superb was unable to turn and thus collided with HMS Atlas, the two ships being entangled for a turn.  The French took advantage of this, and concetrated fire on the mess, eventually forcing Superb to strike.

Meanwhile, HMS Agamemnon finally comes within range and can join the action, further battering Brave in the French rear.  Both Brave and HMS Donegal are forced to strike their colours.

Sensing an opportunity, Alexandre turns to board Canopus!

The boarding is successful, and Canopus is captured.  Sensing that the British attack has lost its momentum, the French withdraw to the West.  

While the eventual fate of Alexandre and Canopus remains undertermind, Imperial and Diomede certainly escape, which - with the damage inflicted on the surviving British ships - is enough for me to declare a French victory.

Gaming in Apr 2022

Looking at my Drafts folder, I realised that I hadn't posted this one.  Basically, that's because during a session of the Beast of Errinsford I was GM-ing I threw the board across the table.  After that, I decided that I should take a break from social media and gaming (which is why there won't be a post for Gaming in May - it remains to be seen if there will be one for June).

• 3 Apr - Wasters (Normal level) - cyberpunk OSE - on-line
• 5 Apr - The Beast of Errinsford - OSE - on-line
• 6 Apr - Board Games - face-to-face
• 8 Apr - Wasters (Elite level) - on-line
• 10 Apr - Wasters (Normals) - on-line
• 26 Apr - The Beast of Errinsford - on-line

Wasters (Norms' Version)

The play-test of this hack of OSE continues.  It'll be coming to Kickstarter soon!

• 3 Apr

Andreas' account here.

Due to Stuff Happens, most of our crew are weak and pathetic Level 1 characters, so we decided to stay close the Safe Zone and clear out a block (in effect, extending the Zone and claiming it for ourselves).  This started off alright - we had a couple of minor clashes with Gang Wanabees and a Haywire Bot.

Then we got to the only building of note in the block - a derilict department store.  We carefully scouted it, identified and neutralised the Cultists who were in it.  

Great!  Time to go home?  No, there's a void on the building plan - there must be a hidden room.  Sure enough, there was.  That had a number of bots inside, which attacked us - a tough fight, but managable.   But all the noise attracted a patrol of eight Cops.  This close to the Zafe Zone, that about as dangerous an encounter as we could attact.  Things were made worse by the fact that they came into range of our Sentry Gun Bot before we noticed them, which opened fire.  Gone was any chance of negotiation or bribery.  In the end, we ran, abandoning the Sentry Gun and, sadly, all the loot we'd found.

• 10 Apr

Boosted by a new member of the crew (new player Ben brought along an Engineer call Sliderule), we returned to the block, to find things surprisingly quiet.  Remarkably, the sentry gun was still there and repairable.  Even more surprisingly, most of the loot we had dropped was still there as well (one pile was booby-trapped, which cost the life of a retainer).  

The hover-bots proved less hostile and those that could flew off.  We managed to salvage one of the ones that remained.  There then followed a lengthly excursion into cyberspace, to explore the building's network (much more remains to be done on that front).

The two other things of note were that our Face - Emanuel - continues to show worrying signs of becomming a cult-leader and, secondly, we recovered an Electric Cow (christened Bvtt3rcvp).

The Beast of Errinsford

The Old School Essentials game I'm GM-ing, loosely based on the module The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack.  

• 5 Apr

Andreas' account here

The exploration of the barrow mound continued.  Encounters were had, a secret passage found (bypassing a lot of stuff), and rather a lot of loot recovered.

• 26 Apr

More fun in the lower level of the barrow.  Rats!

Andreas' account here

Board Games

The store library at The Games Table

Back to our Friendly Local Games Store and its library of over 400 games.  They've now introduced an off-peak reduction in table fees from £6.00 to £3.00.  With my discount as a Kickstarter backer, that means I now get a whole afternoon's of play for a ridiculous £1.50.  I may never leave.

Links below are to the games' pages on BoardGameGeek.

• 6 Apr

We started off trying to play Ticket to Ride, only to find the instructions were missing.  We thought we could muddle through, but found it a little too stressful trying to remember some of the mechanisms (frankly, neither of us could be bothered with things being more complicated than they needed to be).  So,

• Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra - one of our go-to games now.
• Jaipur - a new game to us.  A trading/resource game.  Recommended if you want something that you can play in about 30mins almost anywhere (I can imagine playing it on a train, I've seen people playing it in the pub).
• Patchwork - also a new game.  This one needs a bit more space (so not train-friendly!), but also fits in the 30min game catagory.

All three are simple, fun games (also suitable for younger players - Jaipur says 12+, the others 8+), and I'd recommend them.

Wasters (Elite Level)

• 8 Apr

Our Elite crew took on a job to rescue a group of cultists who were lost deep, deep in the Wastes.  On the way, we delivered some valuable data to one of the Corporations, who deemed it a "great service" and offered us future favours.  We immediately took them up, re-couping our costs (I'm sure we could have got a lot more) and borrowing the services of a flyer and a squad of goons to get us to our desitination, thereby avoiding some really nasty blocks.

Gaming in June 2021

A belated update on my June gaming (the section on face-to-face was written in mid-June, the rest towards the end of July).  In the end, the Barrowmaze group still hasn't met, however, Wasters now alternates between Sundays and Fridays, so I'm getting some games in.

Face-to-face gaming is coming back!  Well, it's been back for a while, but I managed to get back into my FLGS for the fist time since it opened in April.  It was good to see it busy, with several tables in play even on a Friday afternoon (it certainly seems that the arrangement with the resurant upstairs and getting an alcohol licence are helping!).  While I was browsing Keiran, the proprietor, came over and had a chat with me about how things were going, which was nice.

With the relaxing of COVID restrictions, our face-to-face group (The Tamson Relief Expedition) is going to be meeting again to continue our long-term Barrowmaze delve.  Sadly, at the beginning of this month I started working on Sundays so will miss both these games and many of the sessions of the on-line Wasters game I've been involved with in the last year.

Nevertheless, my visit to The Games Table has inspired me, and I'm hoping to get some boardgame action in (even if that means going on a Thursday night and playing with strangers) or looking for a weeknight RPG group.

So, what have I been playing?

• 9 Jun - Evils of Illmire campaign (OSE) - on-line
• 11 Jun - Wasters (Cyberpunk OSE) - on-line
• 18 Jun - Wasters (Cyberpunk OSE) - on-line
• 25 Jun - Wasters (Cyberpunk OSE) - on-line

Evils of Illmire

• 9 Jun

After a long break due to players' work commitments (we last played on 28 Apr) we resumed the second version (with new, Lv 1 characters) Illmire campaign.  Unfortunately, this was the only game we managed that month.

Our party have undertaken to clear a lake of Fishmen.  To help, we've done a deal with the local Froglings to get stuff that will enable us to breath underwater.  The Froglings want us to murder a nest of Mantismen (who have a tendency to hunt and eat them) and bring us the head of their queen.  This rather clumsy set-up is a rare off-tune note in Illmire.

So, accompanined by three young Froglings, we made our way to the Mantis-mound.  Things started well, with some decent scouting and ambushes of a hunting-party and some guards.  When we entered the mound, things got a little complcated...  It was bigger and more complex than we'd given allowance for - our plan of poring oil in the top and setting it all on fire was a little too basic.  We managed to clear some of the top levels, but it seemed likely that we'd merely concentrated the opposition into the lower levels.

Wasters

• 11 Jun

A new player joined us from this session, which was a pleasure.  We carried on with our task of pacifying a block to extend the Safe Zone and establish our own base.  

Only one building was left to be cleared.  This turned out to be full of Raiders (think Reivers from 'Firefly').  It was a bloodbath...  

All our retainers and all but one of our PCs were killed.  Our bots (including the invaluable brute, Klunk) were disabled and left behind.

• 18 Jun

Surprisingly, the survivor from our last session was able to persuade some of the rest of the Crew (it being OSE, we all always have two PCs rolled up) to go back to the block (and even recruit some new PCs).  The main reason was to get Klunk back - he was far too useful.

The late Klunk

This time were went in loaded for bear, and spent more time in careful scouting and prep.  Despite all this, we couldn't even manage to get into the building and ended up having a major firefight on the roof.  Again, we lost PCs and Retainers, but in the end got the upper hand.

Klunk wasn't salvagable, but Henry - our hover-bot - was.  We also managed to loot the Raiders stash of cybertech.  

The block finally salvaged we reaped a reward.  Frankly, after four or five bloody and costly sessions, I wonder whether it was worth it.  But that's the bleak, distopian Wasters way.

• 25 Jun 

The Crew was now free to take on new jobs, but we didn't like any of those on offer at Club Lavender this week, so we thought we'd go a-wanderin'.

Phat Dog

We found an interesting building, tried to recruit some urchins as Irregulars and ended up adopting a dog and a cargo drone.

Gaming in October 2020

 

• 4 Oct - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 7 Oct - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 10 Oct - Boardgames - face-to-face
• 14 Oct - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 18 Oct - Without Warning (Call of Cthulhu) - on-line
• 21 Oct - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 25 Oct - Sunday in the Shire (Under Hill, By Water) - on-line
• 28 Oct - Blackmore (OSE) - on-line

Blackmore (OSE)

• 4 Oct

Back to the Abbey of Fitz.  We acquired war-dogs from passing trader and went back to clear out the ruins of the Abbey.  We found a large grizzly bear and the matriarch of the clan of Reavers we thought we'd cleared out.  Not all the dogs (or my PC) made it out, but we did rescue a mutilated unicorn.

• 7 Oct

There were spiders

In the Under-Booh.   Pluteus my Cleric gained an acolyte (Myxomycetes) and after much discussion we decided to go on a boggart hunt.

• 14 Oct

We continued our mission for the Grand Wizard of Booh to clear out the nest of Boggarts.  We were succesful in that, but unfortunately their hostages and one of our retainers died in the process (the last surviving hostage - and more importantly, "witness" - at the hands of our thief).  The retainer was the pretty-boy Klaus.

• 21 Oct

More exploration of the Under-Booh on behalf of the Grand Wizard.  In this one we finally took him up on his mission to destroy 'Outsider' eggs (after all, he had given us a Wand of Fire Balls to do this).  First though, we went back to the Shroom Shrine to collect some more mushrooms - Myomycetes, our Acolyte of Shroom, being transformed into a giant mushroom during one of the rituals.  

Sadly, we'd left the mission so long (weeks since we accepted it), that the eggs had hatched and wiped out the gang of Teddy Boy Halflings.  We battled with Facehuggers, but still haven't met Mother.  The session ended on a cliff-hanger, Holmund sending a Fire Ball into a pool filled with eggs.

• 28 Oct

A continuation of the last session.  We defeated the Outsiders but have been cut off from out usual exits.  Going around the long way, we ran into some (well-signposted) patches of Blackdamp - fatally.  The Zombie Cat remains a mystery.

Jason Connelly taks about the 21 and 28 Oct sessions on an episode of his podcast.

Under Hill, By Water

• 25 Oct

It's always fun to try something new, and this is one that I've been looking forward to since it came out.  I've written about it here.  Basically a pie-quest.

Board Games

• 10 Oct

The Home Group (or the majority of us anyway), met up at The Games Table for a evening of board games.  We played Scrawl (much better when you actually understand how to play), 7 Wonders and a opening couple of rounds of Pandemic to introduce some of us (including me) to the rules.  

Board games played in October: - 3

New games tried - 1

'Without Warning' (Call of Cthuhlu)

• 18 Oct 

This was an on-line session run as part of Miskatonic Repository Convention 2020.  It was the first play-test of a new scenario from Bill Adcock.  A routine flight to resupply an Early Warning Post in the romote Arctic leads to more than was expected...

Obviously influenced by 'The Thing from Another World' (but not slavishly so), this was great fun.

The Games Table, Norwich

In this blog entry I'm going to shamelessly plug The Games Table in Norwich and take a look at it's new venue in the centre of the city.  Some of the photos and the video are nicked from their Facebook page.  I have no connection with the shop other than being a very happy customer and Kickstarter backer.

Background

Those of you who have have been reading this blog over several years (and surprisingly there are some!) will know that I've developed from someone who thought about gaming into someone who actually gets quite a few games in.  There are two factors in this.  Most recently, due to the COVID pandemic there has been a lot more on-line RPG sessions (and my monthly games summaries show I've been playing a lot!).  But before that came The Games Table.  It was The Games Table that got me back sitting down at a table and playing.

The Games Table opened in (July? August?) 2018 in Anglia Square, Norwich.  From the start it aimed to build a welcoming venue (dare I say, a 'safe environment') where people would come and play table-top games (or even buy a few).  Because of the hard work of Keiran, the proprietor, it took off really well and quite a solid community of gamers has built up.

The old shop

A New Location

Earlier this year, Keiran acquired new premises, twice the size of the old shop and right in the centre of the city.  He ran a successful Kickstarter to raise funds to refurbish and expand the facilities on offer.  It was all very exciting.

Quoting from the Kickstarter pages, here's what was promised.

• Create an amazing space for tabletop gamers.
• Expand our board games library, sorting it into categories that make sense.
• Offer mouth-watering hot food from some of the best local restaurants. 
• Serve the tastiest hot drinks provided by businesses run by military veterans.
• Host other independents, allowing them to showcase (and sell) their products.
• Maintain our unblemished reputation for providing a welcoming space.
• Keep our focus on community-building activities.
• Create expertly painted scenery setups for a variety of miniature games.
• Events, events, events and more events! Constant events. 

That was in March.  Then Lockdown happened.  Keiran was left with two venues, one of which needed a huge amount of work, and an almost complete cut in income.  

Other people would have given up or seriously cut-back on the plans.   Kieran persevered.

He's delivered on what he promised in the Kickstarter (except for the sofas and lounging area, which have temporarily fallen foul of social distancing), and he's coped with the changing regulations.

The new venue opened on 16 September.  Because of work commitments, I've been unable to visit until today.  All I can say is that it looks fantastic!

The Games Library

As of this afternoon (2 Oct 2020), there are 297 board games in the library.  Currently, of course, after play they are removed from the shelves, cleaned and quarantined.

The Games Tables

These are photos of the larger tables (there are several smaller ones for more intimate games).  Future developments will include an upstairs area.

There are perspex screens everywhere - I don't think they came out in the pictures.

This was set up for Painting Night

There are a lot of Warhammer players 
- and a lot of scenery for them to use.

Stuff to Buy

There's that as well!

Photos With People in Them

There was no-one in when I visited on a wet Friday afternoon (though I was glad to see that some passing trade was interested).  Here are some suitabliliy populated photos nicked from The Games Table Facebook page.

And Finally...

Keiran takes COVID regulations seriously.