Month: June 2011

The next Stabcon takes place this coming weekend. It runs from 1st-3rd July 2011 at:

Britannia Hotel
Dialstone Lane
Offerton 
Stockport
SK2 6AG

It’ll doubtless be the usual play-what-anyone-brings board/roleplaying/card game event, with accommodation available in the hotel. E-mail bookings@stabcon.org.uk for booking information

The winners of this year’s awards were announced this morning. The main award went to Qwirkle,designed by Susan McKinley Ross and published by Schmidt Spiele in Germany. The Kennerspiel-des-Jahres went unsurprisingly to 7 Wonders by Antoine Bauza and publisher Repos Production.

Congratulations to all those involved.

Just had an outdoor game of Qwirkle with Jan, Cat and Bex. Turned out to be really close. I had a Qwirkle lined up for my next move just as Cat finished the game. Doh! Jan just about did enough to hang on for the win.

Qwirkle is a nice family game and, although I’m not predicting it to win the Spiel-des-Jahres tomorrow, I wouldn’t be upset if it did win.

Asara
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 9+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Michael Kiesling & Wolfgang Kramer

Nightfall: Martial Law
Card game for 2-5 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by AEG, designed by David Gregg

Resident Evil Deck Building Game: Alliance
Stand-alone game, or expansion to ‘Resident Evil Deck Building Game’ for 1-4 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Bandai, designed by Tylar Allinder

Death Angel: Mission Pack 1
Card game expansion for 1-6 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Corey Konieczka and Andrew Meredith

Death Angel: Space Marine Pack 1
Card game expansion for 1-8 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Corey Konieczka and Andrew Meredith

Deadlands: Invasion of Slaughter Gulch
Boardgame expansion for 2-6 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Twilight Creations, designed by Todd and Kerry Breitenstein

Mermaid Rain
Boardgame for 3-6 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Z-Man games, designed by Keiji Kariya & Hitoshi Yasuda

Mondo
Boardgame for 1-4 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Z-Man Games, designed by Michael Schacht

Hot Potato
Card game for 3-9 players, ages 9+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Cambridge Games Factory, designed by Rob Seater

North Pole
Card game for 2-6 players, ages 9+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Cambridge Games Factory, designed by Christopher Rama Rao

Barons
Card game for 2-6 players, ages 11+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Cambridge Games Factory, designed by Thomas Colthurst

My latest batch of Ebay auctions finishes on Thursday. Several decent and recent games up for grabs including Race for the Galaxy and The Gathering Storm expansion, Bruno Faidutti’s Isla Dorada, Martin Wallace’s Toledo, Priests of Ra, Power Grid: Factory Manager, Space Dealer and Mystery Express.

The full list is here.

Yesterday saw me play the final game on my unplayed list. The game was The Swarm by Kramer and Kiesling and Cat and I played it two-player. Nice game which could be quite nasty, especially with the full compliment of players. As it turned out, after about 80 minutes, the game ended in a tie – we both had 142 points. Good stuff.

Later on, we also played a couple of games I’d not played in ages: Mole in the Hole and Labyrinth. What a good way to spend Father’s Day.

Conquest of Nerath
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 120 minutes.
Published by Wizards of the Coast, designed by Richard Baker, Mons Johnson & Peter Lee

Lancaster
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Queen Games, designed by Matthias Cramer

Paris Connection
Boardgame for 3-6 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Queen Games, designed by David V H Peters

Mammut
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Queen Games, designed by Kristian Amundsen Østby

New York
Boardgame for 2-6 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Queen Games, designed by Dirk Henn.

Pamplona: Viva San Fermin
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Ghenos Games, designed by Massimo Pesce

Camper Tour
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Ghenos Games, designed by Spartaco Albertarelli

UEFA Champions League
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Ghenos Games, designed by Alfredo Genovese

NBA All Star
Boardgame for 2-10 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Ghenos Games, designed by Alfredo Genovese

Camp Antics
Boardgame for 1-4 players, ages 7-14+
Published by Bereb Enterprises

Seven Dragons
Card game for 2-5 players, ages 6+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Looney Labs, designed by Andrew Looney

Rails of New England
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 180 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Walter H. Hunt & Gregory M. Pozerski

Red Dragon Inn 3
Card game for 2-4 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Slugfest Games, designed by Cliff Bohm

 

 

Well the Spielfrieks discussion group has spoken and proclaimed the winners of the 2010 award to be:

7 WONDERS (Antoine Bauza, Repos Productions)
INNOVATION (Carl Chudyk, Asmadi Games)
LONDON (Martin Wallace, Treefrog Games)

I’m not surprised at the success of 7 Wonders and London, the former getting twice as many votes as any other game (54). However, Innovation is a surprise as it’s from a small producer and a relatively new designer – Carl Chudyk’s only other major design is Glory To Rome. I’ve not played Innovation but I’m now pretty keen to give it a go.

Steve Perkins has arranged a Monday night games session for 20th June 2011. The venue is:

The phone number is 01952 581225

The website is http://www.breweryinn.co.uk/

It will start at 7.30pm in the main bar area. There is no cost and no obligation to buy any food or drinks. Tea and Coffee are available at one pound together with of course alcoholic refreshment. Food is available for those who want to get there slightly earlier and have their tea from only three pounds.

Small World: Underground
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Days Of Wonder, designed by Philippe Keyaerts

Thunderstone: Thornwood Siege
Card game expansion for 1-5 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by AEG, designed by Mike Elliott & Brent Keith

Shards of the Throne
Expansion for Twilight Imperium
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Corey Konieczka & Christian T. Petersen

Black Gold
Board game for 2-5 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 120 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Wilko Manz

The Horned Rat
Chaos in the Old World expansion for 3-5 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 90 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by James Hata, Eric M Lang & Jason Little

Glen More
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Matthias Cramer

Carcassonne: 10 Year Special Edition
Boardgame for 2-5 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede

Carcassonne: Dice Game
Dice game for 2-5 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 10 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Olivier Lamontagne & Klaus-Jürgen Wrede

Carcassonne: The Phantom
Carcassonne expansion for 2-6 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 45 minutes.
Published by Rio Grande Games, designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede