Monday 26 January 2015

Week 4: All the colours

Monday 19:00 - Magic the Gathering in the Peter Lee Dining Room, Wentworth
Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in James SCR
Tuesday 20:00 - DougSoc Boardgames in Vambrugh Bar
Wednesday 13:00 - Yu-Gi-Oh in W/035E
Wednesday 19:00 - Impact in D/L/003, D/L/006 + D/L/007
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Saturday 10:00 - Multiverse in W/304, W/306 + W/307
Saturday 12:00 - Mordheim in W/035E
Sunday 12:30 -  Impact in D/L/037

Notices

DougSoc have invited us to their boardgame night in V-bar on Tuesday.

AGM & committee elections will be held in week 8.  Nominations will close on Sunday of week 7, and email voting will be open from Monday week 8 till the AGM. If you want to stand for a position, or want more information on what the role of a committee member is, please email us.

Monday 19 January 2015

Board Game Review: Wizard's Quest

James Lees is our Abnormal Member for Board Games. Today he reviews one of the games from his own collection: Wizard's Quest.


Wizard's Quest! A name that strikes fear in the heart of even the most veteran board game player. Wizard's quest is actually a board game from my own collection but it has gained such infamy I feel it deserves to be spoken about.

I bought Wizard's quest on a charity shop market stall for about £4 because I fell in love with it's generic name and generic box art. The rules say that what I purchased the Third Edition (1980) making it a fairly old game. The age of the game is shown not only in it's (what we would now consider genericness) but also in a quaint little box on page 4 of the rules. The box details the address of The Avalon Hill Games Company and the information that if you post them a stamped self-addressed envelope their design department would be happy to take the time to answer queries regarding play.

But getting into the game itself. The rules are mammoth, 6 A4 sides covered in some of the smallest writing known to man. They begin with a lovely bit of lore. The gist of it is that there were some people fighting over some land there was so much bloodshed that the great Wizard Peacemaker decided to step in. By giving each of the warlords powerful treasures and getting the other warlords to scatter them across the lands and telling them that whomever can butcher their way across the land and reclaim all their treasures first will be crowned ruler. It is for this reason (and also the fact that he makes works multiply like nobodies business) that he soon lost the name Peacemaker and gained a name that I shall not share but that rhymed with Bankstick.

The set up is relatively simple. Everyone chooses a starting castle (which has it's own territory) and then Orks are placed throughout the board using dicerolls and then you fill the rest of your territory using warrior tokens Then you place your enemies treasure tokens on the board (preferably as far away from them as possible).

From there it works very much like risk with attacking, moving and gaining men. However there are also the Orks to contend with as more are placed each turn automatically attacking anything nearby and if left unchecked they can 'frenzy' which let's just say isn't fun. But not only this each turn you must also face the dragon. The dragon hops around the board as determined by dice rolling chomping everything it lands on until it lands on some troops then contented with its meal settles down. Now this sounds great as in theory as it could wipe the board of Orks but it never does! It almost always drops straight onto your troops. And there is also our old friend Wizard Bankstick who turns up and just multiplies all the Orks and stops you from fighting.

The odds are really against you at the start and it always feels like a miracle when you manage to pull through. But eventually most of the Orks lie dead and the game moves into the second phase where you try to carve your way through the island to your treasures through the people that used to be your freinds, praying that the dragon didn't land on the bulk of your army. Also woe betide you if you decide to attack a castle because you will lose everything.

Anyway the game will end suddenly when somebody manages to get a boat (don't ask me how I can't remember) and then they will zip around and get all their treasures almost instantly.

Wizard's Quest will take about 3-5 hours but it will be over in a matter of minutes. If you've got the time I recommend  playing it because it's certainly an experience and its fun but whether its good or not is a different question entirely.

Week 3: SF&F Needs You (to stand for the committee)

Monday 19:00 - Magic the Gathering in the Peter Lee Dining Room, Wentworth
Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in James SCR
Wednesday 13:00 - Yu-Gi-Oh in W/035E
Wednesday 19:00 - Impact in D/L/003, D/L/006 + D/L/007
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Saturday 13:00 - Mordheim in G/002
Sunday 12:30 -  Impact in D/L/037

AGM

AGM and committee elections will be held in week 8. Nominations will close on Sunday of week 7, and email voting will be open from Monday week 8 till the AGM.

If you want to stand for a position, or want more information on what the role of a particular committee, please email us.

Committee Positions:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Librarian
  • Abnormal Member for Boardgames
  • Abnormal Member for Cardgames
  • Abnormal Member for LARP
  • Abnormal Member for Tabletop Games
  • Abnormal Member for Wargames
  • Webmaster
  • Equipment Officer

Notices

Tabletop Day will be on Saturday 7th Feb. If you're going to run a game, please let us know.

Mordheim is a fantasy skirmish level game from Games Workshop.  New players welcome, no experience or models needed. Mordheim runs every other Saturday, alternating with other WH40k/WHFB games.

Bitermly LARP dates

31st Jan - Multiverse
7th Feb - Vampire IoD
28th Feb - Multiverse


During convention there was an entire package of A4 paper spread around the 3rd floor common area. Not saying it was anyone from Con, but can people remember to keep everything tidy, and to take off muddy shoes before going into the carpeted areas. Thanks.

Monday 12 January 2015

Week 2: Convention

Timetable

Monday 19:00 - Magic the Gathering in the Peter Lee Dining Room, Wentworth
Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in James SCR
Wednesday 16:00 - Yu-Gi-Oh in W/304
Wednesday 19:00 - Impact in D/L/003, D/L/006 + D/L/007
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Friday 19:00 - Sunday 24:00 Convention in Wentworth (based in W/035)

Convention

  • Grimdark Racing - Friday
  • Testing a new cardgame - Friday
  • Spectral Slueths LARP - Saturday 2pm
  • LARP Traders - Sunday 11am
  • Impact LARP - Sunday 12am
The Wargaming scenery will be around on Friday and Saturday, and all the society boardgames will be there all weekend.

LARP Traders

Traders will be doing their trading thing from 11-2 on Sunday, in D/L/036+037! Taking your moneys will be:
(There could be others selling stuff, and I may bring some society lost property for people to reclaim/buy.)

Gem's have a whole load of stock, so have asked that people email them if they have anything specific they want. Some traders may not be equipped to take cards too, so cash may be useful.

IMPORTANT: Due to recent events on campus involving replica-weapons and such, YUSU have asked that people try to bring some manner of wrapping, to cover any weapons they buy as they leave (just a coat will do really.)

Finally, if anyone would like to help set up (please please please), try to get to the rooms for 9am.

Spectral Sleuths [aka Ghost Cluedo]

In the British Museum, a new body has been uncovered - and this one's not an exhibit. The Ghosts of the Museum find themselves the only ones who can solve the mystery.

Happening on the Saturday of Convention, Spectral Sleuths: Adventure of the Silenced Scholar will follow the adventures of a group of ghosts tied to the museum as they try to solve a murder.

The players are all Ghosts at the Museum, tied to their bodies or possessions or fond memories, and attracted to the scene of the crime for their own varied reasons.


Monday 5 January 2015

Week 1: Exams :(

Not too much on this week as its undergrad exam time.  However, rooms have been booked for boardgames and wargaming if people want to turn up.

Timetable

Monday 20:00 - Boardgames in W/243
Thursday 20:00 - Social in Derwent Bar
Saturday 12:00 - Warhammer in G/020
Saturday 19:00 - Changeling  in V/044 & V/045

Notices

Convention will be 16-18th Jan in W/035 & W/30x rooms.  There'll be plenty of boardgames as normal, and David is bringing all the wargaming scenery and is setting up some Grimdark Racing for Friday evening, so just bring along a tank/bike/monster etc.  If anyone else wants to advertise something before hand, please get in touch with me and I'll add it to next weeks email.

Mordhiem BTB starts up again on Sat 24th.  Still plenty of time to get involved if you didn't last term.

The timetable for the term will be:

Monday - MtG and Boardgames
Wednesday - YuGiOh and Impact
Thursday - Social
Saturday - Mordheim (odd weeks) and Wargames (even weeks), sometimes Vampire IoD or Changeling
Sunday - Impact

Got any other events you want to start, have rooms booked for, or to advertise?  Get it touch, and I'll add them to the emails.  As always, the forums are a great place to find people interested in the same stuff as you.

Thomas Irving
SF&F Secretary