Scottish Circuit Event No.3 - ARBROATH.

Tayside Kickers are pleased to announce the 3rd event of the 2009/10 SSTFA Circuit.

Date : Sunday 22 November, 09.
Flick-Off : 10am
Venue : The Hall, Arbroath.
Pitches : San Siro's
Breakfast : Bacon Rolls, Tea & coffee.
Travel : By Rail, Road or Foot.
Great Event : As Always
Contact : Via Forum or Phone to Confrm Attendance (07961880003)

Sign up at http://www.subbuteoplayersforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=9496

Craig 50/50, I am confirmed and Chloe may have a stab at becoming the premier Scottish lady

Glasgow Subbuteo Open Video

Race Night Live

At aprox 20:00 GMT Tonight 8 road warriors will gather in Edinburgh for the second annual Race Night.

The Champion will be decided over 3 different race themed games. Robo Rally, Formula De and Pitch car.

In an internet first, the event will be live video streamed in this post

Good game spotted on high street shocker!

A little early for my opticians appointment yesterday I popped into the HMV on Princess Street.

Whilst in high street chain shops I often enjoy torturing myself my taking a look at the board games. However yesterday I was in for a surprise. Proudly displayed beside the Harry Potter Cludo and the X factor boggle was none lest than a stack of 20 or so copies of Pandemic.

For the uninitiated Pandemic is an excellent cooperative game where players work together to eradicate virulent viruses (can viruses be described as virulent?) which are threatening to bring the world to its knees.

On this discovery my chain of thought went roughly like this:

1. ohhh pandemic, cool!
2. errr Pandemic is a great game but why stock this and not Carcassonne or Ticket to Ride?
3. Ahhhhh!
   

So I cant decide if HMV stocking Pandemic is a shocking example of a corporation attempting to make money on the back of peoples suffering. Or an inspired buyer grasping the opportunity to introduce the high street to a great alternative to Simpsons buckeroo.

I guess I will never know. Still on the balance I think it is a good thing, if this Christmas there are families are gathered together over a game of Pandemic.

Now if you will excuse me the TAMIFLU I ordered on e-bay has arrived.

Chaos in the Old World First Play

Managed to get a game of Chaos in the old world in after badminton this Sunday.
Rule explanations took a little longer than expected mainly due to the other 3 chaos gods being engrossed in a discussion regarding wedding dresses.
I had been delt Khorne so combat and slaughter were on my agenda. Chloe was Tzeench, Jude Nurge and appropriately Sarah got the pervy god Slaneesh.

The game started with the old world deck turning up witch hunters, poping up a rash of heros in the middle regions. The first couple of turns everyone was quite aimless not entirely clear on a strategy. Nurgle set up in the south west, Slaneesh South East, while Chloe set about corrupting the empire and surrounding regions, I spread myself thin looking for a fight.

A couple of turns in, it started to click for Chloe and Sarah and they were adroitly moving their threat wheels on, whilst scoring some good points dominating reigons. I had started to click my threat wheel around at a good rate killing all over the board, but the witch hunters were very bussy persecuting my demons, diminishing my fighting force each turn. Jude had moved North piling a huge corrupting horde into Tilea.

End Game, this had become a 3 horse race, Sarah and I needed 1 more turn to finish our wheels but Chloe beat us all to the punch by scooping some major points by ruining Empire and then Britonia. She then piled all available cultists into Kislev. The fall of Kislev was enough to boost her past the 50 point mark for the win.

All said they enjoyed the game and I look forward to getting is on the table again soon.

Space Hulk First Play Pics

Subbuteo: SSTFA Competition dates

Taken from Subbuteo players forum:

Scottish Circuit Dates for 2009/10 Season
2009

Edinburgh - Sunday 20 September - Hibernian Supporters Club
Glasgow - Sunday 25 October - Woodend Bowling Club
Arbroath - Sunday 22 November - The Hall, Arbroath

2010

Team Event - Saturday 23 January - to be confirmed - venue Edinburgh

Glasgow - Sunday 21 February - Woodend Bowling Club
Edinburgh GP - Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 March - Easter Road Stadium
Arbroath IO - Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 April - The Hall, Arbroath

Team Event - Saturday 23 May - to be confirmed - venue Edinburgh

All events are open to ESTFA registered players.

On the Radar: Chaos in the Old World

Games Worshop seem to be enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the Wakeford household at the moment. Hot on the heals of the very tasty looking Space Hulk new edition (due to be delivered next week at some point) comes Chaos in the Old World.

Even back in the when I was heavily into 40k and miniature games, the most important thing to me was the game. The miniatures just pretty playing pieces, but the real hobby was playing the game. Space Hulk was one of these that nailed the combination of theme and game, the game played exactly how it 'felt' it should.

Well, Chaos in the Old World seems to have similar successful link between game mechanics and theme.

I would highly recommend you check out the Downtimetown video review

Also there is a very slick official trailer

Whoops, this has just moved from on the radar, to awaiting delivery, what can you do!

More than you ever want to know about dice

Part 1



Got to love this guys passion for the humble random number generator.

Part 2

10 good 2 player games, Recomendations for Barry

My friend Barry has asked for some recommendations for a good 2 player game with a bit of substance to play with his cousin Garry.

So without further ado 10 games I have enjoyed which I think will go down well.

10. Memoir 44
WW2 game which plays out various scenarios, depicting at squad/company level various battles from the D-day landing to the eastern front and beyond. A simple gaming system which is very easy to learn, uses cards to simulate the fog of war, allowing you only to order units in a particular section of the map if you have the correct card. Games are quite quick with most scenarios being played out in under an hour. Should also mention this game has tons of expansions, which introduce new nations (Russian British, Japanese) and many more scenarios than you will ever get round to playing.
http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/ww.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/

9. Runebound 2nd Ed.
A fantasy adventure game an a similar vain of Talisman or World of Warcraft: the board game. Plays in about an hour and a half, with each player taking the role of a hero competing various challenges in order to level up and ultimately defeat the big bad dragon chap. Regarded by many on board game geek as one of the best games in the genre.
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=23&enmi=Runebound

8. Dungeon Twister
A strange one this, looking at the bits it looks like a dungeon crawler, like heroquest. However the truth is this has more in common with chess. Each player control 8 characters each with various strengths and weaknesses as they ender a random labyrinth. The objective is to kill the opponents pieces or to move your pieces out the opponents starting area. With very little luck involved this will get your brain working! Also one with lot of expansions which introduce new characters and dungeon tiles
http://www.dungeontwister.com/us/

7. Hammer of the Scots
Barry and I had a go at this once before, however I believe that if played WITHOUT consuming 2 bottle of wine a-side this game will take significantly less time to play and will make much more sense.
http://hammerofthescots.com/

6. Go
Looking for a brain burner? this abstract strategy game is the ultimate. By far the oldest game on this list, This is the alpha example of easy to learn difficult to master. So much so that in the East where the game originates there is a martial art style ranking system for the players. Someone on BGG said that this “makes Chess look like a fisherpice toy”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game)


5. Conflict of Heros
A current favourite of mine, conflict of heros is a squad level WW2 war game. Slightly more complex than Memoir 44, you have complete control of your troops not being reliant on the whims of card play. Games play out between an hour and two. well worth a look.

http://academy-games.com/index.php/home/conflict-of-heroes-coh

4. War of the Ring
This one is a monster, only 1 game under my belt so far but am happy to recommend as it ticks so many boxes.
Evocative theme - check
Brilliantly produced board and bits -check
involving strategy - check
Epic feel - check
it does take 20 min or so to set up and 3ish hours to play so not for the faint of heart

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=52&enmi=Warof the Ring

3. Race for the Galaxy
A card game that plays like a board game. Can be tricky to pick up for non-gamers as the icon system, which works very well once used to, can take a little while to get used to. This is also a current favourite, I am enjoying the constant need to reassess your position and constantly have to try and stay flexible, whilst developing a cohesive strategy which will score well. Short play length 30-40 mins means that this is getting quite a bit of play at the moment. http://www.riograndegames.com/games.html?id=240

2. Tigris & Euphrates
This one may not capture the evocative or epic feel of some of the other games on the list, but this one is a pure game and you cant help but admire the elegance of the design. This is another which will make you head hurt in a good way. Loads of depth to the strategy with the bonus that as well as being a good two play it can be played up to four folks. http://www.mayfairgames.com/shop/product/0480-0499/pages/0491.htm

1. Twilight Struggle
If you add up all the game time it is likely that Chloe and I have spent more time playing this than any other of our games, if one good reason, This game is great! An unlikely hit, TS is set during the cold war, with the players taking the roles of the super powers USA and USSR spreading your influence across the globe. Wrestling control of strategic countries by instigating coups or puppet governments. with a large world map you can live your doctor strange love fantasies there are few other games that can get the adrenalin going quite like TS. If you can commit to the 3 hr play time then there is no game to rival this. http://www.gmtgames.com/nnts/main.html


Bonus game: Light Speed
This game doesn’t have substance but costs less than a packet of cigs and takes less time to play then it takes to smoke one. Great game if you are looking for a quick blast.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5534 http://www.cheapass.com/products/hippocket/cag964.html

The Unloved: Owned but unplayed.

Much like the kid who would take a brief case to school, these 3 games suffer the ridicule of their peers. For no other reason than they have yet to be played.

Below are the named and shamed with a call to arms to try and reduce this list, before my next batch of games arrive!

Duel in the Dark

Dispute it one time owning 2 copies of this game, it has yet to make its way to the gaming table.

This game first suffered because it was bought as a batch of 4 or so when on a trip to London's fantastic Leisure Games. Then once striping of the shrink wrap we found that this game stank! literally! Apparently a batch these games has been stored in a particularly dank warehouse and had gathered a nasty case of mould. None of the bits were damaged but it took a good month airing before I could even get round to assembling.... can you imagine! by then something else new and shiny had taken my attention.

So who fancys a game of 2 player light euro/wargame which takes around an hour to play, Depicting the Allied bombing of German city's during WWII?

Road Kill.

There is an adage that something that something that cost nothing has no value and unfortunately poor Road Kill hasn't had enough invested it it yet to hit the table. Received in trade for my spare copy of Duel in the Dark, this looks to be quite good card game with a car warsy race theme. The bits look a bit dated, but I am sure we are all passed that by now!

Playing 2-10 players best with 4/5 it is an a tricky spot because
there are load of other great games filling this hole.

Still i haven't lost all hope and will defiantly try and get this played soon. Perhaps on one of the Saturday lunchtime sessions?

Europe Engulfed

Now for the biggie, to be honest I knew this was always going to be a tricky one. A grand strategy block game covering the Europe theatre of war during WWII, rules on the upper end of our complexity scale, clocking in at 10-14 hours for a full campaign.

Still there are scenarios which can be completed in a couple of hours, and it looks so beautiful! look

So with that, an open challenge any of you Man/Woman enough to take my virginity? And no I didnt take a belief case to school.

Conflict of Hero's Storms of Steel rule preview

I have been lucky enough to get a seek peek at the rules of the forthcoming conflict of heroes game, Storms of Steel. The designer Ewe Eickert put a request on Board game geek looking for people to give the rule a once over before the sent the final draft to the printers.

It it looking great! There has been a tweek to the turn structure which has a big impact on the game.

Under the new rules each player can have an activated unit. this giver much greater scope for reactive play. Played a game of FF1 with the good lady using these rules and she picked them up in no time. Much more intuitive than the old system.

Will talk some more about the other new rules, aeroplanes etc once i have had a chance to try then out.

Oh look out of the words "completely immobile" they were my suggestion to the designer.
So I am finely in print! Sort of!

New Game: Hive

Have just taken delivery of Hive, 2 player abstract strategy game



mmmm lovely big Bakelite bits

Recording game videos

Having finished the highlights video from Chloe and Lewis’s EAASL game a few lesson learnt:

• Background noise, Don’t have the radio on (if you listen carefully in the latest video you can hear Jordan’s messy love split being discussed)
• Light, more light the better!
• Record everything! Better to have too much than too little.
• Don’t just focus on the game, try and get some player reaction etc.

I would welcome any other feedback

Hot club visit

Braving the Hibs supporters club Chloe, Craig and I paid a visit to Hot Club.
The venue upstairs at the club has loads of room, but no canarys!
Mike and the other guys made us extremely welcome.

I started with a friendly half against Mike and his tiger team. He was able to talk us through the finer points of the FISTF rules. There are quite a few things that i hadn't picked up on. I will jot them here as an aid memoir

• attacking - hitting your own player is a back
• attacking - hitting an opposing player is a back
• If awarded a back you can choose to not take it leaving everyone where they were.
  
• attacking - hitting a player then the ball is a free kick
• attacking - you can only force a throw in or corner in the quarter the ball started (bugger me Richie was right)
• if a player leaves the table he is replaced at the side of the half way line
• standing a fallen player grants the opponent a positioning flick

there maybe more, Craig did you pick up anything else?

I then went on to play Kevin. Hawkhill managed to hold them to 3-0, He was going easy on me, but it could easily have been many more if it hadnt been for some stauwalt goalkeeping.

The biggest thing i noticed about the clubs players was their accuracy at distance. I dont think that our old subbuteo lightweight teams are going to cut it! Also even though they were playing nice you could tell that there is a lightning fast attack just waiting to be unleashed.
Big goalies are going to me a must too, I will invest in a couple so people can try them out.

At that we called it a night, Craig stayed on for another game having abandoned his dons for a borrowed flat bottomed team. Let us know how you got on Craig.

I will definatly be heading back one evening, perhaps I can drag a couple more of you along? Lewis, Richie?

Subbuteo: Documentary

A very good documentary covering the origins to the state of the game today.
Well worth a look.

http://tinyurl.com/d3y6sa

Subbuteo: Invite from Hot Club D’Ecosse

I have been contacted by Mike Burns of Hot Club D’Ecosse after posting some rules questions on a subbuteo forum.

He is involved in running HCE which is Scotland’s premier Table football club. Biased in the Hibs supporters club off Easter Rd.

He is offering the use of their facilities either for us to use for our personal matches or to get involved in their club play.

There is no membership free or entry subs! apparently the bar is £1.50 a pint.

They normally meet 3^rd and 4^th Monday of each month.

Possibly an option for those who don’t have space for a home ground? and a chance for a group of us to meet and play.

I am thinking of checking it out, anoy one want to join me on a reccie?

Hot Club website http://www.edinburghgp.110mb.com/index.htm

Location: Map

Also one of the club memebrs runs http://www.worldtablesoccer.com/ and can offer a discount on stuff.

On the Radar: Small World

This game look like it has a lot of promise.
Published by days of wonder so is going to have lovely bits. I am not a big fan of the generic fantasy theme but is seems to work for this

http://www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/en/

perhaps a future purchase?

Subbuteo Tourney Vid

Enjoy....



Sorry Lewis, looks like people got bored of taking photos whilst you were playing.

Bonus Exclusive interview from Richie "Stereotype jock manager 2" Henderson

SubbuteoResults

Subbuteo Tournament schedule

8 Teams confirmed so I am closing entry's, otherwise we will be playing for days!

Teams Playing

• Tom - Hawkhill Hotspur
• Chloe - Lockend Park FC
• Craig - 70's Aberdeen
• Lewis - E Street FC
• Richie - 50's Hungary
• Gail - Team Toons
  
• David - Celtic
• Barry - Eastend Hackers

2 page Rules Summary can be found here: http://subbuteo.iougs.com/subbuteo-woodentop-quick-rules.pdf
I would recommend all the players give this a once over.

Schedule
11:30- 11:50 Rules explanation/demo
12:00 Games Start

5:15 Awards Ceremony
5:16 Drinking begins in grand style
6:30ish dinner provided by the lovely Chloe
After dinner Drinks into the wee hours

The schedule mean you will get a break at least every 3 games, Oranges and deep heat will be provided.
Feel free to bring Pies and Isotonic sports booze.

T

Subbuteo Rules

Have had a skim over the rules and have picked up a few errors from our games on sat.

• Players crossing the side lines are left where the land, except ones which leave the cloth, they are placed on the edge of the cloth.
• If a defensive blocking flick hits a moving ball or player then a free flick is awarded to the attacker
• If another player is hit during a positional flick (following a throw in etc) then player are returned to original positions
• All free flicks are indirect, except penalties
• The replacement Goalie can be placed in or behind the goal area
• The replacement Goalie can be removed if the ball goes out of play

There may be more, will keep looking.

Pre-Season friendlys at the Hawkhill home ground.

To Celebrate the opening of the New Hawkhill Ground 4 Mighty teams converged for a carnival of football.



Present were:

• Aberdeen from the 70's (Craig)
  
• Generic Blue (Chloe)
  
• Celtic in disguise (David)
  
• Hawkhill Hotspur (Tom)
  

Game 1
Hawkhill Hotspur (1) V's Aberdeen from the 70's (0)
Controversy was inevitable when these two old rivels clash and this game was no exception. The crowd gasped as a strike destined for the top right hand side of the Dons goal was deflected by a giant hand! Dispite contesting the refs discison at every turn Aberdeen were unable to sway the result in their favour.

Game 2
Generic Blue (1) V's Celtic in disguise (0)
The Celts attacking game left them very vulnerable to the break, often having no players on their own half. Chloes Generic Blue were unlucky no have slotted a couple more in.

Game 3 (3rd place play off)
Celtic in disguise (0) V's Aberdeen from the 70's (3)
The 3rd place play off again showed the celtic defence up, Craig calmly putting 3 past the unsupported keeper

Game 4 (Final)
Hawkhill Hotspur (2) V's Generic Blue (0)
The final was hotly contested with both sides having scoring oppertunitys in the 1st half. It wasnt until the final 7 min of the game that the deadlock was broken with a superb strike by the Spurs. The Generics Blue's head went down after this and it wasnt long before a second was conceded.

Finger Flicking Fun

Some Subbuteo links in anticipation of some forthcoming flicking fun.




International governing body FISTF.
http://www.fistf.info/

Official Rules. http://www.fistf.info/files/FISTF%20Sports%20Rules%204.0.pdf
I have a printed an bound copy of these

An active UK forum.
http://www.subbuteoforum.org.uk/

UK Web shop selling lost of stuff, including Subbuteo Streakers!
http://www.subbuteoworld.co.uk/


Some incredibly overproduced Videos, well worth checking out
http://www.wrp7video.blogspot.com/


The Hawkhill Hotspur are looking for a new sponsor, i wonder if Ansol are interested?

Awakening of the dead - Up date

So it looks like the creator of Conflict of hero's Ewe Eikert likes the idea too!

I sent him an e-mail asking if it would be ok to post any zombie scenarios I create on Board game Geak. Well he replyed that perhaps they could publish them!

Now that sounds like a challenge, better get my finger out.

Game Idea- Conflict of Heros : Awakening of the dead

Having played a couple of games solo and one game against Tom R, I am convinced that it wouldn't be to hard to make some Zombie scenarios.

Perhaps start on the farm map with a small group of survivors fending off a couple of groups of Z's.
and have the conflict escalating, involving local militia, and so on, until; we get to the full blown military clean up of an urban area

Subbuteo

Whilst taking a stroll to B&Q a happened across a subbuteo tournament.

Below are a few snap i took before heading back on my way.