Village Games' Blog

FINALLY AND UPDATE...

It has been awhile since I was last able to blog – hopefully I will be able to resume doing it with some frequency again now. In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the really exciting things going on at the shop this summer.

We have been placing an emphasis on making the shop the best place to play your game. We want to make the trip worth your time in terms of creative approaches to leagues and campaigns, a more equitable (but no less cut-throat) level of competition and player rankings, and a general fun club-like atmosphere during events. To that end, here are some of this summer’s big happenings at the shop:

WARHAMMER 40K FUNDRAISER TOURNAMENT

The third weekend in June we will be hosting a tournament to raise funds for a couple of local firefighters (that I have worked alongside for years) who are battling cancer. It has tapped their resources and made an already difficult situation even more challenging (one of them is even a single mom!) so we are going to have a little fun to help them out.

The tournament will utilize some crazy scenarios designed to test your strategic and tactical thinking. In addition, as an addition complication and to drive people crazy, folks with have the ability to ‘buy’ (i.e. donate money) special dispensations such as: buying a complete re-roll, buying off a wound, buying an extra 6” of movement, etc. But that is not all, players will also have the option of outbidding their opponent to prevent them from getting their special allowances.

All in all, it should be a good time with door prizes being generously donated by the shop and GW to be given away all day. The winners, while not getting ‘prizes’ per se, will get gaudy medals and an Olympic-like kazoo serenade at the end for their great generalship (though there will also be an award for the most annoyingly obnoxious as well…)! And all of this will help members of a fraternity that help keep all of us safe…

WARHAMMER 40K SUMMER LEAGUE W/PLAYER RATINGS

This exciting league is based around Player Ratings, which in turn are based on the mathematical model used by the world chess associations (slightly modified to take into account the nuances of 40K). The rating scale is designed to reward players for playing up to, or exceeding their, expected ability against a given foe. It also prevents leaders from ‘farming’ points off of less skillful, or newer, players. It adds a sense of tension and drama to every game – even the mismatch of leader vs. newbie – due to the sliding scale of rating points at stake. The Player Rating system is tied to the player, not the army, so you can modify your force during the course of the League – or even just flat out switch armies mid-stream. It doesn’t change your rating – only your skill does!

In addition, we are using innovative scenarios developed just for Village Games to keep the games interesting and fun. The next League starts up in early-June and will be played on Thursday nights – talk with Trent or Dan if you are interested.

FLAMES OF WAR SUMMER LEAGUE W/PLAYER RATINGS

The league is structured much the same as the 40k league above and will be starting in early-June. The setting will be a Mid-War affair with players either having to be Allied or Axis. It will be played on Saturday afternoons and will even have some pretty big prizes for the winners!

WARHAMMER FANTASY SUMMER CAMPAIGN

This much loved event will be returning in early June as well. The setting, rules and rewards have all been refined based on the player’s wants from the Spring Campaign so it should be a lot of fun. Grover will be running this at the shop so if your are interested stop by and talk to him.

COMBAT CARDS SUMMER CAMPAIGN

The Combat Cards will be returning to regular play with a summer campaign/league. The League will include the Village Games Player Rating system as well as a new force building/scenario method from the folks at our own local Tactical Assault Games.

WAR OF THE RING SUNDAYS

A group of die hard fanatics has really developed around this game and they have been recruiting hard for the game. They generally meet on Sundays, but have been known on a couple of occasions to meet on other weekend days just to ~~brainwash~~ demo to new players. Eventually a League/Campaign will be formed for this as well later in the summer.

POKEMON LEAGUE/WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS

The Pokemon crowd has grown tremendously at the shop so we will begin running weekly tournaments on Friday nights for them. This will be in addition to the usual Friday night League night and Friday night Demo games.

‘FLYING LEAD’ SUMMER CAMPAIGN

This great rules set from Ganesha Games will the centerpiece for another campaign starting in June on Tuesday nights. It is a fast paced, easy to learn game with almost unlimited potential for creativity. The last campaign was a fantasy based one which I believed resulted in the serious roughing up of some undead hordes. The group that plays is a lot of fun so if you are interested in trying it out talk with Dan or Mike Z.

Well, there is a taste of some of the events we have coming up. As always, the newbie and the curious are always welcome to join in or just come up and watch.

We aren’t even close to being done yet either, there will be a couple of tournaments, some other leagues and a few other special events this summer so keep watching the website for more info.

Until next time…

Keep your dice hot, your sunscreen on and your gaming spirit happy!

Dan

CAMPAIGNING...

With the recent surge in interest in playing in campaign games, I set about getting one together for the historical players. I developed a relatively straightforward and simple system for running the strategic portion of the campaign based on a map divided into ‘Sectors’. After creating the map, I realized how much cooler it would be to have a three-dimensional map like the ones used by the real military planners – so, I made my own…

The map is broken into sectors which are represented by 4” square tiles. Terrain has been represented on each tile in a very small scale. The campaign has been set-up so each sector also corresponds to a 4’ square tabletop for the tactical battles with miniatures to be played out on. This allows the terrain on the tile to be translated to the tabletop in exact proportions, i.e. 1” on the tile equals 1’ on the tabletop (happily convenient, eh?).

Units are represented on the map by counters. Each unit has a certain amount of activation points to spend for maneuver and attack. At the end of each campaign turn though, units have to check to see if they can be resupplied; if they can’t then they have to spend the next turn in a ‘Depleted’ and inactive state. This feature means that while both sides in the campaign will be working feverishly towards their stated objectives, there will also be the added element of making sure they don’t over extend their forces and leave them stranded.

As we run through the campaign, I will try and post updates to let folks know how it is going.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

A DRAMATIC NIGHT BATTLE...

As I was cleaning out some old photos, I found this dramatic shot of a ‘nighttime’ Combat Cards game. It just looked to cool not to post it. It was a 15mm WWII game between the Russian attackers and the German defenders somewhere on the Eastern Front in mid-1944. I believe the Russians pulled this one out, but my memory on this game is a little foggy.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

MORE FANNING OF THE FLAMES...

Here are a few random shots of recent games of Flames of War at the shop. The guys have been running a campaign over the last few weeks, which have lead to some rather interesting battles on Saturday afternoons.

I think they are wraping up the current campaign in a few weeks and will be starting another one again real quick after that, so if you would be interested in joining in stop by and let them know (if you can get a word in between the ferocious tank battles… J).

Until next time…

Keep your head down!

Dan

FANTASY FATE...

For the last couple of months around the shop one of our staff (David G.) has been running a comprehensive Warhammer Fantasy Campaign. The crowds have been good for the campaign nights (with his computerized campaign map, laptop & projector) and the shop has been filled almost non-stop at other times with Warhammer Games.

The campaign is now winding down and, by all accounts, everyone had a pretty good time. In fact, they are busy laying out the parameters for the next campaign and folks are already lining up to join in.

I snapped a couple pictures of a recent game where the forces of Chaos were trying to blast their way into an Elven fortress. Despite putting up a valiant defense, I believe the Elven forces were soundly defeated.

Well, until next time…

Be wary of Chaos!

Dan

RUNNING AT THE RECON...

It was recently time for the local quarterly miniatures convention again. As I had brought a 15mm WWII game to share for the last few, I decided to shake it up and do a little something different – a modern middle east battle in 1/72 scale.

The change did force me to have to hurry to get a lot of the elements done in time – a new desert battle mat, some rock walls and piles, as well as the figures themselves! Somehow I did manage to get it all done, and it all turned out pretty great (if I do say so myself…).

The scenario was US Army forces moving into a middle eastern town trying to clear it of insurgents using the Tactical Assault: Combat Cards for the rules (yes, they work for modern actions as well!). The insurgents had to eliminate three units of the American forces for a win, and the insurgents could ‘recycle’ their destroyed stands (i.e. bring them back onto the battlefield after they had been eliminated in battle). The Americans had to eliminate eight units from the insurgents, the Americans could not ‘recycle‘ their stands, but they did have a distinct sophistication advantage (technology, communications, training, etc.).

We ran the scenario a few times during the day with both sides winning their share of the engagements (the American players usually lost their aggressiveness after suffering a casualty and couldn’t score any kills to win), but everyone who played had a great time – including yours truly!

Now I have to get cracking on finishing a bunch more insurgents as I have a pair of Blackhawks and Apaches waiting to get on the tabletop!

Until next time…

Stay frosty!

Dan

SHOWING OFF THE COMBAT CARDS...

At Con of the North I, and a couple of dedicated volunteers, ran numerous games of the Combat Cards in the Village Games’ room. These events included the core game as well as the playtest versions of the Modern Skirmish Cards™ and the Fantasy Skirmish Cards™.

At least one Combat Card event was schedule in every time slot, with two games being run simultaneously during some of the timeslots. The expectation was that some of the games might not happen, due to a lack of players signed up, etc. To our (exhausting) surprise every slot had at least 3 players (out of 4 possible), many times 4, and sometimes even 5 or 6 with the extras hoping to be able to get in.

Here are a few shots of the core games we ran – one was a Russian Front circa 1944 and the other was set in the Anzio Beachhead in Italy in 1944. Both were done in 15mm:

For the Anzio game I had even made some vineyards for the table – unfortunately my only picture of them in action turned out a little blurry, but you get the idea:

Here are some shots of the Modern Skirmish game. It was set during Operation Market Garden, with the 101^st Airborne trying to stop a German tank that had broken through from threatening the highway heading north to Arhnem:

For the Fantasy Skirmish game, the players either played the orcs trying to protect their new found imprisoned demon or the heroic parties attempting to destroy the demon before the orcs can release it:

The weekend far exceed even our wildest expectations. Thanks goes out to Kendal, Mark and Nate for their help in making sure that every who played had a great time!

Until next time…

…I am going to get some more sleep. J

Dan

WHEW...

We just got back from the Con of the North game convention, and what a convention it was! The shop hosted an entire room of events all convention long, with an estimated 400 players playing in the room throughout the whole weekend.

We had a nice mix of games including board games, mini card tournaments, miniatures games, historical miniatures – we even ran demos for airbrush painting and plaster casting. We brought with us as much staff as we could spare and an army of volunteers to run everything. By all accounts they did a wonderful job as we heard nothing but compliments about the games they ran – thanks guys!

After the shock of the weekend has worn off, we will think about next year. Until then though, enjoy some of the shots of the room in action.

Until next time…

…I am going to get some sleep. J

Dan

SINGING THE SONG...

A while back I posted about the skirmish game Song of Blades and Heroes that a number of folks are playing at the shop. Unfortunately at the time I only had a couple of shots, and not much of the warbands being used. Well, here is an attempt to rectify that with some more shots.

The game is a fast-paced, enjoyable affair – so much so that they have even been able to recruit players that have never played miniatures games before! The guys have been running on ongoing campaign, tracking the successes of their warband as they increase in power. So far everyone seems to be having a great time – except for the occasional leader who suffers a grievous loss to his warband. J Oh well, in every battle, a little lead must fall…

Until next time…

I hope them lead medics are always handy!

Dan

GIVING CREDIT...

Just a couple of random shots from recent Flames of War games at the shop. I have to give the guys credit, we challenged them a while back to get their campaign off the ground and they have done it. They play every week now, and have been expanding their armies and units. They have even been recruiting new players!

I know that the Germans' incessant losing is killing John M., but a little humility never hurts anybody. J

Until next time…

Enjoy!

Dan

A PAINTING WIZARD...

Robb S., one of the store’s resident expert painters, has been working on a new Skaven Army for the Warhammer Fantasy Lords Campaign being run at the shop. He has been including all the bells and whistles (yes, that was a bad pun reference to the Skaven’s Screaming Bell) with the army and it is turning out really nice.

I have included a few shots of what he has done – if you would like to see it in person, I would highly recommend swinging by the shop on the Thursday campaign night to check it out.

Until next time…

Enjoy!

Dan

THE DARK ONES...

During one of the regular 40K night games I spied an army of the Dark Eldar cruising around the table. As that is not an army we have seen a whole lot of around the shop, I thought I might snag a couple of pictures of it in action.

Unfortunately, all I had was my cell phone handy so the quality isn’t great – but you can definitely get a feel for the army and the blasted no-man’s-land it was fighting across.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

A CHANCE TO PLAY...

The other day I finally got a chance to play a game at the shop. It was a WWII micro armor (6mm) game with the Combat Cards. Dave B. played the Americans, and I was the Germans in a mechanized meeting engagement – a nice way of saying a sort of free-for-all.

We had a great time, with lots of carnage on the table. It also afforded us the opportunity to kick around a few ideas for the next Combat Cards campaign. All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon, and probably much deserved given how little time I have had lately to do anything fun like that.

I snagged a few pictures with my phone camera, I hope you enjoy them!

Until next time…

Happy Hunting!

Dan

INTO THE DEMON'S LAIR...

In February the shop will be attending one of the largest conventions in the region (Con of the North) where we will be hosting an entire hall full of events throughout the con. One of the events that I personally will be running will be a fantasy dungeon crawl using the Melee Skirmish Cards on our 3-D dungeon terrain. In preparation for the event, I recently ran some playtests of the scenario at the shop.

It went very well, although it seemed to be skewed slightly against the heroes. Everybody had fun though, so it’s all good. I am going to make some revisions to the scenario and run it a couple of more times just to make sure everything is tight and ready to go.

Until next time…

Watch out for them demons!

Dan

PLAYING THEIR SONG...

Recently a bunch of folks kicked off a campaign for the great fantasy skirmish game Song of Blades & Heroes. The group really prepared well for this by having group terrain making sessions, practice games with the new folks and allowing for new units (via player voting). On the first night of the campaign everybody went through their warbands and then the battles were on!

There is a storyline to the campaign, although I am not exactly sure what it is. It does influence the battlefields (and thus terrain) involved and I believe will affect the units allowed. In any events, everybody seemed to have a great time so I think they are off to a great start. I don’t know if they are taking any new players, but I know they are always willing to teach new players, so if you are interested stop by and check it out on Tuesday nights.

(Unfortunately I didn't get the best shots of their games as my regular camera wasn't working, but this will at least give you an idea.)

Until next time…

Happy Gaming to you and yours!

Dan