UK Games Expo 2018

On Friday 1st of June 2018, I returned to the UK Games Expo at the NEC in Birmingham.

I had a very specific list of things to get.

First up, I managed to get ahold of the Terraforming Mars expansion

which provides two alternative boards on which to play to increase game diversity.

Next up, I picked to the two Abyss expansions
and
making Abyss a 5-player game with more stuff to do.

One particular item I really was hoping for was

thankfully I did find a copy, which I believe was the last one available in the entire Expo! Even one of the guys at the stall I purchased it from thought they’d already sold out of it (they only brought 4 copies). I then spotted it and didn’t let go.

Another expansion was for King Of Tokyo

so that all my monsters now have power cards, not just the ones from the expansions I’ve already picked up.

I then picked up a second expansion for Terraforming Mars:

which also allows the terraforming of Venus by using another terraforming tracker (this one’s not mandatory so shouldn’t extend the game time too much).

At the Dice Tower booth I picked up two promo cards:

Which was very nice. I even saw Tom Vasel in one of his hats.

After a little more wandering we stopped for lunch.

Then made our way to the DogEared Games booth, where I spotted the guy who sold me the StakBots decks last year. This year he got me interested in playing Colour Chess against his colleague.

After completely destroying him, we picked up a copy:

Back to awandering we spotted the Catan Sheep

Giant version games, including 7 Wonders, Ticket To Ride, Colt Express and Takenoko

We visited the good people at GeekNSon and picked up a couple of items.

The Wargaming section was most impressive, all those sets are amazing, particularly the Battle Of Hoth

During the wanderings I also picked up

and

The we once again passed this stand

and bought a copy.

In the Catan section we had a sit down to play

with two chaps called Gavin and Garath.

During the game we used our newly acquired GeekNSon Dice Tower

So many people came over to ask where we got it from.
Gavin won.

We did some more wandering and saw some stuff:
The family zone with games to be played on nearby tables.

The GeekNSon Crew:

And just a few games stalls:

The last game we picked up was

Shortly before it closed, we made our way out.

That was a lot of fun!

For a closer look at the things we picked up check up the video I did on the subject:

Games Night 6th July 2017

Three of us this week. DA’s been dying to play Fantasy Flight Games’

since he got it a year ago. I decided to indulge him, this time.
Once set-up was completed, we had a quick game of DogEared Games’

while waiting for PH, who dutifully turned up mid-game.
DA went on to decimate MC who can’t work out where it went so horribly wrong.

So now onto Dune…I mean Rex, that what I meant.
After DA explained the rules (it seems that there’s a lot we can’t do with only 3-players), PH (Blue Federation of Sol) kicked off, quickly dominating the Influence available and taking control of a Stronghold. DA (Red Lazax Empire) consolidated his forces on one Stronghold. MC (Purple Universities of Jol-Nar), who got to start on a Stronghold, attempted to wrest the Influence from PH but died horribly in the attempt. Sol’s Dreadnought Fleet (an overly elaborate set-piece that kept falling apart but basically does what the Luggage does in Guards! Guards!) did its thing – and fell apart.

DA and PH battled it out over the central Stronghold with PH eventually coming out on top and MC taking it from him before losing to DA.
The final turn saw Sol’s Dreadnought Fleet effectively block PH’s forces on a forcefield world and created a wall separating his remaining troops. DA suffered from the lack of forces, on board. In a masterful double-move, courtesy of an Informant card, MC retook the central Stronghold off of DA then deployed his remaining forces on DA’s first and as-yet uncontested Stronghold annihilating every single one of DA’s forces.
A solid win for MC and consolation prize to PH with one Stronghold held.
DA got to play his game.

To finish we thought we’d play a quick game of Calliope Games’

During round 2 I took this snap moments before the dragons moved and ate DA and MC:

Well done PH for a magnificent bit of playing there.
After deciding that the ‘quick game’ was perhaps a mite too quick, we had a second round.
This one lasted a little longer, with DA getting eating by the dragons moving first, shortly followed by MC.
Huzzahs for PH!

Games Night 22nd June 2017

For the first time in ages we had the astronomical heights of four players.

by Fantasy Flight Games was the game of the night.
However DA was bang on time so while waiting for the others we had a quick game of DogEared Games’

Typically we had just got going when everyone turned up, but we played on regardless finishing with both Staks being destroyed.

On to the main event:
DA was reborn as the Queen of Blades
KV became cool and calculating as Tassadar
MC had deep thoughts as the Overmind
PH looked to gain every advantage as Arcturus Mengsk
After crafting the Kropulu sector into the shape of a Klingon Warbird the four factions quickly got into the business of building and expanding.

Conflict soon took the form of Tassadar and Kerrigan systematically hammering the Overmind into oblivion. At least MC got to play to see Phase II.

Mengsk quietly got on with building up his forces but forgot the very significant matter of transportation. However, he was sitting on a goldmine of points.

Tassadar quickly established his Special Victory condition and resolutely waited for Phase III. With Mengsk’s quick accumulation of points, Kerrigan and Tassadar formed an uneasy alliance to wrest some of the points away from him.
Phase III then came into being drawing the game to a close.
Final scores:
DA: 14 and with Special Victory
KV: 3
MC: 1 (eliminated)
PH: 13
Well done DA.

Games Expo 2017

This year I went to a Games Expo for the first time ever.

One game that caught my eye was Lander.
It’s still in the prototype stage set for Kickstarter in 2018, but looks very appealing. I was allowed a small dark blue 3D printed component.

Of course you can’t go to a games expo and not play any games.
Beasts of Balance was the first one I got to try out. I’ve been watching this one since it’s prototype days and have been wanting to give it a go.

Next-up was the new multimedia game:
.
It’s a trading card game with an accompanying free app with articulated and equippable figures that can interact with the game. We had a go at one of the mini games using the figure as controllers. It can be played for free on the app without the figures.

I was encouraged to have a go at Stak Bots by DogEared Games. I’d already picked up the yellow expansion but never played it. Walked away from this with the base game and the red expansion.

Finally, we had a play of one scenario in the Walking Dead: All Out War. A miniatures game of zombie survival by Mantic Games. With numerous expansions and scenarios to play through. Based off of the comic series not the TV one.

Survived the encounter with all the living still alive and as a draw with SC who managed an excellent double head-shot with a baseball bat.

My Haul:

	A 2-4 player game of dice placement and point-breaking by Tinkerbot Games.
	A story-telling card game where players tell a story according to their cards. By Atlas Games.
	A card-drafting game played in 3 quick rounds. By Gamewright.
	A stand-alone expansion to Star Realms but if mixed with the original can now be a 2-4 player game. By White Wizard Games
	Another full game in a tiny box by Gamelyn Games. This one has resources, wars and building.
	Smash the other player’s stack of Stak Bots with your own Stak Bots. Can add the red expansion to the yellow expansion I already own.
	Expansion for King of Tokyo by IELLO Games. Adds Cthulhu to the game. Yay!
	Expansion to Cosmic Encounter by Fantasy Flight Games. More alien races, and now including the Space Stations.

All in all it was a good, eye-opening time. Very glad I went.