Tuesday 30 August 2016

Games are our Jam! Club Meeting - 28 August



Do you wanna know something? I know that here on this blog where we expound the exploits of the TCOW faithful we have a tendency toward the extremes but something you cannot deny is photographic evidence.

Here we have a small group of Magic players just totally happy to be out and enjoying their hobby with other people who do the same. And do you know what, that is what being part of TCOW is all about. And that is why I still contend that we are the best Gaming club in Auckland. No drama, no hassles, you play what you want knowing that there'll be light-hearted ribbing and when its time to pack the tables up, we all have a laugh about it. Glorious!






So what did we play at our little slice of heaven this week? Well, stalwarts and new games alike we had a pretty reasonable cross section of goings on...

Flames of War carries on with Firestorm: Berlin moving into its second week of games. On the Eastern Front, masses of Soviet armour is still attempting to force its way into Berlin, desperately hampered by the remaining German defenses.



With their limited resources, the Germans are unable to stop the red tide washing through their lands though. 


On the Western Front, British Churchill tanks make their debut (for this campaign at least) in an attempt to push into the German northern flanks.


Supported by the nimble and agile Stuarts, their slow roll forward is only halted by the imminent threat of a V2 falling on them.....never fear though, the German targeting is not on its game today.

But the PaK 40's are....


And on the ground, the SS are also attempting to hold back the Brits as well. Stu and I played a game of Bolt Action which I forgot to get decent photos of....except this one..


There used to be a British infantry squad in that hole. British artillery is just really effective! My record of artillery being used against me stands with every single opponent having rolled a 1. 4-0 record!

We also saw the return of X-Wing to club which was great to see!




And Faizal and Andrew carried on their battles in the pits with some additions from Caesar's menagerie.


Rhinos....RHINOS!!!!

We finished off this week's meet with a 6 player game of Epic Spell Wars. This game is seriously funny and so quick to play. Definitely a great way to finish a great day!

Next club meeting will be 11 September and we're looking at making this a board games day so keep an eye on the Facebook  group for details.

And as always nerds....GAME ON!

Sunday 21 August 2016

Ich bin ein Berliner - Club Meeting 14.08.2016



And there were quite a few people trying to force their way into Berlin at the last club meeting! It was the start of the latest Flames of War campaign, this time Mike has decided that we need to finish the war and finish it by the end of the year....Firestorm: Endgame is underway!





Unlike your typical Firestorm campaign where you may end up getting extra troops by virtue of the location you're defending or attacking, we're simply taking standard points into each match-up.

And to simulate the special nature of the orders issued by Hitler in the final days and weeks of the Reich, Mike has come up with an ingenious little set of cards called Fuhrer's Orders by which the German players must abide. These will simulate such things as Panzer reserves not being available or fuel shortages or any one of the petty foibles which Hitler plagued his generals with in the dying throes of the battle for the German capital. Great touch Mike!






And with that, we determined some match-ups and went to it. Keep an eye out over on Mike's blog for all the details (mostly because I didnt get them all this time around) but the first rounds looked something like:

- Pablo vs. Jon in the grudge match. This one was an Airborne assault with both Brit glider troops and Yank paras.
- Darren vs. Gav in the battle for the Eastern advances toward Berlin.
- Mike and I hit some tank on tank action down toward Strasbourg, and
- Andrew and Darrin also had tank on tank but this one was actually using TANKS!




Apparently Darren didn't have his artillery on...







But of course, this is TCOW! The GREATEST Wargaming club in Auckland (and to date, no dispute has been registered with the disputes committee) so we didn't just have Flames of War being played! Oh no sir!


Faizal and Andrew got in a game of Arena Rex, a game of battles in the arena, blood-soaked sand and all....



I must say, the models here look FREAKING SWEET and you can definitely see that you're getting what you're paying for!


The game, as I understand from a very quick explanation from Andrew, is very simple to come to grips with and plays very quick and easy. I believe that Faiz is looking at a campaign-style thing for this as well...



Molly and Martina also got some Malifaux action in as well.





And finally, because we had some time left, Andrew H broke out a copy of Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards for us to have a laugh at! You play a Battle Wizard and each turn, play a spell from the cards you've drawn randomly from the draw deck in an attempt to destroy your foes. It's seriously fun!



And that's how it finished...

Do you want to come and play games with us? You should! The next club meeting is 28 August and I think we'll see some Flames, Blood Bowl and more! Come on down and meet the team!

GAME ON!

Monday 1 August 2016

YAY, Sports! Club Meeting - 31 July


It was a wet and wild weekend weather-wise in Auckland (alliteration for the win!) so attendance at the GREATEST gaming club in Auckland was slightly down. Well, that and the slew of TCOW'ers representing at the beginners Malifaux tournament.

We still managed to get a few games going though, so it wasn't all a waste.

Darren and Daryl rocked out a game of Warmahordes using the new v3.0 rules. Daryl wanted to see whether or not his Cryx could still pull off a heap of shenanigans under the new regime.



Judging by the number of dead models that were accumulating at Darren's end of the table, I'd say they still can.






Stu and Callum get into some TANKS action (which I conveniently forgot to take photos of...) and realised that Ernst Barkmann is indeed as broken as his points value would suggest! Cant wait to get my copy of this in and potentially start some league play.

Finally, Jon and I went old school and played some Blood Bowl.



I cracked out my Chaos All-Stars which I got for my 15th birthday (you do the math) and Jon ran his High Elves, so straight away we sort of knew how this one was going to end up!

Some fantastic plays, huge hits and down-right dirty tactics saw the Elves run in 2 touchdowns to my 1...but at the expense of THREE bodies. I think at one point Jon was down to 6 active players on the board, which is hilarious but expected when you're playing against Chaos!



Just this one game has reignited my love for this game. Its so bloody simple and so much bloody fun! So much so that I'll be starting the inaugural TCOW Blood Bowl league! Watch this space for details!

Congrats to the TCOW'ers who placed and played at the latest Malifaux tourney as well. From what I hear, some of you were really high on the list....



So that was that, like I said, a smaller showing but by no means worthless! Cant wait for next club!

Game on nerds!!!