Balancing Metal Sticks - Club Meeting 25 September 2016

Who would have thought that balancing metal sticks on a wire could be so much fun? We'll get to that at the end of the story because, as Auckland's Premiere Wargaming club, we should probably show you the wargaming we did, right?

ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

Bolt Action

With Rumble in the Jungle  just a couple of weeks away, we decided that we should really come to grips with the Bolt Action 2nd Edition rules and all the changes that are in there. We had a total of 3 Bolt Action games going this weekend. Dave and El Pres, Monkey and the Bludgelord and myself and Saul all fighting in a 28mm WW2 paradise.

Some amazing games being played here and everyone helping each other out with the new rules as well. For the most part, nothing has really changed and it's still a great game but its just those little differences that sometimes get ya!

It also sounded like everyone was having a great time playing which is kinda the main thing, right? If you cant have fun playing toy soldiers, you're probably doing it wrong.

Here are a few more (Bolt) Action shots....

Can you just hear the fun? The results of the games, from my understanding, were:

Dave vs. Dan: Germans vs. Marines: Draw
Monkey vs. Damo: SAS vs. FJ: Win to the SAS
Saul vs. Me: British Airborne vs. Yanks: Crushing victory to the Yanks.

I also got to try out the new Battle Kiwi dice tray in anger as well...

As well as Bolt Action, we had some more WW2 battles being fought in a smaller scale. 2 games of Flames of War making an appearance.

Pablo and Darren got stuck in with some Guards Churchills trying to walk over some SS Grens.

Mike and Jon also battled with Mike's Hero Strelk trying to break through the German lines in East Germany.

With FlamesCon just around the corner, I sense there may have been some training games going on here....very untoward!

The guys in the corner got another game of Battlestar Galactica in and this time the Cylons came out on top reducing the Galactica's morale to nothing.

Last game played was called Suspend. You should check this one out as its a great game for all ages. Basically, its reverse pick-up-sticks where you try to balance your sticks on the wires already placed without causing the whole thing to tumble. Nerves of steel needed here!

Another stellar gaming weekend at club!

The dates for October will be slightly different to allow for a couple of tournaments, so keep an eye on the club page for updates.

Until the next time...GET YO GAME ON!!!!

Are you....board? Club Meeting - 11 September

If you're standing still, you're stagnating and we like to keep things fresh and lively at TCOW (which I have heard referred to as the GREATEST Gaming Club in Auckland, something I'm not able to refute...). So, to mix things up a little, this weekend saw the inaugural TCOW Board Games Day played out at our usual haunt. A chance for the club alums to break out some of the boxes that sit on shelves, begging to opened and their contents used for the means for which they were manufactured.

And despite some people not being able to attend, we still managed to crack a few goodies out and have a heap of fun!

The biggest attraction was Battlestar: Galactica (with Pablo's beautifully painted BSG model standing in to add a little more depth). 7 peeps playing this one and trying to figure out who among them was really a toaster in disguise. I couldn't help myself so went around checking everyone's cards to see who it was.

The game took up the whole meeting, with most of the accusations being leveled in Dave's direction despite his consistent denials. To be fair to Dave....he wasn't lying either.

Unfortunately, the final decision came down to a die roll with the humans needing a 7 or 8 (on a d8) to win it....

Andrew and Craig played a game of Vegas Showdown. I've never seen this one before, but its all about building the best casino. It really appeals to my inner Joe Pesci...

As you can see, Andrew is right into it!

The Bludgelord and his Bludgelings turned up for the beginning of club, so he and Monkey played some Magic (a table is a board too!)..

While I school El Pres in the ways of Blood Bowl. He's recently acquired a Dark Elf team and as an old school Dwarf player, needs to re-adjust play styles, he found out.

Quite nice to see Dan actually playing a game at his club...

This one ended as a 1-1 draw after a single half (so we could play other games) and Dan realising the true power of Assassins and Witch Elves...

With the Bludgelord departing, Monkey sat with us and opened a copy of Torches and Pitchforks. This one is a ball of fun and plays very similar to Munchkin but with a few twists. The moors are especially exciting, more so when there's a Glob lurking...

Monkey won that one by beating a Giant Rat in the moors despite me besting the Glob. 

Once that was done, we cracked into some Exploding Kittens

This one needs no explanation....Meow, BOOM!!!!

Stu and his boys also kept true to the wargaming side of the club by getting in a quick game of Dragon Rampart.

He does kinda look like a disappointed math teacher, right?

And that was that. Fewer people, but more games and a heap of laughs, especially over on my table. Its definitely something worth repeating!


Now, a heads-up for y'all. It's likely that some of the dates for TCOW will change in October to allow for Rumble in the Jungle and FlamesCon, so watch this space for confirmed dates. And if you haven't entered either of these events, why the hell not?!!

Rumble in the Jungle, Mighty Ape's Bolt Action event!
FlamesCon 2016: Flames of War LW tournament.

So, until next club. Game On Toasters!

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!

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!

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!!!