Hands-On Impressions: Lord of the Rings LCG: The Massing at Osgiliath

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to play the first print on demand scenario for The Lord of the Rings LCG at Gen Con 2011. The Massing At Osgiliath, sends the players through the ruins of Osgiliath, across the Anduin river, and through the Pelennor Fields towards the safety of Minas Tirith. Piece of Cake, right?

Well, let's just say they didn't really prepare anyone for what they were about to encounter. We arrived at our table and began to set up the scenario. We had decided not to bring our cards with us because the event info had said that no materials were necessary. Big mistake! It turns out that the scenario was built for constructed decks and we had little chance of success with the pre-cons. That begin said, we were still optimistic we could succeed in our endeavor.

The scenario begins with the heroes encountering a large horde of nasty creatures. In fact, since we were playing with all four players, our staging area was swarming with 12 monsters! It was at this point that we decided to ask the question, “What level scenario is this?” Turns out it was an 8.

Listen here for our full account of  

The Massacre, I mean, Massing at Osgiliath!

The New Stuff!

One of the coolest aspects of the Lord of the Rings LCG Scenario: The Massing at Osgiliath is the new objective entitled Ranger of Ithilien. When this card is flipped from the encounter deck, the first player takes control of the Ranger and he becomes an ally for your party committed to your quest. Likewise if you flip him as a shadow card, you also have an opportunity to add him to your team by exhausting a character. In addition, he deals 2 damage to the attacking enemy as he appears. It's nice to see a positive card amongst all the negative effects of this encounter deck. Previously, the best you could hope for was nothing, and in this scenario any extra allies you can gain, the better.

Gen Con Indy 2011: Cosplay Photo Diary Days 1&2

What a rewarding day at Gen Con! I wandered the hall (trying not to spend too much), played some awesome new games, and made sure to capture the best cosplayers at the show.  And now for your viewing pleasure....Cosplay at Gen Con!

Table Talk: Gen Con 2011: Oooh that's shiny!

Check out our audio coverage of Gen Con 2011.  In this Episode, Dan, Jeff, and I talk about the latest and greatest from publishers like Fantasy Flight Games, Wizards of the Coast, Wyrd Miniatures, Wizkids, and more.  Check out all the shiny new games coming soon to a FLGS near you!

Table Talk: Gen Con 2011: Oooh Shiny!

Role-play: Through the eyes of the child

Why do educators love games?

Games provide authentic experiences that reinforce learning. 

Oh, and they are a heck of a lot of FUN!

Meet Holly Booth, a Girl Guide from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and a gamer. I first met Holly at the Lesson Plans and Ideas seminar during Gen Con's Trade Day. Trade Day is a day set aside for retailers and educators to get together to share their experiences with games and to learn new and exciting ways of using them. After the first few minutes talking with Holly it became crystal clear that she had a passion for teaching kids to play games. Her most recent experience was with her brownie troop running, of all things, a D&D campaign. While the others played hide-and-seek, they were playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Camp is all about getting creative and learning new skills. Heroes of Hesoid, a D&D adventure for kids 6 years and older, was a new form of creativity. From the start, the kids were hooked and she found herself amazed at the results. “The quiet ones always picked the rogues.” she explained with a wide smile. She was astonished at how the girls seemed to blossom and take charge of their roles. “I was thinking to myself, you haven't said a word all week, but you just fried that entire hoard of pixies!” In fact, Ella, a very shy 7 year old in the group, got so into her role that she proclaimed “Can I do my sneak attack now?” 

It is plain to see that games allow us to break out of our shells and experience the world in new and wonderful ways. Role-playing, in particular, give us the opportunity to step into someone else's shoes and try things we might not normally attempt. Cooperation, leadership skills, creative thinking, and problem-solving are just a few of the wonderful skills kids can gain through role-play. Make believe is a natural part of childhood, and dungeons and dragons as well as other role-playing experiences are the perfect vehicle to foster that type of play.

Yarr Con 2011

Our Awesome Travel Game Closet Filled to the Brim!

Group Camp Site - Check
Screen Tents with Picnic Tables - Check
Awesome New Travel Game Closet - Check
Games to fill said closet - Check
Friends to play games with - Check
9 Days in the woods playing games - Double Check!

July 12th marked our 8th annual Yarr Camping Trip and another great gamer gathering in the woods. Here's a break down of this year's gaming fun.

After the initial set up on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, it was time to get down to the good part - Playing Games!!

We kicked off the trip with our first ever play of Survive! Escape from Atlantis.  I had been looking forward to playing this since we interviewed Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games at the Alliance Open House last fall.  It did not disappoint!  In fact, it quickly became one of our favorites of the week and has now found a permanent place in our home game closet.

Glen arrived at the conclusion of Survive, so Dan, Jule Ann, and Valerie joined him in a few games of Eleminis.  I went to go get us some snacks.  Who knew an almost 3 year old would be so good at Eleminis!  Valerie loved the game so much that she asked to play multiple times during the rest of the trip.  I sense a birthday present for a lucky little girl!

Next, we climbed aboard our pirate ships and gathered doubloons, all the while racing to be the first ship around the island of Jamaica.  The winds were not in my favor as I came in third.

After our excursion we decided to go a little old-school and took a trip back to our humble gaming beginnings with the 10th anniversary edition of Carcassonne.  Those fields are still tricky, tricky, tricky.  Jule Ann beat us all easily with a whopping score of 101!  I was in a distant second with a score in the mere 70's.

At this point, we were feeling pretty good about our gaming success, especially us mommies.  With a ratio of 4 adults to 3 kids, we were getting steady game time in.  Some of us didn't even think we would be able to all sit and play a game until more adults arrived to lend a hand.  We broke for dinner and bedtime for the kiddos before our final game of the evening: Star Trek Expeditions. For some reason cooperative games just did not seem to be our forte this trip.  We did succeed in beating our mission on medium, but discovered we had forgotten a crucial rule by re-shuffling the energize cards when the pile was depleted.  For this reason, I do not think we should count it as a victory.

And thus began our mission to play as many games as possible.  Some of us had the luxury of being there the entire time, while others only managed half that time.  In any case, it was another successful Yarr Con and the following is a break-down of everyone's plays.

We played a total of 28 unique games, with a total of 72 plays all together.  Glen was the winner of the most games played.  He had an impressive grand total of 51 out of 72!  Tim came in a close second with 42.  Dan played 33.  Jule Ann and I both had a respectable 20 games each and agreed that we managed more than we expected.  Perhaps it was partially our use of Jule Ann's Crappy Housewives Tips that allowed us to gain more freedom, or the fact that the weather and our children cooperated with us this year.  In any case, our kids decided to nap at reasonably close times and for decent stretches of time making it far more feasible for us to get some games in uninterrupted.

Here are the rest of the groups recorded plays:

• Ali (15)
• Jeremy (10)
• Phil (7)
• Rachel (5)
• Valerie (5 - all Eleminis)
• Eppy (2)
• Emily (2)
• Mary Alice (1)

Other notable highlights from the weekend included:

Our terrible run of coop games:

• Star Trek Expeditions - Loss on Easy due to destruction by Klingon Battlecruiser.
• Witch of Salem - Really does anyone ever win this one???
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Buffy was turned and all hope was lost!
• Lord of the Rings LCG: Journey down the Anduin - Man you really need Gimli for that Scenario!  Big Trolls = FAIL!

Dan, Tim, and Glen's epic day of Star Wars Dueling! Seems the dark side was the winner in most matches.

A surprise visit from local friends (Eppy and Emily) on our last night.

And Glen and I managed a perfect tie in our first game of Nightfall: Martial Law!

In the end, the games that won our hearts and time this year were Star Wars - Epic Duels (with 15 plays), Quarriors (8 plays), Eleminis (6 recorded plays), and Survive! (4 plays with one or two other games started and not completed).  It was a load of fun and I can't wait till next year!

A Geek Film for True Geeks: Knights of Badassdom

What do you get when you combine Summer Glau (Firefly/Serenity), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Danny Pudi (Community), and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) with LARPing?  The best freaking geek movie ever! Knights of Badassdom, as if the name isn't cool enough, is a comedy, horror, fantasy adventure all rolled into one.  This star-studded cast made waves at Comic Con and you can be sure this movie will continue to gain momentum. 




The following is the description from the Knights of Badassdom panel and Q&A at Comic Con:
[In this humorous fantasy adventure from IndieVest Pictures, Joe (Ryan Kwanten) is a heavy metal rocker who's just gone through a painful breakup with his girlfriend, Beth (Margarita Levieva). His concerned roommates (Steve Zahn, Peter Dinklage) kidnap him to their LARP (Live Action Role Playing) gathering, where he enters a realm of fantasy escapism in which pretend knights, elves, and barbarians clash with foam weaponry on a mock battlefield. When Joe's "sorcerer" roommate (Zahn) inadvertently summons a deadly succubus that takes Beth's seductive form, bloody reality crashes down on their fantasy world. Once LARPers start to turn up dead, the make-believe wizards and warriors must become the real-life heroes they have been pretending to be in order to conquer the evil that has been unleashed. The panel will include a Comic-Con exclusive trailer and a discussion/Q&A with stars Ryan Kwanten (HBO's True Blood, Red Hill), Peter Dinklage (HBO's Game of Thrones, Station Agent), Steve Zahn, pending availability (HBO's Tremé, Saving Silverman), Summer Glau (Firefly, Serenity, The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Danny Pudi (NBC's Community), Jimmi Simpson, pending availability (A&E's Breakout Kings, Date Night), Margarita Levieva (The Lincoln Lawyer, Adventureland). and director Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2). Knights of Badassdom will be released in Spring 2012.]

Unfortunately the film won’t be released until spring 2012. So, in the mean time, check out their Facebook page to keep up to date.

Geeky Destination Files - Geeked-out Camping

Summer is here and it's time to think about enjoying that sun before it hides its head again.  All too soon we will be forced to spout those famous Stark family words, "Winter is Coming!"  This year, why not take a vacation that speaks to your geekier side.  Here is a look into one of my favorite summer destinations and why it is a great choice for gamers.

I love camping.  Not the "pull in the camper and hook up the cable" type camping, but REAL camping.  I'm talking tent on the ground and secluded from the world camping.  There is just something about living outdoors that gives me peace.  There are no cell phones, no emails, no computer, no electricity to plug into; It is the perfect un-plugged destination and a great way to de-stress.

For the past 8 years, camping has been a family tradition.  Over those years, we have tested several different venues, and recently fallen in love with the Berkshires.  It's secluded, it's quiet, and it accommodates our ever-growing group.  Oh, did I neglect to mention we travel in a large pack.  What started as a gathering of only a few close college friends, has grown into our own personal family gaming extravaganza!

Let me explain.

Yes, this is DUNE the Board Game!

One of the main reasons we started getting together was to Play Games!  It goes something like this...We arrive, set up camp (including our "House" made of screen tents), eat dinner, put the kids to bed, and begin to game.  For the next 9 days, gaming is a way of life.  We take turns watching the kids, and everyone has the chance to play.  We even keep track of our plays and record them for posterity.  It's amazing how many games you can play when you have no other cares in the world.  It's like our own mini unplugged gaming con! 

Here are some other fabulous reasons why you might choose camping as your next family vacation:

1) It's Cheap! - Our stay costs a whopping $2 a person per night and food comes in at about $4 per meal. Where else can you sleep and eat that cheap?

2) Your Children Sleep Well - In my experience, there is something about nature that helps kids sleep better.  My son has never slept so well in his life!  He goes to bed when the sun goes down and wakes up when the sun comes up. Nuff said.

3) You can sleep with a Tauntaun, play with Sonic Screwdrivers, and have Jedi Lightsaber Battles in the middle of the night.

I rest my case....