The night that was TNG...

TNG being Thursday night gaming!

Well, it was a good turn out, many games were played, and more drinks were consumed. Everyone had a great time, and I hope to see them more at the next meeting!

A difficult question needing discussion...

The night kicked off with a group playing the great game LOGO. I heard lots of laughing and joking just from this group, and they played the game about 4 times I think. Just goes to show how a game so simple can be so social. Moving around the room we had a mahjong game going on, with a brand new player and a experienced player showing them the ropes. I did have to jump in and help the new player (even though I missed the most obvious move..oops!)

MageStones, a game that I highly rate and love, got a good airing, with two players having a good few games of it. A simple game like naughts and crosses with a twist, I can see this being a great hit with everyone.

Take that lowly monk!

Talisman was next, and although only two players, quite a few were involved, laughing at the undeafeatable monk, and a dragon slaying bard (!). That game ended messy, with a unanimous win for the monk, again. It seems like you draw him you win....

Around the room there was a game of Monopoly going on, with a improvised rule I overheard “its only cheating if you are caught”, which I like the sound of.

....But all in good jest

The point someone cheated....

And finally we had a game on Warhammer 40k 6^th 

Edition. I think the new rules shine much better than previous, and a testament that the players had almost no experience of the game, it went smooth with a somewhat predictable Space Marine win (best moment, a dreadnaught assaulting a 10 man group of Ork boys...)

All in all it was a great night. There was plenty of space left, so we want more people to come! Bring your own games, or come and see what we have there ourselves. There will be something for everyone, and I can nearly guarantee that there will be a game there that you will not have played, so come on down and let us show you what you are missing!

Thursday Night Gaming will be every on Thursday night at the Thimblemill Pub, Smethwick, from 730 pm till late. Entry is £2, and there will be at least 10 games supplied by Farlands Games every week, ranging from Scrabble all the way up to Warhammer 40000. Come on down and say hello, we welcome everyone and there will always be something to play!

Thursday Night Gaming, Tonight!

Well the time has come, games are packed ready, just got to move them to the venue.

Nerves are kicking in a little now, I just do not know what to expect tonight. Only time will tell. Full report tomorrow!

Learning the hard way...

So after nearly two weeks after my quitting my job to run Farlands Games full time, what have I learnt so far?

I have learnt that this lark is hard. Hard work, early mornings and late nights. And I am still only internet based. But hard work I have always found to be fun, I love the challenge that life in general can throw at you.

Learning not to trust people, but having to almost walk their path as well as your own. The debacle that was Thursday Night Gaming is a testament to this, and will not be making that mistake again in a hurry.

Getting supplies is a tricky one for me at the moment. As you know (or may not), I want to start supplying new board games to the masses. Getting my hands on these is another matter. Companies, for some reason I cannot understand, do not want to sell to you unless you are a “bricks and mortar”. I would have thought, that in this day and age, a sale was a sale, no matter where it went as long as you paid the price they were asking? Anyway, lets not dwell on that. I have a supplier, I just need to make that order.

Coupled to the above fact though, I have started coming up with my own game ideas, Farlands Originals if you will. I came up with one last night, and am surprised to see that no one on the internet has yet brought it to production. This game will be cool, you will all know how to play it, but it has a nice twist that makes it unique. But more on that later.

Most of all I have learnt that my new job is fun. I have never had a job that is fun, and I know this will have its moments, but I am having a real blast at the moment, and when it all comes together properly at the end of this month, (or the next..), I will be so glad that I left my old job and started Farlands Games properly.

Until the next post, peace and happy gaming

David Dunne

Logan Stones: Rock, paper, strategy

I played a new game today. It was easy to learn, light and abstract.

It was Logan Stones by Gem42. This really is a great little game. As mentioned above, its really easy to learn. If playing with new players, just tell them its a cross between Rock, paper, scissors and connect 4. With a dash of Othello. And that really is all to say about the rules.

In the box you get 18 quite luxurious double sided tokens, the Logan Stones, a nice fabric bag to keep them all in, and a well laid out rule sheet.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this game. You place a tile, and in the vein of rock, paper, scissors, if that stone beats it, you turn that one over. When you run out of tiles, you start re-arranging the tiles already down, until you get 4 in a row.

The strategy cones from remembering what is on the other side of the tiles that have been put down, and trying to combo the flips to get the elusive 4 in a row. Your first games will be won by just placing down the winning tile, but soon that will become old hat, and you will be trying to get the final blow dealt at the end of a combo. Which is always good.

Playability wise, with two people, after a few games it could get repetitive, but throw in some extra people, then I think this game would be a fantastic filler between bigger games, or even could be part of a league. It says 2 people on the box, but more than 2 could easily play with a bit of common sense applied.

Overall, this is a great game. It may be a little pricey, but what you get is quality, and quality comes at a price. These tokens will not be damaged by normal wear and tear, you would have to go a long way to do any damage to them at all.

Verdict: 7.5

This will be making it to Thursday Night Gaming, and if I can get my hands on any, will become the showcase game. If you would like this game, drop me a message over facebook.com/farlandsgames or visit our website www.farlandsgames.co.uk and message me. With enough interest, I will stock this game!

Painting a Ork Dakkajet

So I painted a Ork Dakkajet this weekend. I have wanted to paint one of these since GW released the model, so decided what the hell, lets do it. And was I glad that I did, this was a fun model to paint!

So from the beginning, here is how it comes out of the box:

Only three sprue’s, but these are packed with fun little bits of detail and items on them. All was cast well, no problems there.

Putting it together was a breeze, but watch those wing supports! I put them on upside down to begin with, which gave me a headscratch moment when I tried to connect the exhausts.

As I have found with most GW instructions for models, its best to use these as a example of how to put these models together, not the be all and end all. A little experimentation can yield some simple yet nice conversions straight out of the box.

It took about 45 minutes to put it together to this stage.

Note the pilot and weapons are not built at the moment, this allows for easier painting of the main aircraft.

I under-coated it with Tamiya Grey Primer, then put a base coat of Humbrol Crimson down over the top.

After that, I just had fun with this model. I used a variety of different techniques to get the battle damage in place, and played around for around 3 hours until I liked it. (One note, Humbrol crimson spray is a pain to paint over. It has a very gloss finish, and shows up every brush stroke on top of it. Lesson learnt, next test will be with a coat of matt varnish over the top before painting.)

Like I said, I had some real fun painting this, and it is going into the commissions folder to show people what I can do. For now, this is on ebay. Go and check it out if you want, maybe you might even want it, I don't know. More of these can be painted, so if you want a squadron painting, head over to facebook.com/farlandsgames and drop me a message!

The fiasco that was..

Thursday Night Gaming. After a month of Facebook updates, tweets, and general nuisance making in the community, the night came around.

Many many preparations were made, building boards for Warhammer, making sure I had enough games.

And then I went to set it all up. And the pub I was holding it in had shutdown. No phonecall, nothing. I was high and dry with a load of board games, people coming and nowhere to go.

We scrambled to find a alternative venue, but to no avail. Had to cancel before we had even begun.

But thats ok. Because we will be back, better than before, risen from the ashes like a phoenix. Next week in fact. Thursday 12^th July, Thursday Night Gaming!

Warhammer 40000 6th Edition – First Impression

I just received my copy of the new rulebook (I know, a bit late, but there were some supply issues) and have decided to share my initial response.

The book itself is gorgeous, big and heavy. The paper is thick, and the printing is impeccable. And this is only the normal version, I would love to get my hands on a collectors edition.

As with most of the GW rulebooks, the rules come first in the book, followed by 300+ pages of background, missions, hobby related items and reference tables. I have yet to read through the 130 pages of rules yet, but a few new rules such as mystery terrain and artifacts really stood out on a quick flick through.

There are a lot of pictures of beautiful boards and army’s in this book. I think maybe to many. I do believe there should be two versions you can buy, this version and an version with just the rules. Yes there will be a A5 rulebook in the new box set most likely, but the option to get it on its own would be nice, and most gamers would have both anyway.

Overall, I was very impressed with the presentation of this book. I cant comment on the rules, there will be another post soon dicussing them, and only time will tell if they stand up. If you have a spare £45 knocking around I would recommend getting this if not for just the pictures and story alone.

First impression presentation: 9.5