Furnace 2016 (Furnace XI) - The Great Plague

Once again, the seasons turned and Furnace was upon us again. Of course, as the junior committee member, my main concerns were making sure that the badges were printed and the raffle tickets ready to use. There was a moment of panic with this when someone observed that the Facebook post that I had shared with the badges in had people who weren’t going to be there. Fortunately that turned out to be a simple failure to clear a few cells in Excel, so I didn’t have to spend a second evening preparing the badges again.

I’d taken the easy route this year for GMing, opting to run two games that I had rolled out earlier in the year at TravCon.

Day 0
I arrived at the Garrison around nine thirty in the evening to discover a murder mystery evening going on. At least, that’s what the signs said, as some of the costumes wouldn’t have been out of place in Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”. A quick pint at the bar, and some chat about Marillion, gaming and more. I managed to dodge the Brexit moans, but it was great to catch up face-to-face with people I usually play with on Google Hangouts. Shout out to the One Ring gamers, and the Esoterrorists!

Day 1
Graham, Elaine and I met when the breakfast opened, and were quickly back into the routines that we had in place. Graham and I got the rooms ready, while Elaine made sure that the Games sign up and signage was all in place. Main issue this year was in the Armoury, which was lacking in both chairs and light. Fortunately, this was quickly solved. We activated the reserve GM for Slot #1 as we knew that a few GMs were missing. Unfortunately this backfired a little, but we quickly adjusted.

Graham did the kick off speech (see the Facebook page for this if you want to), and we were off. The backfire was that the reserve GM pulling out of the game he was in led to that game not going ahead due to lack of players. It was at that point that we realised that - as well as a GM shortage due to the large - we also had a number of players missing. Main change was that we reduced the call up of reserve GMs after Slot 1 to make sure that we had filled games. We also deliberately didn’t get the ‘big bag o’games’ out of the car, as we felt it may discourage people joining in some of the games.

I don’t usually play in Slot 1, so I’m on hand for stragglers and/or issues. There weren’t any as such so I headed to Morrisons in the company of John O and Newt, and we caught up as we bought lunch and supplies.

Slot 2 came around soon enough, and I was running. This was Traveller, and I had been tempted by the new shiny of the second edition by Mongoose, so I quickly opted to use the bane/boon dice, which worked well. The new book is well laid out and easy to reference, and I used it throughout[1]. The scenario was set on a border world outside the Imperium, in the Vargr extents, and the characters were the two grandparents, and four kids (15, 13 3/4, 10, 10). A carnival run by Vargr came to town and event ensued. As of that game, Goober is now “Princess” in my mind, as that’s what Max (playing “Gramps”) called his 15 year old cheerleader throughout the game. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. It ended with a suitable set of explosions.

Slot 3 had me in my pre-sign of Matt N’s Delta Green. I was curious about which rules; turned out to be the 7th edition which flowed very smoothly. We played British PISCES agents, and the game had mild PVP and some nasty elements. I enjoyed this a lot. We ended up playing late, being urged out of the upper room by the Garrison’s supervisor. I had a quick chat in the bar, but went to bed soon after.

Day 3
Early breakfast again, and a bit of amusement; we went to book the Garrison for Furnace XII next year, and found it had already been booked and someone had put a room reservation in place. Now, Graham swears he hadn’t booked it, and we had gone down with three potential dates. By late afternoon the hotel was pretty much booked out!

Slot 4 saw me in Andy S's fun OpenQuest based “Guardians of Gloriana”. I was just getting into this when I got a call from home from Jill, my better half. She’d been called into work on an emergency, so I had to go home to look after the kids. I was gutted, but needs must. Handed over the raffle, apologised to my pre-booked players for Slot 5 and to Elaine and said my goodbyes. Furnace was over all too quickly for me.

Swag: Traveller Core Rules (Mongoose 2nd edition), Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu and The Cursed Chateau (LotFP).

Next Con: Dragonmeet.
Next Garrison Con: Revelation.

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[1]: Although it was only starship combat and the tables that I really needed.

First Impressions: Get Bit Deluxe

Get Bit was not a hit with us...

Picked up a copy of Get Bit just before we went on holiday, thinking that the kids would enjoy it [1]. We tried it out last night and it didn't go well. The game's premise is simple. You are all failed mutineers from a pirate ship who have been cast overboard and are swimming for your lives. There is a large and hungry shark in the water who will catch and bit one of you each turn. Once you have lost your limbs, then you are dead. Once you reach the last two people, the one at the back dies and the winner escapes.

The game mechanic is simple; players each have a set of cards numbered 1 to 7 (although less cards are used with lower numbers of players - in our case it was four players so cards 1 to 5 were in play).

The cards correspond to the colour of their swimmer. Every turn, each player plays a card. The lowest numbers move to the front, but tied cards don't move (effectively moving backwards).

The shark bites the rearmost player's pirate every turn after the first. The play pieces are nice; they're made from decent grade plastic and the characters have detachable limbs for when they get eaten.

The shark also looks great.

The rules are vague; they aren't clear what to do when some plays a card lower than a tied set. We ruled that the person with the card would move ahead on the basis that the tied players don't move.

They also aren't clear when you refresh your cards, gathering back those that have been played back in. It's clear you do it when you get bit, but you also refresh when your hand is down to two cards. That's hidden in the examples.

The boys played it, but much squabbling ensued (especially when the youngest decided to refresh his hand illicitly [2] much to the disapproval of my eldest). Jill didn't seem to enjoy it that much either. I think that this is going to get sold on, as it wasn't that much fun and didn't really engage with any of us.

28 August 2016

[1] It was on offer at Gameslore, as the tin was dented. It'd been a game I'd been tempted by several times, but never bought. 
[2] Although it has to be said that he didn't actually use this to his advantage, it just upset his brother.

Boardgame Bonanza

This weekend we caught up with some old friends from our Wirral days; Richard, Alli and their daughter Caitlin. We first met when I joined the Chester RPG club, and have stayed in contact ever since, even when we moved over the Pennines to Wetherby. Saturday was mainly spent catching up and chilling, but – while Jill was out stewarding at Church – we broke out the boardgames.

Colt Express
First up was Colt Express, a game of "schemin' and shootin'" set in the Wild West. It has gorgeous 3D cardboard models of a train that you and your fellow bandits are planning to rob. Your meeples can run across the roof or through the carriages, shooting, punching, looting whilst trying to dodge the Marshal and the other players at the same time. We played a five player game.

The first phase of the game involves planning your moves; you each place a card into the combined deck. In the most, the other players see your cards (unless they're played face down because you're in a tunnel), and can react to them if they anticipate what you want to do. This means that your best laid plans can degenerate to chaos as your schemin' comes into contact with the other players. The hand you build is made up from six cards you deal from your deck. Now, if you get shot, you have bullet cards added to the deck, and they're bad because you cannot do anything. If you have a four card turn, and you draw three bullet cards in your hand then you're going to potentially miss a move and be very limited!

The second phase is executing the moves, which is where the chaos happens! It's great fun; in the end, you win by having the most cash at the end of the game. This comes from four sources; gems and bags of cash you loot, the strong-box the Marshall is guarding, and being the best gunslinger (by firing off all your bullets). Nathan enjoyed the game, although it was a bit much for Aidan at the age of 4. We will be playing this again.


Lords of Waterdeep
I'd picked up Lords of Waterdeep during the Amazon Black Friday event last year on the advice of one of my colleagues at work who is also a gamer, but hadn't had a chance to play it. I had been contemplating selling it as part of the clear-out I have been doing to make space and get rid of games that are just gathering dust. Alli and Richard said that I had to play it, so the counters were popped, the board set up, and we set out to play.

Lords of Waterdeep is a worker placement game, where you each take to role of one of the shadowy leaders of the city. You gain victory points by completing quests, and a hidden bonus that is only revealed at the end by completing quests that are aligned to your Lord's agenda. In my case, I had to complete Arcana (magic) and Commerce quests; I was pretty open about this as it was my first game, but I can see how the hidden element could really add to the fun.

You complete quests by recruiting adventurers - represented by different coloured cubes - and then spending them (sometimes with gold) to gain victory points and - in the case of a plot quest - further advantages going forward. You recruit adventurers by placing your agents on certain buildings (and you can build more buildings) and also by playing intrigue cards (which can also screw other players up). You get an initial hand of quests, and can draw more by placing your agents in the appropriate building. First player is also decided through the game by who acquires a certain building.

In the end, I scored 171 points, just one point ahead of Alli and about 40 behind Richard. I really enjoyed myself and will definitely play this again!

Machi Koro, Take 4
Later in the afternoon, Nathan was pestering us to play Machi Koro repeatedly. So we did.

The game is very simple. You are mayor of a town and part of your manifesto commitment is to build four landmarks. These are a Radio Tower, a Shopping Mall, an Amusement Park and a Train Station. You build these by spending gold, and as you acquire them they give you bonuses.

You get gold through the property you own. You start with a wheatfield and a bakery. Property cards are split into four different colours; blue cards get you gold from the bank whenever anyone roles that number on the die/dice; green cards get you gold from the bank on your roll only; red cards get you money from the player who rolled they dice; and purple cards get you money off other players when they roll. Each card is marked with a number from 1 to 12 which corresponds to the dice roll needed for it to score.

You win the game by picking a tactic and building an engine to deliver. Once you have bought one of the landmarks (the train station), you can roll two dice rather than the single die you start with. This unlocks other cards (such as the furniture factory, which scores based on the number of forests and mines that you own).

Some reviewers - Pookie UK, for example - have said that the game is limited and a bit repetitive until you get the Harbor expansion. I think that this is probably true, but we haven't hit enough games to make that show yet just using the base game. I do own the expansion, and I guess that it will come out once we feel the need. Machi Koro remains a firm favourite with Nathan (8) despite his spectacular strategic plan disaster in this game, and it's in the pile of games to go on holiday.


16 August 2015

Jason Bourne

Bourne, again...

Last night I had the chance for a 'Dad's Night Out' with one of my friends, Tom. We decided to go and see the latest film in the Bourne franchise, Jason Bourne, on a late showing as that allowed us to get most of the parental things out of the way before we went out.

The Vue Cinema in York was pretty deserted when we arrived around half past nine; perhaps the first week of the holidays or the fact that it was the later half of the showings affected the numbers there, or maybe it's just not what the cool kids do anymore. Popcorn and drinks purchased, we settled down to watch the film.

The Bourne films have always had a visceral, direct and gritty feel. Yes, the action scenes are extreme, but they never quite pushed past the limits of credibility the way that Bond films used to, before The Bourne Identity forced a change upon them. Watching them back recently, in preparation for playing the Dracula Dossier at LongCon, they didn't seem to have dated significantly. The fourth film, The Bourne Legacy, although very much a re-tread of the first film, still manages to have an energy and attitude that sets it apart. Of course, Paul Greengrass' direction and cinematic style seen in the second, third and now fifth film, give a really unique near documentary feel.

Jason Bourne delivers what you'd expect and want from a film in this franchise. From the start, the action and plot grips you, pushing you forward with little chance to catch your breath. Bourne is contacted by an old ally from the first film, who has information that may help him to piece together his back story. When we first see him, he's a lost man, with no purpose, no drive; a man moving along a path of self-destruction; a man who has become visibly worn and aged from the experiences he's been through.

The story snakes through Athens with anti-austerity riots, to Berlin, London and then to the USA. The backdrop is a post-Snowdon, Wikileaks and Facebook world, and the underlying story is about privacy in the modern world. It's also a story about Bourne discovering his past, finding the reasons why certain events occurred that put him on the path he travels. The knowledge brings understanding, pain, but not resolution.

One thing that is noticeable is how little dialogue Matt Damon has to speak as Jason Bourne. His tale is more told through action, expression and the words of others. It's a clever use of exposition rather than narrative.

The action sequences include some of the most spectacular car chases that you'll ever see in Athens and Las Vegas; Bourne certainly isn't low profile in this and the likely body count would have been huge.

The story ends, as ever, satisfyingly and ambiguously, with Bourne’s parting shot a reminder never to underestimate him. There's definitely scope for another film, a story yet untold.

31 July 2016

The Condensed Dracula Dossier

One of the best gaming experiences I've had..

I went to my first Longcon this weekend, kindly organised by John Dodd and held at the Garrison Hotel, which is fast becoming the unofficial gaming capital of the UK (with Furnace, 7 Hills, Longcon and Shacon hosted there). I went to Longcon to defeat Dracula.

I’ve long been a fan of spy fiction (especially John le Carré and latterly I’m appreciating Charles Cumming’s work), I love films like the Bourne movies, and also a wide range of more cerebral espionage flicks like A Most Wanted Man, and I really enjoy vampires done right (for example Ultraviolet or Interview with the Vampire). This made me a natural for the Night’s Black Agent game that Steve proposed exploring the Dracula Dossier.

We started early, at the turn of the year, and between us came up with five individuals who would mesh together as somewhat challenged team; my character was a close-to-retirement SIS/MI6 spy, who had lost his way since the collapse of the Cold War. Alongside him was a former Romanian SRI assassin he’d recruited, played by Guy, a long serving MI6 digital intrusion expert mourning the death of his wife played by Nigel, an ambitious young Doctor working for MI5 (Paul), and a Special Branch pursuit driving infiltration specialist played by Julian. Steve took these characters and meshed their backgrounds into the plot, with Julian’s character being a distant female descendant of Quincy Morris and - likewise - Paul’s character Mark Seward being the descendent of the doctor from Enfield’s asylum.

We had a lot of highs and lows. Stand out moments for me were when I realised that the rest of the team were starting to take my character seriously as he tried to coordinate (he went from pretty much no trust to having the most); the utter terror we had when we visited the tomb (doh) of Lucy Westerna at night (doh) just to see if this vampire theory was right (doh) and found out that it was (doh) when she erupted from her tomb; the slow slide into self destruction that Nigel’s character went through as more and more was revealed; my character bringing Julian’s spy back from the edge when she revealed her treachery; seeing similar lines used by Guy for his hard edged but deeply hurt agent when he met his estranged wife back in Romania; the creeping realisation that we had been sanctioned by our own organisation; a moment of terror on a Bucharest bridge when Dracula killed our contact and we fled and hid in a church until dawn; the pain when Julian’s hard as nails character broke down at the orphanage she had been placed in when she was growing up and at the same time her realisation that Guy’s character had killed her mother, putting her there; and the final showdown where we successfully destroyed Dracula with a rocket launcher, a member of the team embracing damnation to atone and a variety of stakes and other weapons.

We played for around 12 hours the first day and at least another six the next. We used a whiteboard (on two sides, one for the official investigation into terrorism and one for the investigation into vampires), and a cork board with pictures showing the network of conspirators. We used the glass windows around the veranda to show key documents; reports, contacts, cover and key abilities. It felt like and operation room and we found ourselves playing by candlelight at the end of the first day’s play.

It was a fantastic experience, showing what a great GM and a committed group of players can achieve together with time, commitment and effort. This will be a long term gaming memory for me, a big high up there with my Irish Rover Beat to Quarters experience that Neil Gow was instrumental in delivering one Furnace some years ago!

12 July 2016

On the passing of David Bowie

It may be heresy, but David Bowie never figured greatly in my musical journey through my teenage years and beyond [1]. Sure, I recognised that he had written many songs that were a backdrop to my life - Space Oddity, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Let's Dance to name a few - but something never clicked. Perhaps it was the fact that pop and rock weren't really a strong part of my growing up (my father preferred classical music and my mother was more into Andy Williams, the Carpenters and so on), or perhaps it was part of the revulsion that I held for the 1970s.

I went through a New Romantic phase (Ultravox), then a rock phase (U2, Queen and Simple Minds) with an eclectic side mix (Lloyd Cole, The Cure) before settling into prog rock with Marillion and later Pink Floyd. Metal, Goth and Industrial happened in University, later moving into Trance. But somehow, no Bowie. I'm not sure why. Somehow I even missed the fact that groups like Simple Minds had a Bowie influence (their name) and others that I liked often covered him at concerts or on cover's albums (Fish, Mr h). Makes me feel slightly daft.

My biggest memory of discussing him came from an English lesson at secondary school when one of my class-mates - Louise - gave a five minute talk on 'David Jones', which gave me a background on him I never had. I think I dismissed him as a 70s star in my mind.

Having caught a lot of the media retrospectives over the last week I bought a few of his earlier albums. And, wow, I'm impressed. I think I missed something by just listening to the greatest hits. I think the continuity of style and approach in the albums has hooked me, whereas the collection jumps around in style too much. So now I need to explore his catalogue further. I think it'll be exciting.

26 Jan 2016

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[1]: A few years back, I realised that I was missing out here, so bought the greatest hits album, and was amazed how much good stuff was there. It wasn't an album that I listened to a lot, but I liked it.