Village Games' Blog - Games Workshop

NECROMUNDA Part Deux

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:58:23 -0600

BACK IN THE UNDERHIVE

Last week the Necromunda League kicked-off at the shop. The League runs every other Thursday through the rest of the summer. At the end, the League Aministrator (Chris L.) has plans for a really big finale as well.

Some of the Tables Being Used

Anyways, for the first night there were 9 players, with each playing their confirmed league game and then typically getting in two or three more “fun” games after that.

Everybody seemed to have a great time, with the possible exception of Jeff P. He had the worst dice of the night, by far and away, which resulted in his gang losing ground (experience, money, etc.). He does seem to have regrouped since then (at least once we talked him down off of the roof J) and is ready for the next League night.

Check Out the Great Terrain

Look At All of the Gear They Have To Carry...

With the energy and passion for the game evident that night, it appears that the League should yields some entertaining battles and storyline. I can hardly wait.

Never a Good Spot to be Caught in a Firefight

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Fighting in the Underhive

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:02:17 -0600

NECROMUNDA ON THE HORIZON

Several of the regulars have been busy recruiting for a Necromunda league they are going to run this summer at the shop. Necromunda is a skirmish game from Games Workshop set in the 40K universe. The premise is rival gangs fighting in a ruin industrial city (the “Underhive”), on a world abandon by the Imperium. The gangs are fighting for every resource they can just to survive. After each fight, the players can add to their gang member’s skills, equipment and so on in preparation for the next battle.

Two of their tables side-by-side.

And when I say they have been recruiting, they have definitely been recruiting. They have taught four or five new players how to play who, all of whom are planning on joining the league. Because of the simplicity of the rules, and the fact that everybody loves a campaign game, it should be fun just watching them play.

A little blurry, but a shot of one of the gangs in action.

They are still willing to add players, so if you are interested stop by the shop and see if you can get in on a demo game (who are we kidding, these guys would teach a dead guy if they thought he wanted to join the league). Anyways, stop by on a Thursday night and get involved with a very entertaining, and highly addictive, game!

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Another Mega Battle for the Lucky 13's...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:04:00 -0600

RUMBLE IN THE DESERT

The 40K crowd participated in another mega-battle a couple of weeks ago related to the Lucky 13’s Campaign that GW is hosting this year. This time the battle was fought over the rocky spires of a vast desert expanse.

Custom Made Terrain for the Event by Ryan F.

As always with these Apocalypse events, there were lots of models on the table – with a fair amount painted to quite a high standard. There were about ten players for this game, which did cause it to bog down slightly, but in the end everyone seemed to have a good time.

For the next battle though, the organizers came up with some ways to improve things to assure a faster moving and more exciting game. It should be interesting to see the forces for the next one, given that everyone seems to be coming to each battle with more and more stuff painted really nice.

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Football Fantasy Style

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:32:52 -0600

BLOODBOWL BREWING

A few of the regulars have been kicking around the idea of running a Bloodbowl (the old GW game) League at the store. Several guys already have teams – that are painted quite nicely – which they break out periodically to get in a few games.

I took a couple of pictures the last time they were playing, and I promised that I would mention it in the blog. So if you are interested in joining in the league, go to the Forums and check out the posts. I would also suggest posting your interest to give them an idea of how many people might be interested.

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

40K - GOOD FOR THE EYES

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:44:00 -0600

GOOD LOOKING 40K

Pretty much every Thursday now, there are Warhammer 40K games being played at the shop. With the regularity of play, we are starting to see more and more of the armies getting painted and finished up. Recently there were a couple of real big multi-player games played at the shop – one on a ruined urban table, the other on a rocky green wasteland.

As you can see the quality and creativity of the players in finishing their armies is really getting good. And now with some of the players being inspired to start new armies, I can’t wait to see what hits the table next!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

'Ard Boyz Qualifier Tournament

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:13:00 -0600

‘ARD BOYZ TOURNAMENT 08 – PART I

Recently, Games Workshop sponsored a Warhammer Fantasy tournament as part of their ‘Ard Boyz Tournament circuit. We were one of the shops that hosted a tournament.

We had eight players who played three rounds apiece, three hours per round. By the end of the day all of the players were exhausted! All had a good time though, and asked if we would be hosting another of these in the future.

Skaven

Unfortunately I took a lot of pictures of the tourney and the armies being used, but almost none of them turned out. The only one that even remotely turned out I posted here.

The winners were Kevin Bruins, John Grover and Ric Davis. Everybody walked away with at least a blister though, so I think everybody sort of considered themselves a winner in the end (fun time + prizes).

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

Here Cometh the Rogue Trader

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:48:00 -0600

40K ROUGUE TRADER STYLE

We recently held our first 40K Rogue Trader Tournament of the year, which turned out to be a really fun affair. We had eight players, most all of which had real nicely painted armies. The crowd was predominately made up of our regulars who were salivating at the opportunity to test-drive their new/improved armies. I took a lot of pictures of the tourney, so I am only going to post the first batch here today and the rest will follow shortly.

In all everyone had a great time and there were plenty of prizes (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, Best General, Best Sportsman and Best Painting/Construction). In the end though, everybody went home with something (the consolation prizes being a copies of White Dwarf).

Congratulations to: Trent N. for being the overall winner and Best Sportsman, Ben for 2^nd place and Best Painting, David G. for 3^rd place, and John M. for Best General. The next 40K Rogue Trader will be in the early autumn – before then will be a Warhammer Fantasy Tournament in the summer.

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

A Labor of Love

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:50:00 -0600

Just some shots from a few of the recent 40K games played at the shop. Everybody has been working hard to get their armies painted and tactics perfected so they can compete in the various Village Games' Rogue Trader Tournaments.

We wish the best to everybody in the tournaments when they work this hard. And when they are working this hard, and having as much fun as they are, it sure makes us feel like our efforts as a store are worthwhile. We really do like to encourage all aspects of the hobby – sportsmanship, painting & modeling and generalship (and not just for the GW games, this holds true for all of the games we carry!).

(Just to clarify, some of the shots are from Apocalypse games and some are from regular 40K battles – they have been playing a lot of both lately).

Until next time….

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Apocalypse Now (or rather "Then...")

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:25:00 -0600

THE LUCKY 13’S ONCE AGAIN GET THE SHORT END

Last weekend was another of the Games Workshop Apocalypse Mega-Battles for the Lucky 13’s year-long campaign. The store had set up a 12’ x 5’ table per the scenario specifications for the event, and we were looking forward to hopefully a few players showing up.

I got to hand it to Trent and the other hardcore 40K guys, instead of a turn out of 4-5 players, they had 10!!! That was one more than the last Mega-Battle. And I would have to say the vast majority of the armies were now painted. Those guys (Trent, Alan, Josh, Herb, Bob, Ryan and others) have really jump started the 40K playing in the shop.

Everybody really seemed to enjoy the battle, although I am not sure who won. Ryan did take notes though, and will once again post a heroic summary of the conflict much as he did after the last battle. Keep an eye to our Forums for that one.

Also, besides their regular Thursday night games, these guys are now talking about a once-a-month Friday night Apocalypse League (which will also count towards the Lucky 13’s stickers). I guess fresh, new 40K terrain will once again have to move up the priority ladder for the store to make. That’s a good thing though, as well like having great terrain that people are using!

Until next time….

Happy Gaming!

Dan

The Monster Rolls On...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:15:23 -0700

WARHAMMER GAINING MOMENTUM

Not a long entry here today, but I wanted to recognize the efforts of some of our regulars to grow the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K crowd, and increase the coolness factor of the events.

WARHAMMER 40K

Trent, along with Alan, Robb and a few others, have really being working hard to organize weekly games for 40K and Apocalypse 40K on Thursday nights, build the excitement for army construction and just get everybody fired up about 40K. Trent has even gone so far as to completely paint his Necron army for the upcoming 40K tournament (see the Forums for more information on the tournament) – no mean feat for a man who really doesn’t enjoy the painting part of the hobby!

Trent's Necrons

With Robb’s multitude of well painted armies (ask to see his Tyranids if you see him; you won’t regret it) and Alan’s unwavering enthusiasm, despite playing the hapless Orks, is very contagious indeed.

Josh's Space Marines

WARHAMMER FANTASY

The fantasy crowd has actually been going fairly strong for a while, but now really seems to be coming into their own. John G, Gabriel, Robb, Matt P., Mark and a bunch of others play on a regular basis every Wednesday at the shop. Slowly but surely they have also been adding numbers to their ranks (pardon the pun J). It seems like every week another player shows up to join in their games.

The proliferation of armies has been occurring as well; several of the guys have at least one army, and several are working on a second or third. Many of the army’s are looking really good - a few of the guys are even doing some heavy conversions as part of their forces.

Anyways, it is a very exciting time for all of the Warhammer and 40K players with even more to come (tournaments, expansion of the racks to hold more product, etc.). I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

The Apocalypse Comes Again

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:14:06 -0700

LUCK 13’s: THE BEGININGS…

Recently we kicked off the Games Workshop 40K year-long “Lucky 13’s” storyline campaign at the shop. The campaign will be a series of events that range from painting days and fiction writing contests to good old fashion slugfests.

We weren’t really intending to run the campaign at the shop, mistakenly thinking there may not be much interest in it. However, the hue and cry from our regulars forced us to rethink our decision and run the campaign. And from the turnout for the first event (nine players for an Apocalypse mega-battle) it seems like it was a good idea; Things are definitely off to a rousing start!

The battle lasted the better part of a Saturday, and appeared to have a real ebb and flow to it. There were moments of heroic proportions, and moments of horrendous luck (one Necron player’s Monolith deep struck off the edge of the table on turn one); In all though, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. J

In fact, they enjoyed themselves so much one of the players wrote a fictional summary of the battle and posted it in our Forums:

(http://villagegames.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=901)

The next event is scheduled in a couple of weeks, and the next big battle is slated for March. I can’t wait to see what happens in that one.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

Village Faire - Games Workshop Jan '08

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:08:00 -0700

OUR FIRST WARHAMMER FANTASY TOURNAMENT

Last weekend we held our latest Village Faire which was again dedicated to all things Games Workshop. We had demo games, a painting clinic by our resident pro-painter and, of course, a tournament. This time though, instead of our usual 40K tournament we held our very first Warhammer Fantasy tournament!

One of the two rooms used for the tourney...

Everybody who played in the tournament said they had a great time; there were some very nice armies on the table (including an outstanding Wood Elves army and Skaven army, which you see in many of the pictures) and a lot of excellent sportsmanship. Scoring for the tournament was three equal parts: Generalship, Painting & Modeling and Sportsmanship.

Wood Elves & Skaven clash...

The top winner was Ric Davis with his Skavens, second was Marv Sims with High Elves (Marv also won best General) and third place went to Mike Geppert with the gorgeous Wood Elf army (he also won best Painting & Modeling). While he didn’t place in the top three, John Miller made a great showing and snagged the best Sportsman award.

More Wood Elves and Skaven...

Prizes included our usual: top prize received a Battalion of the winner’s choice, second and third got a Fantasy giant and a regiment box (respectively), and blisters for each of the Best General, Sportsman and Painting/Modeling. Everyone got something though, so the rest of the tournament players scored a copy of the White Dwarf of their choice.

Skaven and Dark Elves in the snow and ice (note the dice on end to the right...)

In addition to the tournament players, there were lots of folks watching the tournament, browsing the shop and participating in the painting seminar. A couple of the players even had their own cheering sections! J

Dark Elf casualties... Nice looking casualties, nonetheless...

Yours truly was running the tournament most of the time, but I also was showcasing of our terrain making techniques with some different terrain projects (winter 25/28mm trees and hedges, 6mm spruce forests as well as templates for all of them).

More Dark Elves and Skaven in the snow...

All-in-all it was a really great day. I am looking forward to our future Village Faires – in February we will host “Village Faire – Rackham” where we will have demos of Rackham’s games (AT-43 and Confrontation), an AT-43 tournament as well as other events. The next “Village Faire – Games Workshop” will be in March with a 40K tournament and possibly a painting contest too!

Well, until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

Santa's Apocalypse

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:00:00 -0700

CHAOS COMES TO THE NORTH POLE

Right before the holidays, a group of guys ran a special “holiday” 40K Apocalypse game at the store – Battle for Santa’s Workshop.

The premise was that the forces of Chaos, in an attempt to demoralize the galaxy, make a direct assault on Santa’s home & workshop at the North Pole. The store set up the tables and basic winter terrain, while the players brought up an entire Christmas Village!

We got a couple of shots of the game for the record – although some of the models were not fully painted, so the scene was not as “complete” as it could have been. It still was quite a sight to behold though.

I love these themed type games; I wish more people would schedule them. It is always fun to see what creative twists people can put on their favorite games.

In the end, I believe the forces of Good did prevail – at least I think they did as Santa visited my house a couple of days later and left non-chaos themed presents for me and mine J.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

The Apocalypse Keeps Gaining Momentum

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:28:00 -0700

There was another couple of 40K Apocalypse games at the shop recently. The guys looked like they were having a good time so I thought I would include a picture of their game. Unfortunately, a sizeable chunk of their armies were not yet fully painted so things don't look quite as cool as they could have been.

More and more people are scheduling Apocalypse Games at the shop, so much so that we are planning to eventually build some terrain table specially designed to be pushed together to make huge Apocalypse sized tables. With the Planetstrike Codex coming out in a few months, the possibilities for different Apocalypse games seems almost endless for the forseeable future!

Until next time...

Cheers!

Dan

'Ard Boyz Qualifier Tournament

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:19:10 -0600

SEPTEMBER 22, 2007

We recently hosted a qualifier tournament for Games Workshop as part of their 'Ard Boyz Annual Tournament. It was an all day event, 2500 points per player, with 2 1/2 hour rounds & 3 rounds total. Although it was a grueling day for most of the participants, everyone had a great time!

The Battles Rage

There were some really nice armies on the table, even though the tournament was based solely on "battle points", and the players were all very cordial with each other. The fights were pretty tough, and often came down to the final turn.

Crossing the Open Fields

In the end, our tournament winner was Marv S. and his Dark Angels army. Second place went to Justin D. and his Tyranids and third place to Luke T. and his Tau force. All three came back for the Regional Finals at the store (more on that in a later post).

Fighting in the Streets of A Ruined City

A big thanks to everybody who participated in the tournament and made it a great day!

Fighting Through the Jungles

Until next time...

Dan