How to include your partner in the hobby

By: Antonius

Lately I have been trying to find a way to get my wife involved in tabletop games.

Some of you may stop and say, "why?" Well it is simple really, this is a hobby I really enjoy and want to share that enjoyment and experience with my wife as a chance for us to do something together that would be interactive.

In truth, it wasn't an overly difficult sale to make to her really. I simply had to approach it in a sensible manner.

First off, simply saying to her "Hey, I want you to play miniature wargames with me!" would not have worked. I had to find a system she could relate to that was not completely encumbered by layers of rules. Play a game with a straightforward set of rules throughout all different scenarios of gameplay.

I looked at her interests, which are not all that dissimilar from my own, and determined that a fantasy setting was perfect. I had a giant inroad with Games Workshop and their Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. With the system determined, the next decision had to be made, what factions do we play?

Picking a faction for any wargame system is just as important as picking the system itself. After she agreed to play, I let her pick the faction she was going to play, completely without knowing what I would play and without my influence at all.

Factions are a personal matter. We are drawn to factions based off the miniatures within the range, the meta, any synergies we can create by combining units, or simply based off budget, and what is available at our price range. Subsequently, my wife chose to play Elves while I chose the armies of Gondor. She initially picked them based off Legolas, but after doing some reading she discovered they had a lot that really spoke to her playstyle. They were fast, had decent defenses and were versatile.

Once we picked factions, the final step in getting my wife introduced to miniature wargames was setting a cap on points. We decided to stick to something mid range in order to never be stuck playing the same units over and over again, while still allowing us to field some that were aesthetically pleasing or had rules we wanted to try out against the other person.

While we are still collecting and have yet to play a full game (her range of minis are harder to come by it seems...) this has opened a new avenue for conversation with us. We sit and discuss how the game plays, talk colour schemes and if we would expand into other systems in the future. It is wonderful to share the passion I have for tabletop games with a community, but even more rewarding to share it with my wife too.

Until next time everyone, always remember to have fun at the tables!

First Look - Dark Souls the Boardgame

Dark Souls the board game by Steamforged Games

This is a heavy and nice looking box

Dozer finally got his Kickstarter backer reward of the Dark Souls board game and asked Wolf and Burns to help him out in playing it and giving some feedback. Wolf is the 'Souls' series expert having played each of the three Dark Souls, Demon Souls, and the spiritual sibling Bloodborne.

Introduction: Wolf

Name - 
Shane, aka Wolf

Where are you - 
Ottawa, Ontario

Who are you -
I'm probably going to die at the gaming table - real life or otherwise.

What are you playing on the table - 
I'm running a campaign of Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition, while also playing in a two campaigns: one Star Wars RPG Saga Edition, and the other Shadowrun 5th Edition. I also play Magic the Gathering and when not at the table a lot of video games. I really enjoy introducing and teaching players new games and role-playing games.

Play Style - 
"Rogues do it from behind" is my go to, but I'm otherwise a fluid gamer who likes to fill in the gaps within the party.

Top irk at the table - 
When a player can't put down their cell phone when we're at the table.

Current Gamer Projects - 
I'm building two whole worlds for my RPG groups: Re-writing my own custom timeline for Legend of the Five Rings, and whole new world to be played with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

Last word -
"Don't worry I have a plan..."

Once and Future Infinity Events

By Dozer

In just over a week I'll be running my third Infinity event on 27 May. The last two were small intimate events with my mates, some of whom are contributors to Canadian Tabletop Gamer.

The first was called F**k the Plan. A friend of mine was posted to a ship on the west coast and he known for making up plans in the middle of a board game or RPG session that had a tendency to fail. The departing friend would pipe up in the middle of the chaos "What about the plan?" and the reply from one of us at the table would always be "F**k the plan!"

In order to send him off well, I picked up a ITS 2016 pack from Fandom 2. We had six of us play 3 rounds in my basement which was setup with three 4'x4' tables loaded with terrain. Doc won the event with a flurry of combat and shouting. We had drinks and snacks and it was for some their first Infinity event.

My second organized event was called the Svalarheima Infinity Challenge and it was run outside in the middle of the coldest month in Ottawa, February. We lost a few players to sickness due to the worst flu season in years so it only ended up being myself and three other players. Fogotten showing up between rounds of acting as a nurse for Molotov and a mate of mine ran the BBQ while the rest of us played. Due to the challenge of the cold we decided on the shorter game rounds provided by the RECON format.

It was so much fun. We loaded up the BBQ with meat, the snowbanks with beer and other drinks. There were a few delays, the weather was 25 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, and an irritable raccoon TO'ed our event. He seriously dropped snow down the host's shirt and threw tree berries from above the tables when players starter to argue. It ended early with a tie between myself and the host.

The event I'm planning for next week is going to be more than a few mates in a basement or backyard. It will be with folks from multiple metas across the city of Ottawa. It will be hosted at a LGS (Local Game Store). I'm going to be collecting money from players to re-coup the cost of the prizes and swag. We're looking at a whole nine plus players and I won't be one of them.

I may still be using last years ITS prize pack but each player will walk away with plenty of stuff they will need as they play Infinity and each player will have a prize for coming out. It should be a good event allowing folks to come out and play the game, meet new faces, and introduce the event experience that Infinity is know for.

I do have a few events planned in the future; a 300 pts ITS event in mid-September, a narrative escalation event around the holiday season, and another Svalarheima challenge.

Keep coming back for more information as we here at CTG start to host more events, Infinity and otherwise.

- Cheers

Dozer

Introduction: Doc

Name - 
David aka, "Doc"

Where are you - 
Lost in the Capital of Canada aka Ottawa, Ontario

Who are you -
I am a lazy gamer. I am an even lazier Artist.

What are you playing on the table - 
I currently play Aleph in Infinity. I have Retribution of Scyrah as well as Menoth for Warmachine.

I have a small collection of  Warhammer 40000 Orks collecting dust, and hidden somewhere I think I have Chaos Space Marines.

Play Style - 
I have a six step play style.

Step 1: Formulate Plan
Step 2: Design Army around Plan
Step 3: Arrive at game and set up
Step 4: Forget the Plan
Step 5: Improvise
Step 6: Observe results

Top irk at the table - 
Being abused by my dice.

Current Gamer Projects - 
I am participating in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and slowly painting my ever growing horde of miniatures.

Last word - 
"Good luck, Don't Die"

Gaming with My Kids

By Charging Pun

One of the things that I am excited about, as a parent, is sharing things I love with my kids. Of course not all things can be shared right away. There are many limiting factors, language, comprehension, skills. They are even different for each of my three kids.

A brief introduction: Lady J and I have three kids. Sassy is 8, Spiderman is 6, and Buddy is (almost) 4.

On a recent Saturday, Sassy asked me to play a game of Monopoly with her. She has shown an interest in playing many different games including card games (Go Fish, Crazy Eights, 31), board games (checkers, chess), and video games (Minecraft, Lego: Marvel). We set up and started to play. It was not long before Spiderman was asking to play, so I let her take over for me. This led to Sassy strong-arming her way through the game. She was intent on winning, but Spiderman was playing for a different purpose. This got me thinking. Maybe we could play a game together, with different rules for the same game.

The following Friday night as I was tucking them in to bed, Sassy asked if we could play Monopoly the next day. I was ready. I told her that I had been thinking about the game from the previous week and I had some ideas to improve the experience.

After breakfast the next morning, we sat down to set up the board for the game. Instead of 2 stacks of cash, I put aside 4 (one for each of us and 1 for each of Spiderman and Buddy). This would allow for drop-in/drop-out players without interrupting the game between Sassy and myself. Drawn by our focused attention, Spiderman and Buddy both came up and asked to play. They were each given a stack of cash and their choice of tokens.

For Buddy, this was very exciting, so he took 2 game tokens: the Hat and the Battleship. Also, he refused to put them on the board. I can work with that. On his turns, I told him to put his pieces on the board, then roll the dice. This was an acceptable exchange for him. After rolling and moving he would pick up his pieces again, to wait for his next turn. Sometimes he would assign 1 die to each token (moving the Hat 5 and the Ship 3 for example). I had to reassure Sassy that this extra random element would not negatively affect the rest of the game. There are many things a young boy can be doing on a Saturday mornning, so he didn't play long.

For her part, Spiderman was only partially interested in the game. She was on board with rolling the dice, and counting her move, and would purchace property if encouraged to do so, but not much beyond that. There wasn't enough running around or standing on your head to keep her attention.

Eventually, as predicted, the 2 youngest got bored and went on to other activities. Leaving Sassy and I to play out the game. But then, Lady J decided to join (taking on one of the unused stacks of cash and starting a bit behind in the property acquisition phase of the game). At one point Spiderman came back, and played under the wing of Lady J (but maintaining her own cash and properties).

Sassy was able to participate in all the game's many facets from counting money, to trading, to basic strategies. This wasn't her first time playing a board game, or even Monopoly. She was introduced gradually, like her siblings were that day. One day they will all be able to play more complicated games.

One other thing that happened later in the game, was that Lady J and Spiderman started running out of cash. At that point (at a suggestion from Lady J), the bank started paying whatever they couldn't afford. This was to allow everyone to continue playing until the game ended - without anyone getting kicked out.

From 1 game all 5 members of my small family were able to play, each with very different goals, and a different (customized) experience. It was not unlike being a Game Master, with each player having access to different rule sets or abilities.

Today we played Monopoly, who knows what we can accomplish tomorrow...I know I have some ideas.

Playing at miniwargaming

By: Antonius 

I finally got to cross an item off my gaming bucket list: Playing with gents at miniwargaming.

Four years ago, I found a gaming channel on YouTube called miniwargaming.

Described as "a group of geeks dedicated to bringing you entertaining and informative videos about miniature wargaming, including battle reports, narrative campaigns, painting tutorials, and other random videos".

I checked them out, and being new to online battle reports, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. After watching my first video with them, a Space Marine v. Tyranid Warhammer 40,000 battle report.

I was hooked.

A few years later, the company released a narrative Deathwatch campaign called Augustine Station. I watched the whole campaign and became a vault member for their online website content and never looked back.

While watching battle reports from the group of guys in Welland, Ontario, they repeatedly mentioned how, if players wanted, they could come in and play some games against their content providers. I took to this challenge with enthusiasm and reached out.

Now with 3 children, it was hard to carve out time to paint all my miniatures, and get out to Welland to play against them. Eventually, I was able to lock down a date to play (Easter Monday 2017 in fact) and this helped to motivate me for a final push to have an army ready to play.

Well six weeks after signing up to play, and with a lot of help from my friend Sandy, I had 2000 points of Dark Elves ready to do battle.

When I arrived at their studios I immediately felt an impending sense of excitement and nervous energy. As I walked into the building and began to meet the very content providers I had been watching for the last 4 years. I felt relaxed and excited to finally be able to realize a dream I always had.

The content providers at miniwargaming are some of the most laid back gamers I have ever met at a table. They talked meta, things they liked about games, future campaign ideas they had for their content, and just about anything I would ask them.

I played both of my games of Warhammer Fantasy, and while I did not win either game, I had an incredible time. I was matched against Steve for my games and the banter, the scenarios and my overall experience were something I will treasure. Not only as a gamer, but also as an individual who likes to see why people play tabletop games, why they choose the factions that they do and generally, what draws those players to that specific game over another similar one.

If ever you are in the Niagara region and are looking to play games of Warhammer, I would strongly recommend looking these guys up and getting in a game or two with them.

Enjoy the video

- Cheers

Antonious

Introduction: ChargingPun

Name - 
Ben aka Charging Pun

Where are you - 
Cambridge, Ontario

Who are you - 
Code Monkey Level: 14
Husband Level: 11
Father Level: 8.6.4

I am many things. I'm a guy who likes to play, create, and analyze games.

What are you playing on the table - 
At first I thought: not much, but that is not true.

The table does not have to include exotically painted miniatures, or complex rules, and for the most part mine does not. My table is populated by Checkers, Crazy Eights, Go Fish, Sorry: Minion Edition, Monopoly, and others.

While most of these would not be my first choice for gaming, I consider this an investment, a foundation for future gaming.

Play style - 
I am an analyst, professionally and recreationally.

I seek out exploits and advantages. I've been min-maxing since long before I knew there was a name for it. I value effectiveness over power, method over chaos.

Top irk at the table - 

Me.

I am a logical, easy-going kind of guy. I make a living deconstructing and rebuilding systems, and games are a collection of systems (not a complete definition). I understand how they work, and what they are designed to accomplish.

I'm also an extremely competitive person. From the days of youngest me right up to last weekend, when I was wrestling on the front lawn with my brother-in-law, the fires of competition have motivated me.

It disheartens me to say it, but there have been times when my competitive nature has gotten the better of me at the table... when losing. I know how much this sucks, as I've experienced it from the other side.

This is my struggle.

Lately, I've been fighting this battle in an entirely new way... through my kids.

Current gamer projects - 
Teaching my kids to play games.

Last word - 
That's not the last word...there is more.

A glance at Kickstarter funded board games

By: Dozer

I've bought into quite a few Kickstarters and in the coming months I'll be reaping the rewards of backing some of the best looking board games to come to the table.

For those not in the know, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that allows creators to reach out and show their prototypes and have backers pledge money towards the development and release of their product. In the case of board games Kickstarters allows folks to see the game, how it's played, participate in the final development of certain aspects, and get access to exclusive add-ons.

For me the greatest board game success on Kickstarter is Scythe. An alternate 1920 exploration and expansion game with some of the exploit and exterminate elements found in a 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate).

It launched with rave reviews on game design and feel. Since it landed at my door it's spawned over a dozen of matches between me and my friends. The feedback the community provided to the creator allowed for some very select upgrades to the design like a double sided board with a larger board on the back.

Another game I picked up on Kickstarter was Human Interface: Nakamura Tower. A Cyberpunk game made in Germany where players take part in the events around the 3 day long attack on the headquarters of the Nakamura mega-corporation. You can play as the Ubermench gang, the Nakamura team, or even the AI that goes rogue due to the attack. Add-ons allow you to play the police SWAT team, a mercenary team, and even a search and rescue team. Brilliant white metal miniatures and fantastic components make the game look great.

I just yet to play it. Forgotten, Molotov, and I spent an hour pouring through the rules as we started the introduction scenario and decided to play something else. We got nowhere and it was frustrating since I bought everything for the game. Lucky for us the folks at Postindustrial Games have worked with the backer community and have redone the rule book. I've looked it over and from that first glance I already have a better idea on how to play the game. Forgotten and I look forward to playing it in the coming weeks.

That's the risk with Kickstarter - sometimes the final product is not what you expected. You have to take the lemons because Kickstarter is a gamble sometimes. My experience with it has been a safe bet but still a bet. I hope my bets continue to pay off because in the next week of so I'll be getting my copy of Endure the Stars from Grimlord Games. Another scenario game but this time wholly co-operative.

I also have other games that will coming in throughout the year: Dark Souls the board game, Giant Killer Robots: Heavy Hitters by WETA workshop, and Village Attacks another game from Grimlord. I'll be doing full reviews on each game as I get them with help from other contributes here at Canadian Tabletop Gamer.

Take a look at Kickstarter and see if anything tickles your fancy.

- Cheers

Dozer

Breaking Away from the Dungeon

By: Molotov

I think that for most people, their first exposure to role playing games starts in one place. The classic fantasy, dungeon crawls and dragon slaying. It is what's familiar, it's what we know, but what about beyond that?

For some people the dungeon never gets old. Great GMs can weave tales that could make a players feel like they are stars in an epic Hollywood film. But I know I'm not the only one who has burned out every now and again on the goblin killing grind, yet still not wanted to stop the game night socials.

When I jumped into alternate options is when I feel like I really started to get to know role playing and my own gaming style a lot better. Non-fantasy role playing isn't a new concept but it might be one that hasn't been explored by newer gamers. I want to share a few of the systems I've enjoyed over the years and maybe help shake things up for adventuring parties looking for something new.

World of Darkness:
This was my very first game outside of Dungeons and Dragon or Pathfinder and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The creators, White Wolf, have gone through several versions, from “old” World of Darkness (OWoD) to the “new” World of Darkness (or NWoD) to it's newest version Chronicles of Darkness. If you haven't played this role playing game, you might still have gotten some exposure to it through video games like Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (whose haunted house level still manages to creep me out). While they've made a lot of effort to smooth out and simplify the system, the core concepts remain the same. There is the normal world and then there is the supernatural. Designed to fit into modern day with skills like "computer" and "science", a single universe can hold a variety of campaigns. The core rule book provides the base world and then you add your supernatural element. Each element is well fleshed out and provides an entire campaign setting of it's own. Choose between Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Changelings and more, each with their own unique character design options and story telling opportunities.

I use the term "storytelling" deliberately here. White Wolf use the term Story Teller in place of Game Master, and I cannot think of a more fitting title. What I love most about this system is that it really is about the story. Player gives a description of an amazing feat they want to do? Storytellers can give them a bonus for the description. Your player wants to do something odd that there isn't a rule for? Pick a skill and an attribute from the character sheet, and that's their required check to pull it off.  For the die hard third edition Dungeons and Dragon players, it can be a jarring shift. White Wolf really steps away from the combat focused formats and extensive rules lists which takes some adapting to if you’re coming from some other systems. It's the kind of game that I could recommend even to new players because of it's flexibility. This system really is more about the player interactions with their group, the world, and the NPCs. If you're looking to get away from the hack and slash I'd highly recommend it.

Paranoia:
Before we begin on this system there is something I need to cover. If you are a die hard for an epic tale of friendship and questing you can probably skip over this section.  If you have ever felt like the lives of your fellow party members are worth sacrificing for personal gain, I’ve for the game for you.

Paranoia is a game of all for one, but not so much one for all. By "all for one" I mean all for Friend Computer. Think 1984 meets HAL, with a sick sense of humour. Players work together to complete their objectives in the name of serving the glorious Computer. Until their objectives collide, at which point it becomes who can pull the trigger the fastest. Or causes the "accidental" explosion. Or manages to poison a water supply. You get the idea.

In the game anything other than obeying the Friend Computer is treason, and you are low ranking plebs in it’s service where everything, including the game rules at some points, are confidential until you rise in rank. However, you are also part of an underground resistance. Your day job, your resistance work, and your teammates are likely to lead to your demise.

If you're a GM with creative players who you think would could do well with a silly setting and could use the stress relief of murdering each other, this might be a good campaign for you.

Star Wars RPG:
You know what? I'm going to admit it. I don't know much about Star Wars. I know the movies, but the expanded universe is a complete mystery to me. It is a major black mark on my "geek cred" that I have to live with. Not knowing about Star Wars made me really nervous about starting up in a Star Wars campaign.

Dozer picked up one of the Fantasy Flight beginner RPG boxsets, Star War: Edge of the Empire, and ran if for an all female group of gamers. It was a mix of experienced and completely new players. Now, seeing the name Fantasy Flight on the box didn't calm my nerves a lot. My experience with them has been some fantastic, but not exactly simplistic, board games. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. The beginner RPGs come with simplified dice, prebuilt characters, and storylines that don't depend on a knowledge of the Star Wars universe. After completing that one shot, I started looking into the rest of the universe and they really do have something for everyone. A fantastic array for beginners all the way to die hard fans and gamers. This system could be it's own entire post. If you have a group that knows the franchise, you can find a version of the system that works for them.

There are so many systems out there to choose from. Shadowrun for the cyberpunk fiends, Legend of the Five Rings for those looking for a well fleshed out Japanese themed epic, or Warhammer Fantasy for those who don't want to get attached to their character. The ones I've described are just a few of the ones I've played and enjoyed, and I hope help open you up to the wide world of role playing.

Experienced role player? What games do you prefer to break up the dungeon crawls? I'd love to hear what systems others have enjoyed.

Introduction: Molotov

Name - 
Donna aka Molotov

Where are you -
Ottawa, Ontario

Who are you - 
I'm a Linux Sys admin, gamer and cosplayer, which I think qualifies me for some form of stereotype, though I'm not sure I want to know which one. When I'm not bouncing around countries for work, I'm usually found doing some form of gaming (video games and/or tabletop games), or I'm out rock climbing or on some kind of random outdoor adventure.

What are you playing on the table - 
Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, 'New' World of Darkness (if I can find a game).

Play style - 
Traditionally either hold off and build, or 100% vanguard rush and stomp, without much in between. I'm trying to branch out though. When I'm playing Magic I've primarily played White/Green type builds, I'm trying to get into more Blue/Red to add a bit more variety. I love board games with a human element to it. Give me a hidden role game, or a cooperative with a traitor element any day. I'm a social creature, so 98% of my video games are multiplayer, otherwise they have to have a damned good story.

Top irk at the table - 
Stomping on new players about rules. Drives. Me. Nuts. One of the top things I know keeps my friends from getting into my hobbies is a toxic attitude in a community.  I try to create a welcoming environment for new gamers, help them find what play style they like to be able to recommend games, but bringing out to an event is always a risk to scaring them off. If they do something incorrectly, be polite about it and don't be a dick.

Current gamer projects - 
A few game related cosplays for this year's conventions, and building a couple of amusing MtG decks.

Last word - 
HFGL