Blood, Sweat & Horses - update

Hi all

As my regular readers should be aware by now (if not, why not?), I've been working on my own game  - Blood, Sweat & Horses (Equorum Sudorum Sanquinis) for a couple of years now.  Starting out as a hobbyists side project for my own amusement and developing with the help of some awesome co-designers into a very good (imho) game, that is proving to be popular outside of my gaming group.

I have blogged about the development of this game before, so won't go into it too much. What I will do is let the pictures do the talking - from the beginnings (sourcing some minis and making a board) to demonstrating the game to a games publisher in Svotland.

minis from Irregular Miniatures

humble beginnings

the development of the main board

the very first playtest

that led to a vital piece of the game becoming developed

and the event deck coming into existence

and finally the missing piece of the game is devised

game boards for each player

the second playtest

with added nasty surprises

professionally produced cards which I love

and the game looks the part - more playtesting required to "play" the part

so onto Six Realms - a charity event here in East kent

and Broadside

with these two reprobates!!

the printable version of the board

and my dice tray - sorry Joe

later versions of the game now developing the event points system

Uncon 4.0 - it proves to be very popular

and CBK Gaming seem to enjoy it too

Uncon 5.0 goers seem to love it as much as those from previous Uncons

Family that races together...

still a very popular club game

and finally a published games designer enjoys the game at TTS (sorry for the blurry photo)

There are exciting times ahead for this game, as I move into (I hope!) the next stages of it's development.  More as and when it happens!

hope you enjoy
dGG

TableTop Scotland 2019

Hi all

For my first real post in 5 months...

Let's start off nice and gentle with a trip up north to TableTop Scotland (TTS). This August a small cadre of Uncon gamers made the gruelling 11 hour drive from Kent to Perth with half of the library for TTS 2019 - a gaming convention held annually (in it's 2nd year now) at the Dewars Centre in Perth.  TTS is the biggest gaming 'con north of the border and (i'm sticking my neck out here) the second biggest in the country after the UK Expo in Birmingham.

So what is TTS? Well it is primarily a board games con with all sorts of other RPGs and Tabletop action sprinkled in. For more detailed information check out the link here https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/. With thousands of attendees the weekend was absolutely buzzing! 

So why travel 500+ miles to go to a games con? Well, Uncon and All Around the Board (AATB) has a special relationship with TTS.  Last year, just prior to their first convention, a fire in the place where the fellow providing the board games library meant that they would have no board games available for attendees to play! Disaster!!

Step forward Uncon founder and all round lovely fellow - Darius, who offered the use of his library for the event (200+ titles, now over 300+). Of course the guys at TTS were incredibly grateful and welcomed Darius and a couple of hardcore AATB members with open arms.

This year, Darius was once again asked to provide his library to significantly enhance the official (and very impressive) collection and in need of a break from real life, I jumped at the chance of taking a long weekend in a beautiful country playing games!

beautiful country doesn't even begin to cover it!

The Uncon gang!

happy Gobbo

Anyway, on with the show! TTS is over the whole weekend and we turned up at 8am to help the organisers label the library and get set up. Doors opened at 9am and I immediately get drawn to the one outright wargame. This lovely participation from the War of the Roses using the "To the Strongest" ruleset. The miniatures provided by the Claymore club were beautifully painted and the game was fun although the rules were a little bland for my tastes.

I then went onto play loads of board games including the latest hotness - Jaws.  This was a lot of fun, played over 2 acts, firstly on Amity Island and then on the boat. What happens in Act 1 directly influences the play on Act 2, which I really like.  It is also a 1 vs many game, with one player taking on the role of the shark and the others taking on the main character inc Chief Brody.

I also managed to play some of my favourites including Sycthe (7 players) and Capt Sonar (a real time submarine hunt game with 8 players) and a rather amazing "Starship Bridge" simulator, where I took on the role of science officer.  This digital game experience was excellent with Jess taking on the role of Captain which came with the infamous captain's chair. With information coming from weapons, engineering and deep scans she coped really well and we kept our sector of space clear from enemy combatants.

I also, crucially got to play my very own design "Blood, Sweat & Horses" with some of the folks from the event inc a games designer/publisher, who really loved the game - reigniting my desire to see this game into published form.

Overall TTS was amazing, superbly organised by Dave, Duncan and the team, friendly and most importantly stuffed full of fun events, games, seminars and activities.  Even 4 hours spent in the local A&E didn't dampen my spirits although it did slow me down.... I hadn't even had a drink!!

very few pictures of the actual event sadly, as I was too busy enjoying it! Suffice to say I will do better next year.

hope you enjoy

dGG

A tentative return...

Hi all (if anyone of my old readership is still out there)

Looking back, it's been over 5 months since my last post. With my fingers poised over the keyboard now, for the 54th (maybe) time of trying to bring myself to dive back into the world of blogging, I'm finding the process difficult to say the least. My last post, way back in April was meant to be a triumphant post celebrating the excellence of Uncon 5.0 - a board game convention, that I thoroughly love, but instead became a post about the sudden passing of my father. Tbh enthusiasm for most things ended... On top of all of that, work announced that I would have to complete another university module at level 6 in order to mentor students (a condition of my employment apparently) which would pile on pressure and to make matters worse the founder of Uncon announced that he would no longer be putting the event on as it was causing too much financial pressure...

So what has changed? well time passes and people heal(ish), things get easier and enthusiasms return. For one thing I have completed the uni module and that particular pressure is in the rearview mirror. Work, while still challenging, is starting to relax it's demands on my focus.  While I miss my dad (and my mum, who passed 2 years ago) every day, I have moved through the intense grief phase and have moved to a more acceptance phase (it is still bizarre to think I'm technically an orphan now at 45...).

In the last few months I have been gaming, although tabletop wargames have become a lot less frequent for a number of reasons.  I've played mostly board games which have a quicker setup and turn around time, although my favourites are still mostly based around miniatures like Rising Sun, Blood Rage and Zombicide. I have also been painting a lot of miniatures - commissions for board games, my own games like Zombicide and for Warhammer Fantast Roleplay 4ed.  These projects will be spoken more about as and when (and if) I blog over the next few months.  I was also commissioned to build a dice tower for a client as far away as Mexico City, again I will showcase this later on.  I've also been working hard to streamline the rules and polish my own BG design "Blood, Sweat & Horses" and some major developments have happened around that which I will also post about at a later time.

So lots to talk about, I have been reading my favourite blogs and hope to start commenting on them again soon. Thank you to all of you lovely people who offered your condolences, I read them all and appreciated them greatly at the time and still do, what a wonderful community we have built here.  Thank you especially to my buddy (who, over the last few months, I have been a very neglectful friend to) Rich Gates - who has encouraged me to get back behind the keyboard and bang out these few words.  My apologies for the content free post, hopefully some regular(ish) posts to follow shortly but 

Welcome back to Da Grotto...

dGG aka Andy

A blog shutdown...

Hi all

This week I was going to post about the gaming convention Uncon, that I was hosting games for. It was a rather awesome weekend and I was buzzing when we finished on the Sunday evening, with my games going down very well indeed. I was all set to produce a glowing post and I went to bed in fine spirits.

Unfortunately I had that dreaded early morning phone call... my dad has passed away. So here I am with very little enthusiasm for blogging and no desire to post for a while. I will still be hobbying, painting has always been a way of relaxing and de stressing and I will keep gaming. However, I won’t be blogging for a while until I can get my head straight and my posting mojo high again. Rest assured I still enjoy reading my favourite blogs but it is unlikely I will comment frequently.

Thanks for your patience 

dGG aka Andy

U-Boot the board game

hi all

Over the last couple of years I've backed a number of new Kickstarters, mostly smaller campaigns that fulfilled nicely and on time.  Last week, I received the KS that I have been (im)patiently waiting for - I was literally humming as I camped out by my front door!

U-Boot the board game is the brain child of two Polish designers Artur Salwarowski and Bartosz Pluta from Iron Wolf Studios and published by Phalanx Games.  The game is a WW2 submarine simulator and played on a 3d model of a U-Boot alongside a companion app.  This is from the designers themselves...

"Thank you very much for purchasing U-BOOT The Board Game. When we started this project, we set ourselves a goal: to create the first ever tabletop submarine simulator. A game that would let players experience World War II submarine warfare like no other game before it. One that would explore various aspects of living and fighting at sea, from dwelling inside an iron coffin to playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the enemy.

Now, after a lot of hard work and research, we are proud to present a game that redefines submarine board gaming, featuring true to life navigation, visual identification of targets, and many other elements that you probably haven’t seen in a board game yet. This might seem daunting, but rest assured: the game comes with everything you need to become a U-boat ace in no time.

Firstly, a separate Tactical Guide booklet. It lays out the most important dos and don’ts without getting into unnecessary detail, so you should quickly get an idea of how to conduct combat. Secondly, player aids that summarize the most important information for each role and, lastly, online videos that teach you how to play. All of these will help you understand the basics quickly. Once you do that, the rest will come with experience.

And the experience that U-BOOT can deliver is truly unique. Approaching targets without getting detected, lining up perfect torpedo shots, and sneaking away from the escorts’ counterattack… Or getting pounded by relentless depth charge attacks. This game has it all and much more, so if you wish to savor it to the fullest, be serious about your training. Trust us: it will be worth it."

Artur Salwarowski & Bartosz Pluta

I don't think I could have stated it any better!  What I can tell you is that this is the literally the best board game I've ever played. It is immersive, tense, exciting and extremely entertaining, a fantastic simulator that will only get better as the app develops and more missions get added, graphics improve and extra touches come into play.  Even better, you can play it solo (up to 4) and it works perfectly, so I can get my fix whenever I want!!

the contents of the box, well some of them...

the boat getting worked up!

what a massive foot print!

those amazing resin pieces

I backed the game with a fairly high pledge because I wanted the resin tokens and interior detail that just make the game pop. I've managed to paint the interior work but none of the other bits yet...

below is the navigator equipment, which is my favourite role.  You have a tactical map for when the action gets hot and the boat is submerged.  Using the attack wheel, the navigator can plot attack vectors for the capt to launch his salvos.

The Navigator passes on the information to the First Officer, who inputs it into the companion app and updates the TDC. He then relays the info to the Capt for orders.

the video below was from my first training mission, a single unescorted freighter to practice on.  Normally there are escort ships for these groups and the covert stalk, launch and subsequent evasion makes for thrilling game play. 

at the end of each mission you get your rating.  There are a few single missions and a campaign mode which I'm yet to try but will be starting real soon.  More missions will be added to the app as it gets more developed and I'm really hoping they will eventually add "Wolfpack" type scenarios where you can link in with other players via the app. 

anyway, that's my initial thoughts on this game, i'm sure as I play through the missions more posts will follow. Next week will be post Uncon so I'll let you know how that went, of course anyone in the Kent area who fancies a weekend filled with amazing gaming and maybe even crewing up with me for a game of this awesome simulator then pop on down to Broadstairs and say hi

https://unconuk.co.uk/

hope you enjoy

dGG