Winter Retreat 2012 – All Places Gone!

Winter Retreat 2012 is now full, with all 50 places taken. Please note if you have one of the places, your full payment is due on or before the club meeting on June17.

May 31 edit: one place just opened up!
June 5 edit: All gone!

Here is an overview of the event, with 2012 details. You can also view the menu. Please remember to bring towels, pillows, blankets and warm clothing as none of these things are provided. Most people bring a blanket or two and a sleeping bag.

Should you be unable to take your places please contact the committee as soon as possible.

For information here is the list of 50 attendees.

Kerrin A
Kim A
Paul A
Damien B
Megan B
Andrew B
Angela C
Darren C
Emily C
Oliver C
Jason C
Eddie C
Zac C-V
Alex D
Keith D
Courtney J
Leanne J
David K
Aaron K
David M
Sallie M
Sam M
Steven M
John M
Hannah McA
Juliette McA
Kathryn McG
Daniel McG
Jay N
Mal O
Liam P
Nicholas R
Ken R
Adrian R
Leigh R
Annie S (Kali S)
Maia S
Sean S
Anna S
Ryan S
Ben S
Isabella S
Alex S
Callum S
Aris T
Courtney T
Breanna T
Kirsten T
Vanessa T
Luke vS
Ross vS
Andrew W

Planeswalkers in Grand Melee, part 18: Koth of the Hammer

Multiplayer red planeswalkers are a curious thing. Red planeswalkers are generally linear in their application, as seen with Chandra Nalaar or Chandra Ablaze. In multiplayer this lack of flexibility usually relegates the planeswalker to a support role at best.

Koth of the Hammer is less flexible than either of these planeswalkers, but his abilities are not easily ignored. Set in a very particular deck, they might not lead to victory, but the rest of the table will have to take notice.

Koth of the Hammer costs four mana to cast, two of which must be red. He enters the battlefield with three loyalty counters and has three abilities.

The first ability adds a loyalty counter. It allows you to untap target mountain, which becomes a 4/4 creature until the end of turn. It’s still a land though, so you have the option of leaving it untapped for an opponent’s turn or casting a cheap spell in your own turn. An ability similar to Garruk Wildspeaker‘s first ability, but more flexible.

Koth’s second ability costs two loyalty counters. You add a red mana to your mana pool for each Mountain you control. With this ability we see that Koth has one use, and that use is to give a mono-red deck more mileage out of its mountains. Either the first or second ability may be used the turn Koth comes into play. This ability can be used to power out another spell, or to power up one of red’s many x damage spells such as Fireball. Always useful at the multipayer table, where there is usually a target.

The third and final ability costs five loyalty counters and gives you an emblem. Emblems are something that only planeswalkers can grant (so far) and give you an ability which lasts for the rest of the game, regardless of what happens to the source. Koth’s emblem gives all Mountains you control the ability to tap to deal 1 damage to target creature or player.

With Koth’s emblem in play almost everything you do is a potential threat. Leaving land untapped in your opponents’ turns can let you sneak in to kill a weak player when the time is right, or take out a creature when least expected.

For all the potency of Koth of the Hammer, his only place is in a mono-red deck. Such decks typically shine bright but burn out quickly. You might get a couple of kills but you’ll rarely go the distance. Koth doesn’t change this but does let the red deck work a little faster, increasing its potency.

Verdict: Marginal. A deck based around Koth of the Hammer is unlikely to do well, but the card can be added to mono-red decks with some effect.

Connections: Like Koth of the Hammer? You may also like [Sarkhan Vol] [Chandra, the Firebrand] [Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded]
Don’t like Koth? You may prefer [Liliana Vess] [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Nissa Revane]

See all articles in the series

LXG Wins New Grant

The League of Extraordinary Gamers has been successful in its application for a grant from the Southside Sport and Community Club Inc for the provision of a scanner, library software and bar-code labels that will allow the club to enhance its current library system for borrowing games.

LXG previously won a grant from the Club for the purchase of 2 laptops and a printer. This grant further builds upon that purchase to enable us to use those computers with the library package to streamline our operations.

Now, the old pen and paper system will be replaced with a simple scan in/scan out system. This should make it easier for members to borrow and also for the librarian to keep track of where games are at any time.

LXG gratefully acknowledges the support of the Southside Sport and Community Club Inc whose contribution to the community is invaluable.

Grand Melee League Page

A new addition to the website is a permanent page for the Grand Melee League. This way, if you’ve been playing in the league you can quickly check your position without having to scroll pack through the site looking for the most recent update.

You can find the page on the Pages menu to the left, and through this direct link.

On this page you will find:
Current Rankings
Format
Rules
Prizes
Previous Winners
and more!

One Gamer’s Diary, part 3.2

(if you missed it, here’s episode 3.1, or part 1 if you are totally new to this series)

Having designed and run “Mindbane” as an adventure I was delighted when it was published by Chess Sales later that year. I returned to Cancon over the next few years as a player.

In 1989 I ran “Tharlen Manor”, a gothic RPG game, as a tournament at Cancon. This would later be published as “Sanctuary” by Auran.

One of my pet hates when running RPG tournaments at this time was the noise level caused by all gamers being put into one big hall. At Cancon 1989 I brought 12 DMs to run “Tharlen Manor” and petitioned for separate rooms for each group. I was successful and believe that this was the first instance of RPG groups in Australia being run using the one room-one group format.

Here, I must also mention the memorable gaming parties that were run by members of the club in celebration of birthdays and special events. These usually consisted of having a usual party get together until about 11am when everyone would retire to separate parts of the host’s house to settle into playing a DnD game till dawn. In those days it was anything goes and the dungeon designs were wild and woolly.

Nobody cared about the layout, logic, or ecosystems of their dungeon – it was just a place where anything and everything happened. Open a door and you are looking at an ice- field with a dragon sitting there grinning at you!

Make a wrong move and you were cut to ribbons by micro-thin wires (yes, I blundered into that trap). They were over-the-top adventures and I will always remember them with great affection for the shared friendships and laughter spent playing those impossible dungeon crawls.

Between 1983 and 1986 QRP continued to grow but eventually Greg Lane and I left the club within 6 months of each other. Greg had become interested in the emergence of PC games and forging a career in programming. I was finding running the club far too much work and I had some relationship problems at the time. I departed in 1985 but continued to design “Eldoria” and play board games with friends. Anthony McMahon and Greg Lane drifted out of life but new ‘gaming’ friends drifted in – one long-time gamer I shared accommodation with for many years is LXG member Terry Krause. Not only that, the person I ended up marrying in 1988, Michelle (then Dooley), I first met as a player in my DnD group at QRP.

I understand QRP continued on for about another 5 years but it seemed to have run out of steam and the older founding people who began to drift away were never really replaced with people with enough enthusiasm to keep the club going. It went into decline and its members went on to become involved in clubs that were emerging, devoted to board games and miniatures. This was the time of the rise Brisbane Independent Wargamers, Queensland University Gamers and other clubs, often specialising in specific gaming genres.

I eventually was lured back into the club scene as well and founded Club Tanelorn in 1987 with a few key games enthusiasts such as Michael Mulhern, John McDonnel and Robert McCord. The original concept of Tanelorn was to be a fortnightly get together to play games in a ‘club’ environment. This meant alcohol and catering was to be provided at each meeting. The club was conceived as a small group of friends getting together to play games and, to accommodate this, membership fees were high, set at- $100 per year. This format lasted about a year – the club met at QUT and eventually at a night club at the Story Bridge end of Queen Street. Board games I remember playing at Club Tanelorn in the late 80’s included “Talisman”, “Civilization” and “Junta”.

I continued to run DnD tournaments in Brisbane and in interstate conventions such as Cancon, Sydcon and Necromonicon in Melbourne. I established a following at Cancon and had a great time running games there. However, the convention scene seemed to implode by the end of the 80’s. Miniatures gaming was dominated by Ancients and Napoleonics at this time and most miniatures enthusiasts were very conservative by nature.

Role players, on the whole were the complete opposite and the two ‘camps’ began to get involved in politics for control of conventions. This was particularly the case with Cancon, where the rift widened and the role-players ended up going their own way.

I stopped going to Cancon after their committee didn’t accept my tournament submission for the 1990 event. The incredible excuse given was that the tournaments run by Club Tanelorn were too popular and that everyone wanted to play in them. As our games went for an entire day, we were stopping other designers from getting enough players in their events. I parted ways with Cancon and have never been back.

Instead I became involved with Briscon in the late 80’s but I still experienced the same bitter rivalry between gaming groups – miniatures players didn’t want to waste money on individual rooms for role-playing groups and role-players didn’t want to waste money on hiring tabletops for the miniatures players. I’ve always embraced all facets of gaming so it was quite frustrating working with some people who should never have been on convention committees! However, I plodded on and ran two DnD events over successive years “Creatures of the Light” and “Sweet Dreams in Ashfold”. Ancients and Napoleonics remained the dominant tabletop events at this time and board game competitions were unheard of. Warhammer was on the rise though.

As mentioned earlier in this article, I was married to Michelle in 1988 and gaming was taking a back-burner for a little while. But only a little while as Club Tanelorn was about to change its membership format and pricing and explode onto the Brisbane the gaming scene.

Next episode: Free-forms and CCGs (Magic: the Gathering arrives!). Go to part 4.1

One Gamer’s Diary, Part 3.1

The series that began here continues now into the 1980s. Take it away Keith:

ONE GAMER’S DIARY (Part 3)

Of Clubs and Conventions
As the 80s arrived a call to arms had gone out in Brisbane for a Dungeons and Dragons club to form. For two years, Anthony McMahon and myself had been playing one on one role-playing games using Tekumel as our background setting. We had believed we were the only ones playing these types of games and now it was time to find out who else was out there – and who had put the mysterious recruitment poster in Hobbycraft!

So, early on a Sunday morning we loaded my car with our freshly acquired DnD manuals and dice and drove into town to the Police Boy’s Club, where the gathering was to be held. Now we fully expected that there would be about ten or so guys in their late teens gathered at the hall in Caxton Street and we were totally taken aback when we pulled into the car-park to discover over one hundred game-starved people were there! Not only that – there were two girls waiting in the crowd, surrounded by salivating male gamers, doting on their every whim! These gaming females were Joanne Schlitz and Angela Caffrey (the latter is currently an LXG club member – the one who makes all the great cakes.

The main organisers of the club were Greg Lane and a guy I will only call R. The reasons will become obvious as you read on. R became president and Greg vice- president and the club as given the name of the Queensland Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (or QSFFS – which was the most unpronounceable acronym I’ve ever come across!) The club started an umbrella fantasy RPG campaign that was initially driven by Greg. But after a few meetings Greg discovered I had a knack for drawing maps and writing role-playing material and we soon formed a friendship and working relationship that resulted in the very first version of “Eldoria”, which became a fantasy setting that was to consume much of my time over the next 30 years.

Such was the enthusiasm of the club and its members that, soon after forming, the committee was planning Queensland’s first games convention (well the first I am aware of). It was dubbed ‘Suncon” and a club member who was an academic from the University of Queensland kindly offered to provide set-up funds and organise the venue. Life was good – I was pouring my creativity into “Eldoria”, I was meeting many new friends (including LXG member Darren Catton) and I was running and playing in some very memorable dungeon bashes.

However everything threatened to come tumbling down when Greg Lane did a bit of undercover work and discovered that our charismatic president R had put all the club funds in his personal bank account and, when asked to resign and pay the money back, he absconded interstate with the club cash. That was effectively the end of the QSFFS and Suncon. The convention did run but, as R was the main organiser, it was abysmal. It was supposed to run for two days but most people abandoned it after day one. QSFFS was dead after running for just over a year.

Now that could have been the end of gaming in Brisbane for quite awhile but, while drowning our sorrows with a few drinks after Suncon, Greg and I decided to launch another club. We announced a date for a meeting at the Queensland University of Technology (then QIT) and, because of the circumstances that led to the folding of QSFFS, we expected only a small turnout. We were amazed when just about everyone from QSFFS and many more turned up. Queensland Role Players (QRP) was thus formed in 1982. At its height it had around 350 members and I believe it was the biggest gaming club in Australia.

At QRP, the Eldorian Campaign was truly launched and over around twelve DMs were running groups at the club on a fortnightly basis. Initially the club was based in an Arts Building in Edward Street. The building was always being renovated for the 6 months that we met there and club members were constantly under threat of being killed by falling masonry or falling through gaping holes in the floor. Eventually, QRP found its long-term home at the Buffalo Club in Fortitude Valley, where the club met in the large function hall above the main bar.

While the main focus for QRP was principally role-playing, there was also an interest in board games and there titles that were championed by individuals who brought them to the attention of club members. Greg Lane was passionate about “Star Fleet Battles” and I always remember a guy called Michael Conroy and his love for the WWI navel war-game, “Jutland”. Battletech first made its appearance at QRP and there was a plethora of board games based on the popularity of DnD. Titles such as TSR’s “Dungeon” and Ariel games “Sorcerer’s Cave” were forerunners of modern titles such as “Descent” and the latest series of DnD board games.

In addition to providing a place for gamers to get together and play, QRP was very active in organising activities and producing innovative publications. The club rented the Arts cinema in Edward Street and put on a double feature of the “Thunderbirds” movie and Ralph Bashki’s “Lord of the Rings”. The cinema was packed out and the club made $1,000 profit from the event. Between 1983 and 1985 QRP published a magazine called “Behind the DM’s Screen” available free to its members and sold for $1 at local games stores. Stories were written by club members.

Perhaps the biggest thing the club did was organise a trip to Cancon 1983 (I think this was the first
Cancon games convention). A group of twenty die-hard club members travelled by a hired bus and experienced their first ever major games convention. It was a fantastic event, with RPG games, miniatures and our first introduction to free-form role-playing, which later became known as live action role-playing (LARPs).

The most important thing at Cancon, for me personally, occurred when a few games had to be pulled because the designer hadn’t turned up. I had a copy of the draft of a Dnd module called “Mindbane” on me. I had designed this for a QRP tournament and I offered to run this at Cancon as a replacement tournament. It was a hit and I resolved to try and get the module published and to revisit Cancon at a later date with more DnD tournaments.

continue to part 3.2

Wil Wheaton plays Ticket To Ride

Ticket to Ride is the latest game to get the Tabletop viedoe treatment. The video gives you a playthrough of the game, along with an explanation of the rules and what each player is trying to achieve. Right near the end of the video there is a great illustration of what you should never do while adding up everyone’s points at the end of the game.

LXG has several different versions of Ticket to Ride in our Games Library. You may also like to see the videos playthroughs for Settlers of Catan and Small World.

Planeswalkers in Grand Melee, part 17: Elspeth Tirel

Elspeth Tirel was first seen as Elspeth, Knight-Errant. This new version of Elspeth is still a creature-focused Planeswalker, but works in a very different way.

Elspeth Tirel costs five mana to cast, two of which must be white. She enters the battlefield with four loyalty counters and has three abilities.

The first ability adds two loyalty counters and gives you two life for each creature you control. This ability can net you a fair chunk of life, however if you are in dire straights it may do nothing other than add the counters.
The second ability works well with the first. For the cost of two loyalty counters, you put three 1/1 white soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield. They won’t be the strongest cards around, but three creatures means three separate blockers, and there are cards that improve the performance of soldiers, or tokens, or white creatures, and you’ll probably have one or more such card in a deck with Elspeth Tirel.
The third ability is the big one. It costs five loyalty counters, so you can use it the turn after you cast Elspeth Tirel, assuming you use her first ability after doing so. Also, because it costs five counters you will still have Elspeth under your control after using the ability so soon.
This ability destroys all permanents other than lands, tokens, and Elspeth Tirel herself. This is a powerful effect, made more powerful where you are using Elspeth Tirel in a token deck, which is where she realistically belongs.
Verdict: Marginal. Elspeth Tirel belongs in a token deck, and has limited uses outside such a deck, as her third ability works against you using artifacts, enchantments or non-token creatures. This kind of deck featuring Elspeth should do well, but this Planeswalker has limited uses elsewhere.

Connections: Like Elspeth Tirel? You may also like [Ajani Goldmane] [Elspeth, Knight-Errant] [Nissa Revane]
Don’t like Elspeth Tirel? You may prefer [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Sorin Markov] [Liliana of the Veil]

See all articles in this series.

Our First Marquis

With the results from the Viewpoint State Finals in, there are also some additional Game of Games points to calculate. Five of the competitors managed to gain a rank from their efforts, including current ladder leader Eddie, who ascends to the rank of Marquis.

There is now a full rank (Count/Countess) lying between Eddie and the second-ranked player. Our club president has opened quite a lead!

Others who gained a rank are:
Alex D is now a Viscount
Sam M is now a Baronet
Nigel B, Oliver C, and Grace C have all reached the rank of Knight/Lady.

Let us not forget Keith D who put on the event. Keith receives organiser points, which moves him up two ranks to Viscount, just three points ahead of son Alex!

Viewpoint State Finals Report

VIEWPOINT  QUEENSLAND STATE FINAL 2012 REVIEW

 

New State Champion for 2012!

The Queensland State Championships for Viewpoint was held at the League of Extraordinary Gamers meeting on the 20th May 2012. LXG is sanctioned by 93 Made Games to run official events inQueensland. There were fourteen competitors and the tournament was played under the following format:

Round 1 (3x games 1 on 1 with the Reflections set (the top four players went on to Round 2)

Round 2 (2x games in a melee style using a combined Viewpoint and Reflections set (the top two players went on to the final showdown)

Final (1x game using the Brew Deck rules. Players had 15 minutes to construct their deck)

Tournament favourite was Alexander Done who has dominated Viewpoint inQueenslandfor the past 2 years. The field included mainly regulars who play in the LXG monthly league and a few newbies. After about one and a half hours round one eliminated the field down to four players – Alex Done, Sam Morton, Anthony Halber and Nigel Bell. Nigel had played Viewpoint when it had been first released but this was his first introduction to Reflections.

The second round consisted of two matches in a melee style (everyone against everyone). A deck made from both Viewpoint and Reflection sets was used. This was quite a tense round, with Alex and Sam ganging up and forming an alliance against Anthony and Nigel. In the end, Alex and Nigel scored the higher points and went through to the final showdown.

This was a single game using the Brew Deck rules. Players had 15 minutes to make a deck using the existing Viewpoint and Reflections sets. Nigel squared off against the previous state champion and after about 10 minutes it was all over with Nigel winning 100 points to Alex’s 95 points. Close game!

Nigel was awarded with the1st PlaceTrophy, a $50 Myer voucher, a 24 pack of Ferrero-Rocher chocolates, a Viewpoint champion badge and a limited edition print of Viewpoint art-work signed by the artist, Anthony Condos.

Alex received the2nd PlaceTrophy, a 16 pack of Ferrero-Rocher and a Viewpoint T-shirt.

Sam Morton received the3rd PlaceTrophy, a 6 pack of Ferrero-Rocher and a Viewpoint mouse-pad.

Everyone enjoyed the competition and Eddie Crompton, the LXG club president (who was also playing in a Viewpoint event for the first time) made the awards to the players. Eddie also had a great time playing in the tournament and encouraged everyone at the LXG meeting to get involved in Viewpoint.

Viewpoint is a fast-paced Australian made card game that is easy to learn but deceptively strategic when it comes to winning. Visit the web-site at: http://www.93madegames.com.au/ or come along to the next LXG meeting where there is usually a game or two of Viewpoint to be had.

Brisbane Zombie Walk 2012

I’s on again, the Brisbane Zombie Walk will take place this year on Sunday 21st October. Check out the website. Brisbane Zombie Walk is a fantastic charity event. Last year’s was big and this year’s promises to be even better, with a massive day planned for Victoria Park, Herston.

See also this video of last year’s walk:

 

We have quite a few zombie-themed games at LXG too…

Winter Retreat – your final chance!

After sign ups at the May meeting on Sunday there are only three places remaining for the 2012 Winter Retreat. Today is your last chance to sign up.

Please email KeefdoneATgmailDOTcom as soon as you can if you wish to attend.

Winter Retreat info
Winter Retreat 2012

For those who have already signed up, full payment is due on or by the next club meeting, on June 17.

A Game of Games Update, May 2012

Another big day in May, with 47 people competing in A Game of Games. We had quite a few new ranks this month, remember your new badges will be available for purchase at the June meeting. Cost per badge is $2.50 with $1 of this going to MS.

Congratulations go to those who gained a rank this month:

New Vicountess: Leanne J
New Barons: Jeremy N; David M
New Baronets: John M; Graham M; Anthony H
New Knights: Tim H; Jacob R
New Esquires: Gavin F; Geoff P; Jeremy H, and Robert R at his first LXG meeting!

Well done everyone! The most points gained at this meeting were 48, by Leanne J who now sits third overall in the rankings.

Grand Melee League, Round 5 Standings

Round 5 of the Melee had five new players, and enough continuing players that we split into two tables.

Table 1 had a game that effectively started three times; once properly, once after Karn Liberated did his thing, and once more following an Upheaval.

In the end Eddie C was the winner, gaining three points, Geoff H managed four kills, David K two, and Tim H one.

Table 2 sadly didn’t finish before 5.00pm so there was no winner. Three players each managed a kill in the final 15 minutes, so shared the three packs between them; Leanne J, Anthony H and first timer Robert R.
In addition there were three additional achievement packs awarded, with David K, Eddie C and Geoff H all receiving the Big Hands achievement after David cast Windfall to have everyone draw 14 cards. Everyone here being the last three players in the game.

The new standings are below. Note that Dalton B and Jason C have now dropped off the rankings as neither has renewed their LXG membership as yet. Guys if you renew on or by the August meeting your points are fine, otherwise you’ll be starting from scratch when you rejoin.

Pos.	Name	Pts	Win	Ach	Pld
1	Geoff H	12	1	2	5
2	Eddie C	11	2	1	4
3	Tim H	11	2	0	5
4	David K	10	1	2	5
5	Adrian R	6	0	1	5
6	Alex V	5	1	0	2
7	Jacob R	4	0	0	5
8	Shannon R	3	0	1	2
9	Leanne J	2	0	0	4
10	Anthony H	2	0	0	3
11	Emma B	2	0	0	1
12	Megan B	1	0	1	4
13=	Keith D	1	0	0	5
13=	Jeremy N	1	0	0	5
15=	Nigel B	1	0	0	3
15=	Courtney J	1	0	0	3
17	Robert R	1	0	0	1
18	Alex D	0	0	0	4
19=	Alex Sp	0	0	0	3
19=	Peter G	0	0	0	3
21=	Chris V	0	0	0	2
21=	Oliver C	0	0	0	2
21=	Grace C	0	0	0	2
24=	Tristan B	0	0	0	1
24=	Mal O	0	0	0	1
24=	Zac C-V	0	0	0	1
24=	Darren C	0	0	0	1
24=	Gary S	0	0	0	1
24=	Kaden	0	0	0	1

Achievement Pool: 51 packs
Prizes paid to date: 36 packs

Achievements (winners so far)
Stayer: Attend 6 melees during the year (0)
Legion: Attack with 20 or more creatures in a single turn (2 – Geoff H, Megan B)
Big Hands: Draw 10 or more cards in a single turn (4 – Shannon R, Eddie C, Geoff H, David K)
Almost Immortal: Get up to 100 life in a melee, without winning that melee (1 – David K)
Dark Horse: Get at least one point three melees running, without winning a melee in that time (1 – Adrian R)
Permanent trophy: Win a melee three months running (0)

Top 8: Be in the top 8 by points after the November melee (no pack awarded, this achievement grants entry to the finals in December)

May Meeting Preview

Sunday 20 May is our next club meeting.  This one will be back in the freshly painted hall, after last month’s detour to the library. The wargamers will be able to play their games once more!

The May meeting gives your the opportunity to renew your club membership if you haven’t already done so.

In addition:

Reserve your place for this year’s Winter Retreat

Play in the next round of our Grand Melee, Thunderstone, and Viewpoint leagues

Participate in the Viewpoint State Finals

Explore the hundreds of games in our games library

Gain your next rank in A Game of Games.

New

Speaking of A Game of Games, the committee has been working tirelessly to implement phase 2 – achievement badges! Starting at the May meeting, achievement badges will be available to members who have completed certain things. The first badge is for all those who have won a Grand Melee game this year. Other badges will be coming from June, and we are happy to take your suggestions for achievements to award!