The Bulwark

Saturday witnessed the return of a Bulwark tradition, lying to your friends and enjoying a few beers while they suffer.  Diplomacy is the international game of politics and intrigue, each player makes alliances and breaks them in order the further the ends of his country. For more information on Diplomacy, check out some of our previous articles.

Arch-Duke Jared Gilmore gathered some new faces and some old as Russian swept West with the aid of Turkey. A special nod goes out to Blake Morillas who was sportsman of the evening. Playing as Austria he was first eliminated when the Germans, lead by the Arch-Duke himself, betrayed the nation and allowed Italy to sack the country.

We are looking forward to more Diplomacy games in the future. Some video was taken during the night and posted to our Facebook group, swing by and check it out.

In case you weren’t around this weekend you missed a lot! Yeah, nothing was scheduled officially but we had a great weekend of pick-up gaming. Pip ran Call of Cthulhu were we got to see a vintage special edition core book by Chaosium and several investigators lost their minds. Several Skinks were cured of a condition which rendered them armless by Betsy. On the heels of that Don ran a massive 8 player Dungeons and Dragons game, which followed on the heels of Arkham Horror where Chris was sealed in an alternate dimension never to be heard from again.  The next day JD put together a casual AGoT group, and Drew marched Dwarves to slaughter the undead hordes of Khemri.

It was great seeing all the pickup games. If you dropped by just to hang out we were glad to have you! Remember the Bulwark isn’t just a spot to game, it’s a place where everybody knows your character’s name.

May the God Emperor bless our members. So often I am asked “How can I help the club”, or “What does the organization need”, people are ready and eager to donate tangible items. Things like fans, or chairs, or what have you. The fact is we get those things off of Craigslist, or purchase them using the dues our members pay.

What we really need is people to coordinate and run games. This doesn’t have to be anything huge, just you, a few friends having a good night. Have an old table top RPG you have been wanting to play for a while? Run it! We have members chomping at the bit to play in some home brew games.  Right now we have Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness, and Scion being ran at The Bulwark, and we have plenty of people asking about other games too!

Do you love a board game and want to get some players together?  Let me know, and I will create an event. If you are interested in playing a game the club can order a copy for you at a huge discount!

So when people ask me, “how do I give back” I tell them just have fun, and bring people along for the ride.

A couple of exciting announcements coming from the Bulwark! Starting in July we will have membership cards which will be used to record the payment of monthly dues.  This will offer a sure fire way of telling who has, and who has not paid their club dues, and make sure club organizers don’t accidentally double charge members. The last thing the Bulwark wants to do is divert any more of your hard earned money than we need to. Besides, an extra $10 is a new chapter pack and can be put towards a lot of gaming fun!

Speaking of chapter packs, the second week of the Game of Thrones Living Card Game league is roaring along, JD is currently sitting at first, with Drew and James sitting next to him at the leaders table Monday night. A full list of our league standings appear below.

The players of the Strange Aeons Warhammer Escalation Campaign (say that five times fast) have had their first round this month. Right now Karen Hechel is on the top of the stack commanding her Tomb Kings army, with Drew and Betsy trailing closely behind. Each of them also has an extra Empire point which they carry into the campaign proper.

Coming up in June and July the Bulwark will be hosting the Dungeon Bowl! Members are encouraged to create 4 man teams with the goal of getting their party through a dungeon to the finish line faster than other PC opponents. The event will run in an Eberron setting and will run like a league as well. If you and your friends think you are the best adventurers this side of Karrnath stay tuned for details!

As always, the Bulwark tries to bring you the best in Chico gamin. We have a lot of private games that are hosted at the Bulwark which aren’t mentioned. If you would like to take advantage of our large tables, library or gaming aids and host a game at the Bulwark simply send an email to Blythe@thebulwark.org or post a comment on our Facebook group. We are open 7 days a week as events come up, and we can pencil your group in anywhere.

A Game of Thrones – The Battle For the North
1st – JD
2nd – Drew
3rd – James
4th – Ben
5th – Ryan
6th – Andy
7th – Joelz
8th – Margo
9th – Don
10th – Pip

Strange Aeons – Warhammer Fantasy Escalation
1st – Karen (Tomb Kings)
2nd – Drew (Dwarves)
3rd – Betsy (Lizardmen)
4th – Ben (Dark Elves)
5th – Damon (Skaven)
6th – Spencer (Gobbos)
7th – Andy (Empire)
8th – Ryan (Orcs)

The Bulwark is proud to welcome the players of the “Strange Aeons – 12 Months to 1500 Points” Warhammer Fantasy Campaign! This campaign is being ran by Ben Blythe. Right now the campaign is full, but as slots open up the group would love to welcome new players!  The group will meet every other Friday, opposite of New Haven by Night to host open painting nights, and meet on Sundays for campaign turns.  The current list of players and their armies are below, with a description of the campaign setting.

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This year there will be several tournaments and organized play events that members of your FLGS will be participating in. Collectively members of the Bulwark often call themselves “Team Chico” when playing in these events to represent a solidarity and consistency of butt whoopin’ us Chicoans deliver;  this also helps organizers either separate us or keep us together to ensure a fair seeding, go with whatever story you want.

That being said one of the worst experiences imaginable is to roll up to a tournament only to find out you cannot participate because of banned cards or an incomplete knowledge of the rules.  A lot of these tournaments take time to prepare for.  Painting, planning, and playing dummy games are all fun but really just whet the appetite for a more hard core and competitive gaming moment.

Fear not, below is your hyper linked salvation!  The Bulwark has compiled the tournament rules for some of the most anticipated Kublacon events.  There are major changes in some, smaller tweaks in others, and some just point out the audacity that is needed sometimes to ensure gamers play a fair match.  The Bulwark’s unofficial motto of “If you have to cheat at [insert game here], then you have more problems in life than cheating at [insert game here]” is all well and good when playing with locals, but while it remains true even in the strangest lands, miscommunications can sometimes lead to people becoming frustrated.  The rules below sort out what happens when pride, ego, and Kublabucks are on the  line to make sure everyone has a great weekend; especially the winners.

A Game of Thrones – Apparently there is a banned list! The format each game at Kublacon is in LCG Constructed. Also, note the tweaks in supporting with titles.

Common/Uncommon Grab Bag – This event uses the Magic: the Gathering Comprehensive Rules as revised February 1st 2010, which is a mere 171 page document.  On top of that, when you approach the grab bag bin, you must dip your hand in and remove a grips worth of cards.  You will be expected to hold on to these cards from anywhere between 5 – 15 seconds, and/or to turn your grip up and down.   All players will abide by a consistent set of rules.

One World By Night, Always Comes Evening LARP – While the game’s own house rules can be found here, One World By Night has their own set of rules by it’s representative player council. Those rules can be found here.

RPGA – Even the RPGA, a fan club and cooperative player body, has its own set of rules to abide by.  While most of the rules are common courtesy and can be summed up with “Don’t be a dick” and “if you have been a dick about it, please don’t play with us”, there are a few points that are interesting.  Mostly Wizards of the Coast is just covering all it’s bases with this one.

Warhammer 40K – Warhammer has a set of rules for tournament play that not only rewards savvy generals, but also well rounded hobbyists and people who are just fun to play with.  The Rogue Trader system judges wins versus losses, sportsmanship, and craftsmanship of an individual’s army.  Along with the almost Biblical tome known as the Warhammer 40K Fifth Edition Core Rulebook, the Rogue Trader system has its own set of rules here. Unlike other games Warhammer is very modular, keep this in mind when building your army. Points totals, special rules, and special events may all be included in the specific tournament you are playing in.

With all of these events going on, it’s very likely some where missed.  Many of Team Chico’s Diplomacy players “the Beer and Blades Club” will be trying to get into pick up Diplomacy rounds early on, and remember Catan regionals are held at Kublacon. If you would like to see something posted, comment  below!  The entire program for the convention can be found at Kublacon’s website or behind this link.

If you were a part of the dozen people who preregistered for Kublacon with the Bulwark you already know about all the events that are happening leading up to one of the biggest gaming conventions on the West Coast.  For the next six weeks the shop will be open 7 days a week prepping for the event. Up until Kublacon you can assume that we are open and doing business while offering some exciting events.

Tuesdays, A Game of Thrones – I will be ordering several chapter packs so we will have access to as many cards in our pool as possible. Don’t forget to use sleeves for all of your cards as they are required for tournament play.

Wednesdays, RPGA – Don will be running a lot more events, after playoffs that is, to help power level characters to the next level bracket. If you want any mods specifically send an email to him or myself. You can reach Don at boucher@build.com

Open Gaming Thursdays – This is your best chance to try to get groups together for any odd ball games you want to do.  Remember there are a lot of card games that draft or demo at Kublacon, and I am able to get most games at cost with 24hours notice. Let me know if you guys need anything.

Fridays, Vampire The Masquerade LARP – The Sacramento Valley is full of LARP games for Vampire: The Masquerade. If you want to take part in the OWbN LARP going on each night at Kublacon now is the time to make a character to get some XP under your belt and get to know some of the local PCs. Let me know if you need rules, have questions, or need help in any way. Also you can email the local LARP staff at NHBNstaff@irondragongames.com.

Saturday, Boardgames – Several boardgames have regional tournaments at Kublacon, including qualifiers for Diplomacy. Let me know if you want to organize any board game events. Diplomacy and Catan are just a couple of the major games having large scale, free to enter tournaments this weekend.

Sunday, Warhammer – The local group will be focusing on finishing, touching up, and tweaking armies for tournaments. Glue and paints will be on hand for free use, so swing by if you need something.

On top of all of this we will be having a surprise contest at Kublacon for all members. More details will be posted as the con gets closer and full details will be presented Thursday the 27th of May.  Remember Team Chico is having a show of force Thursday night in the atrium before con. Either the atrium or the bar that is.

A fun event newbies and veterans alike, 40K for Pinkslips, is a game where you get to see some odd unit combinations and a quick escalation as the tournament continues. Bring two, painted, 200 point legal units from any valid Warhammer 40k codex, force org doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be from the same codex, but they can be. Play a few high-stakes game of 40k. Winner will take all.

First game will be using one of the 200 point units with your other in the pot. Winner get’s first choice of the pool – both players advance. Second game you will have two 200 units to play with – winner advances with the spoils, looser doesn’t. The games will continue until there is one winner.

And yes, at the end of the event you will get your models back.

This Sunday the Bulwark will be opening it’s doors at 3:00 PM for 500 points of Warhammer 40K. If you are working on an army this is a great time to try new tactics, learn the rules, or just come in to paint and socialize. Last week we had a very competitve game of Kill Team and it was a great chance for people to learn the basics of how infantry move, shoot, and to meet the people they would be moving against and shooting at.  Also, if you are interested in Warhammer 40K come in an check out this great game, with a great group of people!