The Bulwark

Amy will be hosting an informational meeting for the Dying Kingdoms LARP. This game will have a lot of activity and isn’t just sitting around playing Ro-Sham-Bo. If you have ever wanted to leap from your D&D table, and smack the rogue with a sword because you are tired of her stealing your stuff, now is the time to do it! Just make sure the sword is foam.

Live Action Role Playing in this context can be a lot of fun if not taken too seriously. Take the “Get together, roll some dice, have fun” mentality reserved for D&D and replace it with “Get together, beat each other with pieces of foam, have fun”.  If you have any questions post them in the comment field, and for more information check out the Dying Kingdoms website.

Release day can always be tense. You have studied the lists and spoilers; you have an almost celestial knowledge of the combinations, tricks, you just hope the spoilers were correct. You gird your facial expressions as you draft, and scowl across the table like a hawk leering at a mouse in a field, he has no idea what is coming, now the next decision is crucial to making the best deck that will win you the day.

In all regards, that situation will not play out this weekend. On March 6^th, the cunning and confused will collide as each player saddles up to make the worst deck possible!  The object of this tournament is to win, of course, but you will never play with your deck.

Since you won’t ever play with your own deck want to design it to lose no matter what.
Deck design constraints will ensure that every deck can win, but you get points for your deck losing.  The format is constructed of course, with the following constraints and restrictions.

So come by the Bulwark for this special event March 6^th at 3:00PM.  Bring your own deck, Invite friends, anyone who has ever played Magic has a stack of crummy cards, and anyone can be a winner.  Winners will get a special prize, and some sort of awkward bragging rights.

Design Constraints for the WMD Tournament Decks
———————————————–
1. All cards from all expansions (except Unglued & Unhinged) may be used.

2. Deck must contain exactly 75 cards – no sideboard.

3. Deck must contain exactly 30 mana-producing lands.

4. Deck must contain at least 20 Summon Creature spells.
a. 75% of the creatures in the deck may not have the champion ability, require a sacrifice to remain in play for at least one phase, have the defender ability, or be a wall.

5. The sum of the basic power of all the creatures must be at least 40.
(*=1, X=1)

6. No duplicate spells – only one of each. No duplicate lands other than basic lands. Snow-covered lands are considered basic lands.

7. Deck must contain at least 5 non-creature cards capable of dealing unconditional* direct damage to your opponent.

8. Deck must contain at least 5 non-creature cards capable of destroying a
creature. These can overlap the previous requirement.

9. Must be able to play every spell card using only basic lands – i.e. must include minimum number of each type of basic land to be able to play the most expensive (in that color) spell.

10. For each color, count the number of spell cards that use that color. You must have at least half that number (rounded up) of basic lands that produce that color.

11. Must be able to play every card in the deck.

12. No Ante cards.

*unconditional = can be conditional as long as you can be assured that the condition will always be possible in every game. For instance, a spell or ability that depends on your opponent having a particular land type will not count, but if it depends on *any* player having a particular land type, and you are playing with that land type, the card would be OK. A card that does damage based on the number of cards in the opponent’s hand would be OK because it is always possible for any opponent to meet the condition. Of course, direct damage spells (like Fireball) will always be OK.

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.

“An epic board game of galactic conquest, politics, and trade” these are the words that greet you as you pull up Twilight Imperium on Fantasy Flight Games’ website.  Arguably this game made Fantasy Flight the company it is, and it has a sort of unflinching quality to it. It’s a massive game with 200+ pieces, 400 cards, and details of every race you will find in the game. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being Diplomacy like simplicity, 10 being the ostentatiously discursive complex systems like ant hives, the US military, and War! Age of Imperialism, Twilight Imperium is an 11.

Even though it’s complex, it has a flow to it that seems to fit. The most recent edition refined the rules, and made the process more natural.  This game is constantly hailed for its depth, and some have called it a new standard in adult board games. The Bulwark is proud to let you be the judge.

Andrew Flicker will be running a game of Twilight Imperium this weekend. He recently acquired it from the mad genius behind Alien Overlords, and acquired it with a challenge.  He was challenged to not only learn the game himself, but teach others to do play; like some sort of esoteric alien race Dave Zumerwalt, who sold the game to Drew, threw down the gauntlet.  He will return at some unspecified moment in time to measure us, to see if we had been not only enlightened but honed and to meet him on the intergalactic field of battle.

This is a fantastic game Drew will be running this weekend.  The game starts at 1:00 and should end by 6:00 at the latest.  If you are interested in playing please contact myself or Drew at drewflicker@gmail.com.

Don Boucher will be hosting a casual night of Magic the Gathering at the Bulwark. Don has been regularly hosting launch parties at his house, and we are glad to host his next gala. If you are new to magic, or an old hat this new set has it all. As someone who personally wanted to see a return to the core principles which made Magic a fun game to play, this set gets a thumbs up.

Don has listed the price for your packs as below, and has offered a discount to Bulwark members. He has slots for 18 players, but people are welcome to bring their own 4 packs (BYOP).

Member: $12
Non Member: $15
BYOP: $3

Again this is a casual night of gaming with good people, the tournament is not DCI rated, and folks are encouraged to come, relax and meet some new faces. This tournament will take place February 21st at 1:00 PM.  Don has promised prize support, and a big thanks goes out to Chico Magic for the product.

Wednesday, February 3^rd the Bulwark will be hosting a Welcome to the RPGA event.  This event will be organized by Don Boucher and will help the community create, and play characters in the Living Forgotten Realms setting hosted by the Wizards of the Coast’s premier fan club, the RPGA.

The RPGA is a fantastic way for players to get involved with weekly games, without the commitment. It can be hard to regularly attend an event, and the RPGA publishes episodic modules which wrap up in anywhere from 3-5 hours.  This system of anecdotal play makes it’s perfect for your character to be there one week, but not the next. The RPGA is also a national organization, meaning you can play your character at conventions, game days, and at weekly sessions anywhere in the country!

We will be opening our doors for free to new players on the 3^rd in order to let everyone experience this great organization, and everything it has to provide. Remember membership in the RPGA is free, and in order to get started all you need is a pencil, a paper, and good attitude.  Be there at 6:00 for character creation all supplies provided.

The Bulwark is proud to welcome the ladies of Blue Rose D20!  These duchesses of dice are a recent addition to the gaming community here in Chico. Bethany Flicker will be conducting players through the fantastic world of Aldea every other Sunday. Blue Rose is a TrueD20 setting of Romantic Fantasy, eschewing the perception of Robert E. Howard and Tolkein based Sword and Sorcery for a more idyllic setting based on the premises of Mercedes Lackey.  If you have any questions about Blue Rose, the world of Aldea, or the True D20 system feel free to email novembercoin@gmail.com.

The Bulwark is proud to welcome Dave Zumwalt, designer of the game Alien Overlords. Dave will be traveling to Chico in order to help us play test his nearly realized system. Dave has been so kind as to save me the hassle of writing about the event, and has summarized his brainchild thus:

“Alien Overlords™ is a board game that allows two to four players to take control of futuristic empires and fight for control of a section of the galaxy. Players will customize their empires by selecting various technologies, control the resources of worlds, and command fleets of starships in strategic space battles. The game is designed to be played with a minimum of record-keeping. The game is played with numerous spaceship playing pieces and with dice.”

Dave has worked hard to design a system which addresses some of the resource management issues players have in other games. He has also designed a unique set of “Situation Cards” that create interesting challenges and conditions as play unfolds. We are hoping to have a full count for Dave on February 6th at 5:30. Dave is traveling from Redding, so this start time is traffic permitting. Slots are open, and if we wind up with an over flow other board games will be ran throughout the night. The Bulwark Library will be open to anyone, check this list to see the possibilities. If you would like to sign up for the game, have any questions for me or the designer comment below!

The Bulwark is a gaming center, but what does that mean? That means it’s not just a “business” but a place for you and your friends, or other members, to come together in order to have a good time.  This doesn’t need to be a scheduled game, or regular weekly gathering, the Bulwark is a place that is abiding, and welcomes an accidental gaming group just as warmly as they hoary motley of players that have been gaming since time imemorial.

In this vein we have created the Bulwark Open Library, it is an ancient repository of all things dork, a place where gamers can retire weary tomes or worn sets in order for pick up games and odd journeys into some unknown hoopla to renew them. This list is always grown, and donations are always gladly accepted. You can loan a set or book, or donate one permanently. Any redundant donations which are going to be kept at the Bulwark permanently will be donated to the Butte County Library or Child’s Play.  Below is our list, if you are interested in donating feel free to contact me!

This list will be updated regularly.

Board Games

• Settlers of Catan
• Cities and Knights of Catan
• The World of Warcraft Board Game
• WAR! Age of Imperialism
• Vampire: Prince of the City
• HexHex
• Cash ‘n Guns

RPGs

• Vampire: The Requiem
• Mage: The Awakening
• Changeling: The Lost
• Promethean: The Created
• Werewolf: The Forsaken
• Bloodlines: The Legendary
• Rogue Trader
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook 2
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Monster Manual
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Dungeon Master’s Guide
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
• Laws of the Night

Wow, what a weekend!  A big thanks goes out to all the people who helped coordinated membership activities this weekend. Andrew Flicker ran not one, but two games of the World of Warcraft Board Game and the Warhammer 40K guys (and gal) played a massive 2750pt grudge match between the Space Marines and the recently updated Tyranids.

A big thanks also goes out to the players of New Haven by Night for their support, as well as Don Boucher for coordinating the two RPGA games that took place this week. Finally congratulations to Jared Gilmore for being elected Arch Duke of the Diplomacy league!  It’s members like you who are going to make the Bulwark a thriving community, and such support even before opening day is really overwhelming.   I look forward to our February 1st launch party where several events will be taking place hosted by various members in the community.   Also, our special order desk will be opening very soon, and members will be notified when it launches.

If you would like to organize a gaming event at the Bulwark, or even want to have the Bulwark host your weekly tabletop session feel free to email myself or just stop by! We are always happy to accommodate new events and love to see people wander in for pick up games.