December Game-a-thon

The SWA sponsors eleven one-day Game-a-thons each year. We schedule these every month (January through September, November and December). October is reserved for Council of Five Nations. We usually shoot for the second Saturday of the month, but we’re flexible in consideration of Studio availability and other regional conventions. We generally have 6-10 events, scheduled into two time slots (11am-4pm, 5pm-10pm+). We can easily accomodate games that run longer than a five-hour slot. You only pay for the games you play in. No registrations fees at the door, and no badges. GMs don’t pay, and they play for free in the session they’re not running.

Our next scheduled Game-a-thon is Saturday, December 13, 2008.
Here are the details.

“While returning from the trade colonies, the champions noticed a number of Radont heading for the castle of trades. Upon further investigation, the champions discovered a member of the Havenar Balcos tribe, a tribe dedicated to death. Also within the group was a cabal of slassins and their henchmen. Can the champions protect the Castle of Trade from Death’s door?”
More information at http://www.firstduty.com/add/league/events.php.
This event will follow the guidelines for the FCS Gaming League. It is rated at Master level and players may bring their pre-generated teams. If you are new to Edition 3.5, we will review the rules as we go. You DO NOT need to be a member of the FCS Gaming League to participate in this event.
what2bring: FCSGL pre-gen character, dice, minis, PHB and relevant books. New players should bring an 17th level character.

Last night the Japanese fleet conducted a surprise torpedo attack on the unprepared Russian fleet in Port Arthur. Today, Japanese convoys loaded with troops are headed for Korea. Can the surviving Russian ships break out of Port Arthur and sortie against the vulnerable convoys, or will the Japanese invasion go ahead as planned?
Rules are “Fast Play Rules for Pre-Dreadnoughts” from issue 266 of Miniature Wargames magazine.

A small fleet action. Two teams will battle it out until one side has been destroyed or forced to withdraw. Team 1 will be able to choose Federation, Kzinti, and Gorn ships, while Team 2 will get to choose from Klingon, Romulan and Lyrian ships.
Ships available and scale will be determined by the total number of players. All materials to play will be provided and new players wishing to try out Federation Commander are more than welcome.
For more information follow this link to the Federation Commander website which includes pictures, introductory rules, player aids, etc..

World of Warcraft: the Adventure Game is a competitive, quick-moving romp through the world of Warcraft. Taking your character from humble beginnings to the dizzying heights of power, challenging dangerous monsters and the dangers of your fellow players, will you be the one to emerge victorious? This is the simpler WoW, runs 2-3 hours.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for World of Warcraft which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids and a link to the rules on the publisher’s website.

A dungeon crawl game using modular boards and scenarios, the game system is an updated version of Fantasy Flight’s Doom: The Boardgame. One player acts as the dungeon master while the others take on the roles of adventurers cooperatively exploring a fantasy dungeon.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Descent: Journeys in the Dark which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids and links to the FAQ and Rulebook.

This is a game that spans the time of the Viking Sagas. The epic journeys that led Norsemen to raid, trade and settle over the known and unknown territories of the northern hemisphere. You command your warriors and map out your strategy - only the strongest, most courageous and luckiest will triumph.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Fire & Axe which includes images, playing aids, links, and other info.

Twilight Imperium Third Edition is an epic empire-building game of interstellar conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Players take the roles of ancient galactic civilizations, each seeking to seize the imperial throne via warfare, diplomacy, and technological progression.
TI3 features more than 200 masterfully sculpted oversize plastic miniatures - the typical TI units (Ground Forces, Cruisers, Dreadnaughts, Carriers, Fighters, PDS, and Space Docks) as well as two new units (the massive War Sun and the Destroyer). TI3 contains new oversize board tiles, more than 400 cards, every known civilization of the Twilight Imperium universe, almost every expansion rule and component ever published for TI, a gorgeous graphical overhaul, and an impressive full-color rules set. Are you ready for another Age of Twilight?
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition which includes reviews, pictures, tons of playing aids and a link to the publisher’s website for rules and FAQ/Errata.
The direct link to the publisher’s support page is here.

Rome began the 4th century BC as no more than the leading city of a small league of Latin communities and ended it controlling all of Italy and on the doorstep to Western preeminence. During this time, many obstacles stood in her way, including Latin tribes like the Samnites, invading barbarians such as the Gauls, the dominant Etruscans and their wealth, and the expansive Greeks.
The Sword of Rome is a card driven board game that simulates this historical drama by pitting the Romans, Gauls, Greeks, and the alliance of Etruscans and Samnites against each other for control of Italy - each with their own unique strengths and vulnerabilities. The Sword of Rome has a significant diplomatic aspect which encourages dealmaking and official temporary alliances, as well as neutral powers like the Transalpine Gauls, Volci and Carthaginians which can be used by the player powers on occasion to harass their opponents either as allies or those who would otherwise be beyond their reach.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for The Sword of Rome which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids and rules.
Note: Should there be sufficient players, the 5th Player Expansion will be used which graduates Carthage to become a player power and introduces additional player dynamics to the game. Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for The Sword of Rome 5th Player Expansion to get additional information about it.

Location

As usual, this Game-a-thon will be held at the Studio of Bridge and Games, in Schenectady, NY. If you need directions, you can click here, or send an email to: mailto:directions@swa-gaming.org An automatic reply will immediately be sent to you with detailed directions.

The number at the Studio is: (518) 346-3773

Session Fees

Show up and play one game session = $4.00

Show up and play both game sessions = $6.00

GMs play all day for free.

Full-time students get in for free. For our purposes, "full-time students" are people in Kindergarten through college. Our intent here is to help allow younger games/"new blood" to participate at SWA events, and the gaming hobby in general.
The student discount does not cover working adults who happen to be taking a Continuing Education class. Please help us fulfill the spirit and intent of this policy.

Registration

Our Game-a-thons have generally been pretty casual events; people stroll in and sign up for the event of their choice on-the-spot. Lately, however, attendance has been increasing and more events are filling to maximum and beyond.

If you would like to greatly increase your chance of getting into the game of your choice, you can now formally pre-register online. Payments will be handled through PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can still pay with your credit card.

Online pre-registration is not required. You can still just stroll in and get into a game. But pre-registering is now an option for those who want to take advantage of it.

Follow this link to go to the online registration page. We’ll sign you up, but your spot’s not guaranteed until we get your payment.

Swap Meet Tables

If you’ve got merchandise you’d like to sell, please consider renting a table or three at our Game-a-thon.

This is meant to be more of a Swap Meet / Garage Sale atmosphere, and not really intended for full merchant setups.

Each attendee can rent a maximum of three tables. The first costs $2, two cost $10, and three cost $20. As you can see, the price structure encourages individuals to rent few tables. We will have a maximum of eight tables available at each Game-a-thon.

Each table is (2.5' x 2.5'); a standard card table. Some of them are kinda old and thus not very sturdy. Please keep this in mind when planning what you’ll bring for sale.

You can reserve your table(s) ahead of time by using the online registration form. You will see the prices repeated there. Please list your table request in the ‘Comments’ field. Please also note that you have to pay the Game-a-thon registration in addition to the table rental fee.

You can also rent tables on a walk-in basis, but please remember we’ll have no more than eight available for the day; first come, first served.

We suggest that you use our Forum discussion boards to announce what you will/might bring. We suggest posting in the “What’s happening this week” category where the Game-a-thons are announced.

(Here’s our secret agenda... Not only do we want to help you get rid of gaming stuff you’re not using, but we’d also like to see this generate some more walk-in traffic.)

Questions or Comments?

Events at Future Game-a-thons

If you’d like to run a game at a future Game-a-thon, please click here to submit your event online.

You can also email us at your convenience.

You can even call Bill and tell him about your event over the phone - we’re flexible!

If you’d like to see a particular game run at a future event, let us know by filling in a Game Request Form here.