January Game-a-thon

This is a play test game, for the upcoming Cold Wars convention. An American B-17 is flying over Germany on its way to drop bombs, while the Germans are using their newest weapon to shoot it down.

A crime lord is being transported by police. A group of scientists are trying to find the convention hall. A woman has reported her little girl missing. And a plane has crashed at the airport that was apparently transporting... corpses... that have escaped... and are devouring the living. It's going to be one of those days. Home made rules, figures provided, bring your own sense of humor and fun. Beginners welcome. Some mature themes.
Bring: D20s, D6s, snacks

In Le Havre, a player’s turn consists of two parts: First, distribute newly supplied goods onto the offer spaces; then take an action. As an action, players may choose either to take all goods of one type from an offer space or to use one of the available buildings. Building actions allow players to upgrade goods, sell them or use them to build their own buildings and ships. Buildings are both an investment opportunity and a revenue stream, as players must pay an entry fee to use buildings that they do not own. Ships, on the other hand, are primarily used to provide the food that is needed to feed the workers.
After every seven turns, the round ends: players’ cattle and grain may multiply through a Harvest, and players must feed their workers. After a fixed number of rounds, each player may carry out one final action, and then the game ends. Players add the value of their buildings and ships to their cash reserves. The player who has amassed the largest fortune is the winner.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Le Havre which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids, and links to the rules of the game and other information on the publisher's website.

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.
Note: This is a long game and could take more than 4 hours. New players are welcome, but would greatly benefit from taking a look at the links provided before game time. The direct link to the publisher's support page is here. A wonderful tutorial for new players can be found here.

King Robert Baratheon is dead, and the lands of Westeros brace for battle.
In the second edition of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, three to six players take on the roles of the great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, as they vie for control of the Iron Throne through the use of diplomacy and warfare. Based on the best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones is an epic board game in which it will take more than military might to win. Will you take power through force, use honeyed words to coerce your way onto the throne, or rally the townsfolk to your side? Through strategic planning, masterful diplomacy, and clever card play, spread your influence over Westeros!
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for A Game of Thrones (2nd Edition) which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids and a link to the publisher's website for rules.

Container is a game of supply-and-demand economics and splitting profits. A generic product - a shipping container full - is produced by factories, sold to warehouses, sold to shippers, and then sold to the consumer on a foreign island. Players decide how many factories to purchase and which type of product each factory will produce, and then set the price of those products to attract buyers. Those buyers then store them in their warehouses and set the price to attract purchasers, who then set the price for them to (hopefully) be sold to shippers. The shippers then take these containers to the foreign island to be sold as a lot to a consumer.
Sound simple enough? Well, the catch is that each transaction must be between two different players and each type of container is worth a different, unknown amount to each player. With the exception of purchasing the lot at the island, each container must be sold to an opposing player. It may pass through the hands of only two players on the way to the island, or it may go through 4 different players when all is said and done - but it must change hands. How much are you are willing to help an opponent in order to help yourself?
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Container for photos, reviews, player aids, and the rules.

Follow this link to the local Pathfinder's Lodge to sign up.
For a free copy of the rules, follow this link.

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.