November 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, November 15, 2008.
Here are the details.

25mm Samurai skirmish action. Rebels try to ambush a Portuguese gun merchant protected by loyal Samurai.
Tactica Skirmish rules 25mm Minis. Game mechanics are simple

The generals of Alexander the Great jockey to become his true successor, either by becoming regent to one of Alexander’s heirs or by being crowned in their own right. A free-wheeling game of politics and warfare.
Follow this link to BoardGameGeek entry for Successors, 3rd edition which includes images, playing aids, links, and other info.

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.

Join the soldiers of the 16th Brigade, 3 Army, Terran Expeditionary Force in their mission to safeguard Terra! Our target is the planet Holbein and Lt. Harmony and his squads are being sent to recconnoitre ahead of the main landing force. It is sure to be dangerous, but if you wanted to live forever, you would have stayed on Terra.
Please note that this game contains some mature content and is not suitable for younger players.

Revolution is a pure strategy game reflecting the independence movement in the Spanish Netherlands known as the “Eighty Years’ War”.
Each player represents one of the five main factions involved in this power struggle - each with their own motives and objectives. Some factions may help your cause in order to help theirs, but they are not your allies per se. Sorting out when you should count on them and when you should not is part of the fun!
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Revolution which includes reviews, pictures, rules and other playing aids.
Players will have a lot on their plates in this game so they should be familiar with the published rules beforehand. New players are welcome and encouraged and will of course be taught if needed.

Shadow of War Expansion (aka Shattered Kingdom) ... features hundreds of new cards, both expanding the original game and introducing a few new concepts. A new item deck rewards characters with exciting trinkets and artifacts. A new quest deck puts a bounty on independent creatures, rewarding characters who
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.

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.