West Virginia Game Association Holiday Gathering 2010

[Charlie Davis]

The West Virginia Game Association holds a game day each year around the beginning of the year. This year it was on January 2. Lots of the CharCon staff and Appalachian Gamers attend along with others from the area. Here is a report on the day.

We really focus on three things. Playing games, eating, and a gift exchange.
Attendees were
* Travis Orders
* Dave Gilligan
* Tom Hancock
* Travis Reynolds
* Mike Fitzgerald
* Keenan
* Charlie Davis
* Donny Plumley
* Louis Seelbach
* Ted Cheatham
* Mike Samples (Host)
* Nick Gillispie

Games Played - *indicates the winner
Carson City - Ted*, Kris, Lou - Very good new game. Cowboys, saloons, mines, gunfights, etc.

Space Alert - Dave, Mike, Keenan (lost)
Space Alert - Dave, Mike, Keenan, Charlie, TravO (won easy)
Space Alert - Dave, Mike, Keenan, Charlie, TravO (lost hard ) - This is a cooperative game, in which you program your movement, while an annoying cd is counting down the time. It's great fun.

Ghost Story - Dave, Mike, Keenan, TravO (Ghost won) - Cooperative game that the ghosts win a lot. The good thing is it plays fast and you can change skills from game to game.

Peloponnes - Lou, Ted, Tom, TravR*, Kris, Charlie - a quick civ building game. There seems to be a end game problem that is hard to explain the first time you play. Very good game.

Terra Prime - Lou*, Tom, TravR*, Kris, Charlie - a new game from Tasty Minstal Games. It is a space exploration, pick up and deliver game, along the lines of Merchant of Venus but scaled down. The group liked it.

Chaos in the Old World - Donnie, Dave, Mike, Keenan (did not finish the game) - The gods are trying to take over the world. Lots of cool bits. It takes a while to explain to newbies. Turns are pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Powerboats - Lou*, TravR, Charlie - Unusual racing game with 3 sided dice. I managed to crash 3 times and Lou ran away with the race. You are supposed to race 3 times to offset the luck.

If Wishes were Fishes - Lou*, TravR, Charlie - An exceptional game that has been around a while but none of us had played. It is price manipulation/collection game. Lots of neat features including great plastic worms.

The Downfall of Pompeii - Lou*, TravR, Charlie - I had a big family. Most of them did not make it out of Pompeii. Great game.

Food Brought
* Dave: A couple of 2 liters of diet soda and a Chocolate Chip Cheeseball w/graham cracker sticks (YUM!)
* Travis: Awesome Baked Beans (YUM, YUM!)
* Lou: 15lb Turkey - Yep he brought a pre-cooked turkey. We about set the house on fire warming it up, but it was fine eating.
* Kris: Potato Salad & Fruit Salad (Fruit Salad...Yummy, yummy...)
* Fitz: Pepperoni Rolls
* Charlie: variety of beer and some mixed nuts
* Tom: Dip & Chips
* Mike: Husson's Large Pizza - very good
We eat like pigs. It is the last blast before the after holiday "I have to lose weight" syndrome sets in.

Gift exchange - Those that wish to participate bring 1 or 2 games wrapped up with a $30-$50 value. Then we draw numbers and pick a box. After the first person opens a game, the next person can take an open game or open a new one. A game may only be stolen twice. Zombies, Warcraft and the Kingsburg set did not stay with the person that opened them. It was a lot of fun. Here is who ended up with what.

Donnie - Zombies (stolen)
Charlie - Dominion
Ted - Rheinlander
Dave - Kingsburg and exp. (stolen twice)
Kris - Heads of State
TravR - Castle Panic
Mike - Cave Troll & Nottingham
Lou - Warcraft boardgame (stolen)
Nick- The Adventurers

This is a great day of gaming and friendship. One of the best things about face to face gaming is that you get to hang out with people you like. I hope your groups have a chance to get together once a year at something like this.