While the weather raged on outside we all gathered to play some games in the warmth at Coastal Board Gamers. The night saw a mixed crowd with a variety of games played.
Here is a list of what made it to the table:
Amsterdam
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Coffee Rush
Sky Team
Dungeon Mayhem
Splendor
Festival
High Society
Kingdom Rush
King and Assassins
Heat: Pedal to the Metal
Trekking the World
Earth
The Guild of Merchant Explorers
In 2021 CBG was running in the Fuchsia Fantasy Tea Rooms, It was a cold night and I remember it was dark early, so it must have been about this time of year. Two young men walked in for the first time. They played some games and had dinner with myself and Tim. At the back of the room there was an epic space game being played, new to the hobby they had never seen such a game before but “It was cool”.
Fast forward 4 years, and so much has changed. Those 2 quiet young men have not only grown their gaming pallet, but grown within CBG. Both have spent the last year serving on the committee helping guide CBG into the future.
Tonight was one of these young two’s last night at CBG for a while. Moving to QLD, this would be our last chance in a while to game with Nic. It was only fitting that we finally play that epic space game he saw all those years ago…
/pic5235277.jpg)
Eclipse is a 4X game set in a Sifi theme. Players need to eXplore the galaxy around their home worlds, eXpand their influence and military might, eXploit their controlled worlds for resources and eXterminate the NPC’s and other players.
Nic and Oakley wanting to play this game and all the complexity that comes with it shows how far these two community members have come in this wonderful hobby of ours.
The game stared off as most games of Eclipse do. Players taking turns to explore the galaxy around them and secure resources for the game ahead. Alliances were being offered and accepted around the table. The players were getting a feel for the game and for how the politics might play out. By Round 5 I had completed the objective I had set for myself, destroy the “Death Star”, though this game is not Star Wars it is easily described as a “Death Star” in the middle of the map. While this isn’t as important as it may be in some other games, it is a nice location to control.
It was here that Nic and Vivian, who were playing as a team, decided they wanted that space now that the “Death Star” had been dealt with. Moving a sizeable force into my territory. On seeing this act of war, I proceeded to reinforce my ships currently located there. One of the coolest things with Eclipse is you can modify your ships, so instead of simply building more ships, I made the ones there INDISTRUCTABLE! The combat took a while and was a gruelling battle but in the end the invaders were destroyed.
Shortly after this, seeing how much fun combat in Eclipse can be, Oakley thought he’d have a go…. At Mike! The unfortunate thing was that Mike and Oakley were in an alliance. This resulted in Oakley receiving the coveted TRATOR tile and -2 points at the end of the game. He would not end up holding this for long but it is treated with reverence when the first alliance is broken. The combat did not work out in Oakley’s favour but it was fun to watch him betray Mike.
Nic has now moved on and will be playing games with Katy in QLD before long. We wish him all the best in this new adventure for him and hope he comes by to visit from time to time. All of us at CBG will miss you buddy, have fun up north!
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCMENT
The next 2 months have some date changes for our regular events. Please check the What’s Happening page, Discord Events or Aftergame Events for the new event dates.
The CBG Awards Dinner tickets are now available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased regular CBG Events, DUE TO THE ABOVE, please remember to purchase your tickets on 9th or 23rd of August. For more information regarding the CBG Awards Dinner please visit our What’s Happening page.