Zac Hampson, Author at Coastal Board Gamers

Meeple Escape 2026

Zac Hampson — Sat, 30 May 2026 10:47:06 +0000

Despite numbers being down compared to previous years, Meeple Escape 2026 went off without a hitch. Meeple’s extended hours compared to our regular CBG events allowed many long-haul games were brought to the table this year, including Western Legends with every expansion, John Company, Galactic Cruise and 1846: The Race for the Midwest.

Several smaller games were also brought to the table. Zac decided the bring out the latest expansion of Heat: Pedal to the Metal, Rocky Roads, to the table. However, an unfortunate four on a stress card at a critical corner caused an early spin out leaving him far behind the other racers and unable to catch up, giving him his first “did not finish” of his racing career.

Tragedy Looper was another game played, an Anime themed game combing a murder mystery with a time travel loop and all the confusing and mysterious mechanics of both genres. While Zac and Tim put in a valiant effort to avert disaster despite their unfamiliarity with the game, the experienced mastermind behind the events got the upper hand and won out in the end.

On Sunday a quick game on Funfair was played between Zac and Josh, so Josh could complete his Meeple Challenge. Despite Zac actually deciding to build rides as opposed to several movie theatres this game and winning the critics choice award for the most themes featured, it fell just short of outscoring Josh’s own theme park that fulfilled several blueprint cards.

Congratulations to the winners of our various prize draws, we hope you enjoy your new games.

Comments from Vandoon

Rode in the door Friday afternoon chaps dusty and hat low on the brow. Others gathered on the plain and the tumble weeds cleared as dinner was served. After a fine repast Everyone gathered their mounts and headed off to our game of Western Legends. There was one among us that was just too legendary and left us in the dust. Eleanor took the crown. Many different paths were taken, Some spent all day in the saloon playing poker others took to droving herds of cattle to market. Some even took to more nefarious paths however the landholder won out.

I retired for the evening.

The sun broke over a lovely day and all the excited gamers reared their sleepy heads. After a filling breakfast I set out to make my fortune in India. 6 families formed The John Company to bring riches back to England and retire our relatives in the comfort they deserved. We all set out with good intentions however the Natives and poor management caused our undoing. After a mere 2 years the company failed and we were all sacked. India went about its business, and we moved on to other games.

I thought I might try my hand in the industrial revolution and joined a game of Brass Birmingham. A game I quite enjoy. Everyone had a great time however industry must not be my thing as I managed to tie for last. I noticed a theme here, trounced out on the open plain, crashed the company ending with a negative score and last in a game I am comfortable with.

Feeling like I needed a change I took on World Order. Playing as the benevolent USA I proceeded to roll tanks across the board and shake my fists at the other impudent nations. Unfortunately, I was almost lapped coming 99 points behind the lead country. World domination is not my thing. I took my leave and got some rest knowing the next day I would run a rocket ship tour company providing joy to all my passengers.

Another day took shape and I began running the tour company. I had a slow start and others had rockets built and tours running before I made my first launch. I began to catch up but was just too late. The tourists had fun as did I however I again managed to tie for last.

The weekend drew to a close and we said our farewells.

It truly was great to see everyone again and I only wish I could have played more games with more people. I always want to get to the table with the friendly people that I don’t see often enough. I look forward to next year. The big question is always what games I can play and with whom. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

Lynden Says…

I played 5 games during the camp. Saturday morning a group of us played John company We failed the company in the second round of the game. Causing the game to finish much earlier, most of us finishing on a negative score.

Saturday evening, I was in a game hosted by Justin, a new attendee to the camp, it was a very competitive game with a race to get each of the milestones. It was a fairly close scoring game with Maddie winning on $415, second place Sam $356, third place Lynden $280, fourth place Justin $160, fifth place Casual traveler $124 From Lynden

Chris says…

I didn’t actually play as many games as I thought as the one on Saturday was a long game.

Highlights for me were playing Heat on Friday with some expansions. That’s always a fun game. On Saturday I got my new Kickstarter Luthier to the table for a 6-hour game. All about buying items to make and sell Music instruments to composers and other famous people. It was great to finally have a 4 player game.

It was also good to play Condottiere after a long time. A battle to take over Italy on what seems like one of the smallest player boards out there.

Finally after a few games of Skull and The Crew Deep Sea the day was ended with a great game of Thunder Road. For my first ever game I ended up almost going out and destroying my cars after only a couple of rounds, I redemed myself once the fires were out though.

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NYE 2025 Event Wrap Up

Zac Hampson — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 10:54:37 +0000

Our New Year’s Eve event had quite the turnout this year, with a fair number of faces, both new and old, regulars and rarely-seen, taking advantage of our extended hours to play games until the wee hours of the morning.

With quite the turnout for the night, plenty of games were played throughout the night.

Sniper Elite – The Board Game
Marrakesh
Kingdom Rush
Roll for It
Barbecubes
San Jaun
Above & Below
Call to Adventure
Funfair
It’s a Wonderful World
Terry Pratchett’s The Witches
Aliens – Another Glorious Day in the Corps
That’s Not a Hat
Azul
Harmonies
Ticket to Ride London
River of Gold
5 Minute Dungeon
Labyrinth
Cats Knocking Things Off Ledges
Thunder Road – Vendetta

Aliens – Another Day in the Corps was the longest game of the night, starting a little after dinner and going on to well after midnight. Many aliens were killed throughout the playthrough, while the humans managed to escape by the skin of their teeth.

Cats Knocking Things Off Ledges was a new addition to our ever-growing collection of games. However, we found out that sleep deprivation does not pair well with the dexterity required for the game, leading to many toppled towers and poor little kitties crashing onto the table.

Our Play-to-Win, Don’t Get Got, was quite popular throughout the night, with many tickets being entered into our draw. Congratulations to our winners, Mike, Mave and Rob, we hope you enjoy your new games.

That concludes another year for Coastal Board Gamers.

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Event #117 Wrap Up

Zac Hampson — Sat, 03 May 2025 08:45:19 +0000

We had a nice turnout at last night’s event, with quite a few games being played. Forest Shuffle, The Witcher, Fromage and many more. There was even a puzzle going on at one table.

After dinner we had a plenty of games up and running once again, Stone Age, Glow, Gizmos with a game of Import Export finishing up the night.

Import / Export
The Guild of Merchant Explorers
Gizmos
Wicked: The Game
Glow
Stone Age: Anniversary
Knarr
Ready Set Bet
Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy
Fairy Ring
Paperback
Dragonkeepers
Trekking the World
Fromage
Great Western Trail
Ticket to Ride: Europe
Catan
The Witcher: Path Of Destiny
Forrest Shuffle

The Meeple Chronicles – Episode 1: Stone Age – by Mel

The Meeple Chronicles began at the dawn of civilization with Cliff, Jimmy, Narelle and myself starting our worker placement campaign through time with Stone Age.

With the meeples and chieftains (large ‘meeples’) laid out on the table, we each identified and named our clans to carry through the ages. Cliff founded the ‘Beard: Children of the River’ clan, Jimmy founded the ‘Bos: The Boss of the Four Clans’ clan, Narelle founded the ‘Williams: Protectors of the Flame’ clan, and I founded the ‘Robertson: Keepers of Robert’s Beard’ clan. With each clan established, along with a family crest, we began our fight for food, resources and victory.

Like any game there were ebbs and flows with scoring, with Narelle getting off to an early lead and Cliff being left in the metaphorical dust at one point. However, ultimately I triumphed with a final score of 219, beating Cliff on 200, Jimmy on 195 and Narelle on 187. This means I start off the campaign with 10 Meeple Chronicle points, ahead of Cliff with 6, Jimmy with 3 and Narelle with 1. Never fear though, for the lovely Narelle will begin the next episode in our campaign, Raiders of the North Sea with a boon.

Watch this space for the next episode coming soon.

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy – by Carl

Well, it took 2 years of asking Mike, but it finally happened. Eclipse made it back to the table.

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy, is a mix of Euro and Area Control game. You have three resources to balance.
Money = Actions,

Science = Upgrades and

Tech and Resources = Ships.
You get these by holding tiles on the map. Once you have these resources you spend them to, take actions, upgrade your available technology, build and upgrade your ships. In this game you customise your ships down to the parts. Want to move further upgrade your engines, want to be a tank, upgrade your hull so you can take more hits. With over 24 different upgrades that can be applied to any ship the options are endless.

So after convincing Carl J to join us and after a quick reminder of how to play, we were off exploring the galaxy and preparing for war. Carl J, Mike and myself were set for the next 3 hours. It was the first time Carl J had played so he choose the Terran faction, the humans of the galaxy and the most balanced of all the options. Mike and I on the other hand decided to play the new factions. Mike had found a print and play version of the latest expansions that haven’t even released yet, so we took two of them for a test drive. We quickly discovered that Mikes, The Rho Indi Syndicate faction, need to be kept under control.

With some early lucky draws of bonus tiles and galaxy map ties Mike was off to a sprinting start. My faction on the other hand, The Exiles, plays the long game. Being starved for money, through both luck of the tile draw and the nature of the faction it became a running joke that I would take two turns and pass. While Mike and Carl J could afford to take 3 or more turns. Carl J’s Terran was consistent and had built up some impressively tanky ships with 4-5 Hull vs our 1-2.

In the end Mikes, The Rho Indi Syndicate came out victorious, but only just. With only a few points between Mike and myself, Carl J had gone for a all guns blazing end to his game costing him quite a few points. Carl J still really enjoyed the game and I hope we have a future galaxy ruler in the making.

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