The Bulwark

Wednesday, February 3^rd the Bulwark will be hosting a Welcome to the RPGA event.  This event will be organized by Don Boucher and will help the community create, and play characters in the Living Forgotten Realms setting hosted by the Wizards of the Coast’s premier fan club, the RPGA.

The RPGA is a fantastic way for players to get involved with weekly games, without the commitment. It can be hard to regularly attend an event, and the RPGA publishes episodic modules which wrap up in anywhere from 3-5 hours.  This system of anecdotal play makes it’s perfect for your character to be there one week, but not the next. The RPGA is also a national organization, meaning you can play your character at conventions, game days, and at weekly sessions anywhere in the country!

We will be opening our doors for free to new players on the 3^rd in order to let everyone experience this great organization, and everything it has to provide. Remember membership in the RPGA is free, and in order to get started all you need is a pencil, a paper, and good attitude.  Be there at 6:00 for character creation all supplies provided.

The Bulwark is proud to welcome the ladies of Blue Rose D20!  These duchesses of dice are a recent addition to the gaming community here in Chico. Bethany Flicker will be conducting players through the fantastic world of Aldea every other Sunday. Blue Rose is a TrueD20 setting of Romantic Fantasy, eschewing the perception of Robert E. Howard and Tolkein based Sword and Sorcery for a more idyllic setting based on the premises of Mercedes Lackey.  If you have any questions about Blue Rose, the world of Aldea, or the True D20 system feel free to email novembercoin@gmail.com.

The Bulwark is proud to welcome Dave Zumwalt, designer of the game Alien Overlords. Dave will be traveling to Chico in order to help us play test his nearly realized system. Dave has been so kind as to save me the hassle of writing about the event, and has summarized his brainchild thus:

“Alien Overlords™ is a board game that allows two to four players to take control of futuristic empires and fight for control of a section of the galaxy. Players will customize their empires by selecting various technologies, control the resources of worlds, and command fleets of starships in strategic space battles. The game is designed to be played with a minimum of record-keeping. The game is played with numerous spaceship playing pieces and with dice.”

Dave has worked hard to design a system which addresses some of the resource management issues players have in other games. He has also designed a unique set of “Situation Cards” that create interesting challenges and conditions as play unfolds. We are hoping to have a full count for Dave on February 6th at 5:30. Dave is traveling from Redding, so this start time is traffic permitting. Slots are open, and if we wind up with an over flow other board games will be ran throughout the night. The Bulwark Library will be open to anyone, check this list to see the possibilities. If you would like to sign up for the game, have any questions for me or the designer comment below!

The Bulwark is a gaming center, but what does that mean? That means it’s not just a “business” but a place for you and your friends, or other members, to come together in order to have a good time.  This doesn’t need to be a scheduled game, or regular weekly gathering, the Bulwark is a place that is abiding, and welcomes an accidental gaming group just as warmly as they hoary motley of players that have been gaming since time imemorial.

In this vein we have created the Bulwark Open Library, it is an ancient repository of all things dork, a place where gamers can retire weary tomes or worn sets in order for pick up games and odd journeys into some unknown hoopla to renew them. This list is always grown, and donations are always gladly accepted. You can loan a set or book, or donate one permanently. Any redundant donations which are going to be kept at the Bulwark permanently will be donated to the Butte County Library or Child’s Play.  Below is our list, if you are interested in donating feel free to contact me!

This list will be updated regularly.

Board Games

• Settlers of Catan
• Cities and Knights of Catan
• The World of Warcraft Board Game
• WAR! Age of Imperialism
• Vampire: Prince of the City
• HexHex
• Cash ‘n Guns

RPGs

• Vampire: The Requiem
• Mage: The Awakening
• Changeling: The Lost
• Promethean: The Created
• Werewolf: The Forsaken
• Bloodlines: The Legendary
• Rogue Trader
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook 2
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Monster Manual
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Dungeon Master’s Guide
• Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
• Laws of the Night

Wow, what a weekend!  A big thanks goes out to all the people who helped coordinated membership activities this weekend. Andrew Flicker ran not one, but two games of the World of Warcraft Board Game and the Warhammer 40K guys (and gal) played a massive 2750pt grudge match between the Space Marines and the recently updated Tyranids.

A big thanks also goes out to the players of New Haven by Night for their support, as well as Don Boucher for coordinating the two RPGA games that took place this week. Finally congratulations to Jared Gilmore for being elected Arch Duke of the Diplomacy league!  It’s members like you who are going to make the Bulwark a thriving community, and such support even before opening day is really overwhelming.   I look forward to our February 1st launch party where several events will be taking place hosted by various members in the community.   Also, our special order desk will be opening very soon, and members will be notified when it launches.

If you would like to organize a gaming event at the Bulwark, or even want to have the Bulwark host your weekly tabletop session feel free to email myself or just stop by! We are always happy to accommodate new events and love to see people wander in for pick up games.

This Saturday a pick up game of World of Warcraft the Boardgame is forming at the Bulwark.  We have several committed players already, but a few slots are open.  Come by around 5:00 if you are interested in learning how to play this great game from Fantasy Flight Games. If you are a fan of the video game, you will love this incarnation of the franchise.

The Bulwark is proud to welcome the Chico Beer and Blades club! This Diplomacy group has been negotiating deals, breaking alliances, and tenuously hanging onto their “friendship” for almost a year now. The group will be meeting this Saturday to discuss new league rules, the state of Piedmont, and to play a game. Visitors and newcomers alike are welcome to watch and encouraged to participate. If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

Good Evening Ladies and Goblins,

It is I, your humble commissioner Bylliam Toofgobbla, and at once I must apologize for my absence and silence over the past few weeks.  You see, I was hiding on vacation up until recently and had several meetings scheduled in order to ensure this upcoming season lives up to it’s expectations.

The pitch is ready, the grass is dying, and we have kidnapped a fresh batch of cheerleaders. In fact this is thanks in no small part to the charity of the Dark Elves.  Yes friends, it seems myself and Chairman Baus had several incorrect preconceptions about the talented race from Naggaroth.   That is why I am excited to announce several teams from the Dark Elf ilk will be playing this season.

As well, the Tall Oak Thorner’s victory over The Tentacular Spectacular was not just an inspiration to fans, but an inspiration to teams! The Tall Oak’s sponsorship by Destruction Direct will net them a pretty penny in the upcoming season, and that potential has cause several other teams to sign up for this august league. Therefore, it is my pleasure to announce that we will be splitting up into two divisions of six; the Destruction Division and the Order Bowl.

That’s not to say that we are going to have our hard times either.  Unfortunately recently Maneat Baus was caught up in a nasty affair, and had to resign.  Without his candor and leadership I am sure this season is going to be tough going forward, but the Dark Elf management talent has perforated our previous management team, and really stuck it to the stragglers.

I look forward to what this year has to bring, and welcome back the legacy teams, as well as the new ones.  First meetings will take place on Monday, at the Bulwark in Altdorf. As we are guests in Altdorf this season, please keep the looting to a minimum.

James Proffer will be hosting a Vampire: The Eternal Struggle demo this Sunday at 3:00.  If you are interested in picking up a new TCG that has some great party play mechanics and several play styles this is great game to try. James has volunteered to bring his stack of cards and teach people how to play, so if you are interested all you have to do is bring yourself, and a smile!  If you want some more information about V:TES check out the wikipedia entry which has a fantastic breakdown of the game.