The Bulwark

Tomorrow morning history shall be made! The local knights and scions the powerful lords of Westeros will gather on the field of honor. Alliances will be made and broken, young warriors will clash with the old while power and intrigue takes place in the shadows of our great stadium. This is the Tournament of the Hand, and this day will decide the fate of the great Battle for the North.

For the last 5 weeks our players have been vying for position as leader of our Monday Night A Game of Thrones League. As the League closes a winner will be decided. Tomorrow will culminate in the day’s champions vying for total power at the final table. The schedule is below.

We will be seeding first round tables in a group format based on league performance.

10:00 Open
11:00 First Round
1:00 Lunch Break
2:00 Second Round
4:00 Third Round
6:00 Final Table

Also the current standings of the league are below as well.

1^st Sir John Deatrick the Bountiful
2^nd Sir Andrew Flicker, Scion of the Exiled
3^rd Sir Ben Blythe Scion of Lannister
4^th Sir James Stremel, Scion of Winterfell
5^th Dame Margo Franks the Hound Mistress
6^th Sir Andy Able the Furious
7^th Sir Ian Allen the Fruity
8^th Sir Don Boucher, Scion of the Rock
9^th Sir Ryan Huber, Scion of King Robert the Drunk
10^th Dame Jess Thomas the Fierce
11^th Sir Phillip Sexton the Victorious
12^th Sir Dirk Walls, the Upstart
13^th Sir Joel Snow, of the Wall
14^th Sir Chris Patzner, Keeper of the Tolls
15^th Dame Malinda Miller the Mild

In case you weren’t around this weekend you missed a lot! Yeah, nothing was scheduled officially but we had a great weekend of pick-up gaming. Pip ran Call of Cthulhu were we got to see a vintage special edition core book by Chaosium and several investigators lost their minds. Several Skinks were cured of a condition which rendered them armless by Betsy. On the heels of that Don ran a massive 8 player Dungeons and Dragons game, which followed on the heels of Arkham Horror where Chris was sealed in an alternate dimension never to be heard from again.  The next day JD put together a casual AGoT group, and Drew marched Dwarves to slaughter the undead hordes of Khemri.

It was great seeing all the pickup games. If you dropped by just to hang out we were glad to have you! Remember the Bulwark isn’t just a spot to game, it’s a place where everybody knows your character’s name.

Monday night John “JD” Deatrick made a boast. During A Game of Thrones league play he said he would purchase a chapter pack for the player who started on the lowbie table and rose the highest. Phillip “Pip” Sexton has had a wretched time, he is able to hold his own in casual games, but unable to see any sort of victory during league play. He went into the evening with not a single win under his belt. Well that all changed. After a first place win on a table of four and a second place on a table of three, Pip soared up in the rankings and as promised JD has penciled in a special order with the Bulwark’s special order desk.

Congratulations to Pip, and congratulations to JD for maintaining the honor of his house.

A couple of exciting announcements coming from the Bulwark! Starting in July we will have membership cards which will be used to record the payment of monthly dues.  This will offer a sure fire way of telling who has, and who has not paid their club dues, and make sure club organizers don’t accidentally double charge members. The last thing the Bulwark wants to do is divert any more of your hard earned money than we need to. Besides, an extra $10 is a new chapter pack and can be put towards a lot of gaming fun!

Speaking of chapter packs, the second week of the Game of Thrones Living Card Game league is roaring along, JD is currently sitting at first, with Drew and James sitting next to him at the leaders table Monday night. A full list of our league standings appear below.

The players of the Strange Aeons Warhammer Escalation Campaign (say that five times fast) have had their first round this month. Right now Karen Hechel is on the top of the stack commanding her Tomb Kings army, with Drew and Betsy trailing closely behind. Each of them also has an extra Empire point which they carry into the campaign proper.

Coming up in June and July the Bulwark will be hosting the Dungeon Bowl! Members are encouraged to create 4 man teams with the goal of getting their party through a dungeon to the finish line faster than other PC opponents. The event will run in an Eberron setting and will run like a league as well. If you and your friends think you are the best adventurers this side of Karrnath stay tuned for details!

As always, the Bulwark tries to bring you the best in Chico gamin. We have a lot of private games that are hosted at the Bulwark which aren’t mentioned. If you would like to take advantage of our large tables, library or gaming aids and host a game at the Bulwark simply send an email to Blythe@thebulwark.org or post a comment on our Facebook group. We are open 7 days a week as events come up, and we can pencil your group in anywhere.

A Game of Thrones – The Battle For the North
1st – JD
2nd – Drew
3rd – James
4th – Ben
5th – Ryan
6th – Andy
7th – Joelz
8th – Margo
9th – Don
10th – Pip

Strange Aeons – Warhammer Fantasy Escalation
1st – Karen (Tomb Kings)
2nd – Drew (Dwarves)
3rd – Betsy (Lizardmen)
4th – Ben (Dark Elves)
5th – Damon (Skaven)
6th – Spencer (Gobbos)
7th – Andy (Empire)
8th – Ryan (Orcs)

Last night The Bulwark hosted a newbie night for A Game of Thrones the Living Card Game. This fantastic game pits players against the other great houses of Westeros in a dangerous game of politics, power, and displays of military might. Each house has their own unique feel, and the game thrives on group mechanics and chains of victories instead of hoary combos that win the game in a few turns.

The local community is happy to welcome several new players into the hobby, who each assumed one of the core houses of Westeros. Margo Franks as house Stark emerged victorious after house Lannister over extended themselves and allowed Stark to press the advantage.  In the adjacent room, on the Jared Gilmore Memorial Table the Bulwark Vets had a dragout two and a half hour game end in a Targaryen victory (lead by Drew Flicker) with Martell one challenge from victory (played by Karen Hechel). “If Drew would have made me loose that stupid challenge I would have won,” Karen lamented. Oh well Martell, maybe next time.

We are happy to welcome all the new players to Chico’s premier A Game of Thrones Living Card Game league as we start up our second season.

If you were a part of the dozen people who preregistered for Kublacon with the Bulwark you already know about all the events that are happening leading up to one of the biggest gaming conventions on the West Coast.  For the next six weeks the shop will be open 7 days a week prepping for the event. Up until Kublacon you can assume that we are open and doing business while offering some exciting events.

Tuesdays, A Game of Thrones – I will be ordering several chapter packs so we will have access to as many cards in our pool as possible. Don’t forget to use sleeves for all of your cards as they are required for tournament play.

Wednesdays, RPGA – Don will be running a lot more events, after playoffs that is, to help power level characters to the next level bracket. If you want any mods specifically send an email to him or myself. You can reach Don at boucher@build.com

Open Gaming Thursdays – This is your best chance to try to get groups together for any odd ball games you want to do.  Remember there are a lot of card games that draft or demo at Kublacon, and I am able to get most games at cost with 24hours notice. Let me know if you guys need anything.

Fridays, Vampire The Masquerade LARP – The Sacramento Valley is full of LARP games for Vampire: The Masquerade. If you want to take part in the OWbN LARP going on each night at Kublacon now is the time to make a character to get some XP under your belt and get to know some of the local PCs. Let me know if you need rules, have questions, or need help in any way. Also you can email the local LARP staff at NHBNstaff@irondragongames.com.

Saturday, Boardgames – Several boardgames have regional tournaments at Kublacon, including qualifiers for Diplomacy. Let me know if you want to organize any board game events. Diplomacy and Catan are just a couple of the major games having large scale, free to enter tournaments this weekend.

Sunday, Warhammer – The local group will be focusing on finishing, touching up, and tweaking armies for tournaments. Glue and paints will be on hand for free use, so swing by if you need something.

On top of all of this we will be having a surprise contest at Kublacon for all members. More details will be posted as the con gets closer and full details will be presented Thursday the 27th of May.  Remember Team Chico is having a show of force Thursday night in the atrium before con. Either the atrium or the bar that is.

Every Memorial Day weekend for the last three years, I and a small sortie of friends have sallied into the heart of Burlingame beyond the Bay Area for what I feel is the perfect con. I like to think of it as a “Goldilocks” con, it’s not too small and it’s not too filled with people, it is just right.  Kublacon has enough people to keep you busy with diverse events, and a small enough crowd that you can actually get into these events.

My first year I went for the OWbN LARP event, and traveled with someone who was excited for the Harry Potter Card Game tournament that was going on, I didn’t even know there was a Harry Potter Card Game at the time.  The next year I met some great guys at a keep-and-kill for the Wiz Kids Battletech game and wound up winning a whole lance of mechs; I didn’t own any so the organizer lent me some minis.  Last year I was introduced to the RPGA, and played in a Fallout LARP of all things. The whole convention is a mixed bag, and you often run into games you have never heard of that are a lot of fun. Everything is represented here, from the hard-line commercial games like Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer, qualifying games for international Diplomacy and Catan tournaments, and a smattering of the independent publishers who worked hard for little pay on something they love.

Each year Kublacon is held the Friday before Memorial Day, up to the holiday on Monday. This year it takes place at the same time, opening registration begins on the 28^th and the convention closes on the 31^st.  It is held at the Hyatt Regency in Burligame, right next to the airport.  The Bulwark will be offering members a reduced price in registration as we qualify as a gaming club.  For only $30 you get an entire weekend of gaming, a full schedule of events can be seen here.  Please be sure to register before April 15^th.

Over the next few months, we will be announcing events leading up to the Bay Area gaming convention. Feel free to jump into the excitement as we go to a con with a little bit of everything.  Our community has more to offer than you may think and now is the time to come together and get ready for the tournaments, events and excitement of one of the largest cons on the West Coast.

The shop has acquired a copy of the core set for A Game of Thrones the Living Card Game. Now all we need is people to start playing! I am looking forward to getting into this game, and I know some folks are looking for alternatives to Magic. The Living Card Game format offers a good break from a CCG. LCGs do not have booster packs, rather sets are released once a month through a “Chapter Pack” which contain all the cards in the sets. This means, no more rare chasing! Instead the players can focus on deck construction and core strategy rather than buying booster boxes to get that Planeswalker card.

After the unboxing, the decks will be on sale for $10 a piece. The accessories will stay at the shop for open play.