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During these past holidays I’ve come to the realization that just like some babies have their “security blankets”, I have my very own “security boardgame”. Though it might sound funny (or sad maybe?) I think it is an accurate analogy. I have a boardgame that I constantly move from the closet to my car and vice versa; or to my wife’s car, carefully placing it next to the stroller so the box does not get damaged. I simply don’t want to get caught anywhere without it. It’s the “just in case” game. You know, “just in case” I find...

Board games have been a big part of my life for the last four or five years, and having reached a sort of a crossroads in the hobby, I wanted to put down “how far” I’ve come in gaming and describe what gaming means to me. I’m in no way prolific as an F:AT member, so I’m not sure how much interest this will hold for others; on the other hand I’ve always been curious about how people have gotten into the hobby, especially users of this site. It seems to me here that a lot of posters at...

Put four men in a car for a three hour drive and you end up in a different part of the world. Not only is there a lot of catching up to do, life-wise, but there's lists of anticipated releases to go through. So that by the time we arrived at the Essen fair, our patience was severely tested having to stand in a queue. And by the time we were inside I was deviously tricked into a bloody train game, not worth mentioning and a waste of good time. I wasn't having that again. ...

My feeble dithering over my old copy of Space Hulk versus the brand new, shiny copy of third edition Space Hulk have become legendary. However, all is not lost. Out of this stinking mire of qubbling and indecision there can at least be salvaged something worthwhile: an article on getting the very most out of your copy of Space Hulk. As if twelve missions and a variety of Terminator suit payloads wasn't enough.

It's time again for the sort-of-annual Fortress: Ameritrash Essen Preview!  Get ready, because you won't want to miss out on the excitement this year!

This is the testament of Oda, loyal Samurai to the Shogun Asakura who has travelled far and endured much in the service of his lord and wishes now to set down his deeds and the wondrous things that he has seen before daring the last step toward his goal. Meji, a Monk in one of my lords temples, had one night a prophetic dream in which he swooped low over foreign, western lands and saw a valley of flames, and beyond a crown which would enable the...

With the re-release this week of Space Hulk, I realized that I am going back to where it all started. I am going back to the company that, as much as I would like to deny it, has probably been the fourth biggest influence on my life behind my family, school and university. I keep leaving but it always seems to draw me back in again. Like many first loves, the story of my first love affair with a games company is filled with the good and bad, hope and heartbreak.

The first part was mostly about beer and the journey up. Now I'm there and I'm playing Twilight Imperium. And how did that go? Not so well actually. Read on....

Hey! We've been back almost a week, those of us who went to the World Boardgaming Championships. You wish you'd gone? Well, wish no more, because I'm gonna give you at least one guy's perspective of how it went and what he did. This first part is just the intro, and it'll talk more about the people and the beer and the trip up. I'll have some session reports in future articles - for instance, you'll hear how I almost considered divorcing my wife over a TI3 loss. So now close your eyes and imagine you're...