January Game-a-thon

The SWA sponsors eleven one-day Game-a-thons each year. We schedule these every month (January through September, November and December). October is reserved for Council of Five Nations. We usually shoot for the second Saturday of the month, but we're flexible in consideration of Studio availability and other regional conventions. We generally have 6-10 events, scheduled into two time slots (11am-4pm, 5pm-10pm+). We can easily accomodate games that run longer than a five-hour slot. You only pay for the games you play in. No registrations fees at the door, and no badges. GMs don't pay, and they play for free in the session they're not running.

Our next scheduled Game-a-thon is Saturday, January 9, 2010.
Here are the details.

Set somewhere in 1809 leading up to Wagram. Using Napoleon's Battles rules, this will be a learning game. The GM hopes to keep it small - somewhere under 1000 figures - about a Corp per player.
More information at the official website for Napoleon's Battles.

You mean that game that has been around for decades and takes forever to play? The game that is dependent on lucky dice roles and fighting over Australia? THIS AIN'T YOUR DADDY'S RISK!
Take combat to a whole new level...to a whole new dimension with Risk 2210. Go into outer space, travel underwater, and launch nuclear attacks before time runs out. Would you survive as a Military Commander in the year 2210? Sign up and find out!
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Risk 2210 A.D. which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids, and links to the rules.

Through the Ages is a civilization building game. The goal is to develop your civilization, not to destroy other ones. Military strength is just one aspect of your nation, as well as population, production or science. It is up to you which aspect you will concentrate on, more or less, but you should not underestimate any of them while building your civilization.
Victory is achieved by the player whose nation produces the most culture during the game. However, there are many ways to produce culture: through religion, literature or drama, by building wonders, by utilizing cultural persons, etc. Considerable amount of culture can be gained even via wars or aggression.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Through the Ages which includes reviews, pictures, playing aids and links.
Multiple tables available.

The rise and fall of various fictional civilizations, each using special abilities (mountains, seas, mining, weapons, etc.) the player chooses from what is available. One of the GM's favorite parts is there are no dice. Games generally last a couple of hours. Newcomers welcome.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Vinci which include reviews, pictures, and player aids.

Players take the part of Renaissance traders, moving about the city acquiring goods and filling orders for goods. Messages need to be delivered and privileges obtained. Of course, none of this can be accomplished on one's own. Much negotiation and deal-making is the order of the day in an effort to become the richest deal-maker in Genoa. Flexible rules allow for negotiating almost everything in the game.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Genoa which includes reviews, pictures, player aids, and rules of the game.

Each player is a zoo owner who is trying to build the best zoo by collecting animals to fill his enclosures. Placing a variety of vendors' stalls placed throughout the zoo will also help the zoo.
More information at the game designer's website for Zooloretto.

Ranked #1 on BoardGameGeek. In Agricola, you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood, or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all of them? There are countless strategies, some depending on your card hand. Sometimes it's a good choice to stay on course, sometimes you better react on what your opponents do.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Agricola which includes reviews, pictures, player aids, and rules.

Based on Dante's Inferno, HellRail: Third Perdition has players creating rail to deliver the souls of the damned to the appropriate circles of Hell. The card mechanics are clever, as every card can become a load to be delivered, or be used to build rail, move trains, or draw more cards. Additionally, upon arriving at each circle, players have the choice to call forth that circle's powers, possibly putting a serious crimp in their opponents' efforts.
Follow this link to the BoardGameGeek entry for Hell Rail - Third Perdition which includes reviews, pictures, and rules of the game.

Adventurers have gained a clue that the cult activities in Sambral are directed by superiors in Ramekho. The best chance of defeating the cultists is to find them before they notice anyone looking for them.
A Living Forgotten Realms adventure set in Ramekho for characters levels 1-4.
It is recommended that you play the Embers of Dawn mini-campaign adventures in sequential order with one character for the best enjoyment and play possibilities within the mini-campaign, but it is not required.

Location

As usual, this Game-a-thon will be held at the Studio of Bridge and Games, in Schenectady, NY. If you need directions, you can click here, or send an email to: mailto:directions@swa-gaming.org An automatic reply will immediately be sent to you with detailed directions.

The number at the Studio is: (518) 346-3773

Session Fees

Show up and play one game session = $4.00

Show up and play both game sessions = $6.00

GMs play all day for free.

Full-time students get in for free. For our purposes, "full-time students" are people in Kindergarten through college. Our intent here is to help allow younger games/"new blood" to participate at SWA events, and the gaming hobby in general.
The student discount does not cover working adults who happen to be taking a Continuing Education class. Please help us fulfill the spirit and intent of this policy.

Registration

Our Game-a-thons have generally been pretty casual events; people stroll in and sign up for the event of their choice on-the-spot. Lately, however, attendance has been increasing and more events are filling to maximum and beyond.

If you would like to greatly increase your chance of getting into the game of your choice, you can now formally pre-register online. Payments will be handled through PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can still pay with your credit card.

Online pre-registration is not required. You can still just stroll in and get into a game. But pre-registering is now an option for those who want to take advantage of it.

Follow this link to go to the online registration page. We'll sign you up, but your spot's not guaranteed until we get your payment.

Swap Meet Tables

If you've got merchandise you'd like to sell, please consider renting a table or three at our Game-a-thon.

This is meant to be more of a Swap Meet / Garage Sale atmosphere, and not really intended for full merchant setups.

Each attendee can rent a maximum of three tables. The first costs $2, two cost $10, and three cost $20. As you can see, the price structure encourages individuals to rent few tables. We will have a maximum of eight tables available at each Game-a-thon.

Each table is (2.5' x 2.5'); a standard card table. Some of them are kinda old and thus not very sturdy. Please keep this in mind when planning what you'll bring for sale.

You can reserve your table(s) ahead of time by using the online registration form. You will see the prices repeated there. Please list your table request in the 'Comments' field. Please also note that you have to pay the Game-a-thon registration in addition to the table rental fee.

You can also rent tables on a walk-in basis, but please remember we'll have no more than eight available for the day; first come, first served.

We suggest that you use our Forum discussion boards to announce what you will/might bring. We suggest posting in the "What's happening this week" category where the Game-a-thons are announced.

(Here's our secret agenda... Not only do we want to help you get rid of gaming stuff you're not using, but we'd also like to see this generate some more walk-in traffic.)

Questions or Comments?

Events at Future Game-a-thons

If you'd like to run a game at a future Game-a-thon, please click here to submit your event online.

You can also email us at your convenience.

You can even call Bill and tell him about your event over the phone - we're flexible!

If you'd like to see a particular game run at a future event, let us know by filling in a Game Request Form here.