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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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Everyone Needs A Shed
Life and Games (but mostly games) from Tony Boydell: Father, Grandfather, Husband and Independent UK Game Designer.
Archive for Miscellany
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
-
A remarkable spin-off from establishing a small, but concentrated, exhibition space for my beloved hobby is that folks' generosity is brought to the fore. Gerv gave of his time to help with the logistics of setting up, local fellow 'Shamblers' have been welcoming and exhibit donations both generously-given and happily-received. Prior posts have already noted gifts of rare boards - and even a VERY early edition of Buccaneer - and last week saw a triple-whammy of bequeathals:
From fellow collector of the dusty and ancient, Phil Dennis, came a trove of Pepys/Chad Valley-ian delights, most of which I didn't yet have copies of:
Horsie-Horsie, I Spy and Grasshoppers proudly continue my quest to complete their Publishers' catalogues and quickly found their display places during last Saturday's quiet, rainy P.M.
From fellow Ross-on-Wye gamer Dave W, a small stack of 1970s staples in excellent condition, albeit the occasional lost piece or card (easily substituted nowadays):/pic6429131.jpg)
And from a previously-unknown local, Steven, who just stopped by to have a look, this collection of Gibsons' classics ('The Big Four') that used to belong to his Father:/pic6429132.jpg)
I now have several copies of each but none of the other editions came with provenance: under the boards and the cloth bags of tin-base standees, were sheaves of scribbled notes, grids and cartoons from a young man fully-engaged with his gaming hobby./pic6429133.jpg)
Trying to date them is a bit tricky as, certainly, L'Attaque and Tri-Tactics bear the art and form of the 1930s printings while the other two have a more modern artistic sensibility (Dover Patrol and Aviation are the 1960 editions)./pic6429134.jpg)
As tempting as near-mint copies might be, it's the scribbled and annotated games that provide the most pleasure; a tangible, emotional connection between the form and the function whereby the games are brought to life, once again, even if the original players are long gone.
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Fri Oct 8, 2021 6:20 am
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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I love an old children's annual and they don't come much better than an Oliver Postgate/Peter Firmin one! The following articles - and enchanting art - come from the 1978 Ivor the Engine annual: a scarce item, particularly in the near mint condition this one is in. I was perusing this over lunch at the weekend - keeping half an eye on the Museum as I scoffed a sausage roll in The Shambles courtyard - and was taken by just how much railway stuff was contained therein:
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A board game!/pic6415571.jpg)
Some railway history a.k.a Ideas for Snowdonia Promo cards!/pic6415573.jpg)
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...and a stuffed wombat?!
Now there's a story to be told!
A very calm and happy Tuesday to you.
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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The story of my daft, take-that card game Bloody Legacy (2004) begins with the cartoon strip of The Black Overcoat (late 1980s) then The Black Overcoat Game (mid-1990s) and, finally, our early married life willingness to hand-craft Christmas pressies for our friends and family (mid-1990s onward). Until the weekend just gone, I'd remembered the first Bloody Legacy incarnation being "Hesketh's Legacy" (1999) - a full-colour, hand-laminated and cut-out mini deck served in a Black Overcoat cartoon-decorated Christmas Cracker and posted to BGG for wider (ha!) distribution. What I had entirely forgotten was that, a year or so before, I'd put together some B&W versions as presents for our closest pals.
During the early-AM chatter that followed a drunken evening of charitable feasting and dance (Mrs B & I put on our best rags for a 'Ball'), bestest friends Malc & Angie produced a nondescript blue box that contain one of these lost-and-forgotten copies:/pic6410934.jpg)
I (still) have no recollection of putting these versions together but was absolutely delighted to see my cartoon art, card names and card effects that never made it to the final Bloody Legacy edition; this is early-prototype stuff!/pic6410935.jpg)
I assume that the original files for all of this were on the Home Computer that was burgled in the mid-2000s because there is not the slightest trace of any of this in my physical or digital archives!
Having taken pics for posterity, the (probably one-of-a kind) edition was returned to its container for re-storage in the musty dusts of a tanked attic. What a find!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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A pair of vintage, war-themed items were acquired this month (my scouting and subsequent bidding has been vastly-reduced).
First we have Combat, A Game of Skill - another Battleships variant - that's more akin to The new game of Jutland: A fascinating game of naval strategy than the facepalming modern 'classic' (and source for an "incredible" action picture); it's also published by our pals at Pepys, which makes it more desirable:/pic6405777.jpg)
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Just the one sheet - from two, whole pads - has been used.
And rubbed out for re-use.
Secondly, Targette (not in the database!) - move your pieces to 'occupy' key enemy sites:/pic6405783.jpg)
Published by the Newfooty Co. (Liverpool)*/pic6405784.jpg)
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Ha! "If you can play Draughts, you can play Targette..."/pic6405788.jpg)
Lovely, plastic aircraft...albeit missing a few in this set
Delicate and, in the latter's case, a bit box-warped, I'm going to need some additional display cabinet furniture for these (and others currently in the secure archive) - they're too lovely to be hidden away!
*these are the folks who invented Subbuteo in the guise of 'Newfooty' - see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfooty/pic6405926.jpg)
(this, also, is not in the BGG database - do I smell a conspiracy of silence?!)
Sun Sep 26, 2021 6:25 am
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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Ah, MTGA, how you tease me! The recent rotation of sets from Standard has meant a shift in the Deck 'Meta' and - of course - there's easy pickins' for the Netdecker who wants to avoid any kind of work and just scale the XP ladder: Goldspan Dragon, Treasure B/R, Wide-and-White, Control etc.
However, with the curse of Blue/Black Rogues now buried - and my uber-fun Blue/Red Milling Kraken deck now 'invalid' - I am searching elsewhere for a Tony deck that will be fun and, hopefully, have a >50% win rate!
Cue: Blue and Black...with Rogues...but with a 'Thanks, I'll be having that' wrinkle. And I'm even playing counterspells...and they're really bloody GOOD ones too!/pic6406261.png)
4 x Shambling Ghast - cheap creature that holds of a weenie start and can help with ramp
3 x Ruin Crab - a classic turn one blocker that can cause immense dismay as key cards are milled into the graveyard
1 x Tainted Adversary - I only have one copy but a 2/3 for 2 mana is aces (and it spits out zombies too, if you can afford it)
3 x Mind Flayer - Mine! And it comes with a 3/3 body too...good for sucking out the kill spells (see Test of Talents later)
4 x Soaring Thought-Thief - an absolute bargain beast!
3 x Nighthawk Scavenger - it doesn't take long for this to be 4+ power and staving off loss of damage from small creature onslaughts
3 x Glasspool Mimic - Land or photocopier? Hmmm, I think I'll have another one of...you!
2 x Zareth San, the Trickster - sneaky play that goes with the Rogues: oh the times I've stolen Dragons with this puppy!
1 x Tasha's Hideous Laughter - especially for the wide-and-white decks; exiles 18+ cards each time
2 x Siphon Insight - a little bit more of using your own stuff against you
3 x The Trickster-God's Heist - a triple-steal; worth swapping itself if a better enchantment exists on the opponent's side
1 x The Meathook Massacre - only have one copy and I need more: this is awful (for them)!
4 x Saw It Coming - Foretell this for a bit later on; crucial!
4 x Test of Talents - Ha! Counter your Alrund's Epiphany or Kill spell and remove all copies from your deck...after LOOKING at all of your cards! This, often, provokes an insta-scoop!
4 x Poison the Cup - Foretell-able creature kill (for those creatures you can't steal)...and it can fix your next Draw step too!
10 x Swamp
9 x Island
1 x Hall of Storm Giants (7/7 monster for the late game)
4 x Clearwater Pathway
General process: set aside some foretold kill/counters while dropping small creatures on the ground; mid-game hold on to Test of Talents to nerf a key instant/sorcery, if needed, while watching out for the best thing of theirs to steal for yourself.
Yes, indeed; this is an absolute hoot to play!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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Okay, so some of you may already have seen that Agricola - the greatest board game ever designed in its Revised Edition - is on BoardGameArena but, for the last few months, it's been in BETA and only available to Premium BGA members.
Well, today (Weds 22nd Sep, 2021), it's officially part of the BGA family and, to celebrate, there's a few peeps like myself hanging about the place to give folks a game. My BGA ID is tonyboydell if you're interested in a game - I'm pretty inconsistent but make up for it all with my enthusiasm!
Also, in about a week's time, there will be a proper tournament too: for the Honour and the Glory (this time, at least). I've signed up for that as well but confidently predict I shall be swept into the midden by the Farming Sharks...
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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At the changing of the Seasons, a little perambulation and meditation:
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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At the end of August - on the weekend I opened the Museum - I got a visit from a large man from a local Forest paper. Lamentably, the Pandemic has seriously-reduced the rag's journalistic/photographic resources, so the chap had to do the interviewing and the picture taking on his own*. He was off to cover a Newent Town football match and thought he'd stop by the see what the fuss** was about.
He was "glowing" a little from his walk from the car park to The Shambles and fettled about with his iPhone to record an Audio Note. He then struggled with the iPhone's camera: setting it to 'Burst' mode and taking about 30 pictures of me leaning up against the cabinets. A few choice 'pointed out exhibits' later and he was away to the outskirts for Kick-off.
A couple of weeks later, an article appeared in the aforementioned paper that neither featured any of the photos taken ('burst'-ed or not) nor was authored by the attending gentlemen - indeed, they even half-inched a pic off of my blog:/pic6394083.jpg)
Replete with typos (huzzah!), a link to a BGG category search against my Blog*** and a leader heading that sounds more negative (I think) than it ought to, the page eventually found its way to me via my In-Laws (who live in the catchment area for this publication). Nobody contacted me to say that it was coming/had come out.
*sigh*
*I may not be being entirely sympathetic in this post
**When I say 'fuss', I mean 'What I mentioned in my prior email to him'
***God help the uninitiated who decide to browse this without safety equipment/a qualified chaperone
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
Welcome...to my Shed!
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Far, far quieter than (for example) this time last year, the stream of Museum exhibits and lockdown-fuelled retail therapy has slowed to a cracked, clay bed with a couple of damp patches. To a great extent, I've currently 'got' pretty much everything I need for the Museum in its current form; of course, there are some choice (and very rare) items that I would jump at should they appear BUT, for the better part, my saved eBay searches throw up the same, disinterested stuff.
Thus, personal recommendations and donations are gratefully received and, in that category, squarely falls this fabulous treasure from the 1980s:/pic6390311.jpg)
Mentioned, in passing, by Mr Shep when he nipped into the Museum to be roundly-pasted at Tiddly Golf*, waldschattenspiel is a shadow-hopping, family filler from back when naked flames were entrusted to the populace at large!/pic6390308.jpg)
The premise is simple: one player (the 'adult') controls the candle and moves it around the outside of a board covered in splendid, wooden tree sculpts; in the shadows cast by the trees, the rest of the players hide their Elves. In between the light travelling, a player may shift the location of their elf: on no account must it be caught out of its umbral shield - if it is, someone will need to rescue them! Play proceeds until either all of the Elves have been 'caught' OR all Elves are hidden in the shade of single tree./pic6390309.jpg)
Have you ever heard of anything so fucking delightful in your entire, gaming life?!
And talking of elves and families and bringing light to a gloomy World...I think, perhaps, that it's time to show off the Boydells' best (by a considerable distance) recent acquisition :/pic6389340.jpg)
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The peace and reassurance earned from raising five children already means that we grandparents are entirely relaxed and can enjoy the company of this gorgeous little bean with neither fret nor worry. What a privilege to be able to experience this most remarkable aspect of Life once again!
*https://www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/122259/weekend-travel...
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