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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Autumn comes dripping in on the soles of our shoes and the tails of our coats:
It's time to put the Winter duvet back on the bed, stock up on logs for the wood-burning stove and pull the 'slow cooker' from the back of the Pots cupboard. Pretty soon there is Essen Spiel, and, then, the hibernating will begin in earnest.
I'm not one who misses the Sun, or suffers from S.A.D; indeed, the opposite is true as we are now moving into my favourite time of the Year. I love the way the world shrinks around you: the shorter days, the weather that necessitates cocooning-in-clothes, the shuffling closer-together of furniture - a general lifestyle hunkering down as you bid farewell to the Sun until the Springtime.
Bliss.
Life and Games (but mostly games) from Tony Boydell: Father, Grandfather, Husband, Curator of the Museum of Board Games (in Newent) and Independent UK Game Designer.
Archive for Tony Boydell
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Embrace the magic that the darkness bears; breath deep in the chill and shift in the air.
20
Sep
2023
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Fortune has brought me into a connection with the splendid Mr Dan Hallagan and a bijou project related to his magnum opus Obsession! Back in the way-back-when, I'd had an idea for an Activity tile and our recent discussions about something for Snowdonia: Grand Tour have brought this reciprocal piece back to life as part of a forthcoming Obsession expansion (due October 17th-31th this year)!
In a mechanism that breaks a core rule of the game, the Pony & Trap/Hansom Cab let you make use of activities owned by the other players:
Using someone else's activity won't cause their tile to flip, however.
To be added as part of the general supply (from the bag) rather than a starting piece, I hope to hear many tales of outrage and intrigue.
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Friday was a day of fettling and settling: Daisy and Andy have moved to their first house (bloody lovely place, very exciting for everyone etc) and left a few bits of IVAR shelving behind - like the IKEA Vulture that I am, I pounced upon them and carried them away to
my nestthe Museum!
I am also trialling my new work laptop and its ability to tether off of my phone thus enabling me to work from The Shambles - I can be on standby for visitors but - more importantly - I can decide to get out of the house and walk to work ie. for the benefit of my mental health!
And speaking of 'work', Saturday saw a special visit from three of my workmates who - for the last 24 months - have been icons on Teams meetings (we had never met IRL); from Newport (South Wales) and Bristol, they tootled into Newent in time for a hearty Erol's Breakfast Bap, coffee and what would be four hours of gaming history and work-related chat. I also had them scurrying about the premises in a game of Railway Riot...which was made especially-spicy when the whole of The Shambles suffered a 20 minute power cut:
A full and busy day was rounded off with an impromptu trip to the Cinderford Palace Theatre to see A Haunting In Venice - the new Poirot - which me, Mrs B and Arthur enjoyed very much.
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Okay, so I might have been short-changed in a couple recent exhibit acquisitions but, sometimes, I deliberately go after "part works":
This is invariably because the 'full version' would be markedly more expensive and, in the case of these Fairylite products, consist of nothing more than tatty box, some counters, a d6 and a small dice cup. No, indeed; this kind of 'Snakes & Ladders'-esque fare is far better serviced by the art and layout of the boards than anything else:
Simple, bright and doing exactly what you'd expect; the little details make them a delight.
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
It's taking a little while for folks to acclimatise to the end of the holidays so numbers at The Kings Arms are down on expectations BUT we did manage enough folks to get a couple of great games in.
Joe, Sandra, Dave, Richard and myself went a-sailin' and a-colonisin' with the always-excellent Endeavor: Age of Sail:
It was a strong showing from all but experience will out and Dave just pipped me for the victory: both of us nestled in the low 60s. Richard mis-picked a building mid-game which, effectively, left him with lots of folks and nothing to do in the subsequent round. Joe shipped his way to a couple of Governorships while Sandra lamented the lack of a Cannon with which to exact revenge against the rest of us!
Our new-to-its were very much taken with this highly-interactive gem especially Richard who really enjoys games where the narrative is as strong as the mechanisms - that'll be the 1980s RPG-er in him!
There's always time for Codenames and we split, albeit unevenly, into Joe & Me versus The Rest:
After a tentative start - which let 'The Rest' in for a Round 1 win - the lad and I tuned our mentals and breezed Round 2 with total ease. Round 3 - the decider - fell to us after some unwary clue-ing from Dave: the assassin claimed another victim.
Hopefully, next week will see us back to (at least) two tables worth and offer me the chance to play Agricola for the first time in - gasp! - seven months?!?!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Well, I always thought that our Nanny State was rather over-egging the pudding when it came to Internet Safety; that is, of course, until I experienced the dangers myself.
Bear with me, dear pals, as I may become emotional: this copy of G1 from the 1980s - described as 100% complete - brought my trusted view of the digital domain smashing and crashing to the ground:
There are supposed to be 54 cards in the deck - but there are only 52 in the box; there should be five player rocket ships but only the one made it to my door. As for the 'Bases'?! Well, the good Lord knows wheretofore they have wandered!
Without hesitation, I turned to eBay for assistance and the vendor immediately apologised and refunded my money...
...I'm not sure I can ever recover from this trauma.
To add insult to (grevious) injury, this 90 year old edition of Trilos - noted with "all parts and pieces" - was delivered on the same day and - woe upon stomach-churning woe - it was missing its rulebook!
I had to - gasp - go online and download a previously-scanned PDF! Though, to be fair, BGG has everything you need to know right here:Quote:Trilos is a game system featuring Triangular Dominoes (twenty-four Trilos and one Joker,) two playing boards, and two tile holders that include clips for tracking scores. Each Trilo has a number of pips along each side, one through nine, and has a white face on one side, black on the other. The spots on each side are the same, so that on one side the numbers run clockwise, the other anti-clockwise, which is indicated by an extra mark.
The rules describe these games for play with Trilos:Dom Trilo – a game of drawing Trilos and matching them on a table, in an attempt to rid one's hand of any remaining tiles
Stones and Windows – two players match randomly drawn Trilos around the blank edges of the small board (a triangular grid of 10 triangles the same size as the Trilos.) The goal is to be the first to use all one's Trilos or, if reaching an unplayable position, to score the fewest points on remaining Trilos.
Rummy Trilo – three players draw seven Trilos and privately try to match a pattern drawn in the rulebook, taking turns swapping out pieces until someone completes the pattern.
Crazy Pavement – a more complicated version of Stones and Windows, with players trying to match pieces around the numbered sides of the small board, tracking several different ways to score points. When the game becomes unplayable, the score determines the winner.
Khuti – two players lay Trilos on the larger board (which features a grid of twenty-two triangles,) attempting to fill the board while outscoring each other.
Khefren – two players engage in a slightly less difficult version of the above game, Khuti.
Two Patience Games – there are two solitaire games included in the rules, Pyramid Patience and Trilex Patience.
Troulette – a game of chance utilizing a scoring board drawn in the rules and the Trilos pieces.
I just have to nip off for a bit of a lie-down; it's all so stressful!
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed! -
Newent Town is not very good when it comes to self-promotion; indeed, the council seem reluctant to take charge and - instead - rely on busybodies and enthusiastic amateurs to organise pretty much anything! Pre-Covid, the annual Onion Fair - put together by volunteers - would easily bring 5000+ folks into the sleepy streets for a full day of spending, sunshine (usually) and fun; the viral times brought an abrupt end to the tradition and we're left to see the Summer melt into the Autumn with barely a whimper.
Huzzah!, then, for the Rotarians who decided to put on a Vintage Car Show this weekend - albeit at the Cricket Club about a mile away from the Town Centre - that was well-advertised (in plenty of time) and, as it turned out, well attended (500 people?) too! Arthur and I walked through the back lanes, in the humid early morning, and arrived just before the official 10AM start; machines of great beauty and interest were still turning up, so we set about our zig-zagging tour of these mechanical friends:
We explained the 'Yellow Car' game to the owners - much to their delight - and how this might explain any funny looks and pointing they might notice in the future
Arty and I had a lovely chat with the owners about how the gentleman had dreamed of owning an E-Type since Primary School (something for Arthur to cling on to as this is his ambition too) and how they, eventually, acquired it. They even got the engine running so we could listen to the glorious purr of it!
Le Mans 66! This GT is a thrilling piece; we actually followed it home down a jammed lane a bit later - it made a wonderful growling!
The Grandfather of the chap who gave Arthur a Summer job helping at a garage found this beast tucked in a local barn - forgotten, dusty and unloved; within two hours, he'd gotten the engine running. Despite some severe rusting in places, it's a grand example and drew much admiration from passers-by.
A convoy of Lotuses and a shiny AC snarled into the field at one point; later there was a train of Austin 7s and a crocodile of tractors.
Bonnets (hoods) and boots (trunks) open; picnic chairs and flasks of tea; the smell of hot oil; loud, deeply-technical discussions - it was a bazaar of automotive treats!
Despite a storm blowing in at lunchtime, my boy and me had a full two-and-a-half hours of happy wandering; I'm not really a petrol head myself but I do like an old car.
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Anthony BoydellUnited Kingdom
Newent. Glos
UnspecifiedWelcome...to my Shed!
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