Seven Days: The Scoop on Penny Press

Seven Days writer Keith Morrill interviewed local designers Matt Golec and Robert Dijkman Dulkes about their forthcoming game Penny Press:

Two Upper Valley residents have managed to make a name for themselves in this land of plastic and cardboard. Matt Golec is a 45-year-old stay-at-home dad from Norwich; Robert Dijkman Dulkes, also 45, is a computer programmer from Lebanon, N.H. Last summer, they were two amateur game designers hoping to share their labor of love with a wider audience. Now they sit on the eve of their big debut as pro designers.

Their game, Penny Press, puts players at the helm of competing newspapers during the era of yellow journalism. Players attempt to outmaneuver one another, get the scoop on hot stories and print a superior paper, angling to become the most successful news baron in turn-of-the-century New York City. It’s almost enough to make you don a fedora with a press card tucked into the ribbon.

Naturally, such an experience includes playing Penny Press at Green Mountain Gamers’ recent Fall-loha event. Check out the article for details on the game, its design process and where you can try it out yourself — hint: at A Fistful of Carnage next weekend!

Fall-loha Game Day on September 27th

Calling all tabletop gamers! Green Mountain Gamers announced their Burlington game day, Fall-loha, takes place on September 27th, at the Best Western Windjammer in South Burlington:

It’s time to say goodbye to summer and Aloha to fall! And what better way to do that than by playing games! So, bust out your favorite games and colorful cabana wear for a day of gaming.

Open play is the name of the game at Green Mountain Game Days. A huge pile of games materialize as people arrive. Then everyone gets to either push their favorite or try something that sounds interesting as it hits the table.

Our game days welcome ALL types of tabletop gaming. Want to play a board game? No problem! Want to run a RPG? Go right ahead. Want to play some minis? Sure! Want to play a CCG? Awesome!

Bring your own games or just show up to play. Join us for the entire day or just for a couple of hours. It is all good.

Green Mountain Gamers events are free and open to everyone. Donations to help cover the cost of space rental, etc. are gratefully accepted. For more information, visit the Green Mountain Gamers website.

Bakuretsu Con Game Nights at the Brownell Library

A Game of Thrones board game. Photo by François Philipp.

Bakuretsu Con hosts a monthly game night at the Brownell Library in Essex Junction, starting June 10th. From the Facebook event listing:

Join us for a new Bakuretsu Con hosted event. The Bakuretsu Con Monthly Gaming Night! Come and play board games and card games. There will be plenty of games on hand or bring your own! This event is FREE to the public!

Bakuretsu has hosted anime- and gaming-centric conventions since 2002, when they came on the scene. Recently, they’ve begun sprinkling shorter events throughout the year, in addition to their big three day weekend anime convention in the fall. This latest event is wonderful news. Of late, Vermonters seem spoiled for choice when it comes to places and times to play tabletop games. That Bakuretsu’s partnered with a library is icing on the cake. When geekdoms align, wonderful things happen.

Legions of the Frozen North Doubles Down

Bear riders in progress. Photo by Brennan.

The riders are astride their ursine mounts in June’s update from Legions of the Frozen North. Brennan gives a peek into the process of creating these figures, as the bears and knights are completely unrelated items that he’s putting together into a new configuration:

Three of the knights are demigryph^[1] knights and three are regular knights.  I had ordered the DG bits but afterwards figured I could use the regular knights which I have a surplus of.  I added bed rolls from the Outrider/Pistolier kit to add ‘something’ to the back, snipped shields for back supports, and various banner topper or other bits to act as a pommel.  I think I might also try to get the sheathed swords on as well.  The straps are strips of paper that I glued into place and then struck on the idea of adding a couple drops of super thin super glue which wicked into the paper and then hardened making them more durable than untreated paper… and probably less likely to have issues curling or falling apart when the paint is added.

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^[1] Ed.: Perhaps demigryph knights are the demi-chickens referred to last time.

Bakuretsu Con One Day Event: Open Beta

Bakuretsu Con, Vermont’s anime convention, has begun to branch out into throwing more events through the year. In Colchester on June 29th, Bakuretsu Con holds Open Beta, dovetailing with the 2013 convention’s theme of MMORPGs.

If you need your convention fix, but can’t spare a whole weekend, here’s your solution. Open Beta is a whole convention compressed into a single day, with “panels, video games, table top games, Weiβ Schwarz tournament, and fun activities & prizes!”

Legions of the Frozen North’s Mystical Prowess Grows

Beast Wizard, painted and photographed by Brennan.

With the addition of a Beast Wizard to their ranks, Brennan, High Commander Supreme of the Legions of the Frozen North, comments, “I had a lot of fun painting him.  Most of the paint went on in just 2 or 3 sessions.  I also liked how the colors work together.”

Next month promises the rise of the 1st Mounted Ursine Cavalry. One question, though: what’s a “demi-chicken?”

Legions of the Frozen North Tremble Before the Might of a Single Wizard

Swordsmen in progress. Photo by Brennan Martin.

Legions of the Frozen North was caught unawares by the sudden shift from in seasons here in Vermont. It seems that surely as winter comes, so does summer. An army marches on its stomach, thus Brennan has tilled the earth to raise ample victuals. Meanwhile, the Stirland swordsmen are currently as you see them above:

They are very very fiddly and I am getting sick of running down the line of models with one color on my brush and seeing all the little missed bits that need a different color.  And of course when I next have that color I am seeing all the bits that needed that first color.  And what the heck is this thing hanging from his belt next to the always useful on the battlefield hour glass?

To switch things up, Brennan’s scaling back to one of a very different kind of model. Check out May’s figure on deck:

Raw, unpainted wizardly ferocity. Photo by Brennan Martin.

Last Day to Preregister for MEGA Spring Meltdown

Bethany Creaser of the Green Mountain Gamers reminds us all that Saturday the 20th is the last day to get the preregistration rate for MEGA Spring Meltdown game day at Lake Morey Resort on the 27th:

Tomorrow is the last day to pre-register for the Spring Meltdown. Pre-register to save $5. That $5 will mean you will have more money to use to bid on items at the silent auction.

The silent auction, of course, benefits the Vermont Food Bank. Among the games donated by publishers, retailers and local donors, you’ll also find unique offerings like a custom Dominion storage case, pictured to the left, with laminated dividers and a compiled rulebook covering Dominion expansions published to date.

MEGA Spring Meltdown Game Day is Heating Up

The Green Mountain Gamers’ mega game day, MEGA Spring Meltdown, is now less than two weeks away. Preregistration closes on April 20th, so save yourself some cash.

In addition to the usual open play of a game day, Green Mountain Gamers have organized a Warmachine and Hordes tournament, an Android: Netrunner tournament, a day-long Call of Cthulhu adventure, plus a silent auction to benefit the Vermont Food Bank. Items up for auction include new games donated by Fantasy Flight Games, Asmodee Games, Cool Stuff Inc. and local gamers, too.

MEGA Spring Meltdown runs all day on April 27th at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont. For more details, visit the Green Mountain Gamers’ website. Admission is $10 by April 20th, $15 after the 20th and at the door.

DCM Enterprises: In the Hall of the Chicken King

In episode 78 of The Return of DCM Enterprises, “[b]eing transformed into an undead chicken has never been considered a positive career move.” It gets better from there. Xeno samples chickenfeed, the staff of DCM Enterprises find gainful employment among the undead, and the Bringer of Death to Campaigns arrives on the scene.