"My" game stores: a New England Gaming Gazetteer

So you may have noticed I game a fair bit and I do it at a number of venues so I thought I might give you sort of a profile or maybe even a Gazetteer of the various game stores I game and shop at.  I have an affection for all of these locals but I'll try to be objective and I will invite all of the store owners and/or employees to speak up for their particular store.  I am very lucky to have so many gaming option in my area and I want to showcase these great gaming venues.

3 Trolls Games and Puzzles
Chelmsford Town Center,
7 Summer St, Chelmsford, MA 01824
(978) 250-0566

I wrote about these guys earlier this month because of the passing of Dick Kirshbaum.  Well I am happy to say that Dick's wife Lilia and Son Andy are carrying on.  There is a bit of the pause right now but generally you will find open gaming on Thursday nights, Historical games on Saturday mornings (Bolt Action and Check your 6 are frequent favorites here) and open gaming on Sunday afternoon typically you can find a variety of Fantasy and Science fiction games on Sundays.   They have a good supply of paints and supplies, Gaming stock varies but they are very helpful with orders and they have a great stock of Bones miniatures from Reaper.  They also have lots of puzzles as well as traditional and not so traditional games and fair selection of toys for kids (or so it seams to one who doesn't have kids) as well as model kits, model rockets, pine wood derby items and other hobby supplies.   In addition they have a good stock of terrain for gaming and the people here are great, Saturday morning is a bit of an older crowed but you'll find a good mix of ages and play styles.  Gaming space is limited but they do their best to make sure everyone gets the space they need.  I buy most of my paints, brushes, primer and related items here.

They are currently trying out an in store painting night on Tuesdays from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.

Rewards Program: Keep your recites $100 worth of recites gets you $10 of store credit.


The Whiz Store
122 Turnpike Road (Route 9)
Westborough, MA 01581
508-366-2030

Readers of this Blog probably know this store by its Teddy Bear fur terrain boards.  The stand out feature of the Whiz is the terrain selection available at the store.  The owner Chris has a tremendous number of boards and three teddy bear fur covers that can be made into a single massive table if you want that.  There is a good selection of Hills, trees, bocage, buildings, fields, pretty much anything you can imagine. Robert Burke one of the Store regulars has also "donated" a large portion of his collection of buildings to the store for general use.   The gaming space takes up about a quarter of the store, some Sundays space is at a premium especially since there is always a large crowed of Magic players using part of the space.  Sunday is the open gaming day but if space is available and no events are scheduled you can game most any day.  Monday night Chris hosts a community painting day (its to far for me on a work night with traffic sadly).   The Flames of War selection is very good and there is a good mix of War Hammer, Hordes, the Fantasy flight lines and other Science fiction and fantasy games.  Chris also has a small selection of Bones figures.  The paint selection is good if you like the Games workshop lines.  Like 3 Trolls a fair portion of the store is dedicated to puzzles, games and children's toys.

Rewards Program: The Whiz has card based program that keeps track for you I believe it comes out to $10 off for every $75 you spend. The same program also sends out coupons for $5.00 to $10.00 worth of store credit on some purchase.

Hobby Bunker
33 Exchange Street
Malden, MA 02148
(781) 321-8855

This is my some time Thursday night Hang out were John M and I had first our Longstreet and then our Dux Britanniarum campaigns. Its also the one of the biggest Gaming and Hobby store in New England. Mat Murphy has the nearest thing to a gamin big box store I can imagine. They have a huge selection of pretty much every thing. Collectible Toy soldiers, books, Osprey, Flames of War, Games Workshop, saga, model kits, terrain, paint, obscure rule sets you name it they probably have it and if they don't they can probably order it. Hobby bunker has open gaming on until 10:00 PM Thursday nights, and is the home of the Boston Trained Band which gathers every Saturday about 10:00 AM and playing until whenever. There is also gaming space available on other days during regular business hours . Gaming space is in the back and it looks like your going into their office and storage space (and you sort of are) but players are welcome back there. The staff is friendly and helpful both in the store and if you find them at a convention (they attend several each year). There is a good selection of terrain available for games to use though its not as extensive or well organized as the collection at the Whiz. The store is the closest to Boston and can be reach by the Orange line if you don't have a car. They have a cool little tour you can take on line

Rewards Program: you get a card that is stamped every time you sent $10.00 or more get 10 stamps and you get $10.00 off your next purchase.

The Relentless Dragon
483 Amherst St, Nashua, NH 03063
(603) 204-5275

The New Guys. its a smaller store that I think is still seeking its identity They have good corps of X-Wing players every other Thursday night.  At least on Dedicated RPG group that games in the back, and are the home of the New Hampshire War Gamers Alliance.  They have a very good selection of board and card games, a small paint and supplies section, a cool little selection of old school RPG books and a growing selection of Bones figures by Reaper.  They are holding off on Flames of War and Games Workshop because of the initial commitment of both money and space. The New Hampshire club is a fun group and this is my regular Thursday night alternative when John M is on call.  about 1/3rd of the store is dedicated to gaming tables a significant investment of space for a new retail outfit.  I hesitate to call this a great gaming store at the moment but the potential is there.

Rewards program: None I am aware of

The Game Castle

Crossroads Mall Shopping Center, 123 Nashua Rd # 5, Londonderry, NH 03053
(603) 425-7400

In the interests of fairness I have to say that I have not been to the Game Castle in several months so things may not be as I describe them.  This store is something of a poor cousin to the others on this list.  Its a bit rundown (though in better shape than it was few years ago).  There is not much selection unless your into Games Workshop or card games. They do have flames of War but it has not been restocked in years.  They have Hordes and War-machine and get some new content.  They do have lots of gaming space and a fairly active community of players.  A historical group meets informally most Tuesday nights and its a fun group to pay with.  They have a nice selection of terrain.  Its a bit out of the way for me so I have not been playing there as often of late.  They do have a good community of gamers and Tuesday night you will find a good crowed some playing magic some painting and other playing fantasy or historical games.

Rewards program: None I am aware of

This last is a bit of an honorable mention since I have gamed there but only once. but its worth mentioning especially as they have two locations.



Battleground Games & Hobbies
1423 Bedford St, Abington, MA 02351
Phone: (781) 261-9669
and

25 Taunton St, Plainville, MA 02762
Phone:(508) 316-1195

http://www.battlegroundgames.com/

As I said I have only been to the store once and that time I was in Plainville location.  I was impressed with the game space.  They had a nice if some what limited selection Games Workshop terrain the table above is a mix of store and terrain my friends brought.  The space was bright and clean with lots of RPG and board games.  X-wing was new when I visited and they had a nice selection ships.  I know they had a good selection of Games Workshops products though I don't recall any Historical miniatures.  Like a lot of shops Magic is a big part of the gaming culture. 

Rewards Program: None I am aware of. 

I hope folks will find this an interesting read and that if your traveling or living in my neck of the woods you will take a look at one or more of these great stores. If you frequent any of these stores please feel free to speak up on behalf of your favorite. Store owners please feel free to speak up for your self in the comments section and if I have details of a Rewards program or other item incorrect please let me know. 

Earth Shattering Kabooms on the Martian Front

My friend Tim has been promoting the game All Quiet on the Martian front for months now. You can check out his models and games at his blog. This was my first chance and I am playing the Martians (I like there tripods a lot, less excited about the earthling gear).   The Martians are attempting to hold and harvest a town near a US army base.

Apparently the base is an armor training facility as they have near unlimited tanks to throw at us(ever time a full unit of tanks is destroyed they will re-spawn on a 4+ on d10)

I have two scout and two Assault tripods we scuttle forward an let fly with heat rays....

Several tanks are eliminated then we fall back. the Puny humans have little luck with their quaint chemical propellent slug throwing weapons....

As the Americans drive on the tow, heat ray sweeps reach out to meet them.

I have good luck taking out a pair of tanks and two infantry stands with one shot.  More tanks burn, sadly my heat ray will not ignite the field(its a game with alien tripods against coal burning tanks... you want realism look elsewhere)

The tanks miss but the infantry in the building has Sargent York in it as a .30-06 round causes the fist point of damage to one of my tripods (Ted's Scout got hit early on and has been stumbling around, while his grenadier and Assault pod kill tanks)

Rough rider swoop in with two cables and immobilize my second Assault pod (an incident that will one day inspire George Lucas Ha Ha) unlike the At-At on Hoth I break free with no harm done, but the motor bikes must die.

Brave US infantry men close assault one of my scouts with greades and blow it and them selves up in an "Earth Shattering Kaboom!"

Silly Rough Riders thinking I can't see them....

Heat rays and black dust take their tole

I  am down two scout pods and wee must hold the cross roads!

Close assault does a point of damage on my black dust and a lucky shot from a machine gun takes out my green gas assault pod.

Ted and I have a pod each as we make our stand for MARS!

Teds assault pod shrugs off a close assault!

Damage from cannon shots starts to pile up and my heat ray seem to have gone cold....

and US tanks firing furiously at close range and then suddenly my assault pod detonates as Rich rolls a 10 on the damage chart... an massive explosion rips out of the pod and into the surrounding tanks... talk about "Earth Shattering Kaboom!"

I'm dead but so are many of my foes

Ted manages to hold out through the final turn resulting in a Martian Victory!

Sails of Glory (1)

I met up with Ted and Rob at The Game Castle last night they had the new Sails of Glory game and we gave it a try.

 Rob took the French ships while Ted took the English ship of the line and I took the English frigate HMS Terpsichore a ship of 32 guns.

 The wind was blowing from left to right across the table... initially I did well

Crossing the T of the English Frigate once and then after a lucky turn where Rob turned away then back..

 I crossed his T again landing several good hits had we been alone and had the table not had and edge I think I would have been in good shape.

 The ships of the line exchanged broad sides then circles away from each other..... I was running out of see room after passing with in musket shot of the French Frigate

 My maneuvers got me trapped in irons, (sailing into the wind)

 Ted has to fight against both ships the two Ships of the line are battering each-other and the French frigate is hurting as well

 Still in irons I am raked by the French

 I take some damage but Ted Finishes off the smaller French ship....

 I take more damage

 and so does Ted... and the English Ship of the line losses her crew... now its me and the French ship of the line though I am trying to escape but...

 though I get one last shot in on the French battleship I turn to tightly and you guessed it I am in irons again!  With a French ship of the line on my rear quarter I try to strike but Rob is feeling blood thirsty and sinks me (barbarian).

Over all I liked the game it was reasonably realistic with out being too complex.  I am still not sure about the models they look a little too toy like for my taste.  The price point is higher than I would like (I believe the set goes for $75.) for 4 ships, and a full set of rules and tokens.  This is one of those I will wait and see if we play this regularly before I consider investing. 

1st Game of Longstreet

Ted Dave and I decided to give Longstreet a try last night.  We did the the Hilltop battle. While we were not doing the grand campaign we used those starting armies as a basis for our force. Ted (army and hands above) had 3 Eager Recruits (ER) Union infantry and one cavalry (ER) and the starting artillery (two 6 pounders and a howitzer) .

Dave (forces above) had 3 ER infantry of 10 stands and a smaller unit of Zouaves replacing his cavalry. To keep from being too out numbered I had 5 Infantry units all ER and One unit of cavalry.  I was the defender but chose to play aggressively because this seemed appropriate (we did not use any Biography cards)

Seeing a significant gap between the Union Brigades I send my cavalry forward and moved up the 18th Alabama to support them. My plan was to hold Dave off while hopefully turning Teds flank and rolling him up.

I tried a charge using Cavaliers (to counter act charging from the front) but lost a tie and fell back into the swamp Ted had placed using poor survey (have to check that we did this right) 

Ted's own Cavalry was working around my Flank so the 5th Texas move to meet them.

The Hampton Legion Dismounts but gets shot to pieces, Ted confirmed all 5 hits!

Still things are looking reasonably good against Ted until he uses a card (I forget the specific name) to give his men extra movement and hits me all along the line. I used the Fresh Fish card giving him a -1 on his combat dice but the 3rd Arkansas (center) is in for rough handling. 

The Drive off the Yankee unit on the left but the one on the right scores a number of hits and I am driven back. Yankee Cavalry charging on foot is seen off with ease by the 5th Texas.

I do some retrograde movements to stabilize my position both her and on the left as Dave has started to get to grips with the 1st and 4th Texas on that side.

His two regiment charge hits the 1st Texas.  Once again I win against the unit on the left but loose to the unit on right and I am driven back through the 4th Texas.

What a mess!

The 18th Alabama makes one final charge to try and turn Teds flank and wins getting 5 hits Ted uses his cards to limit casualties. Ted sends his men right back in on his turn I throw them back.  But I have miss calculated I have run out of cards to draw leaving me with 3 in my hand.

Its my turn I resuffle but cannot draw until after my turn and  before I can do any thing Dave uses the "they couldn't hit an elephant" I roll a 6 leaving me with NO CARDS. I cannot shoot and must pass.   On their turn Ted charges destroying the 3rd Arkansas but is unable to break the 5th Texas but things look grim and Dave who has move slow but steady all game has overwhelming  force closing in on my men.

Dave's charge brings three units to bear on the 4th Texas and utterly destroys them.  At this point I with the shop's closing time approaching I concede the battle.