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UK Games Expo

jonnyalpha

By jonnyalpha,
in Gaming Unplugged

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Padlocked

Padlocked

Posted
Posted

Went along on Sunday with Moose.

First of all, the venue is a huge improvement. There are some issues with some areas (bring and buy, tournaments etc) being well off the main drag, which did make it feel smaller. Apparently Mantic's current KS was being demoed and I completely missed it as I we purposefully avoided the tournament area. The bring and buy was tricky to find too.

That said the two main halls were a massive improvement. The traders area felt relatively spacious, there were plenty still there and by being spread out there was a much better array of stalls to visit which we're better laid out. It did lose that Alladins cave feel, but it was worth it.

Can't comment on catering, because I took a lunchbox, but easier to get to, more spacious, and a nicer environment all over meant it was a step up.

Moose and I got on 4 separate demos through the day. We played Lords Of War, a cheap little card game that played fast and fun so we ended up doubling up and buying a couple of packs. We also played Codinca, a nice little strategy game that will go on KS soon, and Luchador, the Mexican wrestling game that is enormous fun and an instabuy for me when it's available. Finally, there was a game of Smash Up to be had, which manages to not have any theme at all matched on to it - an achievement given its all the themes together.

It felt like there was less depth of stock in some strange ways, and that offers were thinner on the ground. This is probably down to us going on the Sunday - Saturday is clearly the main day, especially for Bring & Buy which pretty much had tat left. I'm in two minds as to whether hat bothers me though, given the lower volume of people there seemed to be there.

Overall though, a very pleasant day. I was far more modest this time round as well - Escape, Star Wars minis, Lords Of War and Zombie Dice for me.

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filecore

filecore

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Great weekend! I played in five RPG sessions: Call of Cthulhu (twice - one normal ruleset, one Actung! with Fate Accelerated); Savage Worlds Lord of the Rings; Leagues of Adventure and Traveller.

I bought a set of Dice Cards, Rory's Story Cubes "Clues" and "Prehistoria" expansions, some dice boxes, MTG cards and sleeves.

Venue mostly great. More space. Bring and Buy in much more appropriate room, though didn't seem as much stuff on it as last year. I came away from it empty handed for the first time.

Normal food and bar prices astronomical, but expo food was more reasonably priced and also easily sorted with a quick trek to the "Subway" next to the railway station for food and also the 24hr Airport Spar (15min walk) for multiples of 4 Heinekens for 5quid.

Single room block where I stayed was very tired - apparently some have already had a refurb but my block reminded me of a 2* B&B in Blackpool. But hey, I didn't go to sleep that much and this was mostly redeemed by the excellent goodie bag, all you can eat buffet breakfast and general handiness of being able to nip back to the room whenever.

Great stuff. See you next year! :)

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filecore

filecore

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First 300 to book at least the Saturday night at the Hilton got one:

UK Games Expo Branded D6

Metal lapel pin

Draconian Rhapsody - RPG from Chronicle City

Scandaroom - Board game - Suprised Stare Games

Boggle Slam - Card Game - Hasbro

MTG Beginners Deck - Card Game - WOTC (I got a red one)

Ligretto - Card game - Schmidt

In Order to Win - Card Game - Imagination

Battleship - Card Game - Hasbro

Set - Card Game (Demo deck)

Word A Round- Card Game - Think Fun

10% voucher off Triple Ace Games

Mayfair Games card expansion

Various other leaflets and pamphlets

.. all in a blue cloth (like a supermarket bag for life) bag with UK Games Expo on one side and Mayfair games on the other

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  • 8 months later...
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therearerules

therearerules

Posted
Posted

Bump for 2015!

I've booked my hotel room in the Ramada down the road, I'm there on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year. I'll need to be there anyway if my redesign is shortlisted (probably won't be), but I also plan to take a load of games from the club down to the bring and buy. And just generally see more and do more. Hope to see some of you lot there.

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smac

smac

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Very clever.

Couldn't resist doing the old Airplane! schtick. I haven't been to a games convention since the old Games Workshop Games Days back in the 80s, so can't actually be more constructive - but I do hope you enjoy it.

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therearerules

therearerules

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This is the first time I'm going up for a full weekend. Previous times I've just done the .saturday and it's been hectic, with everything busy. If you're up for the weekend, maje sure you get any bring and buy stuff on the table asap, because the saturday queue took hours last year.

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LaParka

LaParka

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I think I'm going to give it a miss this year. :( I find it hard to join any games. Saturday are crazy busy, all I end up doing is walking round the stalls buying stuff because I feel like I should. The prices aren't much cheaper than the usual online stores either.

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filecore

filecore

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This is the first time I'm going up for a full weekend. Previous times I've just done the .saturday and it's been hectic, with everything busy. If you're up for the weekend, maje sure you get any bring and buy stuff on the table asap, because the saturday queue took hours last year.

It'll still probably a bit of a wait, but they are introducing a new system this year:

http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/morenews.php?id=72

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  • 3 months later...
strawdonkey

strawdonkey

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Who's attending this year?

Myself, Pelekphoros and RLLMUK Alumni Moosegrinder will be stinking up the place on Sunday, and I'll spend most of the day at the bring and buy to see if someone brings that copy of Skirrid again that I didn't buy last year.

The Lords of War guys will be on-site all weekend, so if you've not played that before and fancy a cheap, simple and tactical 1v1 card game, check it out.

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therearerules

therearerules

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Meeee. Excited. Going to be on the playtest table with my city building game for a bit. Also, because I'm there from Friday till sunday there's no excuse not to meet up. I'm hoping the hotels accept there'll be considerable late night gaming in the foyer.

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revlob

revlob

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I'll be there on the Saturday with a friend. Already made half the cost of the ticket back from savings on shipping, but I'm hoping to do a lot more than just buy stuff; there were a number of interesting seminars and events last year.

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