Furnace

Last weekend I attended my first Con since I went to GenCon (UK) in Manchester, so long ago I forget what year it was. A bit nervous as I am a bit of a neophobe, especially meeting new people and until the first session I was not that comfortable. However, after the first game it turned into a great deal of fun. Some of the games were excellent, some less so, the venue was fab - set in the Garrison Hotel with towers, cells etc proved very atmospheric. Bought some good stuff (Beat to Quarters, 3:16) and somethings I probably didn't need (fudge dice, dice bag and a ridiculous D20).

The first game, run by the host of furnace Graham, was a game of Qin. Based around the Chinese legends and hinting at the films 'House of Flying Daggers', 'Hero' etc. A good, easy to pick up system based around the concept of Yin and Yang. Will be looking to purchase this game as it was a great deal of fun and I can see the potential with the group.

Second slot was a game of 3:16, Carnage amongst the Stars. A great game concept and I can see the potential to play this. Picked up a copy of this at the Con. The game I played focused on the combat aspects, neglecting the story somewhat and reading my copy has clarified the rules. It was a game that helped me understand the basics, so that's a plus.

We failed to sign up for a game we liked on the evening, so Matt and I proceeded to demolish Andrew at 'B movies' card games. Andrew's poor rolls to sell his films contributed rather more than his lack of tactics.

Sunday morning, after a cooked breakfast led into a game of Cthulu. A fun, well paced game with us playing Nazis digging for diamonds in Africa, until we find the temple. Much mayhem and murder later, all bar one of the characters was dead. I liked that each character had an agenda and that the conflict was sustained but didn't spoil the game. Kudos to the ref and players on this one.

The last slot before the mammoth drive home was a game of Spirit of the Century does Arabian Nights. The fudge dice got an outing and much fun ensued. Being the only player who had tried Spirit before, I tried with the ref to show all the aspects (no pun intended) of playing Spirit, which worked to some extent. The table enjoyed the adventure overall, so that was a good point.

A very enjoyable weekend and I am definitely going to try to go next year.