Yesterday’s plans got thrown out of the window with the passing of mums cat Ramsey.
It wasn’t a surprise. The last few days Ramsey hadn’t been eating. He’d drink water, find a comfy spot, and just lie there.
Ramsey was 16. So not a bad age for a cat.
Ramsey will always be remembered as the cat that took five or six years to work out he could open the door at the bottom of the stairs in Nan’s house!
Yes Ramsey was a house cat. When mum moved in to help look after Nan he came with her. With the two little monsters downstairs during the day with Nan, Ramseys world was upstairs. I don’t even think the little monsters realised there was a cat in the house!
It wasn’t until after Nan left us that Ramsey discovered he could open the door at the bottom of the stairs. When he did suddenly his world got so much larger.
Despite being bigger than the two little monsters added together they still managed to exert their dominance working together.
Ramsey is lying in rest next to Nico in the back garden.
This mornings coffee and doggy snuggles seem even more poignant and comforting.
Love meJealous much?
There was gaming Friday and it was mostly light games this week. I’ll share which ones in the gaming round up.
But this was the first club night where those attending could get this years club poker chip.
This is the third year I’ve done the poker chip for members. I’m still trying to source a place that will produce a sew on patch at a reasonable price. I’ve tried a couple but not been happy with them yet.
If you know of a good place to get sewn sew on patch please leave a comment below.
The plan had been to head off to the expo at a reasonable 6am. However thanks to Dolly waking me up at 3am. At 3:30 unable to get back to sleep and expecting one of the Monster Squad to tag in and wake me up just as I drifted off. I decided to get up and head off to the expo.
It was easy to trick the Monster Squad into going next door to mums.
With the dogs off loaded to mum I quietly got my bags together, got in the car and headed off.
But before I started the journey fully a fuel stop, tire check, and cash machine visit was needed.
Like a well trained formula 1 pit crew I did all this in double quick time.
Then it was onto the A47 heading west.
At Eye I stopped at the McDonalds to get breakfast. But I was 30 mins too early for the breakfast menu. So my breakfast was a large fries, double cheese burger, and a white Americano.
Obviously I was parked before the NEC buses were running. Like the breakfast menu at McDonalds I was half an hour too early for them. So it was the “long” walk to the exhibition halls. Which is kinda traditional for me.
The surprising thing was I wasn’t the first in line for picking up my ticket. I was beaten by a guy who had traveled overnight from the Isle of Wight, and had hardly slept.
The queue for hall 5 was not just for getting tickets but also for dropping off for the bring and buy.
At 8am the doors to hall 5 opened for the rush to get tickets. And it is a rush. However people are funnelled into a zig zagging labyrinth of barriers that they have to wind their way through before reaching the line of show staff issuing tickets.
Ticket in hand it was time to queue outside one of the halls ready for the 9am show opening.
I was going to queue up outside hall 2 however a message from my pal Jamie saw me waiting outside hall 3 with him instead.
As soon as the doors opened I made a be-line to hall 2 and the publisher of Yonder to swap over my damaged copy for a brand new one.
Bloody early selfieObligatory selfie in front of the show hoardingHall 5Got my passBritish Army orange cakeFreebies I got with the KoT Godzilla gameGrogu forced into a cage match with 3 porgs
After swapping Yonder it was time to grab a shop and drop box for the day.
The previous evening I had used the expo web app to star stalls I wanted to visit. Guess what the app had lost when I went back into it? Luckily I had my Apple notes list of stuff I was hoping would be at the show.
One pleasant costly surprise for me was the publisher of Cartographers having the map packs for the game on sale. Previous expos had me keeping an eye out for these but they were never on sale. So I was not going to miss this opportunity to pick them up.
Jonathan had asked me to get a copy of Lunar Trick for him, which I did. I also picked up a copy for myself because I thought it looked interesting.
My in a whim, just because purchase was Pugs in Mugs. What the game is like I have no idea. It’s set collection? But this was purely bought on the theme alone.
The small polish publisher of West Story had a tiny stall hidden in hall 2. I missed a couple of times looking for it. Sadly they had no copies of West Story for sale. But they did have a 20% discount code for their web store. So I went online and ordered it with the expansion. The discount code covered the postage. Which was very cool.
I was able to get the two player teaching mat for Netrunner. Something I’d been after for a while.
Lunch was my tortilla wraps. The processed cheese one was ok. I thought the army cheese was slightly too salty. However the shock for me was just how good the peanut butter and jam was. For decades I’ve watched American shows and movies have characters make pb&j sandwiches. And for decades I’ve snared at them for it, and saying to myself jelly? Boy have I been missing out. What a great combo. The saltiness of the peanut butter, the sweetness of the jam compliment each other so well. Wow! I’m a convert.
I headed off back to the car and the journey home about 2:30pm. I had achieved the days aims, I was also starting to feel tired.
Number of Fenland Gamer Poker Chips Handed Out: 0
Purchases:
Pugs in Mugs
King of Tokyo Godzilla Edition
Cartographers Heroes Collectors Edition
3 Cartographers map packs
Heat Legends
Lunar Trick
West Story + Expansion
Fliptoons plus mini expansion
Kobayakawa
Tropichaos
Mill Tag Grey Area Art Set (Netrunner alt art cards)
Netrunner two player play mat
The Ultimate Gamers Cookbook: Recipes for an Epic Game Night
Day 2
The three day expo plan had been get all the shopping done on day 1, then spend the remaining days doing demos, and gaming.
However overnight I found out the Exmoor expansion for Forest Shuffle Dartmoor was at the show. So going to the Asmodee stand with the shop was my first priority.
As I was queuing to be served I asked an Asmodee employee to confirm they had copies. I didn’t want to waste my time queuing if there were no copies left. They confirmed there were copies on sale.
New purchase in hand I headed over to the Asmodee demo area to pick up the Dartmoor promo.
It was then time to head over to the Asmodee ccg demo area (yes Asmodee had multiple stands spread out over the halls focussing on different games/things). Like other SWU players not taking part in the tournament, taking part in a demo was the only way to pick up a copy of the Vader promo card. I was playing a new player, and it showed in their play. Especially with them not bringing out their leader when possible. Yes I won comfortably.
A more reasonable startObligatory dragon photoPB&J Tortilla wrapBritish Army Processed Cheese tortilla wrap
While I was wandering around aimlessly in hall 2 Diego and family spotted me. We chatted briefly before they went off to explore the show. That was the last I’d see them that day.
I went off to hall 1 and the open gaming area to find a table to have lunch.
After lunch I met up with an Ashes player from the Ashes discord server to play some Ashes.
We were using some of the precon Phoenixborn decks. Our first game (Brennen Blackcloud vs Issa Brightmore) was very back and forth, and very close in the end. It was all down to a single phoenixborn health point on the final round. We both needed to hit just one more point to win. My clock had run out I’d lose automatically start of the next round by not being able to draw enough cards to refill my hand. If my dread wraith had taken one more hit that round before I swung in.
Game two was much more one sided, possibly a bad match up (Sembali Grimtongue vs Arren Frostpeak). I had no answer to my opponent and just got out numbered by allies on the other side.
But it was fun playing Ashes again for a couple of hours.
Afterwards I had another wander round hall 2 before deciding to head off back home.
Number of Fenland Gamer Poker Chips Handed Out: 1
Purchases:
Forest Shuffle Dartmoor: Exmoor expansion
Day 3
Slightly earlier than Day 2, but only by a quarter of an hour, I hit the road.
Like the previous days the journey started off uneventful.
However while on the A14 a police car came zooming along, no flashing lights, but it was easily hitting a tonne if I was to guess a speed. This was much faster than chasing down a speeding drive. It had an urgency to it.
Not long, minutes§. I saw what looked like a police car parked on an over pass doing the usual speed checks. But as I got closer it became clear this was not the case. The officer was out of the car and approaching (or getting as close as allowed) to what I then noticed, an adult male hanging onto the outside of the railing going across the over pass on the opposite side of the road. It was obvious he was in a bad place. This must have been pretty early into the incident because no other cops were there to help or close off the road on the opposite side. I just hope they were able to help this troubled soul.
Another reasonable startQueues it’s the expo experience
I started the day off at the expo returning to the Asmodee stand to play another SWU demo game to get a second Vader promo.
I followed this up with learning the Gundam card game on the same stand. I ended up with both promo decks, promo card, and a Gundam Assemble sticker. I actually liked this and might invest in a starter deck or two.
I did get to play a game of Pixies with Diego and his family. Which was fun, probably the highlight of the day. Diego’s daughter Lizzy won. But the important thing is I beat Diego by a point.
Afterwards I returned to the SWU demoes to earn another Vader promo card however the guy didn’t have anyone for me to play, so gave me two to complete the playset. If you are counting that’s four in total I got.
Sadly I was unable to get another game of Ashes.
But I did bump into Marcin and Colin and we had a photo taken with the Catan sheep.
Before heading off I did look to see if there was a chance of picking up another game of Ashes. But it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. So off home it was.
Number of Fenland Gamer Poker Chips Handed Out: 2
Purchases:
None
Final thoughts
I had a great time at the expo.
The driving back and forth each day wasn’t an issue. It’s about 2 hours each way. Cost wise in fuel, even with the current inflated prices due to world events, I was using about just over 1/4 of a tank a day. I put in about £70 in total. Which is about two nights b&b, or even camping. So it worked out cheaper financially.
The expo had technically 5 halls at the expo, plus the Hilton. However in reality it was 4.5 because hall 4 was only half utilised.
The expo was busy. But it never felt too crowded moving around due to the wider aisles, and being spread out over 3.5 halls.
There was a distinct lack of seating in the halls especially near the food truck in hall 4.
Having the open gaming in hall 1 was a good idea. There were some food trucks near it. So you could use the gaming tables for eating.
The tables did seem less used I think more todo with their location in hall 1. Last year when they were in hall 4 finding space on a table was hard. You had more people competing for them, whether for eating/resting and/or gaming. There were also more food trucks in hall 4 last year.
I’d be curious to know if the hall 1 food trucks took less money than expected or last year.
I think having the unused side of hall 4 as a dedicated food court with plenty of seating would be a great way forward.
It was a bit disappointing not to see Ben or Charlene on the opening day. And not to get a chance to play a game with Ben or have lunch.
However the highlight has to be playing Pixies with Diego and family.
Finally…
The show organisers released the all important numbers for the expo within a couple of hours of it closing its doors.
Once again it was a record setting expo.
In 2025 there were Uniques – 42,000+, and a Total Attendance – 72,000+. Which was also a record breaking expo, just like the one before that, and so on.
May turned out to be an average month for gaming in the end. It neither fell to the depths of February or March. But it also didn’t sustain the heights reached by April. I’m happy with average.
It’s nice to see the percentage of new games played drop from around the 50% or more mark to 33%. It means more games in the collection are returning to the table.
Any way here is the infographic summary with the top 9.
As usual for these posts I close with the raw stats.
Dune Imperium Uprising: played with the bloodlines expansion. I love how this expansion adds to the game but not in a massive way. You get a couple new elements and more of the good stuff. It doesn’t feel as big a change as previous expansions. I really must get this great game to the table more often.
Yonder: FINALLY! After two years almost to the day from playing the demo at UKGE, and crowdfunding delays Yonder finally dropped through the letter box. Playing was just as fun as I remember. I like the Stone Age inspired having to feed your workers at the end of each round. Fail to feed them and it costs you points. As does failing to fulfill a contract in front of you. Love that you have different worker types that all act the same. However each has a special ability to make them feel unique. Yeah this was worth the wait.
Star Wars Unlimited: Dave and I got to play two player Twin Suns using the newly released precon decks. Twin Suns isn’t really meant for two players, at best it can be described as being equivalent to the MtG Highlander format. The decks were fun. However some of the cards were definitely aimed at more than two players and the political side.
Netrunner: At last a chance to play test my decks using my custom made poker chip tokens. Which felt awesome to play with. Not cheap to get made. However even if the Neon Static deluxe ceramic poker chip tokens were available the cost including the shipping and taxes would be more expensive, and fewer in number (74 I think, 60 in the non ceramic version). For the amount I paid I got 118 poker chips that replicate the NSG token set you can buy (and I own). So enough for two players. My observations from the game we played were that while I was hitting the virus cards to weaken ice, I wasn’t hitting my ice breakers. So I really need to get rid of the nine cards over the 45. And get the balance right. I need to add the extra Sure Gamble also. The corp deck I need to play because I’m not sure Dave’s inexperience playing the game didn’t come into play.
Cat and the Tower: very pretty and one of the better tower building dexterity games.
Whispering Woods: An interesting tile drafting, route building game. It can be frustrating as you wait for a tile you need to come out, only for it to be taken by another player. Which happened to me more than once. At the moment I’m border line adding this to the collection.
The day when final decisions are made, bags packed, car checked.
This year is another first for me with the expo. Previous expos I’ve covered I think all the accommodation options you can have while staying over at the expo.
With Diogo joining the family I thought it was asking too much to expect mum to survive nearly four days looking after the Monster Squad. Diogo is a tad too big for mum. Between him and Dolly they’d finish mum off and be ruling the house!
Over the last few days I’ve been flip flopping about what brew kit I’m taking with me.
Originally it was going to be this Fire Maple Lotus Titanium Solid Fuel Stove and a home made meths stove.
The stove is a tiny knife balm tin, that has a screw on lid. I could have just used it as is. However I got some carbon felt and cut a strip that was the same depth as the tin. Then as you can see in the photo curled it into the tin.
The advantage of the carbon felt is it acts as a wick, and makes this stove spill proof. If for whatever reason the stove got knocked over the fuel inside does not spill everywhere.
And boy do these two stoves work well together. The Lotus acting as the pot support and windshield.
I’ve been lighting it with a ferro rod.
This system is so light and takes up so little space.
The other option I had been thinking about was my Trangia burner and the Trangia triangle.
Obviously not as light as the Lotus and my home made stove. But still pretty light.
The big advantage this setup has is that it can hold enough fuel to boil enough water to give me a brew for the larger cup I’m using. I’ve gone from the Kupilka 21 to the 37.
However last week I finally cracked and bought a Fire-Maple Petrel Titanium Ultralight Backpack Stove. Which is a remote canister stove. Paired with the Fire-Maple Petrel Ramen Pot the amount of time it takes to boil enough water for a brew using my Kupilka 37 large cup is blindingly fast. The scary thing is the stove isn’t even at full blast.
The plan is to take my own food and drink to the expo and not buy over priced stuff there.
My original thinking was I’d have noodles and make coffees. With the odd snacks/treats to keep me going.
However with our current heatwave and its continuation over the expo weekend. Although I’ll still make the coffee, I’m not sure I’d cook noodles.
So I’ve switched from hot food to cold. My plan is to take some really fancy sourdough crackers with me, along with some British Army ration pack processed cheese! Plus some small tortillas, British Army ration pack peanut butter and some sachets of jam to make PB&J wraps! Yes I know, how American of me.
I’ll be using my Mazama M!GO bottle for water. The nice thing is scattered around the NEC are free water refill stations. Although the odd one or two have been known to breakdown. But to give the NEC their due they do get repaired fairly quickly.
With the weather changing my food plans I think the stove option is obvious and it’ll be the Trangia going with me.
I’ve also got to make sure I take my copy of Yonder with me to exchange with the publisher because the box lid corner is damaged.
Right I’ve got some fur balls to walk before it gets too hot.
Yesterday the heat was back. Luckily I was spending the day indoors playing board games.
However last night I managed to catch the ITV weather forecast without Dolly being triggered.
The forecast for this bank holiday weekend was not the best news for me. It was just going to be getting hotter over the next couple of days.
If the predictions hold true we will see a new record high for May this weekend.
So when I got up this morning to let the Monster Squad out I decided I’d put the new tarp up for them.
About a week ago I went to Aldi for the first time in years to get the £7.99 folding fire pit I heard they had.
But like most shopping trips mistakes were made and more stuff than intended ended up in the shopping basket. Such as the £24.99 hammock and tarp setup.
It was the tarp from this bargain that I used this morning. It was the reason I bought the setup. I needed a tarp for the garden, and didn’t want to ruin one of my more expensive hiking tarps. The hammock I will give away because I have a DD Hammocks lightweight hammock.
The tarp itself has four tie out points, one on each corner. Which is ok for my intended use.
As you can see the tarp was pitched low. Well its primary usage is shade for the dogs.
Wearing my American Hat Makers The American Outback Crusher Leather Hat
There is just enough headroom for me to sit with my little table so I’m outside with them.
I don’t like the dogs being outside unsupervised. Not because they’d get up to no good. More I don’t trust my fellow man. I don’t want them being stolen or worse.
So if Diogo wants to lay outside then I have to sit out there with him. Which means Dolly will want to be out too with me, and Loki swaps between wanting to be outside and also inside.
And yes I made sure there is lots of water for them outside.
We had an early dog walk to avoid as much heat as possible. But even then you could feel it starting to get warm.
Anyway stay hydrated and coverup and catch you in the next post.
A quick update I’ve pre booked my show tickets for all three days about two weeks ago.
The shows organisers social media promoting ticket sales continues to what feels like targeted trolling to me.
It’s not that they are promoting sales. It’s the wording they use that implies that tickets are limited. Trying to install a fomo in those wanting to go but have not bought tickets yet. There is no ticket limit. No only 10k tickets or some other number. Each year the number of visitors goes up. The number of halls occupied at the NEC increases. They never “sell out” of tickets. So to imply that tickets are limited is a bit disingenuous at best.
But I am getting excited about going.
The club poker chips have arrived and I’ll be handing them out to club members at the expo that I bump into. Then I’ll hand them out at club nights afterwards.
Nine more days and I’m in board gaming geek heaven!
Yesterday evening there was an update on Ace with a couple new photos.
So less of my waffle and onto the actual words that were sent.
“He is playful and friendly with cats and other dogs.
Last week he went for his checkup with veterinarian Ellis, and they said Ace is doing very well.
His wound is healing and closing properly, and they mentioned it is because of the good care he has received and his regular veterinary checkups. He looks very healthy.
I will also ask his veterinarian to provide us with a recommendation and his health report.
Today was his first veterinary appointment for his travel preparations.”
In taxi on way to vets.
So great news. Reassuring on the cat and dog front. I think Ace is going to love it over here and fit in nicely.
And I’m so happy the process has started for bringing him over. Which is confirmation if we needed it that his paw has more or less healed. They wouldn’t have started the process otherwise.
I don’t think they will ever know really how grateful I am for the amazing care they have given Ace.
It’s becoming more real each update.
I close with a couple of photos of the furballs Ace will be joining.
One thing I’m hoping to do while at the expo is get to play a game or two of Netrunner and Ashes.
To help this plan come to fruition I’ve posted on a couple of relevant discord servers to try and arrange something for while I’m there.
At the moment it looks like I may get some Ashes action using the precons.
To help with this plan and it surprises me I’ve not done this before I’ve ordered a play mat case. Something that’d have been handy when playing at my flgs. But even after the expo it’ll be used.
I’ve also ordered a second set of acrylic tokens for Ashes and the last expansion in the Red Rains Cycle, End of Argaia. This wasn’t released in time for the all in pledge of the kickstarter. But just for completion sake.
I also ordered a deck box to put some phoenixborn in and the new acrylic tokens.
Once all here my hardest decision will be which phoenixborn to take. With thirty to choose from, and only having at best played four or five. I have no idea which is my favourite, or which have a play style I like. It may just be a matter of grabbing a couple of random ones.
I’m also hoping to get some gaming in with friends on the days they attend. My copy of War will be in my bag every day, along with Shallow Regrets. So at least we will have something at hand to play.
