I created a short (less than a minute) clip of a couple of rounds of doing a dark draft against the AI in the Epic Card Game Digital app.
This clip was then shared on Instagram. Which then pushed it out to Twitter and Facebook. Yep I use Instagram to spam other social media outlets.
It gives a brief idea of how dark draft works. In total there are ten rounds of drafting to generate a thirty card deck.
Below I’ve embedded the code from the Instagram post below. I’m hoping it works!
Wow I bet you folks thought I had stopped the blog with no posts happening for 3 or 4 days.
But as you know I was at the UK Games Expo, helping out on the White Wizard Games (WWG), demoing (as it would turn out) Epic the card game.
I did post some photos on Instagram that got shared on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t worry about finding them, most of them will be further down in this post.
Thursday is the usual day I like to travel to the expo. Drive across mid afternoon, so I arrive between 4pm and 5pm. I hopefully avoid all the traffic that way, can get registered in to wherever I am staying and settled in. It also means I don’t have a silly start the next morning to get the expo. I can have a nice and relaxed start instead.
That’s the usual plan from previous years. When I’ve had the resources to attend.
This year was a new experience for me.
The previous day the contact for WWG had arrived at the hotel I and the other demo staff were meant to be staying, and there had been a problem with the booking. Apparently there was a mad scramble to sort something out for us. We were given details of the new location, which was an apartment (or flat for us unsophisticated folks).
By the time I arrived at the flat I still hadn’t received the codes for getting in. I texted the WWG person who sent them back 5 minutes later.
I negotiated the locked key boxes. Like any good RPG open the first one gets the key to get inside the building. Open the box inside gets the key to the flat.
As you can see from above the top two photos (taken from the hotel website) were where we had initially been booked into. It’s walking distance from the NEC Hall 1.
The bottom three photos above are where I actually ended up!
The outside I think you would agree looks a bit rough. And that is being extremely kind. But it had free parking, which solved a problem I had for the day if we were at the original 4 star extravagance (I had planned to just leave my car in the NEC car park for the 3 days of the expo – which is cheaper than the airport parking I’d been directed to, but it left me the problem of parking for the night).
The flat was a 2 bedroom flat, with a double room (the couple helping out had that room) that had an en-suite bathroom, the small bedroom (that I was in, picture above), a second bathroom, kitchen/living room. It also had free WiFi.
Having a kitchen was handy. It meant I could cook, get milk etc. Location wise the flat is really good. Within 2 minutes walk there were 2 Chinese take-aways, pizza/kebab establishment, kebab establishment, fish and chips, fried chicken, Co-op, cash machine.
It’s just that the exterior isn’t the most attractive.
Our WWG contact wasn’t going to be able to meet me due to a minor accident the previous day. They had sprained their ankle, and was unable to get around for a day or two. It would appear yesterday was not a good day for them.
I had curried baked beans on toast for my tea. Sometimes the simple things give you the most enjoyment. And this is one of those things for me. Mind you baked beans on toast always brings back memories of when I used to have tea round my friend Gareth’s. We had other food, but that is the one that I will forever associate with being round his.
The couple from France arrived around 7pm, and after they had settled in invited me to join them to get something to eat. But I had already eaten. Routine (if not broken) has me eating at 5pm. Today had not broken the routine.
After an early night I was up early as usual. I don’t use an alarm, my body clock seems to be programmed (by the dogs) to wake at 5am. I snoozed for an hour before getting up and having my usual breakfast routine.
I arrived at the NEC and at the proposed meeting point with our WWG contact by 8am. I was early. I sent a text saying I had arrived and near the meeting point. Just in case they were inside the hall already. The reply let me know I would now be meeting some-one else from WWG who would have the passes etc. The injury meant our contact was unable to get to the show.
I was there early, because that’s me. But there people already at the ticket office, queuing up for their tickets (hence that photo below), the doors didn’t open until 10am! I sent photo to Jonathan to let him know the queues had started. But he was nearly at the entrance himself, because he was on the bus from the car park. So we met up for a brief chat.
After getting our badges, we went inside to the stand. After putting on our WWG tee’s we set up the tables ready for the “punters”. Because I knew Epic, myself and the French couple were assigned to doing the demos of that for the day. It was easier for WWG to find people that could demo Star Realms and Hero Realms, but a bit harder for people that could do Epic.
Epic was very popular due to the promotion for the expo of get a demo of the game and get a free copy of the game. However we had an allocation that we could give away each day. Naturally this went very quickly. Anyone coming along after lunchtime didn’t stand a chance of getting a copy.
Wow did the morning fly by. Before I knew it, it was 2pm and I hadn’t had a break. Luckily WWG got subway subs in for everyone earlier. So I had mine, and then had a quick wonder round the hall. I used this time to meet up with Jonathan again. who let me know the new expansion for Memoir ’44 was on sale at the show (which was early as the official date was the 6/6). So I snapped that up from the place he had seen it on sale. I also got a bonus scenario booklet with it as well. Which was a pleasant surprise.
Unofficially I heard that the Judge Dredd version of Wild Lands might be compatible with the original. Rules to allow this were being worked on at the moment. If that was the case, it would make the decision to keep investing in Wild Lands easier. Because if push comes to shove I’d take the Judge Dredd version over the original every time.
The rest of the day passed equally as fast.
A discussion late in the day between WWG and the demo team (that’s me and the others) we were told we could claim our store credit from sales stand. That all we had to do was tell them using store credit to pay and how much store credit we had.
Sorcerer the new game from WWG had been selling really well. The bundle deal was nearly sold out.
As we were leaving for the day to return back to the flat, another joined us. They were also staying at the flat. This was fine, I was expecting a fourth.
However once back at the flat I had a text saying that a fifth (who was the real fourth person) was arriving after 7:30pm.
Wait! What? Five in a 2 bedroom flat? I was not chuffed. Luckily there was a fold out bed in the flat. Sadly no extra towels, or bedsheets. Our contact when informed of this did manage to get the cleaner to come in and sort that bit out. But this really wasn’t on.
We all decided to get some take away. After getting supplies from the Co-op (I purchased fizzy drink, and apple juice), we hit one of the Chinese take-aways. The chow mein and salt and pepper ribs were fine.
But everyone was shattered. Who knew teaching and playing Epic could be so exhausting? The French couple were able to get an early night. However I and the other guy weren’t because the fifth person hadn’t arrived yet.
They finally arrived close to 10pm instead of the 7:30 as told. But we had no option but to stay up. Our contact suggested that we leave the key in the key box outside the front door and they could let themselves in. But I pointed out that was a pointless exercise, because if we did that we wouldn’t be able to lock the front door!
Eventually after the new arrival got settled in we could all get some much needed rest.
Once again I was up early. This time the advantage was I got to use the bathroom first and the shower.
With the fifth person sleeping in the living room/kitchen. It made making my own coffee a bit awkward. So I snuck in and grabbed my breakfast and drinks for the day, and then left the flat hoping to find a McD or something on the way.
In the end I ended up grabbing my favourite hot beverage from the NEC Starbucks franchise the Chai Tea Latte.
It was kind of relaxing sitting in the empty exhibition hall having my breakfast.
I did have to get the NEC staff to organise cleaners to clean up a large puddle that was right beside the aisle to the WWG stand.
As soon as staff turned up on the retailer side for the stand I asked them if they would put a bundle aside for me. Which they did.
They day went pretty much like the previous day. Except that we had extra copies of Epic to hand out after a demo. I think the copies lasted an hour longer before running out.
I saw Jonathan again throughout the day, and also one or two friends that had also come to the expo for the day. I really did enjoy this part of the expo. Probably the highlight for me. And I even got a chance to get a brief play of a proto type game a friend had brought along to get feed back on.
Late in the afternoon it emerged that WWG had none of the kickstarter stuff for Sorcerer with them! have to admit being disappointed at this news. That was the side I wanted to pick up really if I was going to get Sorcerer.
The day didn’t get any better on that front. I went to get my bundle that had been put to one side at the start of the day. Yep you can guess what I am about to write. It hadn’t been kept at all. Plus they bundle had sold out, as had a lot of the Sorcerer stuff. Then as I was taking this in a rather grumpy boss of the stand told me that we should be getting our product from WWG not them. I was getting a bit miffed. But before I waded in all guns firing I wanted to talk with the others to make sure my understanding of being able to buy from the stand from the previous day was an accurate memory.
Back at the flat after grabbing a Chinese take-away again I watched the Champions League final live on YouTube. It was a nervous 90 odd minutes as a Liverpool fan, considering that Liverpool weren’t for whatever reason firing on all cylinders. Despite the performance not being the usual high quality for the team, Spurs failed equally to perform at their best. Although to be fair to Spurs they were the better of the two teams on the night. Sadly for them just not in front of goal and taking opportunities.
So Saturday ended on a real happy note. My team for the last 45 odd years won their 6th European League trophy.
I repeated Saturdays morning routine, and added packing away all my stuff and putting it in the car. Well it was checking out day for the flat.
At the expo I used the quiet time as an opportunity to briefly look around and also take some photos of an empty expo hall 1. Something as a punter you don’t get to see normally.
Once people started to show up on the stands, the saga of the store credit and where exactly it could be spent took twists and turns. The boss of the stand tries to make sure that demo staff don’t miss out, and puts copies of Sorcerer aside for those that wanted a copy. They would work it out later with WWG about payment. A very very kind offer that I personally really appreciated. But then once WWG get in it’s all change again. WWG will ship to us any product we want that they don’t have with them. And that we would be given an opportunity to purchase the demo copies of Sorcerer at a reduced price.
Naturally this annoys the boss of the stand. It annoys me. It means I have to wait for anything I want. I didn’t want a demo copy of the game. Missing pieces, mistreated cards etc. were a concern. Heck we had “borrowed” tokens to use as counters and tracking life with Epic for starters (we had to improvise somehow).
One of my fellow demo crew members was tasked with taking the order of what people wanted to spend their store credit on. They had prices for the kickstarter stuff as well.
It worked out I could get all the Kickstarter exclusives and add-ones, but not the base game with the credit I had. So that’s what I went for. I reasoned that I’d be able to pick up the retail game easily enough, and probably cheaper than WWG would let me have it for.
Now instead of driving home with my brand new copy of Sorcerer and add-ons. I have to wait a minimum of a couple of weeks. Which my gut feeling is telling me will drag on longer than that. Mainly because I think WWG will be distracted in the meantime with Origins in the US that occurs in about 3 weeks time. So now their priorities shift to getting ready for that.
I wasn’t able to hang around at the end of the show (4pm) to help pack away. Maybe I should say more accurately that I was unprepared to do that.
My journey home was uneventful. The Attack Chihuahuas were pleased to see me back. Loki even left me a welcome home present by the backdoor!
As I said at the start and in a previous post, this was a first for me.
Seeing friends again that I haven’t seen in a while (months/years) was a definitely a highlight. But also seeing my friends from back home was equally a highlight.
Tom and Zee still seem dead set on pushing the myth that Barenpark is a game.
The guys behind the Judge Dredd RPG are pretty cool (as is their podcast).
I really enjoyed teaching Epic, and playing the odd game with a “punter”. But all the stuff around it kind of soured the experience a little.
I think it is accurate to say that the problems were due to poor planning and communication. In hindsight the warning signs were there with the late getting back to people with details etc when they asked for volunteers. And leaving it very last minute letting people have details about where they were staying (and that’s before they knew about the booking snaffu).
A lot of stuff could have been avoided with better organisation, confirmation phone calls/emails, better communication.
I appreciate that things go wrong, mistakes happen. And you can excuse one or two. But this was mistake after mistake. And they were avoidable mistakes.
There was also a confusing bit for me. If this was my company I’d be there before the help (which is what I was) arrived. I’d want to be first on the stand. Make sure everything was right before the doors opened etc. But they weren’t. I was first on the stand. They have no idea about the water spill. They arrived just before the doors opened. Or at least delegate that to one of your employees who is there with you.
I know where I lay the blame. But this isn’t a blame game. It’s a learn from your mistakes and do better next time.
Would I do it again?
I think so, just not with WWG. Great games, but…
Plus if anyone reads this post they most likely wouldn’t want me now to help out anyway. Very few people these days want reliable, independent, thinking, hard working people. They want cheap. Ok I just described myself twice. But you know what I mean.
Just a gentle reminder that from tomorrow the UK Games Expo (UKGE) is on.
Depending when you do the table, the UKGE is either the third or fourth largest table top convention in the world. It swaps between Origins and UKGE. They keep leapfrogging each other. Although this may not be entirely true since PAX Unplugged started. I’m not aware of the numbers that is attracting.
I think this is the biggest UKGE ever. They have 3 NEC halls this year, plus the Hilton Hotel. I’m expecting attendance numbers to beat last years record attendance also.
Despite its growth, the expo never feels crowded as you go round the stands. The walkways between stands are wide enough to make movement easy and not feel that you are fighting to get around.
The expo is starting to be taken seriously by publishers outside the UK. Particularly the US ones. It’s hard to justify not being here when it is so large. So we are starting to see more publishers have their own presence at the expo. There is still away to go, but it’s a start. That also holds true for game releases and previews etc.
If you are in to table top games and all that covers, this is really worth a visit. Even if it’s just for the day.
I’ll be there all 3 days of the expo.
But my experience of the show will be different to anything I’ve experienced before at the expo. Each year so far my expo experiences have added something new. But this will be a massive first.
This year I volunteered to help out on the White Wizard Games (WWG) Stand demoing their games. I’m excited and a tad apprehensive at the same time.
WWG also have 3 events running during the expo.
Win one of those tournaments and become immortal! Well semi famous, and associated with a game you enjoy forever!
I know folks look forward to my daily posts about nothing. But that schedule may be interrupted. I’ll try and do a post each evening. There will be photos from the expo during the day going up on Instagram.
Hope to see you at the expo, and maybe have the chance of teaching you how to play one of the games.
So excited. The Epic Card Game digital game has gone into Alpha for Kickstarter backers.
Naturally it was a no brainer for me to back when the campaign was being run.
The emails inviting backers to download the Alpha version for iOS using the TestFlight app have been going out today. So after a 100MB download over Eduroam I’m ready to play Epic.
But I have to say I’m a bit overwhelmed by my options at the moment.
Do I build a deck or two first? Do I jump in and do a draft match? Or maybe try out the campaign mode. Choices, choices.
Anyway if you are also in the Alpha you can challenge me as Whitespider. Hope to battle you soon.
White Wizard Games creators of Star Realms (my most played app), Epic and Hero Realms have started to put up video previews of the app version of Epic.
It’s looking pretty good. Plus I’m getting excited for it. I enjoyed playing Epic the times it’s managed to get to the table. So to be able to play it more often via an app is the perfect solution for me. My only problem will be fitting it in with all my Star Realms games!
The app for Epic is hitting Kickstarter soon.
White Wizard Games creators of Star Realms and Epic announced that their partners in crime Legion Supplies when it comes to card sleeves and storage boxes etc for their games will be releasing in May sleeves, a long storage box etc for Epic. It gets better, the long box comes with a promo card Keira the Wolf Caller. So a similar deal as the Star Realms offering. The Star Realms long box was amazing value.
I do hope that the long box is long enough to hold upto three base sets, three lots of Kickstarter promos, three copies of the Tyrants expansion.
Plus Legion Supplies are currently running a competition to win said sleeves and storage box HERE.
I had started to look at sleeving options for the game, so this is a well timed announcement for me. I hope that Esdevium actually get this out to shops, because they did a poor job of doing it with the Star Realms one.
Another week and more good more stuff dropping through the letter box.
From my FLGS I got the latest Fluxx to hit our stores Firefly Fluxx. As an incentive to buy from your FLGS or LGS if they are not that friendly when you buy from a store it should come with a promo card for the game too.
Yesterday was Tuesday, and that means only one thing. Yep Tuesday night gaming at the Chatteris Warlords.
The evening started off with Ben beating me at Android Netrunner when my first ever shaper deck Jesminder Sareen went up against his Jinteki Personal Evolution deck.
I could make excuses like I don't play shaper, it's an unfamiliar deck, and they would all be valid in this case. However this deck needs a few more plays for its full short comings are known, and I start tweaking. Although for starters I don't think I'm making enough of her ability of avoiding the first tag each turn.
We followed that defeat up with a game of Epic using the demigod cards from the Kickstarter year one promos to construct a deck. On the back of the demigod id there are suggested deck lists. I played Tarken, the wise, while Ben played Valentia, Justice Bringer.
Unlike Friday I did some damage to Ben before the inevitable crushing defeat happened.
With the Kickstarter exclusive playmats the play area for Epic is nothing but an explosion of colour.
Next up Ben recruited four more players interested in playing Epic. So two packs of Epic got shuffled together and did a pack draft. Which is basically each player getting three piles of ten cards in front of them acting as the packs. Then each player selects one as a pack, and the drafting begins, and continues until each player has thirty cards in front of them, which is their deck to play with.
We then split up into pairs to face off across the battle field letting our champions knock seven shades of a brown smelly substance out of each other.
My first game was an easy victory, and a steep learning curve for my opponent. It certainly helps having a knowledge of Magic when learning to play. It's then a matter of mapping the relevant terminology from Epic to Magic. The one page reference sheet that White Wizard provide on the website is a great aid for learning to play, and also while playing to remind yourself what words like tribute, blitz, loyalty 2 mean.
Although there is this learning curve of the terminology I do find that it is easier to get and learn that the iconography of Cthulhu Realms.
Turn one of our second game my opponent drew and fielded an Elder Greatwurm.
If there was no deploying then this would be a turn one win card. Luckily there is, but this beast of a card had me worried. It just needed to get through once to end me. I needed to make sure I had a sacrificial champion to block it with at the end of each turn.
While I was worrying about the Elder Greatwurm, my opponent was chipping away my health with direct damage, and adding wolf tokens to their playing field.
I used an event to deal five damage to all attacking champions. It helped clear the field. Then a solution to the Elder Greatwurm arrived in my hand. Although the solution had one attack and no defense, as long as it landed a hit, it allowed you to banish the other champion.
While navigating the Elder Greatwurm I was landing damage on my opponent, until eventually I was able to deliver a killing blow to get the victory.
Why can't I play like this against Ben?
We have a growing Android Netrunner meta, and now Epic is starting to take root. At the end of May we will be having our first store tournament for Netrunner. Hopefully we will get the Tyrants expansion for Epic and also the store kits being done.
I just need to introduce folks to Ashes now…
Friday I missed my now regular post highlighting the following weeks new releases from Esdevium (who I portray as being part of a Borg collective that is represented by Asmodee) that interest me. There was a legitimate reason for this, I was pretending to have a social life by being out gaming!
There is a gaming group in Wisbech that meets up on a Friday from 5pm until 9pm I believe. They used to be in a scout hut or something by the hospital, if I'm remembering this correctly. I hadn't been before because the timings were wrong.
However things change, and now for the immediate future the timings work out for me.
Then while at the Chatteris Warlords the other day I found out they had moved location. The gaming group (can't remember the name for the life of me) was now being held at the Conservative Club on Alexandre Road.
When I arrived at the gaming group (slightly late, because I got caught up chin wagging with my friend Nathan) Ben (from Warlords) and Jamie (who I have played Dicemasters with) were locked in a skirmish playing Attack Wing.
Despite having similar mechanics to X-Wing (well Wizkids did licence them from FFG) I've never been a fan of Attack Wing. It didn't appeal to me. From poorer quality models, a skirmish game designed for small ships which I didn't think suited the larger ships of Star Trek (FFG did it right with Armada), the fact I'm a much bigger Star Wars fan than Trek, and Wizkids usual insane expansion release cycle, I just wasn't in on this one.
Anyway when I got there Jamie was just finishing off destroying Ben's ship for the win. While I was waiting there was a table taken up with a couple of people sorting a gravity feed of the latest D&D Dicemasters set that they had just opened. Fools.
Anyway after the tears of defeat had been wiped away, some minor post game analysis, the three of us played a game of Epic the card game.
The deck of 120 cards that make up the deck were split into the four alignments that make up the game. We then randomly selected which deck we had and started playing a three player game of Epic.
Ben went first and was able to delivery twelve points of damage straight away to Jamie. I was next and tried to kick Jamie while he was down so speak, but he managed to avoid that attack!
Then Jamie hit me, followed by Ben, followed by Jamie, followed by Ben. I was out leaving Jamie and Ben to duke it out. Although Jamie was able to delay the inevitable, Ben went on to be the last one standing and basking in the glory of victory.
Our second game was a three player game of 7 Wonders using my pimped out copy of the game (sleeved cards, playmat and metal coins). Being the owner of the game I graciously let the other two beat me into last place. Once more Ben was victorious.
Apparently there was a Warhammer Conquest store competition at The Hobbit Hole on the Saturday, and Jamie needed to get a bit of practice in. So while Ben beat Jamie at Conquest I was deck building a new Shaper deck based around the new runner from the Kala Ghoda data pack Jesminder Sareen.
I've not played Shaper, I'm an Anarch through and through. But Jesminders ability intrigued me.
The other card I love from that data pack is a Street Magic. I've got to try and get this into my Noise deck, and I definitely want this in my Jasminder deck. Street Magic in play can potentially stop so much nastiness happening when making a run.
I just need to work out what are the best econ cards, and ice breakers for Shaper now.
After Ben had shown Jamie the weaknesses in his Conquest deck, we had a four player game of 7 Wonders. Ben won this game also, and the only thing that stopped me coming last was there was a noob to the game also playing. But I did score better this time than the first play this evening.
Despite not winning a game, I still had a pleasant evening. I'll definitely be going back, just not next week because there is a Ticket to Ride “marathon” going on.
Hot on the heals of the announcements last week for Epic of the game day kits and store tournament kits comes this new announcement from White Wizard Games about giving Epic a Worlds.
That nice funny money figure of $100,000 is not for one person, but spread out amongst those taking part in the Worlds. With a not to be sniffed at top prize of $25,000.
Here are the words that White Wizard sent:
“I am thrilled to announce the $100,000 Epic World Championship tournament. Event details can be found here.
Epic was designed to provide a complete trading card game style experience at a tiny fraction of the cost. I am very proud of the depth of game play and strategy the game provides for both sealed and constructed play.
The one thing Epic was missing was high-end events to inspire players to build the best-possible constructed decks and to push their strategies in awesome limited formats like dark draft. This high-end play doesn't just benefit the competitive tournament player, it also provides a wealth of internet content like cool deck lists that casual players can build and try at home or in a local casual event.
Every one of the 64 qualifying players in the Epic World Championship will get a cash prize and awesome Epic swag! The road to Epic Worlds begins at SXSW Gaming in just a couple of weeks. Best of luck to all in your quest to qualify!
Thank you again for backing Epic!
-Rob“
My concern is that there will not be a nationals in the UK, and therefore a chance for a UK champion to participate. We will be lucky if we get a store tournament, let alone a regionals to feed into the nationals.
There seems to be very little up take in the UK or even a distributor (I'm sure there must be one, but I'm waiting to find out who from White Wizard so my local FLGS can order the game day and store kit).
I love that White Wizard are doing this, it shows ambition and support for a great card game.
The deck building card game with a historic theme has been relaunched on Kickstarter. This is a great game and worth a punt if you like the genre.
You can back Ages HERE
Posted by me using my iPad and the Blogsy app