Category Archives: #RoadToUKGE

Road to UKGE 2026 #7

#RoadToUKGE, UKGE

It’s the day before the expo.

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.

Road to UKGE 2026 #6

#RoadToUKGE, UKGE

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!

Road to UKGE 2026 #5

#RoadToUKGE, UKGE

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.

That’s it for now.

Road to UKGE 2026 #4 – It’s alive!

#baking, #RoadToUKGE, life, the universe, and everything, UKGE

As I write this post I’m four days in on creating a sourdough starter using rye flour. Naturally once the starter is fully active I’ll be making loaves of rye bread.

I’ve not done any baking since Nan left us in 2021. At the time she was the reason I baked.

Yes I had a sourdough starter back then, and I’d make a sourdough loaf regularly. After taking the loaf out of the oven, and once cooled a little. I’d take the loaf round for Nan to see. She’d put both hands on the warm loaf. She used to love doing that. I think it was the warmth of the bread, and the sensation it gave her. At the time Nan was well and truly bedridden, her dementia slowly stealing her away.

Nan would eat the tiniest of bits of the fresh loaf. She had trouble eating solid food, and literally no appetite. So to get her to eat a piece that wouldn’t even feed a sparrow was a major achievement. Nan definitely got great enjoyment from just holding her hands on the warm loaf.

But my baking didn’t stop there for Nan.

I made cookies, shortbread, muffins, poundcake, lemon drizzle cake, lemon meringue, cheese cakes, chocolate mousse, you get the idea.

Nan would eat just the tiniest of pieces of all of them. But even if they required a lot of effort, technical skill, or took time to make. It was all worth it. They were for my Nan.

Once Nan had left us I no longer felt like baking. I didn’t have the heart or desire. My reason had gone.

But now the desire to bake has returned.

I think it was initially sparked into life with my cousins daughter who has got into baking. I sent her a couple of books to do with baking (Ratio, and Dessert Course: Lessons in the Whys and Hows of Baking). Nan would have done the same. She would have wanted to encourage her.

It was helped along making bread and butter pudding for mum. She really likes my bread and butter pudding (I use brioche, and a mixture of dried fruit, nutmeg, and double cream).

Then recently I’ve had a hankering for rye bread. I love it toasted. However when I can find it in my local supermarkets it’s not cheap. So I thought you know what? why don’t I make my own? It’d be cheaper.

Obviously depending on the weather while UKGE is on instead of noodles there might be rye bread sandwiches, or just a chunk of rye bread to have with cheese. Although these might be my preference.

Plus I think each day there might also be a slice or two of pound cake to be washed down by some damn fine coffee.

I definitely will have biscuits as well to go with the coffee, which might just be home made now instead of the individual packets you can get.

So at the moment my food plans have completely changed.

Another first for me is I’ve come up with a list of stands, games and expansions I want to visit/get at the expo! That’s very organised. Especially for me. I blame my friend Duncan. He messaged me on BlueSky giving me a stand at the expo where a game I might be interested in is. So a note was created on my iPhone so I didn’t forget. Before I knew it a single entry had grown into a full blown list!

Road to UKGE 2026 #3

#RoadToUKGE, Brew kit, UKGE

One thing I’m going to need to do while at the expo is eat and drink.

That doesn’t change if I’m camping or driving there and back each day.

What I don’t want to be doing is paying expo prices for hot drinks and food.

That stuff ain’t cheap, and with the current cost of fuel (which I don’t see dropping before the expo) I’m going to need to keep expenses as low as possible.

So I’ve put together a little brew kit to take with me to the expo.

I’m going to have the Keith titanium canteen set with me anyway. There are free drinking water refill stations scattered around the NEC. So staying hydrated is easy.

This is the rest of the brew kit I’ll be taking.

  • Kupilka Platter 44
  • Kupilka 21 Classic Cup
  • Small Nalgene bottle containing Bioethanol Fuel
  • Fire Maple titanium lotus stove
  • My home made stove
  • Alpkit folding spoon (plus maybe my titanium chopsticks)
  • Hanging Ear Drip Coffee Bags
  • Silver Ant titanium coffee grounds container
  • OutIn Foldable Coffee Spoon
  • Serotonin Pocket Mini Table

All this (except the canteen which has its own case) will be in a haversack.

Throw in some food (noodles, snacks etc) and I should be all set each day.

Road to UKGE 2026 #1

#RoadToUKGE, UKGE

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to planning and booking accommodation for the UK Games Expo.

Ok technically if it was just accommodation you should be booking before Christmas if not as soon as possible after the last expo to get those bargains and discounted rates.

It’s still possible to get those however as it gets nearer to the big event the likelihood of saving some money gets slimmer. In fact you are more likely to have to spend more.

After the camping experience last year that I really enjoyed and found relaxing. I had planned to do it again at the same camp site.

However those plans were formulated before the arrival of Diogo.

I’ve had time to think things through and take into account mum’s health, and how demanding the little monsters can be.

I came to the conclusion that even though I’d love to have the four days camping at the expo. In reality that isnt going to be possible.

I don’t think mum would survive and it wouldn’t be fair on the little monsters.

So the only way I can attend the expo this year will be if I travel there and back each day (assuming I go all three days of the expo).

That’ll mean getting up god damn early each day, especially the first day. Although I think on the Saturday and Sunday I could leave a little later.

It’s not ideal. I’m sure I’ll need a holiday afterwards to recover! But it’s the only way I can see being able to attend this year.