Snake Eyes Gaming

2016-07-10T13:45:00.001-04:00

Pokémon Go went live on the Internet this week and if you haven’t heard about it yet, my guess is that you will very soon - especially if you have 8-13 year old children.

Before we start, take a look at the official video for Pokémon Go here, so you can get a better idea of what is going on.

Pretty neat, right?

The first thing you should understand is that Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game. What that means is the app uses the GPS and camera on your phone or tablet to track where you are in the real world, and then overlap Pokémon onto your screen. It will look like the Pokémon on standing on the sidewalk, or hiding in the bushes.

Still interested? Ok, let’s continue.

Getting Started

First thing you will need to do is install the Pokémon Go app on your phone. You can grab it at either the Apple iTunes Store for your iPhone or iPad, or at the Google Play Store for Android phones or tablets.

Once the software is downloaded, it will ask you to sign in. You can either sign in using your Pokemon Club account or your Google or Apple login. If you don’t have any of these, I recommend signing up for a Pokémon Club account. Pokémon Club is a great website that has tons of kid-safe activities, and there is even an tutorial that will teach both you and your child how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game with awesome step-by-step video tutorials.

NOTE: At the time of this writing, the Pokemon Club sign-up servers are being overwhelmed by people wanting to play Pokémon Go. It might take them a few days to keep up with the enormous amount of traffic they are getting!

Ok, now that we’re signed in, a tutorial will take over and let you customize your Trainer – that’s what players are called in the Pokémon universe. This is all cosmetic, so take a look at the options and just have fun.

Next, you’ll need to give your Trainer a name. I recommend NOT using a real name here for safety reasons. Just pick a fun nickname – anything you want, but only letters and numbers will work.

Capturing Your First Pokémon

Next, the tutorial will show you a Pokémon nearby. For me it was right in the living room – how cool! The starting Pokémon are Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, the classic Gen 1 starters. folks say there is a way to get a Picachu

To catch a Pokémon, you have to “throw” the red & white Pokeball at the Pokémon. You do this by flicking your finger, which will launch the ball at the Pokémon and hit him with it. The angle and force of your flick will affect how the ball flies. This flicking is definitely going to be a skill that needs to be mastered. With better aim, you can catch the Pokémon, and even earn “Nice”, “Great” and “Excellent” throws, all of which will score bonus experience points (XP) and help your Trainer reach higher levels.

My first Pokémon was Charmander. I hit him with an excellent throw, and he was added to my Pokedex.

You will notice some general traits about your Pokémon here. Its type, Hit Points (HP), Combat Power (CP) and moves are all listed. All Pokémon start off with full HP at capture, but HP can go down after a fight! Also, you will notice that not all Pokémon have the same Combat Power (CP). I caught multiple of the same type of Bellsprout, and it appears that if they are outlined with a green circle, they are the basic Pokémon, while yellow are uncommon ( and more powerful) and red are rare and the most powerful type!

Heading Outside

Now that you have your basic Pokémon, the game encourages you to go outside and walk around.

You will get a map of your area, with streets and buildings marked and your Trainer will show as moving on the map as you walk around. This is the point at where you need to make sure you set some ground rules with your children to be safe and only go adventuring with a parent or guardian. I love the fact that Pokémon Go will entice your children to go outside and adventuring to new spots around, but let’s just make sure everyone is safe while doing it.

In the picture you will see some areas of interest marked with the blue cubes. If you walk (or bike) to these cubes on the map, they will transform into markers you can interact with. These are called PokeStops. You can even stop in your favorite Friendly Local Game Store Snake Eyes Gaming) to buy Pokémon cards or get information about our Pokémon League.

Parental Tip

Please note that not all of the PokeStops are kid friendly. For instance, there are at least 3-4 bars in downtown Altoona that have PokeStops on them. But, these can be activated safely from the sidewalk.

To activate a PokeStop, simply flick it sideways with your finger. You will be rewarded with various items to use in your adventure. More Pokeballs for capturing Pokémon are the most common item, but I also found several eggs. (more on eggs later).

Catching More Pokémon

As you are walking around outside, you will see a green rustling of grass. Head towards it, and you might see a Pokémon appear. Try to catch them!

The Pokémon’s CP level, the type of Poké Ball you used, your throwing technique, and other factors come into play when determining whether the Pokémon can be successfully caught.
Other Pokémon will simply run away so be sure to be quick.

Various habitats will determine what Pokémon is found. For example, water Pokémon will be found near bodies of water and beaches. Use the Nearby feature on the bottom of the screen to see which Pokémon are around.

The item Incense will draw Pokémon toward your for 30 minutes, so be sure to use them when you are having trouble finding Pokémon in the wild.

Eggs

When gathering items at PokéStops, you may find Eggs that will eventually hatch into Pokémon. To hatch these Eggs, you’ll need to walk around a certain distance (2, 5 & 10KM).

The farther you have to walk, the rarer the Pokémon you’ll find inside when it finally hatches. You’ll need Incubators to hatch Eggs. There is one provided for you so only one Egg can be hatched at a time unless you purchase another one.

Leveling Up / Evolution

If you want to level up your Pokémon, then you’ll have to use the Stardust gained from capturing Pokémon to do so. Simply click on the Pokémon in your PokeDex, and click on the green level up button at the bottom of the screen.
Evolving Pokémon takes an extra step that involves the Transfer function, the Professor, along with Pokémon-specific candies.

Battling / Gyms

You will also notice on the map a couple of taller, big yellow markers. These are Gyms.
After your trainer reaches Level 5 you can join a team (either Red, Blue or Yellow) and start to battle Gyms.

Once you join a team, you can assign Pokémon you’ve caught to an open Gym or to a Gym where a team member has placed one of his or her Pokémon. Like PokéStops, Gyms can be found at real locations in the world.

Only one Pokémon per player can be set at a particular Gym. (up to 3) If you want to tackle another team’s Gym, you’ll want to check out its stats. Prestige determines how difficult a Gym will be to take over. Training Pokémon at your Gym will increase its Prestige, while losing battles to other teams’ Pokémon will lower it.

Training your Pokémon is simple, just visit a Gym that’s already controlled by your team. Once there, you can train by battling against your own team’s Pokémon. Defeat all of them and your Gym’s Prestige will go up, making it more difficult to be defeated by another team.

If the Gym’s Prestige is reduced to zero, the defending team loses control of the Gym, and you or another player can then take control of it by assigning a Pokémon to protect it.

Gyms are a collaborative effort in Pokémon Go so be sure to check back to your team’s Gyms once in awhile and be sure to train your own Pokémon.

Micro-Transactions

I just wanted to throw a note in here that you can do virtually everything in Pokémon Go for free, with just a bit of walking and some time. Each time you catch a Pokémon, you will earn a few PokeDollars that can be spend on various upgrades – some for your Pokémon and some for your Trainer. If you want to speed up the process the game will let you (or your kids if you aren’t watching!) spend real money for Pokedollars.

Mixed Doubles TournamentA Warhammer 40,000 Event

2015-08-06T22:04:00.000-04:00

Where:

Snake Eyes Gaming

201 Cayuga Ave., Suite10

Altoona, PA 16602

(814) 376-2000

When:

Saturday, August 22nd
11:30 AM – Registration
12:00PM – First Round Begins
Army lists will be collected during registration.

What:
3 round, 1,000 point Warhammer 40,000 Mixed Doubles tournament.
Players will be randomly paired with a new teammate each round - so you could end up playing against a former ally or playing with a former opponent!

Participants will be given 2 hours and 30 minutes for each round.

There is NO painting requirement. Unpainted models will NOT hinder your ability to win Best Sportsman or Best General prizes.
All models must be WYSIWYG.

Cost:
$15 for each participant. The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will be served between Rounds 2 & 3. The remainder of the entry fees will be awarded as prize support.

Awards:
Best Overall

Best Sportsman
Best General
Best Painted
Snake Eyes Award

Rules

Battle-forged armies only. Players may use a Combined Arms Detachment, described on pgs. 117-122 of the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook. Individual army books may give players of that faction the option to use other Detachments.
Please note that you may NOT take any Allied Detachments for this event or Allies from any other source.
Your Teammate will be considered an Ally of Convenience, described on pg. 127 of the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, regardless of the type of Ally that they would normally be considered.
Lords of War may be up to 30% of total forces point value (i.e., 300 points).
Terrain will be set up by the judges prior to the event.
Mysterious Terrain rules will be used where applicable.
Missions will contain (or have references to) ALL deployment rules, scoring methods, and Objective details.
Every players must have the official rules that detail each unit(s) that they are using in this event.

If you have any questions about any of these rules please post on comment here or ask via some other method prior to the day of the event. Thanks!

Rail City Rumble: A Snake Eyes Gaming Warhammer 40,000 Tournament

2015-05-25T21:02:00.001-04:00

Snake Eyes Gaming is proud to announce the 1st Annual Rail City Rumble!

For the last four years Snake eyes Gaming ran the Steel City showdown in Pittsburgh, the largest Warhammer 40,000 tournament in Western Pennsylvania. This year marks an embarkation upon a new adventure - the Rail City Rumble! Come and test your mettle against others - only one will earn the right to hoist the Sword of Victory.

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR.

Where: Snake Eyes Gaming

201 Cayuga Ave.

Altoona, PA 16602

When: Saturday, May 30^th

                              12:00 PM – Registration
                              12:30 PM – First Round Begins
                              Army lists will be collected during registration.

What: 3 round, 2000 point Warhammer 40,000 tournament

                              Participants will be given 2 hours and 15 minutes for each round. Additional time
                                   will be provided for set-up during the first round.
                              There is NO painting requirement. Unpainted models will NOT hinder
                                   your ability to win Best Sportsman or Best General prizes.
                              NO proxies although conversions are accepted (and encouraged!). All models must
                                          be WYSIWYG.

Cost:                    $15 for each participant. Preregistration is not required.
The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will be served between
                                        Rounds 2 & 3.

Food will be available for non-participants for the cost of $5 per person.

Awards: Best Overall

                             Best Sportsman
                  Best General
                             Best Painted
                             Snake Eyes Award

Rules       Limit of 2 detachments and one Data Slate - total of 3 detachments.
              Warlord from primary detachment.
              Players can self ally.
                     Only one Lord of War for entire army, Lords of War can be from secondary
                                   detachment and may be up to 30% of entire army cost - 600 pts.

You must have the official rules that detail the unit(s) that you are using.

Night of the Living Card Games 2 (2/21/2015)

2015-02-13T11:16:00.004-05:00

It's been a little while. A lot of cool things have happened around Snake eyes Gaming in the last month: Fate Reforged Prerelease, Magic PTQ, Knight Models Tournament, and tons of new exciting products!

I wanted to spend a little time today talking about the upcoming Living Card Game Day at Snake Eyes Gaming. Some of you may remember the last Living Card Game Day that we held back in October. For that event we ran demonstrations of a handful of our favorite Living Card Games. Since that time, we have had a Doomtown Tournament and a group of new players pick up Lord of the Rings. For this Living Card Game Day (which will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2015) we are going to put the spotlight on two games: Doomtown and Call of Cthulu.

Doomtown is set in the Weird West. There are mad scientists, evil sorcerers, undead, holy-men wielding the power of the divine, outlaws, and of course lawmen. You take the role of the Sheriff Dave Montreal and the Law Dogs; the Morgan Cattle Company and their secret experiments conducted by mad scientists; the unseemly circus that just came to town and set up their tents near the old Whateley manor house, or the outlaw Sloane and her gang. Whoever you choose, your goal is to wrestle control of Gomorra away from your competitors.

Each store is permitted to hold two Deputy Events per year. Next Saturday (February 21, 2015) at 2pm will be the Deputy Event. Bring a legal Doomtown Reloaded deck (constructed following the deck building rules out of cards from the Base Set; New Town, New Rules; and Double Dealin') and fight for control of Gomorra. Only one player cane leave with the tin badge proclaiming them as Deputy.

Join us in exploring the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft with the Call of Cthulhu LCG Necronomicon draft. Take the side of humanity battling against the outer gods, and elder ones. Or take the side of they who should not be named, in the new draft format for the Living Card Game.

We will be teaching basics of the living card game as well as holding a draft tournament. The Call of Cthulu draft will start next Saturday (February 21, 2015) at 6pm. The draft is played with each player using a draft starter and a draft pack. You will have the draft starter as the core of your deck to use, & draft from the draft pack, like other card games, choosing a card and passing to the next player, using the drafted cards to then build a 40 card deck.

Winter Project Status Update

2015-01-02T00:43:00.003-05:00

I did the same thing that I always do.

My Lizardmen army project started off with the same ideal that I always begin with: only assemble and paint one unit at a time. My theory is that if I do an army in manageable chunks like that I will not be overwhelmed by a tide of gray plastic. This time I made it all of the way through two units: 1 Kroxigor and 3 Jungle Swarms. Then the desire to get the models on the table and play a couple of games got the better of me.

As you can see from the picture below I now have around 1,250 points assembled, enough to play small games. Hopefully this will tide me over while I work on basing and painting my Core choices. The Temple Guard in the background were a Christmas gift (thanks Matt!) and they will be the next unit that I work on. Once I get some of the stuff currently assembled finished of course.

Next time I'll have some painted models to show off and maybe even a comment or two about how some of the units are performing on the table top. Happy New Years!

Happy Holidays from Snake Eyes Gaming

2014-12-24T12:55:00.001-05:00

Snake Eyes Gaming wishes everyone in our gaming community and all of their families a happy holiday season. We hope that you all have a warm, safe, and fun holiday filled with plenty of games and cheer.

Doomtown Game Day: New Town, New Rules OP Kit

2014-12-15T22:49:00.003-05:00

This upcoming Saturday is Snake Eyes Gaming's first Doomtown Game Day!

Snake Eyes Gaming will be running the first Organized Play (OP) kit for the expandable card game Doomtown Reloaded on Saturday, December 20th at 5:00 pm. Bring a legal Doomtown Reloaded deck (constructed following the deck building rules out of cards from the Base Set and/or New Town, New Rules) and fight for control of Gomorra. Greenhorns and Experienced Gunslingers alike are welcome!

Where:                  Snake Eyes Gaming
                                201 Cayuga Ave., Suite 10
                                1130 Perry Hwy
                                Altoona, PA 16602
                      snakeeyesgamingllc@gmail.com

When: Saturday, December 20th 5:00 PM

What: Doomtown Reload Organize Play (OP) Kit #1.

Cost: $6 for each participant

Awards:                1st Place: Xiong "Wendy" Cheng Artwork Playmat
   2nd Place: Fourth Ring Deck Box (metal)
   3rd Place: Fourth Ring Deck Box (metal)
   Participation Prize: Alternate Artwork Pistol Whip (featuring Alice Stowe)
   Additional Prizes: Alternate Artwork Pony Express (the old artwork from Deadlands)

As we said above, Greenhorns and Experienced Gunslingers alike are welcome. In fact, there will be an opportunity to get a demo or a couple of practice games in beforehand if you arrive prior to 4 PM.

Hope to see you all at High Noon in the Town Square!

Game Review: Lord of the Rings the Card Game

2014-12-06T17:14:00.004-05:00

The Lord of the Rings Card game is a cooperative Living Card Game in which players work together to complete a harrowing Quest. Living Card Games (sometimes alternatively called Expandable Card Games) are card games that are not collectible. Rather than coming in randomized booster packs with different rarity levels of cards, sets are released that contain fixed cards. In this manner players can purchase expansions that contain the cards that they are interested in using. Most Living Card Games have Core sets that contain a good mixture of cards that will allow a player to make multiple decks and begin playing. Expansions are released every 1-2 months (depending on the particular game) and contain a full play set of all the cards in that expansion. The cooperative play in Lord of the Rings allows players to work in concert to complete the Quest that they have been assigned. The game can be played by 1-4 players and scales in difficulty as more players are added.

Each player controls three Heroes which represent the

adventurers striving to complete the Quest. Heroes start the game in play and will help define the type of cards that the player will use in their Player Deck. In addition to the ability to attack, defend, and make progress towards completing the Quest – each Hero also possesses abilities and/or traits that represent the way in which that Hero acts. Powerful Heroes are more Threatening to the Enemy than less powerful Heroes which means that they will have less time to complete their mission before the Enemy reacts to their presence. Threat acts like a game clock that determines how much time a player has to finish the Quest. The following heroes are among those that come in the Core set: Aragon, Legolas, Gimli, Eowyn, Theodred, Denethor, and Glorfindel. Each new expansion contains at least one additional Hero including Elrond, Frodo, Boromir, Galadriel, and Prince Imrahil.

Players use cards from their Player Deck to arm themselves for the battles ahead in the Quest. Player Decks are made up of Allies, Events, and Attachments. Allies are companions that you recruit to assist you in your endeavors. Allies are able to help you fight, defend, and make progress towards completing the Quest. Guard of the Citadel, Longbeard Orc Slayer, Gondorian Spearman, Miner of the Iron Hills, Faramir, Beorn, and Gandalf are some of the Allies included in the Core set. Some Allies also have Hero versions (although only one version of each unique character can be in play at any given time). Events are the actions that Heroes and Allies take during the Quest – such as Feint, Sneak Attack, Radagast’s Cunning, Gandalf’s Search, and Beorn’s Hospitality. Attachments are the Artifacts, Weapons, and Titles that your Heroes acquire during the game. The following Attachments are among those included in the Core set: Horn of Gondor, Blade of Gondolin, The Favor of the Lady, and Dwarven Axe. Each expansion contains additional Allies, Events, and Attachments such as Radagast, Gildor Inglorion, Arwen Undomiel, Gwaihir, Sword that was Broken, Vilya and Nenya (Elrond’s and Galadriel’s Rings of Power respectively), Black Arrow, and many more.

The Quest deck contains the Locations, Enemies,

and Treacheries that the players must overcome to complete the Quest. Locations are places that must be explored during the Heroes journey. The geography of Middle Earth is represented in the Core set by Location cards like Mountains of Mirkwood, Necromancer’s Pass, Enchanted Stream, and Old Forest Road. Enemies are the monsters and villains that must be fought during the Quest. Enemies include generic monsters such as Wolf Rider, Forest Spider, and Hill Troll; as well as specific villains like Chieftan Ufthak and the Nazgul of Dol Guldor. Treacheries represent the attacks and attention of the Enemy through cards like Caught in the Web, The Necromancer’s Web, and Pursued by Shadow. The Quest itself is made up of the Quest Cards that define which Locations, Enemies, and Treacheries the Heroes could face as well as the conditions necessary for the players to move through and hopefully complete their mission. Each expansion contains additional Quests, Locations, Enemies, and Treacheries for the players to face.

If you would like to try a demo of the Lord of the Card Game let us know and we can arrange one for you. Otherwise, keep your eyes on this spot for upcoming Lord of the Rings Card Game events. There are some good resources available if you are interested in finding out more about the Lord of the Rings Card Game on your own: Board Game Geek and the Hall of Beorn.

New Project with an Old Plan

2014-11-25T19:29:00.001-05:00

Winter is coming (the pun is partially intended), and as such it is a great time to start a new project. Each year I seem to get involved in a new hobby project to carry me through the dark depths of winter. I find that having something creative to spend the cold evening where I can’t be outside gives me something to look forward to. It should be noted that I do not generally make a conscious decision to go out and start something new because it’s getting cold. It just so happens that about this time of year I find a project to get interested in and work on it most of the winter. In the past, I’ve worked on White Scars, Tau, and DeadZone as my winter project.

Like most years, I wasn’t even thinking about a new project. And then a shadow of an idea started to grow in my mind causing me to look at models and think about paint schemes. Eventually I realized I was on to something and purchased enough to get me started.

It all started during the End Times. I have not played Warhammer Fantasy more than a handful of times since 6th edition. As whispers of the End Times started to surface though I couldn’t ignore them. Named Special Characters with models dead? Nagash returned? An apocalyptic breath of air was blown into the Warhammer Fantasy universe and it made me want to participate. Now that I had the urge to begin working on a Fantasy army I had to decide on which force I would begin working, there are a lot of cool models and a lot of cool rules so it was quite a decision.

In the end I came up with a simple solution, I’ve always liked the Lizardmen but never owned or painted any of their models. I ordered a couple of Skink Regiment, Saurus Regiment, and Carnosaur and got started working. I’m still working on setting out exactly what my goal is (i.e. am I shooting for 2,500 points or 2,000 points or what?) but I expect to have the first 1,000 points completed soon so you may see them coming soon to a table near you. A couple of small point value games will probably indicate on which units I will be spending the winter months.

What projects are all of you currently working on? Please feel free to share them below.

Weekend in Review

2014-11-11T18:55:00.001-05:00

Thanks for another great weekend of gaming! We would like to offer a sincere thank you to Hershel for his assistance on Friday night. We had a great, busy evening (and late night) full of Friday Night Magic and the release of the new Commander decks featuring Planeswalker commanders for the first time. Hershel's assistance was instrumental in making Friday night happen.

Saturday was the Grand Prix Trial for Baltimore, 17 participants attended and dueled throughout the afternoon. When the dust cleared Luke was the victor, congratulations and good luck! There was plenty to do for all participants because those that did not finish in the Top 8 were able to Draft afterwards.

This past weekend also saw more fierce battles in the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K escalation leagues. Saturday night also marked the banishment of Glotkin by a night goblin shaman wielding the Skull Wand of Kaloth. The world has certainly not seen the last of Glotkin, the brothers will undoubtedly make their way back from the Chaos Wastes to once again threaten the Old World.

Interest in Living Card Games has continued to grow. Three intrepid players command the heroes of Middle Earth as they battled across the Anduin to the verge of Lorien and then plumbed the depths of Dol Goldur. Two players braved the unknowable and avoided going mad from the revelations they uncovered as they competed to solve mysteries in Call of Cthulu. The struggle for the future of the doomtown was fought in the dusty and bloody Town Square of Gomorra twice by six different players, with the Sloane Gang shooting their way to victory and later the Fourth Ring biding their time as the Law Dogs and Morgan Cattle Company waged a battle for supremacy against the Sloane Gang that cost both sides equally.

The Sunday HeroClix event was Marvel vs. DC. Sixteen players showed up for this cross over spectacular in which TJ emerged victorious and Paul distinguished himself with the Fellowship award.

Election Day

2014-11-03T18:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Election Day!

We at Snake Eyes Gaming just wanted to remind everyone to go out and cast your votes. If you're not sure where your polling place is then you can find out that information at the following location: https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/Pages/PollingPlaceInfo.aspx.

Weekend Recap

2014-10-29T19:41:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! Not only did we have great Autumn weather last weekend but there were also a couple of cool events at Snake Eyes Gaming to recap.

Living Card Games are a relatively new edition to Snake Eyes Gaming and as such we wanted to make a little time to highlight some of the games that we're most excited about. With the help of the people that volunteered to demonstrate games, we successfully ran demos of the following living card games: Doomtown Reloaded, Warhammer 40,000 Conquest, Lord of the Rings, Call of Cthulu, and Star Wars. In addition to the people that showed up and participated in Living Card Game Day we had others express interest in learning to play several of the games. Snake Eyes Gaming will schedule another living card game day in the future but in the meantime we plan on holding game days and events for a few of the games that we demonstrated.

Snake Eyes Gaming also hosted a Grand Prix Trial on Saturday. The Legacy formatted event brought 15 participants who dueled for a spot in New Jersey on November 16 & 17. Congratulations and good luck to the winner who traveled all the way from Pittsburgh to participate in our Grand Prix Trial. In addition, we would like to give a special thanks to Bruce who donated his time to run the Magic tournament.

Thank you to all of the people that assisted with and participated in the events that we ran last weekend. There will be plenty going on this coming weekend as well with the start of Round 2 of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle Escalation League, a special Halloween themed booster draft for Friday Night Magic (Innistrad/ Innistrad/ Avacyn Restored), and more!

Living Card Game Day!

2014-10-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

This coming Saturday (October 25th) is Living Card Game Day at Snake Eyes Gaming. Come in and try a demonstration of any of a number of Living Card Games or bring in your favorite LCG and run demos for others.

The following Living Card Games are guaranteed to be on hand for demos and games: Lord of the Rings, Doomtown Reloaded, Call of Cthulu, and Star Wars. In addition, there may also be demos of the brand new Warhammer 40,000 LCG Conquest.

In the Lord of the Rings LCG up to four players each control three valiant heroes (such as Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Elrond, Haldir, Celeborn, Glorfindel, and more) and together they attempt to complete a quest. The game focuses on quest lines (each of which is a series of thematically linked quests) and captures the essence of the Lord of the Rings through use of simple to learn/play yet still elegant mechanics. Saturday's demos will focus on the exploration of Khazad-dûm. During the three adventures in the Khazad-dûm cycle the players will first try to pass through the long dark of Moria unnoticed by orc patrols, then use the Book of Marzabul to locate Balin's missing expedition, and finally attempt to escape Moria amidst a seemingly endless tide of orcs and something darker and worse.

Doomtown Reloaded is the story of the struggle for the

town of Gomorra, California in the weird west. It's the weird west because not only does it have the lawmen (Law Dogs) and outlaws (the Sloan Gang) that you're familair with; Doomtwon also has its fair share of wizards (Hucksters), Mad Scientists (exactly what you'd expect them to be called), undead (harrowed), and all sorts of other unusual things. In Doomtown Reloaded 2-4 players go head to head to take control of the the town. Each player chooses an Outfit, recruits dudes to their cause, and builds deeds right on the Town square. As the game progresses their will inevitably conflicts as Dudes call each other out leading to shootouts (and plenty of people going to Boot Hill).

The characters, starships, and situations of the original Star Wars trilogy come to life in Star Wars, a head-to-head Living Card Game of tactical combat and strategic planning that allows two players to wage cinematic combats between the light and dark sides of the Force.

Command such legendary characters as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader. Launch strategic assaults against your opponent’s objectives. Tempt fate in thrilling edge battles. Seek to make an ally of the Force or master its power for your own purposes.

In Call of Cthulhu players take the roles of investigators, villains, and unspeakable horrors inspired by the dark mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Agency detectives, Miskatonic University students and faculty, and the members of the mysterious Syndicate all join the fight against otherworldly beings including

Cthulhu, Hastur, Yog-Sothoth, and Shub Niggurath. Call of Cthulhu is 2-player, customizable dueling game in which players command both human and monster factions. As a Living Card Game, hundreds of additional cards are available for all seven factions and Saturday's demonstrations will contain a great cross section of cards from later sets and expansions.

There is no set schedule for what time of the day each of the games described above will be demonstrated. Demonstrations will be running from 2:00pm onward as we have people interested in trying each of the games. No matter what type of setting or mechanics you favor, one of these games has something for you!

Game Review: Dungeons & Dragons

2014-10-19T20:43:00.000-04:00

D&D was the first game that I ever played. Back in 1990 my brother asked me to fill in for a missing player as his group attempted to solve the mysteries presented in Night of the Walking Dead. Those of you that have played a campaign with me will not be shocked to hear about my early run in with Night of the Walking Dead after all, that adventure usually shows up in some guise in every campaign that I’ve ever run. My character at the time, Charles, was a heavily armored warrior that was often out of his league in every arena of his life except melee. His story is one of duty, betrayal by those he was loyal to, and ultimately corruption as he sank to the level required of him by his new lord. All of that is a story for another day however.

When I first heard that there was a new edition coming out I was equal parts excited, relieved, and curious. I have played every version of the game that was released during my 24 year tenure – AD&D, 2^nd Edition, 3^rd edition, 3.5, 4^th edition, and Pathfinder. When the playtest was released I jumped on it and guided an incredibly motley group of heroes through the first stages of an adventure line that culminated in them largely ignoring the subtle political threat posed by the yuan-ti, killing a ship full of pirates on a river dock in broad daylight, and sailing off into the sunset on said pirate ship. By the time that cycle was finishing our group had switched back to 2^nd edition because we were having some nostalgic cravings. One of the beauties of this game is that the stories of heroic adventure (and misadventure!) are independent of the rule mechanics through which we form them.

According to the design team of D&D Next they had a number of stated goals, some of which I will reiterate here. The first design paradigm that they laid out was simplicity and elegance in design. Their idea from the beginning was that a player should be able to quickly generate a character that has some depth and learn the basic rules of the game without too much difficulty. Following from this premise was the idea that adventurers should be single session phenomena where the arch of the story and action can take place in a few hours of real time rather than becoming ordeals that last for many sessions. The stories themselves didn’t change but the mechanics used to tell those stories were streamlined. The second design paradigm was to shift the emphasis of the game from solely combat back to a more even split between Exploration, Roleplaying, and Combat. The third concept was character balance at all levels of play between the classes. I’ll go into this a little more below. Finally, and most importantly, their objective was to appeal to Players from all editions. The Design Team doesn’t care what edition you play, they just want you to play. To me, D&D Next resembles 2^nd edition while other people in my group say it resembles their favorite edition. They tried to create an edition that anyone will recognize as having elements of their favorite version and I think they succeeded.

The first thing that you will notice about the Player’s Handbook is the hefty price tag. At $50 this PHB is one of the most expensive books Wizards has ever released. The Player’s Handbook is full of new artwork (like the great piece on the cover of King Snurre) and contains all of the rules necessary to play more than 12 different character races (Human, Wood Elf, High Elf, Drow Elf, Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Hairfoot Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Dragonborn, Tiefling, Half-orc) and 12 different classes (Cleric, Bard, Barbarian, Monk, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Paladin, Ranger, Druid). Each character chooses a path to specialize in during their progression through their class. Some characters choose it early such as Clerics devotion to a deity or a Wizard choosing their school of study. While other will not focus until later, like the Rogue that becomes an Assassin or a paladin that choose the path of vengeance. The character paths are reminiscent of the prestige classes and paragon paths of old.

A new addition to the core rules of the game is the Background section. It is this section that makes character generation and early character development shine. From Kriv’s (dragonborn rogue) over enjoyment of alcohol to Meeshak’s (human fighter) hatred of nobles many of the traits that help make those first adventures where you are still feeling out your characters personality are based in the background section. This is the part where you find out who your character was before they embarked on (or had thrust upon them) a life of adventuring. The power level of characters has been reduced across the board. This reduction is evident in the spell list where spells no longer get better every time the character attains a new level. It can also be seen in attack bonus and saving throws. Characters are still quite powerful and are now better balanced between the classes than ever before (Fighters have some neat abilities that allow them to dominate the ebb and flow of combat) but there is an element of danger that has been missing from the game for a while.

If you have talked to me at any time since we were at the Pittsburgh Comicon then you have probably heard me talk about how awesome the new Monster Manual is. The first thing we all notice about Monster Manual's is the artwork. The art in the new book is a mix between amazing (beholder), mediocre (most of the demons), and recycled (umberhulk). I can’t think of any artwork that is purely bad though. The next thing you’ll notice as you flip through is that it looks like they included everything! The first night I had the book I texted all of my usual playing companion that the modrons were back. Of course that message was autocorrected to “The morons are back!!!” but the point remains that the book is full of monsters from the days of yore as well as those that will be familiar to newer players. For example, there is a chart in the demon section that explains the classification system used by mortal demonologists. On that chart Nalfeshnee are listed as Type IV, which is what they were called a LONG time ago.

A more in depth analysis will reveal that the layout of the book is excellent for ease of use. Each page denotes the letter of the alphabet covered on that page for quick referencing and the monster statistic blocks themselves are well organized for quickly referencing during play. Some monsters have Lair traits which provide details for the influence that those monsters have on the surrounding world. For example, animals living in the area around the copper dragon lair sometimes gain the ability to speak (although they never reveal any information about the dragon). The Monster Manual is the best gaming purchase I’ve made in a long time.

I hope that these reviews have been helpful for you. If you are interested in learning more about the new D&D edition (or just D&D in general) then you can download a free sample of the rules from Wizards of the Coast: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules. The link will take you to a page where you can download a roughly 100 page version of the Player's Handbook and a roughly 100 page version of the Monster Manual/Dungeon Master's Guide. Enjoy!

Has it Been a Year Already?

2014-10-06T22:20:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that the doors to Snake Eyes Gaming have been officially open for a year now. There are a lot of things to celebrate from the last 12 months (memorable moments, successful tournaments, an expansion, etc.) but most of all we want to thank our players. Snake Eyes Gaming could not be what it is without all of you! Of course we have learned a lot too; and sincerely appreciate all of the individuals that have devoted time and effort to assist us.

There are a lot of great events and activities planned for the month. This month at Snakes Eyes Gaming there will be:

Warhammer Fantasy Escalation League
Warhammer 40K Escalation League
Heroclix Events
Friday Night Magic (plus other Magic of course!)
Living Card Game Demo Day (Saturday, October 25th)
There have even been rumors of a 2nd Annual Costume Party

Unfortunately, I do not have all of the dates/details on hand as I write this but I will try to fill them in as the week goes on.

Please feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, or memories about the our first year below.

On the Way to Comicon!!!

2014-09-15T21:04:00.005-04:00

Snake Eyes Gaming will be at the Pittsburgh Comicon September 26th-28th!

We will be hosting demos of the following games all weekend:

Warhammer 40k
Star Wars: X-Wing
Star Trek: Attack Wing
Heroclix
Magic the Gathering
Doomtown Reloaded

In addition Snake Eyes Gaming will be holding events and/or tournaments for the following:

Magic the Gathering (x2 Force of Will + more for prizes!)
Herocli
Star Wars X-Win
Magic the Gathering Commander
The full schedule of days and times can be found on the Pittsburgh Comicon website

If you're at Comicon and want to get a game in (or try a new one!) come find us, we'll be in Event/Panel Room 5.

Prologue

2014-09-10T18:39:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe that it’s nearly a year since we officially threw open the doors for everyone! More on that in the coming days though. I check the Snake Eyes Gaming blog almost every day, only to be teased by that drunken dwarf! Each time I see him reclining, pipe in hand - I think about all of the exciting things that we could be using the space on the blog for: articles, campaign journals, tournament results, product reviews, major announcements, guest articles, etc. Of course we will continue to use the Snake Eyes Facebook page for conversations, announcements, finding a game, and all of the great things that we as a community use it for right now.

Things were different when we started the Blog. Snake Eyes Gaming existed only to organize events for Warhammer 40K and built showcase tables for premier 40K conventions. As you all know, times change and the focus of Snake Eyes Gaming has expanded as a result. Something’s never change though; we are still very involved with the gaming community of western Pennsylvania (events like Sci-Fi in the Valley and the Pittsburgh Comicon) and we still support great games (we just play a lot more of them now!). We are still, of course, always open to new ideas; so if there is something you’d like to see on the Blog or in the store let us know! And those of you that are die hard 40K fans needn't worry, we'll still have plenty of that (in fact I'm going to work on Bjorn and a new venerable dreadnought as soon as I finish up here)!

You may be wondering why there is a piece of artwork featuring King Snurre accompanying this new endeavor. Fortunately that has a relatively simple explanation. Over the last six years most of the images we have used were set in the grim, war-torn future of the 41^st millennium. Before we ever experienced that dystopian vision though many of us grew up exploring mysterious realms of fantasy, from there we branched out into an assortment of hobby endeavors. We still remember those days and the epic adventures that we undertook; there is something evocative about images that capture that essence. The Fire Giant King reclining on his throne signifies the breadth of the gaming topics that we’ll explore together – some are holdovers from the days of our youth, others are new and shiny, and some are a little bit from column A and A little bit from column B.

I would like to close this post by reiterating something that I mentioned earlier; we are interested in hearing from you, what you like to see filling this space in the future?

Announcement: No Business Hours on Friday, June 6th

2014-05-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

Snake Eyes Gaming will not be holding our normal business hours on Friday, June 6th.

We will be open for Board Gaming Night on Thursday, June 5th as normal and will resume normal business hours at 2:00PM on Saturday, June 7th. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us or post them to the comments below.

Journey into Nyx Prerelease Event!

2014-04-17T06:47:00.000-04:00

Journey into Nyx is almost here! Snake Eyes Gaming will be holding prerelease events starting at 12:01 AM on April 26th.

Where:                  Snake Eyes Gaming
                                201 Cayuga Ave., Suite 10
                                1130 Perry Hwy
                                Altoona, PA 16602
                      snakeeyesgamingllc@gmail.com

When:                  Saturday, April 26th 12:01 AM - Sealed
                              Saturday, April 26th 3:00 PM - 2HG Sealed
                          Sunday, April 27th 3:00 PM - Sealed

What: Magic: The Gathering Prerelease Event for Journey into Nyx sealed deck tournament.

Cost: $22 for each participant with preregistration, which permits you to choose your color ahead of time - if you preregister then you must prepay. $24 for each participant on the day of the event.

Awards: Packs based on participation but at a minimum 2 packs will go into the prize pool per player. Extra Packs and playing mattes will also be given away at random and during the events.

Some preview cards:

Board Game Night!

2014-02-05T01:17:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, this week is the start of Snake Eyes Gaming Board Game Night! Every Thursday from 6-10 we will be providing a theme and board games for people to try out with fellow gamers.

If your interested in a particular board game you have not played before or would like to relax and bring a board game with you to try out with more people you are more than welcome.

This weeks theme will be Land grab style games, Settlers of Catan, Carcasonne and Ticket to Ride.

Settlers of Catan is an award winning and very popular board game that was released in 1995. You play as a settler on the Island of Catan, the first player to gain 10 victory points wins the game.
Victory points come from having the largest road, biggest army or from development cards you buy with resources generated by the land you settle!

Carcasonne is another award winning 2-5 player game where players take and places a tiles to create roads, cities, farmland. monestarys and use small "meeples" to claim these areas for themselves.
As you claim areas you receive points and reclaim your meeple for further use.
The game ends when all the tiles have been placed and points have been totaled!

Last but not least is Ticket to Ride, In ticket to ride you collect and play matching train cars to claim railway routes connecting cities.
The longer the route the more points you earn, you also can get points by connecting cities listed on your "Destination Tickets"
The game ends when all players have two or fewer rail cars, you then count up your points and determine a winner!

Each of these games are sized to 2-5 players and take about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish.

Come out and join in the fun! Also our Demo shelf is always available if anyone wants to try a different board game. We are open to suggestions on themes or board games you would like to see!

Steel City Showdown Results!!!

2014-01-08T01:23:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone that came out and participated in the 4^th Annual Steel City Showdown on Saturday, December 7th. Snake Eyes Gaming would like to extend an additional Thank You to the Legions staff for once again letting us use their store for the event.

Below is a list of the awards that were given out along with the players and armies that carried the day. Inquisitorial Detachments are not included in the army list below but there quite a few present (7+). There were other prizes distributed during the day that are not included in the list below: an Aegis Defense Line box, a Tactical Squad box, Space Marine Captain blister, and the Feast of Blades sword.

Best Overall: Lewis S. with Dark Eldar & Eldar $125 Gift Card and the Steel City Sword

Best General:

1^stCalvin S. with Eldar & Imperial Guard $80 Gift Card

2^ndTJ L. with Tyranids $50 Gift Card

3^rdJoe K. with Space Marines & Necrons $25 Gift Card

Best Painted:

1^stJackie J. with Chaos Space Marines $80 Gift Card

2^ndAlex with Imperial Guard & Space Wolves $50 Gift Card

3^rdDavid N. with Imperial Guard $25 Gift Card

Sportsmanship:

1^stEd B. with Orks $80 Gift Card

2^ndArthur S. with Imperial Guard $50 Gift Card

3^rdRyan J. with Blood Angels & Space Wolves $25 Gift Card

Snake Eyes Award: John D. with Space Wolves. May Russ and the Allfather grant you a better wyrd next year!

Thanks once again to everyone that has come out to participate in our events and support the local 40K community. We have had several instances during our past couple events of which I wanted make everyone in our community aware. Regretfully several things have went missing during the the past few events. I do not want to get into the specifics in this space, all that I will say here is that these items range from personal effects of participants to store merchandise. If you have any information you can discreetly contact us using the Contact Form on the right side of the page.

Please everyone remember that we are a community and as such we need to look out for each other and the store that has agreed to be our host.

Warhammer 40,000 Beginner's Event

2014-01-05T12:08:00.001-05:00

Snake Eyes Gaming will be holding a Beginner's Event for Warhammer 40,000. The Beginner's Event is an opportunity for people to learn to play Warhammer 40,000 alongside other new players and crafty veterans.

Each player brings a 500 point force (consisting of 1HQ, 1+ Troop, 0-2 Elite, 0-2 Fast Attack, and 0-2 Heavy Support) selected from a current Warhammer 40,000 Codex and plays four missions that are designed to guide new players through learning the basic rules. Veterans players are encouraged to attend and help players that are new to the community learn the rules. We will have pre-built armies on hand for those of you that do not have your own Warhammer 40,000 army.

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR.

Where: Snake eyes Gaming

                                201 Cayuga Ave., Suite 10
                                1130 Perry Hwy
                                Altoona, PA 16602
                                snakeeyesgamingllc@gmail.com

When: Saturday, January 18^th

2:00 PM – Registration
2:30 PM – First Round Begins

What:                  4 round, 500 point Warhammer 40,000 Beginner's Event.
   Each player will use a 500 point force consisting of 1HQ, 1+ Troop, 0-2 Elite,
                                   0-2 Fast Attack, and 0-2 Heavy Support.

                              Participants will be given 1 hour and 15 minutes for each round. Additional time
                                   will be provided for set-up during the first round.
                              There is NO painting requirement.
                              NO proxies although conversions are accepted (and encouraged!). All models
                                    must be WYSIWYG.
We will have pre-built armies on hand for those of you that do not have your own
                                    Warhammer 40,000 army.

Cost:                    $15 for each participant. Preregistration is not required.
If you bring a veteran that brings a beginner with you then your registration will
only cost $5.
The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will be served between
                                        Rounds 2 & 3.

Food will be available for non-participants for the cost of $5 per person.

Awards: Best Beginner (Beginner's only!)

Best Sportsman (anyone can win this award)
Snake Eyes Award

6^th Edition Allies are NOT acceptable permitted for this event.
Escalation rules will NOT be in use for this event.

                          Each player receives 1 Force Organization slot for Fortifications.
                        Terrain will be set up by the judges prior to the event.
                          Missions will contain ALL deployment rules, scoring methods, and Objective details.
                          Any Codex or Supplement Published prior to January 12th is legal for use.

Forge World Forge World army lists and units are permitted with prior approval from the judges.

                      No Experimental Rules, Super Heavy Vehicles, Gargantuan Creatures, Apocalypse
                                        Formations, or Horus Heresy Army Lists will be permitted.
                          You must have the official rules that detail the unit(s) that you are using.

The Steel City Showdown: A Snake Eyes Gaming Warhammer 40,000 Tournament

2013-11-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

Snake Eyes Gaming is proud to announce the 4th Annual Steel City Showdown!

Every Fall between 35-50 players gather at Legions Games in Pittsburgh to test their mettle against one another for three rounds of Warhammer 40,000. At the end of the day one participant will have earned the right to hoist the Steel City Sword and claim the title of Champion until next year.

The Steel City Showdown is Western Pennsylvania’s biggest Warhammer 40,000 tournament of the year. We always try to do something special for the participants – in previous years we’ve had random prizes or raffles. A tournament packet containing all of the rules, guidelines, and scoring system will be available at the bottom of this post in the weeks leading up to the event. Similarly, the missions for the tournament will be made available prior to the tournament.

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR.

Rules!

Missions!

Where: Legions Hobbies & Games

                                Pines Plaza Shopping Center
                                1130 Perry Hwy
                                Pittsburgh, PA 15237
                                (412) 366-3725

When: Saturday, December 7^th

                              11:00 AM – Registration
                              12:00 PM – First Round Begins
                              Army lists will be collected during registration.

What: 3 round, 1750 point Warhammer 40,000 tournament

Cost:                    $20 for each participant. Preregistration is not required.
The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will be served between
                                        Rounds 2 & 3.

Food will be available for non-participants for the cost of $5 per person.

Awards: Best Overall

                             Best Sportsman (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                  Best General (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                             Best Painted (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd)
                             Snake Eyes Award
                             The Feast of Blades

6^th Edition Allies are acceptable (consult the Allies Matrix in the Rulebook for options).

                       Players will roll for Warlord Traits prior to each game.
                           Each player receives 1 Force Organization slot for Fortifications.
                      Terrain will be set up by the judges prior to the event.
                           Mysterious Terrain rules will be used where applicable.
                           Missions will contain ALL deployment rules, scoring methods, and Objective details.
                          Any Codex or Supplement Published prior to November 30th is legal for use.

Forge World Forge World army lists and units are permitted with prior approval from the judges.

                       We will keep the list below updated with all lists and units that we have approved.
                       No Experimental Rules, Super Heavy Vehicles, Gargantuan Creatures, Apocalypse
                                        Formations, or Horus Heresy Army Lists will be permitted.
                        You must have the official rules that detail the unit(s) that you are using.

Rules!

Missions!

A Warhammer 40,000 Tanksgiving Event!

2013-11-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

Where:

Snake Eyes Gaming
201 Cayuga Ave., Suite 10
Altoona, PA 16602

When:

Friday, November 29^th
11:30 AM – Registration
12:00PM – Gaming Begins!

What:
1 Round, 800 point Warhammer 40,000 Modified Apocalypse.

Bring 800 points of Tanks/Flyers/Walkers from Elites/Fast Attack/Heavy Support. You may bring Non-Tank/Monstrous Creatures from Heavy support & Elites as well.

You get points as follows:
•   Non tank heavy support options: 1 point per wound removed
•   Non tank heavy support options: 3 points Last wound removed
•   For every hull point you take off: 1
•   For every wrecked result: 2
•   Every destroyed result: 4
There is NO painting requirement.
NO proxies although conversions are accepted (and encouraged!). All models must be WYSIWYG.

Cost:
$15 for each participant.The entry fee includes a lunch of Subway/Pizza that will be served between Rounds 2 & 3.
Food will be available for non-participants for the cost of $5 per person.

Awards:
Best Sportsman
Best General
Best Painted
Snake Eyes Award

6th Edition:
Warlord Traits will be given to a designated Command vehicle/unit a the start of the battle.
Each player receives 1 Force Organization slot for Fortifications.
Terrain will be set up by the judges prior to the event.
Mysterious Terrain rules will be used where applicable.
Missions will contain ALL deployment rules, scoring methods, and Objective details.

Forge World:
ALL Forge World Units and Army Lists with the Warhammer 40,000 Approved stamp are usable in this event.
No Experimental Rules, or Gargantuan Creatures will be permitted.
You must have the most up-to-date, official rules that detail the unit(s) that you are using.

Happy Halloween!

2013-10-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

Snake Eyes Gaming wishes everyone a happy and safe All Hallows' Eve!

We would like to thank everyone that participated in our Halloween festivities last weekend, you can find pictures of the event on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Snake-Eyes-Gaming-PA/258824087475580.