{"id":383,"date":"2010-05-23T21:04:19","date_gmt":"2010-05-23T21:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2010\/05\/23\/its-all-pauls-fault\/"},"modified":"2012-08-17T05:18:41","modified_gmt":"2012-08-17T05:18:41","slug":"its-all-pauls-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2010\/05\/23\/its-all-pauls-fault\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s all Paul’s fault"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve always loved board games, I had fallen out of the habit of playing. And even back when I was playing, most of my games consisted of Trivial Pursuit<\/span> and Scrabble<\/span> combined with the occasional Risk<\/span>. That all changed when author extraordinare and occasional co-conspirator<\/a> Paul Miles<\/a> invited me to join him and his brother Jonathan for their Great Hall Games Friday night sessions.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWith a friendly staff and an impressive selection, Great Hall Games<\/a> functions as meeting place for a large swath of the Austin, TX board gaming community. (Incredibly, Austin also supports two other large and busy shops that feature board games: Dragon’s Lair<\/a> and Battleforge Games<\/a>.) The back half of the shop is two large rooms dedicated for game play. The space plays host to a variety of different types of groups depending on the day.<\/p>\n

\nTUESDAY
\nGo Night, Host\u00a0Austin Go Club, 6:30-midnight<\/p>\n

WEDNESDAY
\nChess Night, Host\u00a0Gene Kohnitz, 6:30-10:00<\/p>\n

THURSDAY
\nHistorical Miniatures, paint &amp; talk militaria and wargame rules, Host\u00a0Lone Star Historical Miniatures, 6:30-10:00,<\/p>\n

FRIDAY
\nEvening Boardgames, 6:30-Midnight<\/p>\n

SATURDAY
\nAfternoon Boardgames, Host\u00a0Austin Boardgame Group, Noon-8:00<\/p>\n

SUNDAY
\nHistorical Miniatures Battles, Host\u00a0Lone Star Historical Miniatures, 12:30-6:00
\n1st Sunday: 20th Century
\n2nd Sunday: Horse and Musket
\n3rd Sunday: Ancients &amp; Medievals
\n4th &amp; 5th Sundays: open<\/p>\n

By 7, the Friday night meetings are often standing room only with 10-12 games going on.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first time I joined the Brothers Miles, they introduced me to Nexus Ops<\/span><\/a> and Citadels<\/span><\/a>. Soon after Paul showed me the amazing Cold War simulation Twilight Struggle<\/span><\/a>. I was hooked! Before long, we were meeting twice monthly and then I joined the social networking community Board Game Geek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBGG<\/span> supplies a forum for game enthusiasts to exchange views on games including reviews, a ratings system, FAQs, hacks, and a way to record individual plays. They host contests and giveaways. (I won a copy of Frontline General: Spearpoint 1943<\/span><\/a>) <\/p>\n

Additionally, the site facilitates trades between users. I began cleaning out my closets as well as trolling used bookstores and thrift shops looking for some older games to trade. Now, I’m an almost daily visitor (my BGG profile<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As if baseball, comics, books, apes, movies, and Linux weren’t enough, I can now count board games among my obsessions. Thanks, Paul.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve always loved board games, I had fallen out of the habit of playing. And even back when I was playing, most of my games consisted of Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble combined with the occasional Risk. That all changed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n