EXCERPT: KeretapiCON announced, and a quick look at what were played around the Klang Valley last week plus an update on some new “train games” from our webstore.

KeretapiCON – BGC’s announced playcon!

We’d dropped a short announcement on the 1st day of this year about our planned KERETAPICON event. We don’t have dates for this yet – what with COVID19 still raging on locally – but we just wanted to share that as part of our wishlist for this new year.

In fact, we’d announced the plans for KeretapiCON in our BGC Retreat back in Dec 2019. Obviously we couldn’t have imagine how COVID19 laid waste to all plans for 2020. But hope springs eternal.

As part of our marcom for KeretapiCON, I’ll be posting QuickReps of train game sessions that were done around the local community. To give our readers of sense of who’s playing what, where, and what are the “train games” available to play in the event.

Here are two sessions that I knew of that were done last week.

Best 18xx Intro – 18Chesapeake?

This was also the day I lost my 18xx virginity and I’m pleased to say I managed to ‘tahan’ until the final round without completely blowing my load (of cash) and climaxing (aka. going bankrupt) before game end.

Tbh I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing in 18Chesapeake until about 2-3 rounds into the proceedings. But once I had a cleaerer idea, I was hooked.

Our 5p game took around 6 hours in total from the start of the teach to the time we broke the 8k threshold that signalled the game end. So much more depth to discover, so many more strategies to consider. And fhe game looks gorgeous to boot.

Best thing I liked in the game? Diesel trains! These babies can run an unlimited route distance (unless someone else farts up your route, which you can be assured they will)I wouldn’t hesitate to put this on my shelf if only I could find another 4 ppl to regularly play this with me, sigh… it’s a beaut.

Julian Wong

I saw IRISH GAUGE (Cube Rails) being mentioned in the same session (above) but since I couldn’t get a proper photo to share here, a mere mention will do I suppose. 🙂

Irish Gauge is the other title that’s also new to me. It’s a shorter train game than 18Chesapeake. Much, much, much shorter, lol. And pretty darned fun. Interesting decisions to be made each round, artwork by Ian O’Toole is pleasing (as always) to look at, and the game doesn’t outstay its welcome even with 5p.

Julian Wong

PSA: 18xx Sharks sighted

Elsewhere we were alerted a shiver of sharks were gathering in Sungai Long for some feeding frenzy. Yeah, I understand it’s a river but Msian sharks swim in shallow waters ma.

Obviously with everyone in this pic being sharks, no intro title/map here. It has to be the hardcore 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties (nicely reprinted by GMT) and at 6 player count, this map is an absolute blood bath.

Ho: 6 player 1862 is super brutal!

Do mark these shark faces in case you stumbled upon them in KeretapiCON.. hehehe #shivermesharks

#doyoutrain

If you host or join a train game sessions (need not be 18xx), and would like us to mention/include your session here, either tag me in your Facebook session post or send us an email. We’ll be happy to feature your group’s session. Hopefully we’ll also see you in our KeretapiCON event (whenever it is set to be held la).

Train Games: Recent Arrivals

To complete our coverage, here is a list of recent arrivals of Train Games that may be of interest to you.

PACIFIC RAILS – a recent Kickstarter arrival from Vesuvius Media. Gorgeous components.

TICKET TO RIDE: AMSTERDAM – a new (small) self-contained map for Ticket to Ride fans featuring Amsterdam in the Dutch Golden Age!

WHISTLE MOUNTAIN. Okay, this one’s not exactly a “train game” but given it’s a spin-off from Scott’s WHISTLE STOP – which is a train game – we thought it merits a guest mention. It does play very different from Whistle Stop so whether you like or do not like Whistle Stop, do check it out.

KeretapiCON is a train-theme event in Malaysia, to be organized by Boardgamecafe.net.

Follow this blog to get updated on the games that will be available for play in this much anticipated themed event.

If you host / join game groups and have done train games, feel free to send us your session photos / updates for us to feature you in our next blog post.

#doyoutrain #keretapiCON

Note: “Keretapi” is Malay for “Train”