Games Society
The Student Nationals 2007
Day One - It's how far away?!?
On the 30th of March 2007, we brave five members of gameSoc set out to the student nationals in Edinburgh, in an attempt to make the damn thing move far enough southwards to mean more of us could go next year. We were part of COGLIOSTRO, or the Coalition Of Gamers Living in Or Around the South Team Rock On), a group organised by Winchester University.
First, however we had to get there. And it turns out the cheapest way is to drive. Yes, to drive to Edinburgh. For Nick and Mikael, this involved getting up at 6:00 a.m. or earlier, to meet Ed, Anthony and Gareth in Milton Keynes by 10:00.
This involved the use of Gareth's car, which was a little cramped: 
Having got there by 10:20, we then proceeded up the M1 towards the North. Straight into a traffic jam caused, we discovered, by a recovery truck who had managed to have its securing straps snap and drop the car it was carrying into the road at some large speed.
Along the way, we saw this rather amusing sign, proving that spelling is no longer considered a necessity in coin machine manufacture (suggest you click for a larger picture):
We stopped in Wetherby for lunch, which consisted of fish and chips at the Wetherby Whaler, a very nice meal too.
Having got to a point we could get to above 20mph, we decided against hitting Newcastle in rush hour, and deviated from our original plan to head along the A1 to go along the A68. This proved a good choice, as the scenic route meant rush hour merely increased the number of cars heading towards us by about 20 an hour. On the way, we saw a shoe in the middle of the road; a pink cardigan, somewhat bedraggled by also being in the road; an increase of speed cameras the minute we entered Scotland, to the point we were sure the speed camera signs were actually all the same one that kept teleporting ahead of us as it looked exactly the same; a sign to a temple of Mithras and a "head and tail" mountain formation outside Edinburgh.
Random photos through the car window: 
Having arrived in Brodie's Hostel, Edinburgh, we proceeded to unceremonously dump our bags in our room and head off to registration in the Potterow building. There we all received cool badges to identify us and what game we were playing, then headed off to the bar to attempt to find the rest of COGLIOSTRO. This proved challenging, given the number of people and the fact that we didn't know what any of them looked like, but a few phone calls later we managed to join up with them, and after a bit of socialising we headed off to bed, some of us having been up for 18 hours.
A few more socialising pictures of COGLIOSTRO:
Crazy Moves
Gareth and I decided that the tunnels here were far too fun to pass up and, well... this resulted and then this
Day Two - Descent of the Gamers
Our first day of gaming, our schedule claimed "Doors open at 9:30 a.m.". This was correct. They just didn't let anyone in for twenty minutes as the tradional panicked mess ensued, but somehow order was restored and we filed into the huge, domed Potterow building of Edinburgh University.
Partioned off by game categories, we went our respective ways for the day. As the camera is held by the man playing Warhammer, pictures of wargames ensue:
Day Two: Wargames Report by Nick
Today I would play three games of warhammer fantasy. The first was a standard battle against Callum, from Bangor University. This game was very back-and-forth, but stupid-lucky plagues, the jezzails shooting down the war hydra, and incredibly bad panic test luck on his part mean I win on victory points, giving a results of 11 points to me and 7 to him. This game was fun and exciting, and Callum was a perfect sportsman.
Moving on, the second game played used a scenario about Whiskey (well, we were in scotland...) - basically, you rolled your power/dispel dice at the start of a magic phase, any coming up ones you gave to your opponent. There was also an objective to capture. Unfortunately, this means I have to fight an elite Dwarf infantry army for an objective, with predictable results given my appaling panic test luck this game. 4-16 at the end of this game.
By the third and final game, I was feeling thoroughly tired, and I made a few key errors here that meant I didn't get as many points as I could have against the Vampire Counts, in particular forgetting when the last turn was, which led to my Grey Seer getting killed in the assassination mission. (Look, I was tired, OK?) As he only had a unit of grave guard and his count left, this meant I still won 13-7
Day Two: Boardgames report by Anthony
As Mike and Nick squeeze into the car, Mike reveals where will be gaming, it seems I will be playing board games. Not a huge disappointment, but a bit of a surprise,especially when I find out that that's all I will be doing, and therefore on the second day,I will playing 2 player games - something I have never previously done. Well, where better to learn than in a competition? So, we are all seperated and the several of us are herded, not quite like lambs to the slaughter but I have no idea what to expect - I can assume Puerto Rico will be played and indeed it's there, along with Ticket to Ride :Europe and Rheinlander. I admit I feel pretty confident with Ticket to Ride as the first game, but the european one has several twists, including the provision of only 6 long routes; something that undoes me and I come last. The Second game is Rheinlander, I've never heard of it let alone seen it and it consists of playing cards to expand duchies along the rhine. Despite my utter lack of experience I get the hang of it and manage to win it, sharing my victory with another of the gamers. The third game is Puerto Rico which I've seen played and had an idea of how to play. The game is close and ends quickly, no-one managing to build a final building but I claim a comfortable second. So, back to the others my brain hurting considerably, what better to test it then a games based pub quiz, the others however were not interested, so I joined a team of the organisers, where my utter lack of knowledge of wargaming and magic proves an undoing
The Evening
The evening was spent in the geek pub quiz and fancy dress contest. The pub quiz was great fun - finally, gaming minutae comes in useful! As did knowledge of the Princess Bride and theme songs (I proudly remembered that the Muppet Show started with "It's time to make some music/ It's time to get things right". Below are the group who impressively turned up as the entire nativity scene:
Finally, I think this picture speaks for itself.
Day Three - Game On
We turned up again at 9:30ish on the Sunday. For some reason, it appears that hair dye did abound:
Never before had we seen anything as great as... the LARP-safe anvil!
Shortly, we departed off to our game sites, and commenced the second day of play!
Day Three - Wargames Report
I felt very sorry for my opponent here, also part of COGLIOSTRO, who was playing an Empire artillery army. The scenario had us in pouring rain, meaning most shooting was very ineffectual. So... I kinda crushed him in an hour or so, 20-0. This game me time to go wander around Edinburgh for a couple of hours over my lunch break, so see below for extra photos :)
The final game was a standard battle, against Mike, winner of the best painted army award (and well deserved). The army itself was horrible to play against, but Mike was quite a nice chap. I ended up losing 7-13. This placed me somewhere around 7th-8th out of 18, which was at least a respectable finish, if not a scoring one.
Nick's wander around Edinburgh photos!
Day Three - Board Games Report by Anthony
Second day we get up groggy, straight into a entire set of games I've never played. UG! First game I play is Taluva. I'm too tired to really grasp it but it involves building huts and then blowing them up with volcanoes,my opposition player also fails to understand the concept, but wins, it was only later we found out we had played it utterly utterly incorrectly. The second game to play was Lost Cities - I look puzzled; the guy across the table from me, John, smiles "Don't worry - I've played it hundreds of times and it's quite simple." I look at him and say in a nervous voice "You're joking right?" He just smiles, and it turns out the game is simple, a game of tactical number play and bluffing. I win comfortably surprising both him and me. The next game I play looks familiar, as it's the card version of Puerto Rico. I prefer it in card form and quickly destroy my opponent, allowing me to go back and play a 4 player friendly of Taluva. Next game I play is against a quiet girl,called Avalon, a game of tactical strategy - black and white alike in many ways to chequers, chess etc. It comes down to the last move but just as I'm about to remove her piece she removes mine, ah well. The final game is Cathedral , which is a boring game, and once you're behind it's nigh impossible to recover. It's late and the game ends quickly, my opponent the victor. I return to the ceremony not knowing if I just got third place or not,turns out I lost out on who had beaten who. Fun though, and suggested to me several games I must own.
The Ending Ceremony
We then waited around for the results ceremony, where we scored 4 points, coming about 5th (I forget exactly). Whilst waiting we took advantage of this sale:
Sheffield won by some huge amount, followed by Team Vague from Manchester, who are sporting the black letter shirts in the pictures below.
Some group photos, and the people who weren't in them:
As a commissoration, we did acquire a fez, under this dome, whilst Mikael ponders his new Battletech book:
We then went back to the hostel once the rest of the team started home, where Gareth and Anthony decided on a tustle:
Day Four - The Road Goes Ever On And On
We turn for home, a mere 10-odd hour journey away (groans). Spotting a wind farm obscured by another patch of mist on the way up, we made it to Jedburgh before breakfast (Only my being awake stopping us from running a red light and missing the diversion directions. Ah well, sleep evaded Gareth). We stopped in a rather nice tea shop and at Robert Burns' house just outside it:
Gareth and the Fez developed a symbiotic relationship:
On the way back, we also saw, in sequence: a lorry with a very large tub on the back; an XD stick on Gareth's car engine (awesome); five buses in a row (hard to tell, but those are seperate buses in the pictures; and potentially confusing road signs:
Finally, please have your eardrums forgive us - Nick Hayes, signing off