The ultimate gaming event for Lovecraft fans finally arrived...albeit only just! Having booked this event back in November, we were very excited on the lead up, playing many board games and peaks of giddiness seeing anything Lovecraft related. The event was four days on Lundy Island, twelve miles off the coast of Devon, England; a remote island accessible by helicopter, with a tavern, church, castle, lighthouse, scattered ruins and various roaming wildlife... of course, with a vast array of Lovecraftian gaming throughout!
We had stocked up on various supplies and essentials and were all packed ready to go on Thursday March 14th...then disaster struck! An email and post from Guy, the organiser of the event informed attendees that he has received a call from the Shore Office that due to the weather conditions it was unlikely that we were going to be able to fly. Nevertheless, enthusiasm was high and most attendees decided to head down to Hartland and get together anyway. After over four hours, Belinda and I arrived at the Hart Inn to meet up with Jody and Jon. Before even coats were off, we had ale in hand and were dealt cards to play Pocket Madness! A great game and had several runs. Soon after, Guy arrived with Dave, Stacey and Quentin and soon ended up with a game of Bang! (non-Lovecraftian) before heading to the B&B at Gawlish Farm.
Friday
The wind was high through the night and meant little sleep. The next day during breakfast we were anxiously awaiting a call from Guy on potentially flying out in the afternoon. Alas, it was not to be. The plan was then for all attendees to gather at the pub in Hartland Quay and discuss cancelling the event for another time or holding on further. The thoughts were split but we all needed to meet and discuss various options. The four of us at Gawlish Farm headed to the Quay and now saw just how severe the weather was. Waves were crashing angrily against the jagged rocks and wind speed was high, blowing sea foam above the cliffs. We took a short walk over the cliff tops and down to the sea wall before getting back warm in the pub. Later, after Guy arrived with the others, plus Rob and Ian, we agreed to play out some games in the pub and stay another night before heading home. Various games were played: Lovecraft Letter, Cthulhu Fluxx, Miskatonic University and the crazy Mountains of Madness. The latter was absolutely exhausting and a great party game which certainly helped to break the ice. We were all in quite high spirits due to the fun gaming but then Guy made it even better after getting off a call to state that there was a window of opportunity to fly out in the morning. He then gave us our welcome packs which were very impressive: A Cthulhu bag containing an OS map of Lundy, transparent film sheet of the event, a Lovecraft anthology, Lundy Island companion guide, badge, sticker, and rubber tentacle. Fantastic and definitely went down very well. Gaming continued before heading back to the B&B and meeting up later at the King's Arms for a social gathering and food.
Saturday, and we were off. Anxious to get to the heliport and finally take-off before the weather deteriorated. It was our first ride on a chopper and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was glad that the visibility was pretty good and the approach being from the south of the Island, so had some great views. After touching down, we proceeded to Marisco Tavern and promptly grabbed a pint of Old Light ale for a game of Cthulhu Fluxx whilst Belinda played Thunder and Lightning with Phil.
Once the accommodation was ready, we took a journey across fields through such extreme wind and finally arrived at Old Light, a disused lighthouse where we were staying in the attached Lighthouse Worker's cottage. Next to the lighthouse is Beacon Hill Cemetery, some of the headstones dating back to the 5th century. We were stating on the upper level and once sorted, headed back to the tavern and a walk to St.Helen's Church.
Numerous games were played and social gatherings throughout the day. The evening saw an eight-player epic game of Cthulhu Wars. Guy led the game and showed us the rules of play as well as running the Black Goat of the Woods faction. I had Crawling Chaos (Nylarathotep) and did considerably poor. Nevertheless, an enjoyable game which ran for a couple of hours before having to be paused due to the late hour.
Back at Old Light, we brewed up and sat chatting in the living room before the lights suddenly going out. We forgot that the generators are shut down through the night, so resumed by candle light before hitting the sack.
Sunday
Sunday morning several of us set out with Guy and Rob as guides on a tour of the southern half of the island. The sun was shining and whilst still windy, it was a considerably nicer and more pleasant day than we had experienced for some time. The island has a beautiful coastline; very rugged and jagged granite rocks and a clear blue sea. We first passed down to Battery Point, down many narrow steps and past an old ruined house to the cannon battery building. The second stop was along the coast again to an earthquake area, walking through crevasses and dramatic passages through the rocks. We stopped to spot some puffins, for which the Island is named (in old Viking language), before Guy parted and let Rob lead us over to the eastern coast, past the old ruined hospital, quarry pond and TImekeeper's cottage. The eastern side was much more sheltered and greater vegetation. We saw deer, seals and other wildlife easily along the walk. We eventually emerged at Millcombe House, a victorian manor, before heading to the tavern. Belinda, myself, Rob, Jon and Phil played Hanabi whilst others played other non-Lovecrafian games, before we headed to the Barn to play Ancient Terrible Things, Miskatonic University and Lovecraft Letter.
The entire weekend was amazing. We met some new friends, had a good laugh and played some fun new games. The only downside was that we didn't get to play everything! A lot of the larger boardgames didn't get aired, but there's always next time. An additional day would have been ideal and whilst we managed to get some gaming down on both Thursday and Friday, we maybe lost time in anticipation and travelling around etc. Regardless, so much fun was had and in a fantastic environment.
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