13 of us headed up Mt Beerwah 12th April 2008. After an early before 6am start we were finally on the road by 6:15am and got to the carpark right on 7am. There were some early birds already on the rock. We headed up to the start point and some people wanted to stop there I think. However we all headed on up the steep starting face some with some help some without. Once over the first hump we headed on up the rest of the climb which is a hard scramble but not much more than that.

We had a drinks and photo breaks at about the 1/3 mark, at the beach half way and at the top.

The first of these nights was a good one with 10 or 11 players showing up. I don't have all the results of individual games being played but what I can remember I have put down here. Rochie won at munchkins after a hard fought battle that started with a lot of curses being laid on players. Pente was played for a while at the beginning giving new players a taste of this addictive strategy game. I know N3ur0T3ch won one game and Dragongirl another but not sure who else won a game. Darksbane and N3ur0 cleaned up at Canasta after a very strong first hand. Once again a game that is new to some people so lots of learning going on. Scrabble and Rummikub got a work out by several players - sorry no results for scrabble but Rasita won Rummikub. KristyLee surprised everybody by being both the best liar and also the best at determining the truthfulness of others. Linda and Robert made the longest sentence from the fridge magnet word game with 13 randomly selected words being used.   Looking forward to the next games night on 26th April.

Thanks to everyone who turned up to make last Saturday night a raging success. This was actually the 4th Bathurst Spectacular and it turned out to be every bit as fun as all the rest. This was also the most cars we've had entered.

Special thank-yous:
Tim for organising and maintaining a trouble-free network the whole evening and providing the laptop for the driver's log; Tim & Marty for supplying extra computers so more people could take part; Shane for keeping a running tally of placings in case of power failure; Joseph for being official photographer; Team Happy Families for bringing that ridiculous helmet which gave everyone a good laugh. And of course Wayne for organising the whole Bathurst Spectacular.

After years of waiting Unreal Tournament 3 is finally on shelves. UT3 sticks to the old-school premise that had made classic games a fun experience. Elements have been replaced to create a faster-paced environment, such as not including the Shield Game. Now players will now find that the fast pace is a primary way to dodge and withstand fire. Epic has boldly decided to merge some of the old elements with the new in UT3. Dodge-jumping from UT200# is out, but the double-jumping is still present along with wall-dodging.

Call of Duty 4 has moved away from the World War 2 battle scene and into modern day conflict. It tells a story from multiple perspectives, letting you play as a British SAS operative and as a US Marine, taking you from a rainy night out on the sea onto saving millions from a nuclear-powered death. You’ll move from house to house in the Middle East while conducting a full-scale assault, raid Russian farmhouses searching for terrorists, disguise yourself as the enemy and later crawl through the bush as the enemy moves right past you.

Crysis is one of the most beautiful games you'll see, set on a sunny tropical island, solid weapons, intelligent enemies and the nano-suit powers make this game a great ride. There is a huge level of action in the games which sees you juggling tasks, stealing vehicles while getting into the conflict. The game is constantly changing depending on what path you take, one time you might be dealing with an attack on a harbour next a ambush off the forest track, giving you a different experience every time. The ground even changes under your feet, one minute your walking through mud then suddenly the ground has turned to slush.

The October Raw War saw combatants with their last chance to improve their scores in the 2007 Raw War Championship.

November Raw War will be on Saturday 17th, with a Grand Final – type format to decide the Grand Final winner for 2007. The games used will be the same 3 used all year.

Championship final results were:

1st – David (Nightshade) – winner of the KROSTech Top Gun trophy
2nd – Daniel (Penguinboy)
3rd – David (Uncle Dave)
4th – Wayne (BosomBuddy)
5th – Martin (Viper)

Don’t forget our Bathurst Spectacular on 12th January. Register here

Wayne is looking for comments and suggestions for the conduct of Raw War 2008. Everyone’s input is valuable, but I’m particularly keen to hear from those who weren’t able to attend much this year. Were you just not available or does the whole thing just suck?

Let Wayne know whatever you think.