The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:
Stilgar Black wrote:

On another note, has anyone ever actually done a math trade on BGG? I was interested in cycling out some under used games of mine, but wow is that a hard site to use.

I would consider running a GWJ math trade if there's enough interest. I'm not really quite sure what the minimum number of people needed would be for it to be successful, but I could start a thread and see where it goes. The process is actually quite easy once you understand how it all works, but it is pretty foreign-looking when you first get into it.

Yeah, I've done a couple math trades and once you figure out the steps it's not too complicated. Generally there are some links provided in the thread to figure stuff out.

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

I would consider running a GWJ math trade if there's enough interest. I'm not really quite sure what the minimum number of people needed would be for it to be successful, but I could start a thread and see where it goes. The process is actually quite easy once you understand how it all works, but it is pretty foreign-looking when you first get into it.

I'm actually not scared of the logistics and theory of math trade, but misusing the interface or breaking some unwritten rule of protocol. I'd be up for trying a GWJ math trade, especially since if I mess something up I feel I can make it amends much easier with a goodjer.

Dysplastic wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:

Pandemic seems to suffer more from Strong Leader Syndrome, where one person essentially plays all the parts. Maybe it's because it feels so much more serious than FI.

Yup. The fact that it's so punishing and needs really effective, coordinated strategy makes it really vulnerable to that when one person sees the possibilities (or thinks he does) more so than others. I have to say I much prefer my coop to be thematic rather than abstract like this. When I play Ravenloft, I'm totally happy just playing my own characters and making the occasional suggestion, but when I play Pandemic, I feel like every single move needs to be agreed upon by everyone. Not a fan.

I find a good bridge between the two to be Flash Point: Fire Rescue. Thematically, it knocks the socks off of Pandemic and Forbidden Island, as everyone can relate to firefighters working to save people before the fire gets out of hand and collapses the building. It also comes with two rulesets: a "family" version, and the advanced. With the family version, it's not necessary to coordinate to win, so each person can just think about their turn instead of what the group needs to do three moves ahead. Conversely, the advance version can get difficult quick if you don't coordinate. The game's been well received by my 11 old nephew and regular game group alike.

Stilgar Black wrote:
Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

I would consider running a GWJ math trade if there's enough interest. I'm not really quite sure what the minimum number of people needed would be for it to be successful, but I could start a thread and see where it goes. The process is actually quite easy once you understand how it all works, but it is pretty foreign-looking when you first get into it.

I'm actually not scared of the logistics and theory of math trade, but misusing the interface or breaking some unwritten rule of protocol. I'd be up for trying a GWJ math trade, especially since if I mess something up I feel I can make it amends much easier with a goodjer.

I'd be up for it!

The only issue I see, and what frightens me is the potential shipping costs for some of these games.

I can only imagine what shipping my Space Hulk would cost from Canada to the USA. Might as well buy a new game.

Those of you looking for a cooperative game, you might want to take a look at Red November.

I've only played it once, and we did have a bit of that Strong Leader problem, but that was mostly because he was the only guy in the room who had ever played it.

Supposedly there's an iOS version either here or on the way. I'm going to look into that.

I'm definitely interested in exchanging some of my games for others. I posted my list on the previous page I think.

As for Pandemic, having a pushy leader definitely can ruin the game. I've taught the game to a lot of groups of people now, and usually I'm the only one who's played before. I've found that most groups really want a leader for the first couple of moves, but I severely limit what I say after that. The fun in the game is figuring out how things work and seeing if you can coordinate effectively with your friends. If someone is too pushy it robs the game of its best quality. After the first few moves I'll generally speak up when A) I need to explain a rule or B) when I'm asked.
I think it helps to have someone who knows the rules but is willing to take a backseat. I guess you could call that a flaw with the game, but I wouldn't. I have more fun when the entire group is having fun, even if I'm not personally being challenged or pushed as much.

Had the opportunity to try Dominant Species last weekend and really enjoyed it. It's complex and, on one play, seems to lend itself to a lot of creativity rather than one winning strategy (though hard to say on one playthrough). I also LOVE the theme and wished there were more games in this vein. Anyone else have more experience at this game than I do?

Update on Risk: Legacy:

Holy crap is it good. If you have a group to play with, pick this up. We're 7 games in with my workmates, and we're enjoying every move. The new packs continue to surprise and delight, and people are playing strategically and not just tactically (ie, we've had at least 4 significant moves where someone essentially sacrificed the current game in order to give themselves a leg up in future). We've been playing with each player keeping the same faction, but we're starting to reconsider that; the game has changed enough, and the factions are different enough, that some guys are starting to look at other factions' grass...

Fantastic game, and a really, truly excellent way to keep people involved.

momgamer wrote:

Those of you looking for a cooperative game, you might want to take a look at Red November.

I've only played it once, and we did have a bit of that Strong Leader problem, but that was mostly because he was the only guy in the room who had ever played it.

Supposedly there's an iOS version either here or on the way. I'm going to look into that.

I've had a copy of Red November for quite some time, but I've never actually gotten around to playing it. Did you enjoy it? The idea of drunk dwarves on a submarine is awesome.

I think it really depends on the players. It helps if you're the type who can have fun whether you win or lose. In our case, we eventually sank (someone couldn't find the codes in time to get back and stop the missiles) but the scramble up to that was a lot of fun.

momgamer wrote:

I think it really depends on the players. It helps if you're the type who can have fun whether you win or lose.

It's funny that you mention this, because I was thinking about it today when thinking about Pandemic. I feel like I'm a weird type of person who can have a blast when losing at a competitive game, but I have a harder time losing during a coop game. I feel like when I lose during a coop game, it's because we/I failed at solving the puzzle, whereas when I lose at a competitive game, I was bested by the superior strategy of my peers. Anyone else feel this way?

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

I would consider running a GWJ math trade if there's enough interest. I'm not really quite sure what the minimum number of people needed would be for it to be successful, but I could start a thread and see where it goes. The process is actually quite easy once you understand how it all works, but it is pretty foreign-looking when you first get into it.

What exactly is a math trade?

El-Producto wrote:

Holy Crap Dust Tactis looks awesome!

I need some help from the Goodjers. I bought Small World, 2 Christmases ago, and could never get my kids to the table to play, they didn't want to sit through the rules. My now 10 year old daughter has expressed interest in playing, and her attention span is much better.

Any tips on teaching this to her? It's been a while since I played, but I'd like to make it as painless as possible.

I'd be interested in hearing more about playing with your kids.
I fell into Heroscape, even though its old, discontinued and obsolete.
I played the Marvel basic rules with my 5 year old this morning. He was begging to play the Master rules (because you pretty much can't use superpowers in the basic game), but the leap seems like it would be beyond his attention span. There is a lot more to keep track of. He was starting to gloss over the character cards after a bit in the basic game.

We had one game, then my 2 1/2 year old woke up, the two of them just played action figures with the terrain and figures. I think this smoothed over the purchase with the wife, because they didn't watch TV and they had a lot of fun playing with it.

I've also ebayed the first master set with some extra terrain. I expect to play with some old friends from the Toronto area. Perhaps I'll figure out if it's possible to host a game afternoon with Boardgame Geeks downstairs, and wives and kids upstairs. Any tips on that would be helpful too.

Any GWJers still have this / getting rid of it / playing it?

MacBrave wrote:
Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

I would consider running a GWJ math trade if there's enough interest. I'm not really quite sure what the minimum number of people needed would be for it to be successful, but I could start a thread and see where it goes. The process is actually quite easy once you understand how it all works, but it is pretty foreign-looking when you first get into it.

What exactly is a math trade?

Basically it's a algorithm that lets people say "I have games A, B and C for trade and want games D, E or F" and works things out so that everyone in the group gets the most advantageous set of trades. So the person you send a game to may not be the person who sends one to you but everyone gets something they wanted.

Here's BBG's explanation of the whole thing

I've got a good set of games, both Euro and war, to trade. A GWJ math trade would be great.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

Update on Risk: Legacy:

Holy crap is it good. If you have a group to play with, pick this up. We're 7 games in with my workmates, and we're enjoying every move. The new packs continue to surprise and delight, and people are playing strategically and not just tactically (ie, we've had at least 4 significant moves where someone essentially sacrificed the current game in order to give themselves a leg up in future). We've been playing with each player keeping the same faction, but we're starting to reconsider that; the game has changed enough, and the factions are different enough, that some guys are starting to look at other factions' grass...

Fantastic game, and a really, truly excellent way to keep people involved.

I managed to play 1 and a half games last night (Sorry for bailing on that last on Dan, I thought Risk: Legacy was supposed to be fast!) and found that while the new options add a lot of dynamism to the game....it's still, at it's very core, Risk, and suffers from a lot of the same problems as the base game does - there is just still too much luck involved for my tastes. Granted, I think it would be a different experience if I had started off at the beginning and played with the same people rather than jumping in on game 5, which would make the narrative of the board much more interesting. As it was, I saw it as a cool version of Risk, but still Risk.

Just placed my order for War of the Ring, 2nd Ed., thanks to an Amazon gift card. So looking forward to trying this out!

Red November is a bit too easy with only three dwarves. EDIT: Or gnomes, even.

I'm not awake enough to discuss it in full detail, but it turns out the Resident Evil Deck Building card game is actually a lot of fun, though confusing at first. It's unlike the few card games I've played in the past, though if you were the sort of fellow that loved building your own Magic decks then this might be your favorite game.

It is literally all about building your deck, and I think the other player and I spent more time gathering resources than shooting zombies.

Then again, we were also playing it wrong at first.

Played another game of Dust Tactics today, 3v3 again but this time on a 4 tile x 7 tile board and a two-storey building (that a squad of Allied tank busters holed up in and destroyed our one heavy mech from).

IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42351335/Dust%20Tactics%202.jpg)

I covered our left flank (Axis units on the right closest to the camera) with tank killers, heavy lasers, and some combat engineering mechs. That mostly meant milling around the cap point while I was destroyed, unit by unit. Feelings on the game remain unchanged: looks bloody fantastic, especially the pre-prainted minis, but a little too fiddly for my tastes. If you love chrome and rolling handfuls of dice, check it out though. If you want to play 3v3 like the above, expect to buy three copies of the base game at a minimum.

Yes, that's a laser level, for determining line of sight.

El-Producto wrote:

The only issue I see, and what frightens me is the potential shipping costs for some of these games.

I can only imagine what shipping my Space Hulk would cost from Canada to the USA. Might as well buy a new game.

I know somebody nearby who would be willing to take that Space Hulk off your hands.....;)

I really wish BoardGameGeek had better design. I can't use that site regularly because it hurts my eyes. It looks like Yahoo circa 1999.

Anyway, I'm going to assume other folks in this thread were already familiar with what a Deck-Building Card Game is, but in case anyone else was as ignorant as me:

It's similar to Munchkin in that you buy the box and you're set to go. No booster packs or rares or any of that money grabbing crap to worry about. Also similar to Munchkin, there's a bunch of expansions you can go out and buy. It was a $30 game so I figured it was worth taking the risk.

The big difference, however, which is part of the reason the game was so confusing to me, was that you don't just have a couple piles you pull cards from and add to your hand, or cards you remove. The strategy is in building and refining a deck throughout the entire game. It took a while for my friend and I to wrap our heads around this, as we are used to about three piles of cards that are shuffled and pulled from. Instead, you're separating items into individual piles, about 18, and putting them in a resource area.

Basically, the resource area is your store. There are three types of ammunition cards: x10, x20 and x30. Each card acts as both ammo for your weapon as well as gold. So any given round you may be using your ammunition to "explore the mansion" and fight a monster, or as money with which to purchase new resources.

Once my friend and I got the hang of it, we had a lot of fun. Just building a deck, for whatever reason, is just as much fun as exploring the mansion. We started to figure out just what sorts of cards you wanted in your deck at the start of the game, then when you'd start to work on "trashing" or returning certain cards back to the resource pile, the value of combat knives and handguns, and for my friend, how to refine your deck to roughly ten cards, with likely odds you'd be able to make use of all ten of them in a single turn, deal the 90 damage required to kill the strongest monster in the game (which ends it) and, if need be, reshuffle it all from his discard pile back into his inventory deck. Of course, this strategy relied specifically on the bonuses of his character, and thus wouldn't necessarily work the next time.

We had a blast and really want to play it more. Unfortunately, we're adults and that's not so easy, but maybe I can give it a whirl with my brother and/or father and/or friend Luke some time after work.

What game were you playing ccesarano?

Edit: Oh, Resident Evil. It's too much to ask that I read 3 posts up, yes

EDIT: Tannhausered in my lack of reading comprehension.

First playthrough of War of the Ring Accomplished!

I was the Shadow, and my wife was the Free Peoples. We're still getting the hang of the rules (especially for the free peoples - there's a whole lot of them), but we made it through a game, and I had a good time, and can see how addictive this will become. Only downsides: it's a Female Doggo telling the different free peoples armies apart, and my back was really sore by the time set up was done, and the game was ready to start.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/nTvvH.jpg)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/3SVlQ.jpg)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/toNqX.jpg)

You get better at telling them apart, but I agree it's hard, since most of them boil down to variants of "dude with spear" or "dude on horse with flag".

One thing you can try is coloring the outer edge of their bases with faction-specific marker. I haven't done this with mine, but I keep thinking about it.

I was going to suggest the "glue a nickel to the base of the Nazgul to keep them from falling over" trick, but I just noticed in your pictures that they seem to have re-sculpted them so they're no longer wicked tall. That's too bad, I kinda like seeing them towering over the armies they're leading.

I love this game so hard.

polypusher wrote:

What game were you playing ccesarano?

Edit: Oh, Resident Evil. It's too much to ask that I read 3 posts up, yes :)

Whoops! Sorry, forgot to mention the game name.

Needless to say, it's got me intrigued about the Penny-Arcade deck-building game, even though it's by a different company.

Tanglebones wrote:

First playthrough of War of the Ring Accomplished!

I was the Shadow, and my wife was the Free Peoples. We're still getting the hang of the rules (especially for the free peoples - there's a whole lot of them), but we made it through a game, and I had a good time, and can see how addictive this will become. Only downsides: it's a Female Doggo telling the different free peoples armies apart, and my back was really sore by the time set up was done, and the game was ready to start.

So who won?

ccesarano wrote:

Needless to say, it's got me intrigued about the Penny-Arcade deck-building game, even though it's by a different company.

Other games you should look into:
* Dominion - This is the one that kick started the genre if not the progenitor.
* Thunderstone - Very similar to Dominion, but you're killing monsters for victory points. Feels like 2 games at some times.
* Ascension - More of a "drafting" take on Thunderstone. You have a pool of 5 cards in the center, buying/killing a card replaces it with another card to buy or kill from the central draw pile.
* Core Worlds - A more deliberately paced version of Ascension. You have basically 10 rounds before the game ends. Feels a little like Race for the Galaxy in some regards.