The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

drdoak wrote:

Having never seen the show, it is just embarrassing.

Still, the game part looks amazing.

Both the show and game are totally awesome.

HedgeWizard wrote:
GrandmaFunk wrote:

If anyone has played both Libertalia and Merchants&Marauders, I'd love a comparison.

The only thing that is the same between the two games is that they feature pirates.

Heh, I need a raft of comparisons made like these. Mystery of the Abbey vs Name of the Rose; Crusader Rex vs Hammer of the Scots; Formula D vs Formula E. Wait, forget that last one.

Got three new games in over the weekend.

Hull Breach! - A few friends backed their 2nd edition on Kickstarter, which put this on my radar. I ran into the guys at a local con, and sat down for a few hands.

it's an LCG about corporate nation states battling it out in space. The goal of the game - wipe out your opponent's station. While I only played a 2-player game, the mechanics have been designed to work well with any number of players.

There's a currency and materials economy that you generate each round with your station, which you then spend to buy ships, Marine units, drones, upgrades, and event cards. The ships range in size from fighter wings all the way up to capital ships, with bigger ships able to carry more stuff.

The combat is handled by rolling D10s, with each card stating how many dice to roll when attacking, as well as having a target number that needs to be hit in order to receive damage. As an example, my cruiser rolls 3 dice, and my opponent's frigate will take damage for any rolls over 7 and has 2 wounds. If I roll well enough, I can take it out with a single volley.

For the 2nd edition, they'll be releasing 3-faction box sets (MSRP for $40), coming with dice, tokens, and a few tuning cards. Additional reinforcement packs will be available, and like other LCGs the contents of the packs will be known, but they will be focused more on themes rather than sets. For instance, if you'd like to include more drones in your decks, you buy the drone pack. Want more Marine units, or cards that augment Marines, buy the Marine pack, etc.

The 1st edition is still available (I got a couple of decks for backing them right at the table), and after watching a Let's Play, I can see where the 2nd edition is certainly smoothing out the game a bit.

Skyline - this one came as part of my Kickstarter for Ground Floor, also from TMG. Its a push-your-luck dice rolling game, with the point being to build the "best" skyline. There's three types of dice - bottom floors, middle floors, and penthouses, and on each face you have three colors to match the different types of buildings. The higher you can build, the more points the building is worth (spoiler: its the square of the number of floors). Start your turn by choosing any combination of 3 dice from the Construction Yard or all the dice from the Abandoned District, giving them a roll, and take one of 3 actions. If you can't take an action, you have to abandon a die, and your turn ends when you choose to stop rolling, or run out of dice. When you are able to complete a building, there's a pile of cardboard chits that represent completed buildings - return your dice to the Construction Yard and replace the dice building with the appropriate scoring chit.

You've got 9 rounds to build the most skyscrapers and score the most points, and turns go pretty quick. Makes a nice palate cleanser between other games, or start of the night game.

Burn in Hell - the best unplayable game from Steve Jackson. My wife played this a year ago, and picked up a copy because she thought she remembered liking it. Each player is a Dark Prince, trying to form Circles of souls as they are cast into Hell before Hell freezes over. The rules are loosely defined, but on each turn players must cast a soul to the pit (which reduces the temperature of Hell), and then can make "one more action". What doesn't help is that the rule book also states all these actions can also be made at "just about any time", so in theory, someone can steal another players hand, half the souls currently in the pit, and Circle them up. All the souls are based real people, with a list of the sins they have committed, as well as a categorization of what they did in life (artists, dictators, mass murderers, cannibals, etc), and then a value is associated (which is inverse to their usefulness in the game). Someone with a lot of sins and traits is typically worth less than someone with only one sin and one trait.

My assumption is that the game is supposed to be played a lot faster than we did it, as well as more cut-throat than our pace.

Gravey wrote:
HedgeWizard wrote:
GrandmaFunk wrote:

If anyone has played both Libertalia and Merchants&Marauders, I'd love a comparison.

The only thing that is the same between the two games is that they feature pirates.

Heh, I need a raft of comparisons made like these. Mystery of the Abbey vs Name of the Rose; Crusader Rex vs Hammer of the Scots; Formula D vs Formula E. Wait, forget that last one.

I get that you were going for humor, but Crusader Rex vs Hammer of the Scots is a pretty valid comparison; Both are block wargames.

I mean, we're talking this:
IMAGE(http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic183624_md.jpg)

versus this:
IMAGE(http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1558343_md.jpg)

Yes, I was being serious! (Except for the Formula D bit.) If I want to try a block wargame while getting my medieval on, is Hammer of the Scots or Crusader Rex the better game? Is Name of the Rose good if you've read the book, or is Mystery of the Abbey the better "murderin' monks" game?

I had others, but I've forgotten them. BGG is usually good for this, but I think 85% of those comparisons are "Combat Commander vs Lock 'N Load" over and over again.

Gravey wrote:

Yes, I was being serious! (Except for the Formula D bit.) If I want to try a block wargame while getting my medieval on, is Hammer of the Scots or Crusader Rex the better game? Is Name of the Rose good if you've read the book, or is Mystery of the Abbey the better "murderin' monks" game?

I had others, but I've forgotten them. BGG is usually good for this, but I think 85% of those comparisons are "Combat Commander vs Lock 'N Load" over and over again.

I've never played Crusader Rex and never even really knew what it was. Now I'll have to take a look! Hammer of the Scots is quite a bit of fun, I can easily recommend it.

Haven't played Name of the Rose, but I played Mystery of the Abbey once and was really disappointed. It's been many years since I played so the details are fuzzy but I mostly recall it being way too challenging to make any real deductions in the game. Too many variables and moving pieces of information for you to do any real deduction.

So... no comparisons, just some quick thoughts on a couple of games mentioned

So, I've been going to Go classes with a friend for the last few weeks. Gotta say, it's a freaking brilliant game. I'm a long way from being even mediocre at it, but I'm starting to get a feel for the abyss of tactical depth that I'm peering over the edge of.

Anyone else putting the Go in Goodjer?

Netrunner over the weekend... played several games with the Shaper starter vs. the Jinteki starter vs. a friend i've probably played 5 or 10 games against now. Understand the game and have seen the cards enough that I'm really feeling the weaknesses of those decks now and am definitely ready to start tweaking those decks. Had my first over-before-ya-know-it game as the Shaper deck when a seemingly safe Makers Eye run on R&D with 3 cards in my hand (which i usually don't do against that deck) pulled a Snare and two Agendas. Whoopsie!

Jonman wrote:

So, I've been going to Go classes with a friend for the last few weeks. Gotta say, it's a freaking brilliant game. I'm a long way from being even mediocre at it, but I'm starting to get a feel for the abyss of tactical depth that I'm peering over the edge of.

Anyone else putting the Go in Goodjer?

I understand it, have played it, have tried to get better at it, and still suck. Does that count?

Gravey wrote:

Yes, I was being serious! (Except for the Formula D bit.) If I want to try a block wargame while getting my medieval on, is Hammer of the Scots or Crusader Rex the better game?

They are both great games. Not sure which is better. Really depends on which one floats your boat. If you are going to play CRex, get the new 2nd Edition.

Gravey wrote:

I had others, but I've forgotten them. BGG is usually good for this, but I think 85% of those comparisons are "Combat Commander vs Lock 'N Load" over and over again.

Do some! Or you can read through this Geeklist, created by my friend Andy Young: http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/50286/games-that-fired-other-games

Haakon7 wrote:
Jonman wrote:

So, I've been going to Go classes with a friend for the last few weeks. Gotta say, it's a freaking brilliant game. I'm a long way from being even mediocre at it, but I'm starting to get a feel for the abyss of tactical depth that I'm peering over the edge of.

Anyone else putting the Go in Goodjer?

I understand it, have played it, have tried to get better at it, and still suck. Does that count?

I'm much the same way, but I'd love to play and get better.

Jonman wrote:

So, I've been going to Go classes with a friend for the last few weeks. Gotta say, it's a freaking brilliant game. I'm a long way from being even mediocre at it, but I'm starting to get a feel for the abyss of tactical depth that I'm peering over the edge of.

Anyone else putting the Go in Goodjer?

I figure I only have room for one ludicrously deep tactical game in my brain, and between go and chess I chose chess. C'est la vie.

However, if you wanted to teach me sometime, I'd be okay with that as long as you brought your theremin too

Man, Go is one of the games I just don't get. I mean, I know the game. I know the rules, I know the 10 page version of basic strategy, but I never, ever win a game. Ever. Even against plants.

Boudreaux wrote:

Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery

Highly recommend this game, and it's available for around $25-$28 which is a steal. It also has one of the best-written rulebooks I've ever seen.

After hearing nothing but good things, your post and the video finally tipped me over and I went and bought it since Amazon had it for $30. Really looking forward to trying it out with my group. Thanks for enabling!

Fredrik_S wrote:
Boudreaux wrote:

Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery

Highly recommend this game, and it's available for around $25-$28 which is a steal. It also has one of the best-written rulebooks I've ever seen.

After hearing nothing but good things, your post and the video finally tipped me over and I went and bought it since Amazon had it for $30. Really looking forward to trying it out with my group. Thanks for enabling!

Take the rulebook's advice and start with the intro game, where everyone starts at 7 Influence. I'd even go one further and say start at 4 Influence, but only play to 10 instead of 12. Starting at 1 and going all the way to 12 (advanced game) would take HOURS.

Playing from 4 to 10 is great advice for a first game.

As for Go, it's climbing down a never ending staircase... whenever you think you've got something figured out, you realize you've just uncovered a whole other level of depth under it

I highly recommend Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go http://shop.gogameguru.com/lessons-i... and the Elementary Go series http://www.kiseido.com/go_books.htm , books 4 and 5 are especially great for the middle game.

Boudreaux wrote:

Take the rulebook's advice and start with the intro game, where everyone starts at 7 Influence. I'd even go one further and say start at 4 Influence, but only play to 10 instead of 12. Starting at 1 and going all the way to 12 (advanced game) would take HOURS.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind when we get to play it. Very excited about it.

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

maverickz wrote:

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

It will probably go back into print again. In the meantime, you can just pick up any of the other data packs if you're looking to expand. I don't think there's a real need to pick the packs up in sequential order.

I'm hoping they reprint it. I thought their thing was that the boosters wouldn't be a limited-time thing, and if that's true, it's just a matter of waiting on the reprint to ship.

If I'm wrong and they are limited availability, then they can bite me.

shoptroll wrote:
maverickz wrote:

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

It will probably go back into print again. In the meantime, you can just pick up any of the other data packs if you're looking to expand. I don't think there's a real need to pick the packs up in sequential order.

The sequential order thing is actually what got me a little concerned. I actually picked up the second one just in case, but sure would be nice to have the first as well. I didn't know they did reprints in any timely manner, I'm pretty new to this card game business.

maverickz wrote:

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

CCG Armory has it for $18 including shipping. Just googled it, clicked Shopping, and there it was. Even though I've played it once, I've already bought two expansions. Sigh.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
maverickz wrote:

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

CCG Armory has it for $18 including shipping. Just googled it, clicked Shopping, and there it was. Even though I've played it once, I've already bought two expansions. Sigh.

Sweet! Thank you very much. Called them up and they had a few in stock. So now I guess I'll have both, and I'm ok with that.

that's pretty crazy, i don't recall them running out of packs for any of their LCGs previously.

Hopefully it's just because Netrunner is unexpectedly popular. Hopeful if you want more Netrunner cards anyway.

Demyx wrote:

Hopefully it's just because Netrunner is unexpectedly popular. Hopeful if you want more Netrunner cards anyway.

I heard people were buying four, five, even six copies of the base game at GenCon. Could be just rumors, but that's what I heard on the geekvine.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
maverickz wrote:

So uh, it appears that the first Netrunner expansion, What Lies Ahead, is entirely out of stock across the whole of the internets. Is anyone aware of a place that still sells it for a sane price? The wife and I are really into it and were hoping to expand. Just last week all was normal, and now this happens.

CCG Armory has it for $18 including shipping. Just googled it, clicked Shopping, and there it was. Even though I've played it once, I've already bought two expansions. Sigh.

IT'S ALIVE!!!!! *grins* Seriously, I should stand in an alley, "Gotcha netrunner expansions here, you know you want em!"

This seems like a pretty good tutorial for Netrunner:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/FFGflash/Netrunner/netrunner_tutorial.html

Fredrik_S wrote:
Boudreaux wrote:

Take the rulebook's advice and start with the intro game, where everyone starts at 7 Influence. I'd even go one further and say start at 4 Influence, but only play to 10 instead of 12. Starting at 1 and going all the way to 12 (advanced game) would take HOURS.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind when we get to play it. Very excited about it.

The reasoning behind going from 4 to 10 stems directly from the Intrigue cards. It's roughly the same length as the beginner game (need 6 more Influence to win, vs. 5 more for the rulebook's "beginner game" suggestion).

However, there are many Intrigue cards with schemes that require anywhere from 7 to 12 Influence to play. This means to play them when you only have 4-5 Influence, you need another player to "support" you and lend their Influence to your total. This opens up a lot of negotiation and deal making, and is a really neat mechanic. Starting at 4 Influence means you have to do more of this at the start to play Intrigue cards. If players start at 7, a lot of the mid-range schemes are available to play right off the bat without needing any support, which simplifies things. The negotiation and scheming is one of the best parts of the game, so anything that adds more of it is a good thing.

My daughter and I played the Lord of the Rings LCG last night. We played "Passage Through Mirkwood" using just the preconstructed decks to learn, she was using the Spirit sphere and I used the Leadership sphere.

It started off pretty bad with some big baddies causing all sorts of mayhem in the beginning, preventing us from making any progress towards the quest, but eventually we were able to start clearing out some of the locations and small things from the staging area, and my daughter was able to use Dunhere to whittle down a big spider in the center before it engaged anyone. We didn't know it at the time, but that spider was the objective that got randomly chosen as our win condition, and luckily hadn't died before we got there. We had a tough last round, but I was able to engage and finish off Ungoliant's spawn to win the game.

We will definitely play again, my daughter picked up on some combos early ( I'm so proud of her ) so that gives me hope for playing more difficult scenarios, as well as some of the other card/board games I've been picking up lately.