The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

pyxistyx wrote:
Natus wrote:

Speaking of the Arkham Horror LCG, how does it play solitaire?

Very well, I think. I feel it works best with just one character though - I'm finding trying to play multiple characters gets a bit hard to keep track of with one person and the game drags on a bit longer than I'd like. It's pretty well balanced for a single character though (stuff like objectives and boss creature health all modify depending on the number of characters in play) and it frees up a lot more cards for customising and tweaking the deck if you don't have to worry about keeping half the cards for a second character.

You can also customise the difficulty on the fly with the tokens , so if you're finding it a bit TOO challenging on normal but don't want to drop all the way down to easy mode then you can just swap out a couple of tokens from the "chaos bag" (basically you're dice for the game) until you hit a balance you're comfortable with.

Thanks. Weekend activities prevented my play this weekend with my son, but I sat down 3 different times pondering a solo play but wasn't sure about one character or playing as two. I may just have to jump in tonight while he is doing homework.

bepnewt wrote:

The icon that is highlited is the plus sign with arrows, which I am assuming is the "move" icon.

I've gone to the map mode and tried choosing him and moving him, clicking on locations, etc. I just can't figure it out. Do you guys know how to move someone?

-BEP

I think that’s the right icon. Remember that move has to be the first thing you do on a turn. I’ll check my copy later today and confirm.

Who's got three thumbs and just got the call from FedEx that his Duchess is arriving today?

Spoiler:

<-- This guy! Pics to follow once she's all set up! Squeeeee!!

Chumpy, make extra-sure that you go patiently and stop to consider angles and perspective before putting parts together. Good news is, it's easy. There's really no bad news. But I did get caught up and put a piece in upside down, meaning that there's a screw in the middle of the table that sticks up a few millimeters. It gets smoothed out by the table covering, but there were a few times I had to reverse things to be sure I had them right during other parts of the process. Mostly in the early part of the assembly.

Took me about an hour and fifteen minutes, including a little help from the family in holding things while I did some screwing in. (I have worked as a carpenter's assistant long ago, so I'm reasonably proficient for this kind of thing.) And man... What an end result! You're going to be happy.

Anyway, came here to post that about half a dozen unavailable Combat Commander modules are now in P500 at GMT, aiming for a 2018 reprint. If they get enough pre-orders, they will bundle them. But it's a great chance to get a fun set of expansions for an interesting, even innovative board game series. Note that they don't charge you until the game is about to ship, even though they take your CC info. So... Kind of like layaway, I guess?

Anyway, Combat Commander is a tactical WWII game which features unit activation mechanics, but any movement or action can be interrupted by the opponent as appropriate. So you can get situations where a tank being moved can be surprised by an infantry unit taking a Panzerfaust shot, which then can be fired on by a watchful MG team in a nearby building. Very fluid and chaotic.

I've got three big box CC versions, plus the Stalingrad pack, and I've still only played a single scenario.

With the card driven stuff, it's real hard to solo, but I liked what I got to play. One day!

Given the aftermarket prices, I'm in even if they just collect dust. The supply is small enough that the reprints will get jumped on. And who knows, I might find someone in the area who plays.

That's why I'm holding onto my stuff, but I'm not letting myself get more. The one dumb guy purchase I allow myself is buying the new COIN games as they come out. I'll finally get to pick up Andean Abyss next year, hopefully!

Oh crap, just realized Pendragon is due to release in November. What's GMT's shipping rate looking like these days? I haven't been ordering through them because the shipping was over double what the other sites charge, and the price is usually the same or slightly higher.

Mr Crinkle wrote:

Long has it been since the last tale of Codex. All sane people should play Codex, pinnacle of dueling games.

Looking forward to the end of this. Codex has vaulted into "best card game ever" status since I picked up the Deluxe set earlier this year. I've got 30ish games under my belt and am still sometimes surprised by stuff I didn't anticipate... like a matchup with a new-to-codex-but-veteran-gamer who I taught it to recently in a Black (me) vs. Blue matchup. Unprompted he dumped Dreamscape (the first time I've seen the card played) and Macciatus the Whisperer on me and since I specced Necromancy with maxxed out Garth Torken, with my only targeted ability being a single Doom Grasp, I was totally not prepared and got overwhelmed. Granted, we made one mistake (allowing him to create a second copy of Macciatus with a Mirror - not allowed because Macciatus is a Legendary) which turned the situation from rough to insurmountable, but point being I didn't anticipate the scenario whatsoever.

To peeps who've built their own custom shelving for boardgames... advice/opinions on materials? I tripped over to the local Ikea yesterday thinking I'd just walk in and buy something and realized I probably should have done research first. Many thanks in advance.

Since you're there, the Ikea Kallax shelves are ideal for board games (and vinyl). Personally I like the 4x4s, and I usually leave a couple of the vertical slats out for bigger games.

EDIT: examples! (or COMC time if you're interested)

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IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zWxFahRTbE75PqwT6xWeAKwzCZ6SSsqSLHpZVQQX0DA6UeptC-vqpGkHWapOudJrg3v9yBxQ_RQjjM6-roDUGLtPhJAY2nxD8vObSR4n_z820KsFPgbHnJnlofqLF_cBt8ZBcr_zesrtlltTOCVNc4-9y9RFD9NYRdDsZIQrd9gta5S5DFJX5GbJlTKd0neJWMFdETcYg7HUgnFMWKDr9BzIS0ByEzssOLOBSJKKOlrU--M0VPnn5l9X7_mCgE8LsGEXXk1rPxA--f3MDVCno93WgwtS3Uk06YzdBGKHsLbWlJCgJCT0dl26EBZ8E4zLvPbb8hN4o296YBTzdiB_9uvi8amLBFjQOv-5WqANAjSWzCFTpJ0aJCRRB2CZ3qMHvURQLWqPGbaBXzQseTYRf0NDz05w3vADldWAb_bqYNovMXD6ihThXycWvksmjit6s__IyivbWg2DiDbkXcHT-utgy4blDPs9HHRy7iGkawy42PNVvQM7dWcl7M-jsHl4_JgylYJYWtDZgPBWanlhTP_qGtPmq7YVKrHbPXNQafp62LgLD2goMW6rm-DPuuo3qzAIqW1JVp4u3VwAqus-faRrfMRXC_jiojujV41q5g=w1280-h1706-no)
IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5ocfecnLBFQZK4U_I6PZl-u5G_VzOL6uKvaRrvV_hLq9aVleOlwuv87IdGSQY02mAIy4gIjTqXNRSkKOurmkPN8Y4jlq9oca3KLJl7uKK0ga1Kg8R_xEZ4IoBf5aOODHZ5xMyAA4O4SH3nxJ61uZJZ9whIrE-fnt946cp7YxYn_90lpbSkfpY6cCpA1iAiSZ_n09kFtOkMDVa-lc3LUzc21vxY8luzCX3EAu00IMsRbpSBQy9cLXd3Cqfyllk0vfkgQ7Jy276EOkAl5UCf_lAAv3CWYwdktoeJtzlt8KkwmQw7upPviyPRD6QWwXH_trOqttPTehGY2CCwUo5ZMyJe3y3XNsWvh74LtBcfmxuSuVSSammhOyqyoiAxST4-LzVc2rCmYbefT68edIlEc2UH9wcChn1ITwpUEtJE4GjGofQkWd2_nNPV_7y1h0cyVlp60ULb6g8rltlSRnWq07JI7Z_v6i96JduKb0Dlnr-CVz88iR2LKqYWnvSiVD3cdvlcxfRnknvkNT-wFobHnEcp0KUCoWlptIap4r4b0i7MUlp9bb1Nlg14veI3V1Tzy-16tq1zOfywmB5GY5ldg-MF_go1kcgHZb6oBV25qYQw=w1280-h1706-no)

Damn that's a bunch of games... and only 2 or 3 still in shrink wrap

Perfect, thanks. Appreciate the photos too.

Jow wrote:

Looking forward to the end of this.

Zounds, forgot all about it. Have to summarize.

He brought out Jail the next turn and I figured that there was a good chance I was going to get stalled trying to deal with that and his flier until he buried me in illusions. I didn't have my starting deck anti-air unit, and even if I had, would need to push another unit out afterwards in order to get it to hit the table, then wait another turn to be able to attack his flyer (assuming I could deal with the patrol zone somehow). I wound up having to pay to pump my hero up to max so I could use his kill token on the bird.

He wound up teching Law and played an excellent stall game, twice playing Injunction at critical junctures and getting a Justice Juggernaut out to sweat my tech buildings along with his flyer.

I plunged straight down Discipline and got Training Grounds up right away, pushing to a quick 2 hero rushdown strategy in an attempt to keep ahead of the Jail, which was just out of reach of killing for far too long. Readiness on my Discipline hero plus the healing monk was a godsend, as I was able to keep pressuring his board while still protecting my utility cards. That, plus the Sensei making me win small unit fights rather than trade kept me with a unit advantage all game.

I never wound up getting to Tech III due to money squeeze and fear of his building destroying capability being too great, and I was forced to discard critical units due to Injunction removing the use of my Tech II. Completely messed with my strategy. I ended up getting out some cheap units like Sparring Partner to get my guys pushed out of Jail and I was forced into buying the extra hero add-on to get a 3rd hero out and trained (and get that creamy 2 cards per upkeep bonus from Setsuki Hiruki).

It was a crazy game. He was just sacrificing cheap units in the +1 gold and +1 card patrol zones to slow my rush. I went all-in and stopped getting workers early in order to be able to spam more units, and got his base down to 1 HP with a huge board in front of me and no possible way for him to stop me next turn. Then he pulled a good draw and dropped his Lawbringer Gryphon the turn after he hit Tech III, which gave his base flying (didn't know that, hadn't ever seen that card played).

I petulantly killed all his non-flying stuff, but had no answer for the Gryphon or the flying base. He obliterated my anti-air guy on his first attack, then brought out another Gryphon to add insult to injury and I died on his next turn.

One of the best games ever. We both wound up having to completely change up our plans multiple times. It was a great "get inside the other guy's decision loop" battle.

polypusher wrote:

Damn that's a bunch of games... and only 2 or 3 still in shrink wrap :D

Heh. I won those at TNGD, a local con. They're the Mayfair games that you can often find for like $5 on the shelves. I'll get to 'em eventually.

In completely unrelated news, the Through The Ages app I posted about a page or two ago is still really awesome. Maybe even more awesomer. Right now we have a 4p game going with a few other Goodjers, but the AI and challenges are great too. This app is almost the ideal application of the game, keeping a lot of the fiddly (and easily miscalculatable) tracking behind the scenes while leaving you all the crunchy strategic goodness. Do recommend!

DudleySmith wrote:

The SU&SD review of Flamme Rouge got me very interested too - the peloton drafting mechanic also seemed like a clever way to add strategy in a really thematic way.

I've found strategizing to be a gamble of educated guesses, making every turn a surprise. There were a lot of good-natured "Damn it!"s on lunch break today, as opponents managed to preternaturally form a pack behind a lone sucker. It's like Formula Motor Racing, but with more "take advantage" and less "take that" (woolier and less calculated too).

In addition to rules for Grand Tours (there's an app for that), I was reading the expansion rules and saw that it will add dummy teams, meaning FR will be solo-able. With a couple paste-ups, dummies/solo is playable without the expansion. The possibilities offered by single-lane and three-wide sections, and six-player races, might be more than I can resist though. Heart of Crown has expansions coming too, but I feel safe with all the cards in the base game.

Does anybody here play games online via boardgamearena.com? I've been on there for quite a while and never thought to see if others use it too or if there is already a GWJ group setup.

Crinkle, I've never played that game, but your write up makes me want to.

If you have any intelligent friend nearby who you can consistently set up a game night with, get it. It's horrendously expensive, but you seriously will not ever need another 2-player game for frequent play. I am incredibly jealous of Jow's 30+ games of it. Wish I could play every week.

Jow wrote:

Codex has vaulted into "best card game ever" status since I picked up the Deluxe set earlier this year.

I'd argue if you weren't correct. An absolutely amazing game. I doubt the physical version will ever recoup the cost of making it, but an iOS version should "do the needful" and will be a great fit due to the asynchronous nature of play. Hopefully they don't do something stupid like charge ten dollars per faction in the land of one dollar games.

Codex: A big chunk of those games were played on Tabletopia (which, if you haven't seen it, is a really good implementation if you can handle virtual boardgames). The only drawback is it's a "Premium" game, which means you have to sub to at least the "Silver" level ($4.50 a month I think) to access anything more than Bashing vs. Finesse. It's been completely worth it to me just for Codex, but I've also learned and enjoyed a bunch of other games on there.

Anyway, I've also been lucky to be able to teach this to quite a few people and although they haven't all shared my boundless enthusiasm for the game it's still been great. My favorite time was breaking out my Deluxe set and teaching it to 3 people, running two games simultaneously while playing in one of them.... and having the newbie (Green) come back from death's door to whip my butt in 2 turns due to Moss Ancients and $%$%ing squirrels.

Incidentally, I'm subbed to Tabletopia at the Gold level, which means I can invite non-subscribers into Premium games. I'd be happy (read: excited) to teach this to anyone interested.

Minarchist wrote:

Since you're there, the Ikea Kallax shelves are ideal for board games (and vinyl). Personally I like the 4x4s, and I usually leave a couple of the vertical slats out for bigger games.

EDIT: examples! (or COMC time if you're interested)

Aw. Your images are broken for me. I love seeing people's collections.

Secrets has been a hit at work. One of those social deduction games that the more you play, especially with the same group, the better it gets. Definitely need a vocal group that is willing to lie and trick the whole time.

Feegle wrote:
bepnewt wrote:

The icon that is highlited is the plus sign with arrows, which I am assuming is the "move" icon.

I've gone to the map mode and tried choosing him and moving him, clicking on locations, etc. I just can't figure it out. Do you guys know how to move someone?

-BEP

I think that’s the right icon. Remember that move has to be the first thing you do on a turn. I’ll check my copy later today and confirm.

It is the correct icon. To move a character, you need to tap the arrows, then double-tap (or rather, tap, then tap to confirm) the location you want to move to. It is an odd usability choice. I would have thought that dragging the character to the new location was more intuitive on a touch-screen.

The Tabletop playthrough of Eldritch Horror is just great

Patrick Rothfuss is a treasure (and fellow Madisonian as well). Glad to see part 2 is out now. I may have to rewatch part 1.

So i played through the first two scenarios for the Dunwitch campaign (the two that you get in the base set - I've got the 'sold separately' episodes 3 and 4 waiting to go up next, plus I grabbed the Carnivale stand-alone adventure set as well).

They're a bit on the pricey side for what you get TBH, each scenario really only took me 15-20 minutes to complete with a single character. However it looks like there's a fair bit of replayability in each story (you can tackle the first two in any order and the order you pick determines certain events that may or may not occur, and depending on which areas you visit first in each chapter you can unlock different events and endings). So there's maybe...5 or 6? different ways the two scenarios can play out just by the story options alone, not counting getting KO'd or going mad and bailing, etc.

It's also given me what's turned out to be my favourite solo character : twin 45-slinging dilletante Jenny Barnes, so that's a plus! (Plus, as mentioned above I now have enough cards that I can just about put together three reasonably good decks for future multiplayer games without the need to buy a second starter set, so that's good).

Also, it's not a board game, but after it was recommended in a Eurogamer video I picked up a copy of "Blades in the Dark" purely on the description of "it's a PnP RPG version of Dishonored or Lies of Lock Lamora". Freakin'. Sold. I'll force people at wrist-crossbow point to play it with me if need be!

And oh sweet baby Garrett, never mind the contents, the book itself is a work of bloody art!

IMAGE(https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/003/399/988/fcce3d988364c2e6a7a5e41c0ac708c6_original.jpg?w=680&fit=max&v=1425749085&auto=format&q=92&s=0dcf6c37444c45489ebc62e023d7d3ef)

I love Blades in the Dark! We're currently playing it in our weekly RPG game. It's been a ton of fun.

It took some adjusting coming from D&D, Shadowrun, and other really crunchy systems. It's got a great world to play in.

"you're in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered by Demon blood"

I always love the idea of tabletop RPGs, but there's less than no chance I'd ever get the opportunity to play them, so I wind up just skimming longingly past posts and reviews, like Charlie outside the candy store.