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AstroLad said:
Oh wtf I didn't even know that. Definitely going to check it out then. What was your impression of the quality?
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I'll let you know what I think of the content when I get a chance to read it. The presentation definitely seemed pretty ace though, what with every page having nice, glossy paper and full color. As far as content bulk, it's not especially huge. I think there's something like 50 - 55 pages in the issue I bought, some of which are ads (though they were all board game ads from what I saw). The guy at the shop seemed to love it and raved that the reviews were pretty informative. I don't know if that was legitimate enthusiasm, or if it was just salesmanship, but I'm inclined to believe the former.

Edit: There was also some sort of expansion in there relating to Dominion. That will surely come in handy when I finally actually crack open my copy of Dominion!
 
Played Arcana and Anima card games today. Both interesting, Anima is like playing a Jrpg but in card format with each player having a party of heroes who is trying to get to the final boss to win. Arcana was so so.... the whole bribe system just felt lame.
 
Learned and played Alhambra for the first time today. Heard it was great for 3, which is what we had tonight, so thought I'd give it a go. Really easy to learn and teach, but at the same time kind of a huge brainburner, at least at first, when it comes to thinking about wall placement. It was good; think I'd give it about a 6.5-7 on the BGG scale, probably more on the 6.5 end because it did feel to run a bit long (we played two games).

Continued to play our game du jour, Carc+Traders&Builders+Inns&Cathedrals.

And finally capped off the night with a super-quick game of San Juan where I abused Smithy+Indigos+Guild Hall.
 
Alhambra is great, I love the tile placement aspect of it. I got the Big Box and some of the expansions change the game a lot, not all of them are great though.

Diamonds + coins makes the game a lot faster since you get a lot of double or triple turns.
 
I only got two games in at my local game night this evening.

First off, I played a learning game of Le Havre where it was completely new to all involved. I can't remember if Le Havre has been discussed here yet or not, but just in case there's a cute, Yahtzee-esque video review on BGG that explains it better than I could - not that this will stop me from giving it a shot anyway. It's from the designer of Agricola and is a bit similar in that it's a sort of worker placement game, except you only have the one worker. Everyone is trying to collect goods and/or money, use goods and/or money to obtain buildings, process goods with the buildings, buy boats, and then ship the goods for cash, all while having to feed their family/shipping company during the end of round/harvest phase. At the end of the game, whoever has the most cash and/or cool buildings/ships wins. I liked it quite a bit. It wasn't quite as stressful as Agricola, as there are a lot of building actions to choose from and a lot of different things you can do at any one time, and while it's possible for players to shaft you by picking the thing you wanted to do in a given turn, there were always so many options available that I never found myself thinking "Well, there goes the one single thing I needed for victory." On the flip side, you only have a single action at any given time and in our four player game we were hitting a harvest/feeding phase every two actions, so the timing can be a bit tight. Either way, I'm looking forward to playing another game now that I kinda know what I'm doing.

We also played a six player game of Wiz-War, which I was able to wrap up very quickly with an impressive application of cheese. For folks who haven't played Wiz-War, it's a bit like a board game version of Magic the Gathering (well, vice-versa, actually; Magic was directly influenced by Wiz-War) where you're a wizard, you have life points, you have a hand full of cards, and you want to run around, steal other players' treasures, and get them home before they can steal all of your treasures. It's not big on game balance and once you start throwing in expansions the name of the game is to see how broken a combination of spells you can cast. Tonight this meant that I was able to cast two dimensional warps at once, placing them right next to my home base and having them lead directly to treasures, so two turns later that was all she wrote. This wasn't as entertaining as the last game I played, which involved desperate ploys to win by moving entire sections of the game board around, but was still gratifying, if only for me. Wiz-War has sadly been out of print for many years, but I am pleased to report that it will be coming back sometime next year. I can only hope the new edition is as cheerfully broken as the old.

FnordChan
 
The key mechanical difference with La Havre is around feeding your people/employees. The game lets you take out a loan rather than take the punishment that Agricola doles out. The times that I've played I found that those who used that ability the best tended to win.
 
Played a bunch of Jaipur today. Was recommended by a bunch of folks on BGG. Really fun light 2p game. Stealing from BGG review since I know a lot of people check here for casual-but-deep 2p games:
In Jaipur, the players can trade and sell six different kinds of goods. From most precious (i.e., worth the most points) to least precious they are: Diamonds, Gold, Silver, Cloth, Spice, and Leather. The players may also maintain herds of camels which can be used to obtain additional goods.

On a turn, a player may either sell goods, or obtain goods. This keeps the game rolling along as there aren't any long delays between drawing a card and then deciding what to do with it. The market consists of five cards. It begins each round with three camels and then two cards pulled from the top of the draw pile. If a player wants to obtain goods from the market he may either take one card, OR take as many cards as he wants, but replace an equal number from his hand or camels, OR take all the camels.

Camels don't count against the hand limit, so having a ready supply can be handy. It allows the player to trade them in for valuable goods.

Alternatively, a player can sell any number of the same kind of good by discarding them from his hand. When he does, he gets the topmost disc for that commodity for each item sold. The tiles are numbered with the highest numbers on top. So, for example, the first two diamonds sold are worth seven points each. The next three are worth only five. By contrast, only the first spice is worth five, and the next two are worth only three and they decrease from there. If he sells three, four, or five at once, the player will get a bonus tile worth additional points.

It seems simple enough, but there are a number of strategical concerns. On the selling side, there is tension between selling early to get the higher valued discs, or trying to save up to get the bonus tiles. The bonus for a five sale can be between 7 and 10 (more valuable than the most precious diamond).

On the buying side, there is strong strategery with respect to taking camels. It may be great to snag four camels off the board, but they are immediately replaced with four random cards from the draw pile. And now it's your opponent's turn. That means, if gold or diamonds are drawn, your opponent now can grab them before you have the opportunity to do so. It may be best to forgo camels if your opponent has a small hand and a large herd (thus enabling them to steal many of the new goods played to replace the camels).

It can also be advantageous to 'starve' your opponent of camels by taking them first. Without them, your opponent will only be able to take one good per turn (a huge disadvantage) or will have to replace cards he takes with cards from his hand.

After a round is played through, the players count up the points on their discs. The one who has the most wins that round. The game is played best of three rounds for the winner. In sum, Jaipur provides a number of strategic choices that can impact game play.
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http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/531959/best-two-player-game-good-with-the-spouse

In terms of rankings, I' d put this right there with Lost Cities in my top 5 casual 2p games.
 
I finally played Agricola with my wife, as everyone said, it's great I love the fact the game changes every time. Had to make a custom tray for all the bits though :lol
 
Jaipur will be mine I think. Sounds great.

Played RftG w/ Brink of War today. My group feels that the prestige might be a bit overpowered, as the two players that had a lot of it were about 20 points ahead of the others (I won :-D). We've only played 2 games with the expansion, and both games have kinda gone this way. I like the mechanic a lot though, it just seems like if you get a good source of Prestige early in the game you might be unstoppable.
 
It seems to be a consensus that Prestige is the key to winning with Brink of War, so yes it does seem overpowered and be the deciding factor almost always now.
 
So yeah I had to bail on Gen Con this year. The $350/night for the hotel was just a killer. Compare that vs. BGG.con where we're paying $115/night to stay at the very hotel the con is in. Next year I'm going to get in on it really early though to get a better rate because I definitely would like to go.
 
BGG.Con for the win. Had a great time there the last couple of years - lots of friendly people, lots of gaming, always pretty easy to find a game.
 
sorry to butt in but I own a copy of Agricola and it looks like I'm to dense to understand the rules. since it looks like this game is really popular does anyone knows if there's a good online reference that will walk me through the first game or so and teach me the ropes?
 
AstroLad said:
So yeah I had to bail on Gen Con this year. The $350/night for the hotel was just a killer. Compare that vs. BGG.con where we're paying $115/night to stay at the very hotel the con is in. Next year I'm going to get in on it really early though to get a better rate because I definitely would like to go.
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You have to basically be ready to get a hotel the day they start preregistration. The good cheap rooms go within days. The only other cheap hotels are further away and require you to then pay for transportation which sucks and adds up.
 
soqquatto said:
sorry to butt in but I own a copy of Agricola and it looks like I'm to dense to understand the rules. since it looks like this game is really popular does anyone knows if there's a good online reference that will walk me through the first game or so and teach me the ropes?
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Board Games with Scott - Agricola
His videos are super informative and with this Agricola video he does a good job of explaining the rules. Hope that helps.

EDIT: I'd also start out with the family game to get used to the worker placement mechanic. Once you get how that works you can add in the easy deck then you should be good to go.
 
BGG.Con for the win. Had a great time there the last couple of years - lots of friendly people, lots of gaming, always pretty easy to find a game
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Yeah looks like there are a bunch of gaffers going. We might have to find a good 8p title to have a big ol GAF game. :D

soqquatto said:
sorry to butt in but I own a copy of Agricola and it looks like I'm to dense to understand the rules. since it looks like this game is really popular does anyone knows if there's a good online reference that will walk me through the first game or so and teach me the ropes?
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My suggestions:

-Don't even pay attention to the "family game." It will just confuse you as you're trying to learn.
-Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwPgWjzx-Cc it's not comprehensive but it will help you get your footing.
-Reference the unofficial gric compendium for any cards or rulings that are giving you trouble: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/34558/the-unofficial-agricola-compendium.

If you've got any questions feel free to ask away here.
 
AstroLad said:
Yeah looks like there are a bunch of gaffers going. We might have to find a good 8p title to have a big ol GAF game. :D


My suggestions:

-Don't even pay attention to the "family game." It will just confuse you as you're trying to learn.
-Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwPgWjzx-Cc it's not comprehensive but it will help you get your footing.
-Reference the unofficial gric compendium for any cards or rulings that are giving you trouble: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/34558/the-unofficial-agricola-compendium.

If you've got any questions feel free to ask away here.
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awesome, thanks!
 
AstroLad said:
-Reference the unofficial gric compendium for any cards or rulings that are giving you trouble: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/34558/the-unofficial-agricola-compendium.
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That is great I was having problems with some of the cards too.

@soqquatto
The BGWS video + a couple of rounds in agricolaonline and you are good to go, just make sure you play at least 2p since the rules for 1p are somewhat different

Wiz-War looks fun, but after a quick look on BGG it seems like everyone makes it's own copy of the game. ¿Is it avalaible anywhere or should I try to make my own copy?
 
BomberMouse said:
Wiz-War looks fun, but after a quick look on BGG it seems like everyone makes it's own copy of the game. ¿Is it avalaible anywhere or should I try to make my own copy?
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Wiz-War is a classic but it has been long out of print for utterly inexplicable reasons. Thankfully, the game finally has a new publisher and it should be out within the next year or so, so keep an eye out for it. That said, there are some nice homebrew versions available if you'd like to try to kludge together your own set for the time being.

FnordChan
 
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
Board Games with Scott - Agricola
His videos are super informative and with this Agricola video he does a good job of explaining the rules. Hope that helps.

EDIT: I'd also start out with the family game to get used to the worker placement mechanic. Once you get how that works you can add in the easy deck then you should be good to go.
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Yeah I guess I shouldn't besmirch the family version too much. Just in my experience it seemed like you had to learn all the rules first then strip away from that. But for teaching to others as long as you know both it probably is a good learning mechanism.
 
Slacker said:
Anyone else excited for Axis & Allies: Europe 1940? Coming out end of August. I can't wait to get a big honkin game going with that combined with Pacific 1940. It shall be epic (I hope).
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I hope they do a better job with this version than they did with Pacific 1940. There were way too many printing errors, not including how they cheaped out with the extra chips to track units and the crappy new battleboard. Although surprisingly I really didn't miss the money that much. As the person who usually ends up being the banker I actually found it easier to just track on paper.
 
AstroLad said:
Played a bunch of Jaipur today. Was recommended by a bunch of folks on BGG. Really fun light 2p game. Stealing from BGG review since I know a lot of people check here for casual-but-deep 2p games:

In terms of rankings, I' d put this right there with Lost Cities in my top 5 casual 2p games.
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I'll second the Jaipur love... I've played it many times and it's easily one of the best 2 player games I've touched. You wouldn't think that a 2p game could have a great trading mechanic, but this works really, really well. It seems less aggressive that most two player games as well, although there's an element of that there if you really want it.

It's also cheap... you can get it for under $20 easily.

jaipur.jpg
 
AstroLad said:
So yeah I had to bail on Gen Con this year. The $350/night for the hotel was just a killer. Compare that vs. BGG.con where we're paying $115/night to stay at the very hotel the con is in. Next year I'm going to get in on it really early though to get a better rate because I definitely would like to go.
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As a Gen Con'er, sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking, what hotel were you going to stay in? I managed around $150/night Thur-Sun at the Westin but booked back in October...
 
ToddG15 said:
As a Gen Con'er, sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking, what hotel were you going to stay in? I managed around $150/night Thur-Sun at the Westin but booked back in October...
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Marriott Downtown -- only one left in the area when I checked, which was many months back but apparently not many months back enough.
 
The Voltron battle game is now out. Just got it in, the figs are pretty nice. The game is monsterpocalypse and it's compatible with all the old figs, but the Voltron set is a self contained "board game" per say with all you need for 2 player battles.
 
I have a stupid question in regards to the BSG (base game) rules.

I had a 4-player game so that meant that the sympathizer card was in play. After everyone received loyalty cards for the second time, one player received the sympathizer card and became a revealed cylon because the humans had all the resources above the red mark.

However, he was already a cylon due to the loyalty card he received at the beginning of the game. On his next turn he played his unrevealed cylon card.

Logically it doesn't make sense that he would be able to play it since a revealed cylon shouldn't be able to re-reveal himself .

But from what I can see in the rule book it doesn't say specifically if he can or not.
 
aphoushole said:
I have a stupid question in regards to the BSG (base game) rules.

I had a 4-player game so that meant that the sympathizer card was in play. After everyone received loyalty cards for the second time, one player received the sympathizer card and became a revealed cylon because the humans had all the resources above the red mark.

However, he was already a cylon due to the loyalty card he received at the beginning of the game. On his next turn he played his unrevealed cylon card.

Logically it doesn't make sense that he would be able to play it since a revealed cylon shouldn't be able to re-reveal himself .

But from what I can see in the rule book it doesn't say specifically if he can or not.
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I never really got how the sympathizer card worked. (It always seemed like such a kludge way to balance the game to me) Here's the wording in the rulebook:
If every resource is more than half full (not in the red zone),
then this player becomes a revealed Cylon player for the
remainder of the game and follows the game turn steps
described under “Revealed Cylon Players” on this page (except
for steps “4” and “5.”) This player may never activate the
“Cylon Fleet” location or play Super Crisis Cards.
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It seems to me that the Sympathizer card overrules all other cards the player may have received earlier. So he may not reveal himself as a Cylon in order to get the sweet, sweet Cylon benefits.

BTW, he was a terrible Cylon if you guys were half way to Kobol and he wasn't able to bring at least one of your resources down below half.
 
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
It seems to me that the Sympathizer card overrules all other cards the player may have received earlier.
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Not exactly. It's not that the Sympathizer card overrules the others, it just becomes either a "Not A Cylon" or "You Are A Cylon" card. A player is still an unrevealed Cylon if he has the appropriate loyalty card even if the Sympathizer card resolves to "Not A Cylon." Remember, all you need is at least one "You Are A Cylon" card to be considered a Cylon.

But you're right in that the cited example above was played incorrectly - the Sympathizer card made the player a revealed Cylon, therefore he could not play his earlier loyalty card. From the BSG FAQ:

Q: Can a revealed Cylon player use the actions from his unrevealed Loyalty cards (for example if he has a second “You are a Cylon” card)?

A: No. He may however give his unrevealed cards to another player by using the “Resurrection Ship” location.
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Thanks for the replies. I figured he wouldn't be able to use his other loyalty card.

I don't think he actually tried at all to hinder the human players, I really have no idea what his plan was. He was very disappointed that he couldn't get a super crisis card.
 
Clicking around BGG is like bouncing around Wikipedia sometimes I swear.

Really interesting that Japan has all these crazy Dominionlikes:
Barbarossa is set in a fictional Second World War setting, where cute Nazi girls rush against Moscow to defeat the evil magician Stalin.

The game takes over the in game deck building mechanism from Dominion. Each player starts with a small deck of resource cards and during the course of the game one buys cards from an open card pool to build a deck of cards to play with. Goal of the game is to conquer Moscow. If Moscow falls the player with the most victory points wins. Victory points are acquired by conquering different cities and/or strategical positions during the game. Every time you attack a city, event cards from an event deck are drawn (e.g. General "Winter").
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egzk91.jpg


uh
 
Sorry to hear you've waived off GenCon, Astro. If you're still interested in going I may be able to help you out with a room.

Anyone else going besides Todd and myself?
 
Sorry to hear you've waived off GenCon, Astro. If you're still interested in going I may be able to help you out with a room.

Anyone else going besides Todd and myself?
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Thanks Gate, I'll have to hit you up for advice next year (or end of this year or whatever) so that I get my tix and hotel DAY ONE and am all set.
 
AstroLad said:
Thanks Gate, I'll have to hit you up for advice next year (or end of this year or whatever) so that I get my tix and hotel DAY ONE and am all set.
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Gencon dates are set for the next several years, so you can go ahead and book NOW! :D
 
ToddG15 said:
Gencon dates are set for the next several years, so you can go ahead and book NOW! :D
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Don't think the hotels are all taking reservations yet. Many hotels don't let you book so ahead of time. Dragoncon sells out fast as well but they usually don't allow the booking to start till around 3-4 months after the previous con.
 
Last night I had the chance to play Founding Fathers, the new game from Jason Matthew's (the co-designer of Twilight Struggle).

I found some conceptual similarities to Twilight Struggle and ended up really enjoying the game. I've added it to my CSI wish list, with the only real problem being I doubt my family would play the game with me.
 
picked up "last night one earth" last week, but havent played it yet.
I was also able to finally find "labyrinth" ( formely known as the aMAZEing labyrinth) at TRU. I used to love this as a kid. I had a great time plaing with my 3 kids (14,8,5)
 
Tonight We Played:

Blue Moon City: One of my oldest backlog games. Weak fantasy theme + Knizia just never really inspired me to break it out even though I'd heard good things. Theme is definitely paste-on as you'd expect from Knizia but for a light-medium abstract the gameplay is quite solid. I think it's really well-built for 3 too. Came down to the very last offering, so the endgame was actually quite intense. Like Alhambra last week would love to give this another go now that I have some thoughts on strategy.

Carc+I&C+T&B: Ah Carc, yet again. This was just the 3 of us and there were 50 points between each of us at the end so not quite the most thrilling game.

San Juan: Guild Hall victory!
 
How did I miss this thread all the time?! I'm a huge board gamegeek. Looking forward to get some boardgame recommendations and discuss games with you.
 
Ordered Anima Tactics. I love the art style and it looks like I'll like the gameplay (short, hero-based battles with strategy). I'm also looking forward to painting the minis. I'll post impressions in two weeks if anyone's interested.
 
BomberMouse said:
My replacement tokens for catacombs arrived today, yay!. I just stickered them, can't wait to play this sucker.
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Let me know how it goes. I got mine a couple weeks ago and applied them last week but haven't had a chance to play yet. Need to get together a group of 5 that is amenable to the theme and a mediumweight game, which isn't quite the easiest right now.
 
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