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platypotamus
Member
Neverfade said:
We wouldn't have to worry about it if this thread got more loving
I played some more Seaside this weekend, but didn't succeed at getting to anything else.
After a couple more plays, the Pirate Ship isn't always as powerful as it seemed the first time. Certain cards can make it less of an issue.
A while back I mentioned I was going to try and get my casual videogame-playing wife into board games. It's been a slow and steady process since
A) I don't want to push too hard too fast &
B) Board games are expensive WTF.
So we started with the classic stand-by Lost Cities. Wife digs it. I get to tease her endlessly because she's a smart woman but is TERRIBLE at mental math. So it's funny watching her total up her side at the end.
The true test came when I picked up Carcassone. We've only played two rounds, but so far it seems like she digs it a lot
The 2nd game I was still giving her lots of tips and advice. But in the end she ended up fucking me out of a gigantic farm by connecting her two farms, so she had two farmers on it and I only had one. She won the game. Sooo... yeah. No more advice from me
A) I don't want to push too hard too fast &
B) Board games are expensive WTF.
So we started with the classic stand-by Lost Cities. Wife digs it. I get to tease her endlessly because she's a smart woman but is TERRIBLE at mental math. So it's funny watching her total up her side at the end.
The true test came when I picked up Carcassone. We've only played two rounds, but so far it seems like she digs it a lot
The 2nd game I was still giving her lots of tips and advice. But in the end she ended up fucking me out of a gigantic farm by connecting her two farms, so she had two farmers on it and I only had one. She won the game. Sooo... yeah. No more advice from me
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Finally got to play a five player game of BSG last night. It started out slow but, holy shit it got viscious towards the end of the game. We were at each other's throats trying to figure out who the Cylon was. In the end we all had a great time and we are looking forward to our next session.
Played some more Last Night on Earth this weekend with the wife and another couple. WOW, that game has some real hooks! Simple enough mechanics and a theme that everyone can understand. Probably the best gateway tactical wargame out there 
I'm looking for some other relatively light games, as the FFG ones like Arkham and Runebound take soooo long. Looking at Touch of Evil since it seems to play similar to LNoE and also has a good theme, the new Talisman (not sure about play time though) and Dominion since that seems to be hella popular.
I thought I could get the wife into Space Hulk, but the one time I played it (with another friend) she seemed uninterested.
What I need is a Game of Thrones themed version of Descent. The wife would definitely be down for that. When is that GOT adventure game coming out?
I'm looking for some other relatively light games, as the FFG ones like Arkham and Runebound take soooo long. Looking at Touch of Evil since it seems to play similar to LNoE and also has a good theme, the new Talisman (not sure about play time though) and Dominion since that seems to be hella popular.
I thought I could get the wife into Space Hulk, but the one time I played it (with another friend) she seemed uninterested.
What I need is a Game of Thrones themed version of Descent. The wife would definitely be down for that. When is that GOT adventure game coming out?
platypotamus
Member
A couple people in this thread were recommending this one as a good light co-op game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36946
I pick it up and think about it every time I see it in the game store, but my group doesn't do co-op games really, so I always put it down.
I had a board-game-arrific weekend myself. Played my first game of both Stone Age and Le Havre. Here's some reports:
Stone Age
Played it 4 player. It really is a nice simple game. Dice are used in a really smart way... they create a luck element, but it's so well done in a sort of "you control the luck" sort of way. Essentially, you are rolling xD6, where x is the number of your villagers that you assign to a task. You obviously have a limited supply of villagers, and depending on the resource you are rolling for, you'll be dividing your total from the roll b that resource's cost (food=2, gold=6, everything else in between). You've also got once-per-turn tools, which can be used to add to your total... so it's a lot like D&D almost in the thought patterns when making a roll... "should I use the bonus now, or save it for the next roll?" Very cool.
Resources all get used to buy civilization cards (benefit now, variable points at end of game) or buildings (big points now). Great gateway game, looking forward to playing it again.
Le Havre
Played 2 player.
Crikey. It was sold to me as "Caylus meets Agricola". I <3 Caylus, and have the previously described love-but-hate-but-love relationship with Agricola, so seemed like a quality purchase.
The description is accurate. More Agricola than Caylus, I'd say, and very, VERY heavy. Deceptively heavy though. Your turn offers you two required actions:
1. Maintenance on the board (advance markers, increase resource piles).
2. Take resources, OR use a building.
You also can optionally:
a. Buy a town-owned building or ship.
b. Sell one of your own buildings or ships.
c. Repay a loan if you've taken one.
Simple options. Ridiculously so. Where does the complexity come in?
-There are 8 different resources, that can all be upgraded into 8 MORE resources.
-There's also money.
-By the end of the game, there will be about 30 buildings available that you can choose from for your second required action.
--Using buildings have costs (mandatory, optional, and sometimes "pumpable"), and benefits (sometimes "pumpable").
--You can use town owned buildings, other players' buildings, or your own.
--Buildings are first-come first-serve
-No meaningful action can be accomplished without multiple turns' worth of effort
-You have to feed your folks, like Agricola.
So it ends up pretty overwhelming and heavy by the end (light beginning, except when you're learning). This one is pretty crazy. Looking forward to playing it again too though.
I pick it up and think about it every time I see it in the game store, but my group doesn't do co-op games really, so I always put it down.
I had a board-game-arrific weekend myself. Played my first game of both Stone Age and Le Havre. Here's some reports:
Stone Age
Played it 4 player. It really is a nice simple game. Dice are used in a really smart way... they create a luck element, but it's so well done in a sort of "you control the luck" sort of way. Essentially, you are rolling xD6, where x is the number of your villagers that you assign to a task. You obviously have a limited supply of villagers, and depending on the resource you are rolling for, you'll be dividing your total from the roll b that resource's cost (food=2, gold=6, everything else in between). You've also got once-per-turn tools, which can be used to add to your total... so it's a lot like D&D almost in the thought patterns when making a roll... "should I use the bonus now, or save it for the next roll?" Very cool.
Resources all get used to buy civilization cards (benefit now, variable points at end of game) or buildings (big points now). Great gateway game, looking forward to playing it again.
Le Havre
Played 2 player.
Crikey. It was sold to me as "Caylus meets Agricola". I <3 Caylus, and have the previously described love-but-hate-but-love relationship with Agricola, so seemed like a quality purchase.
The description is accurate. More Agricola than Caylus, I'd say, and very, VERY heavy. Deceptively heavy though. Your turn offers you two required actions:
1. Maintenance on the board (advance markers, increase resource piles).
2. Take resources, OR use a building.
You also can optionally:
a. Buy a town-owned building or ship.
b. Sell one of your own buildings or ships.
c. Repay a loan if you've taken one.
Simple options. Ridiculously so. Where does the complexity come in?
-There are 8 different resources, that can all be upgraded into 8 MORE resources.
-There's also money.
-By the end of the game, there will be about 30 buildings available that you can choose from for your second required action.
--Using buildings have costs (mandatory, optional, and sometimes "pumpable"), and benefits (sometimes "pumpable").
--You can use town owned buildings, other players' buildings, or your own.
--Buildings are first-come first-serve
-No meaningful action can be accomplished without multiple turns' worth of effort
-You have to feed your folks, like Agricola.
So it ends up pretty overwhelming and heavy by the end (light beginning, except when you're learning). This one is pretty crazy. Looking forward to playing it again too though.
jason10mm said:Played some more Last Night on Earth this weekend with the wife and another couple. WOW, that game has some real hooks! Simple enough mechanics and a theme that everyone can understand. Probably the best gateway tactical wargame out there
I'm looking for some other relatively light games, as the FFG ones like Arkham and Runebound take soooo long. Looking at Touch of Evil since it seems to play similar to LNoE and also has a good theme, the new Talisman (not sure about play time though) and Dominion since that seems to be hella popular.
I thought I could get the wife into Space Hulk, but the one time I played it (with another friend) she seemed uninterested.
What I need is a Game of Thrones themed version of Descent. The wife would definitely be down for that. When is that GOT adventure game coming out?
Have you played FFG's Game of Thrones boardgame?
Oh yes, great game. But needs more than 2 players so I played it with my friends, but my wife wasn't there (and trust me, she was VERY pissed that I was playing it without her!).
I think the fantasy theme is a harder sell to our other friends (mostly older couples), though the game isn't that complicated. I have the GoT LCG as well, but that one seems kinda complicated and I think needs 3+ players as well.
Anyway, hopefully over Thanksgiving I can bust out some games with my family. My brother-in-law is a HUGE eurogamer with no one to play with, so I think I'll be stuck playing his games, since we will be at his house. Still, it will be a chance to boardgame.
I think the fantasy theme is a harder sell to our other friends (mostly older couples), though the game isn't that complicated. I have the GoT LCG as well, but that one seems kinda complicated and I think needs 3+ players as well.
Anyway, hopefully over Thanksgiving I can bust out some games with my family. My brother-in-law is a HUGE eurogamer with no one to play with, so I think I'll be stuck playing his games, since we will be at his house. Still, it will be a chance to boardgame.
Trombone Zombie
Member
If there are any Gaffers at BGG.con and want to meet up to play anything, pm me.
The last reccomendation I got from gaf rocked, so I'm back again to see if people can reccomend another good game for me to buy.
Here are my requirements:
Needs to support and play well with 4-5 people
Can not be obscenely long. 3 hours maximum time limit.
We value theme. Games rich in theme get a thumbs up. I don't currently have a really good sci-fi game. If I could find one meeting these requirements that would be great.
Should have some degree of randomness for excitement. I have agricola and I enjoy it quite a bit, but our group is not even on the skill of these games and so after about 5 or 6 games of agricola I am still undefeated.
Should be competitive. I looked into Race for the Galaxy because the theme grabbed me, but the problem I have with it (I say this having never played the game myself nor seen it played) is there does not seem to be enough player interaction. There is some in the choices of what phase to play since everyone leaches off of that, but other than that you have no way to impact another person's game. Games where someone can point out the leader and have everyone gang up on them are good. Games where everyone just does their own thing and he who does it best are boring.
Current games we play are:
Curse of Dracula - awesome, awesome game. Probably my favorite board game.
Last Night on Earth - really fun. We've probably played this game more than any other.
Doom - I like it, but it has some problems. Only supports a maximum of 4 people, and is pretty unbalanced against the marines.
Risk - always a comfortable fallback
Agricola - I like it, but again it needs a little more randomness (not a huuuge amount, but just a little for a dash of excitement) and it is also kind of light on the player interaction. I count this as another game where players just do their own thing rather than being competitive, but it is a good enough game for me to overlook it.
Betrayel at House on the Hill - I don't own it but have played it a couple times and liked it. Haven't been able to find a copy that wasn't prohibitively expensive yet.
I have Arkham Horror but we don't play it because it takes too long.
I also have Kingsburg but we don't play it because I felt it didn't offer anything that Agricola didn't do better.
edit:
What is the Game of Thrones board game like? I am intrigued but can't find a good video review that goes over the components and reviews.
Here are my requirements:
Needs to support and play well with 4-5 people
Can not be obscenely long. 3 hours maximum time limit.
We value theme. Games rich in theme get a thumbs up. I don't currently have a really good sci-fi game. If I could find one meeting these requirements that would be great.
Should have some degree of randomness for excitement. I have agricola and I enjoy it quite a bit, but our group is not even on the skill of these games and so after about 5 or 6 games of agricola I am still undefeated.
Should be competitive. I looked into Race for the Galaxy because the theme grabbed me, but the problem I have with it (I say this having never played the game myself nor seen it played) is there does not seem to be enough player interaction. There is some in the choices of what phase to play since everyone leaches off of that, but other than that you have no way to impact another person's game. Games where someone can point out the leader and have everyone gang up on them are good. Games where everyone just does their own thing and he who does it best are boring.
Current games we play are:
Curse of Dracula - awesome, awesome game. Probably my favorite board game.
Last Night on Earth - really fun. We've probably played this game more than any other.
Doom - I like it, but it has some problems. Only supports a maximum of 4 people, and is pretty unbalanced against the marines.
Risk - always a comfortable fallback
Agricola - I like it, but again it needs a little more randomness (not a huuuge amount, but just a little for a dash of excitement) and it is also kind of light on the player interaction. I count this as another game where players just do their own thing rather than being competitive, but it is a good enough game for me to overlook it.
Betrayel at House on the Hill - I don't own it but have played it a couple times and liked it. Haven't been able to find a copy that wasn't prohibitively expensive yet.
I have Arkham Horror but we don't play it because it takes too long.
I also have Kingsburg but we don't play it because I felt it didn't offer anything that Agricola didn't do better.
edit:
What is the Game of Thrones board game like? I am intrigued but can't find a good video review that goes over the components and reviews.
You might like the "Game of Thrones" boardgame. It is pretty light on mechanics (simple combat system, etc) and it REALLY emphasizes player interaction and back stabbing. The more the merrier, it plays best with 4-5 ( to 6 with the 1st expansion). Fairly quick as well, we were able to get several games in on a single afternoon, mainly because several players would just ruthlessly attack others, allowing another player to come in and clean up If your group likes to scheme, that can slow the game way down, but unfortunately there is no way to exchange resources, so incentives to cooperate are really limited to just slowing down the dominate player. The card system in GoT adds the randomness, though it is pretty easy to card count if you know all the card effects. The expansion (Clash of Kings) adds enough tactical flexibility to keep the game pretty random.
I hear "Battlestar Galactica" is a great competitive game, but have not played it myself.
Avoid Runebound. As fun as it is, there is limited player interaction and it can be LONG.
If your group likes to scheme, that can slow the game way down, but unfortunately there is no way to exchange resources, so incentives to cooperate are really limited to just slowing down the dominate player. The card system in GoT adds the randomness, though it is pretty easy to card count if you know all the card effects. The expansion (Clash of Kings) adds enough tactical flexibility to keep the game pretty random.I hear "Battlestar Galactica" is a great competitive game, but have not played it myself.
Avoid Runebound. As fun as it is, there is limited player interaction and it can be LONG.
slayn said:
I'll just make this a new post.
The game is essentially Risk with an elaborate player interaction system layered on top. The core game is a map (of Westeros, though knowledge of the book series isn't necessary) divided into territories. The goal is to conquer specific areas to gain enough points to win. Only three units; footmen, knights, and ships, represented by semi-abstract wooden peices. You gain cardboard "power tokens" from territory for currency to "buy" positions of influence, allowing you to go first, fight better, or issue more orders. This is done by blind bidding between players. These positions are tracked by on-board markers to show how is first, second, and so forth on the three positions, as well as the supply chain.
One of the interesting parts is that everyone places their orders (little one sided cardboard tokens) simultaneously and they are hidden from the other players until all are revealed at once. So a lot of the game is trying to anticipate your opponents and predict their actions, while simultaneously hoarding your power tokens so you can secure political positions to maximize your own plans.
Cards, representing the book characters, create the randomness, as certain characters can influence battles. A different set of cards set the stage for each turn, telling you what can be done strategically (mustering troops, fending off outside invasion, collecting power tokens). This is the main way the theme comes across, as readers of the books will recognize most of the card characters and events. Otherwise it could be about any medieval country, really.
The first expansion, "Clash of Kings" adds a lot of optional tactical measures, such as ports, siege engines, fortifications, and higher powered cards. It also enables a 6th player to take over what was a static NPC position in the original game via partial board overlay and a new set of tokens.
The 2nd expansion, which I do not have, replaces the map and adds more tactical options, from what I can tell.
Anyway, the game is not very complicated, making it quick to teach and a fun "beer and pretzels" type game. It relies extensively on player vs player interaction, both out-bidding folks for positions of power and forging alliances against other players. Due to the crowded map, it could be difficult to just snap up empty space and still win. The supply system also prevents anyone from effectively being able to turtle up.
Alas, no one can exchange power tokens, so all alliances are based on faith alone, with no way to really profit from it other than yielding territory to another player. Thus the game is pretty cutthroat because the only real point to teaming up is to retard the progress of the leading player (or act out your own petty squabbles and revenge, like my group
If I had more players local to me this would be my most played game. Alas, it really doesn't work as a 2 player game and the theme is a bit off-putting to anyone whose expectations stop at "Monopoly". Plus the PvP aspect means emotions can get heated, as almost every territory gained comes from someone elses loss.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
My girlfriend, Roommate and I love Colosseum. My thoughts are in a post somewhere up above, but in a nut shell it's a fast moving game that can get very competitive. The components are great, it's got an interesting theme (producers competing for the best show in Aincent Rome), and I love the scoring system.slayn said:
For a co-operative game I can't recommend Pandemic enough. It's a super fast game with various difficulty levels that really make the game challenging even on repeat play throughs. The base game allows for four players and with the expansion a five player can be added, even though I don't see why 5 players can't play the base game.
I also recommend Battlestar Galactica which is a mixture between a co-op and competitive game. The traitor aspect really makes this game great the only downside is it really needs to be played in a big group. I played a couple games with only three people and it feels kind of poitless it wasn't until I played it with a 5 that it really took off.
also on arkham horror with 4-5 (no more though) it should take around 3 hours, provided you play the role of dungeon master basically and speed things along and know the rules inside-out. i basically read the rules twice, played two practice games by myself, read like every post in the bgg rules forum (and made several), before busting it out in the group and it actually worked swimmingly. but yeah either way it's on the top end of your time limit
We used to play Arkham Horror but stopped because it was taking us more like 4 hours. It probably didn't help that I bought the expansions :lol
But yeah, I could see how a game of Arkham Horror *could* be completed in under 3 hours if everyone stayed focused. But 5 people playing a game after work while muching on fast food? Not so focused.
And even then, while I love LOVE the theme and cards and everything of Akrham Horror, it tended to have pretty unsatisfying endings. The game sort of has this slow build and then turns everythign on its head when the ancient one awakens. The times we won were usually a case of ignoring everything that was going on and just killing the dude after he awakens.
I'm also iffy on purely co-operative games. If a game is going to be largely co-operative I'm finding it far more fun if 1 person is playing the evil side.
edit:
I think we also once played arkham horror with something like 8 people and that sort of made everyone universally hate the game. Sort of like getting food poisoning at one chance encounter at a resteraunt and then never wanting to go there again.
But yeah, I could see how a game of Arkham Horror *could* be completed in under 3 hours if everyone stayed focused. But 5 people playing a game after work while muching on fast food? Not so focused.
And even then, while I love LOVE the theme and cards and everything of Akrham Horror, it tended to have pretty unsatisfying endings. The game sort of has this slow build and then turns everythign on its head when the ancient one awakens. The times we won were usually a case of ignoring everything that was going on and just killing the dude after he awakens.
I'm also iffy on purely co-operative games. If a game is going to be largely co-operative I'm finding it far more fun if 1 person is playing the evil side.
edit:
I think we also once played arkham horror with something like 8 people and that sort of made everyone universally hate the game. Sort of like getting food poisoning at one chance encounter at a resteraunt and then never wanting to go there again.
I love Arkham Horror, but it is such a beast to set up and instruct, plus my memory of the rules fades so quickly, it is hard to keep it in the games rotation. If FFG would only digitize it (like I heard they were doing to Tides of Iron and Wings of War for XBLA), I'd play nothing else
If only they re-ordered and better labelled the stats on the monster cards, that is half the problem right there, followed by the endless decks of cards that must be set up. For some reason the game attracts cats like no other, one swish of a tail and CHAOS!
Still, it is SUCH an impressive sight with all the expansion boards set-up. Totally insane to play it that way though Can't wait for the travel version, complete with magnifying glass and tweezers for the components
If only they re-ordered and better labelled the stats on the monster cards, that is half the problem right there, followed by the endless decks of cards that must be set up. For some reason the game attracts cats like no other, one swish of a tail and CHAOS!
Still, it is SUCH an impressive sight with all the expansion boards set-up. Totally insane to play it that way though
Can't wait for the travel version, complete with magnifying glass and tweezers for the components Just stop what you're doing and make the order. I'll help you:
Battlestar Galactica
Chaos in the Old World
Game of Thrones
Clash of Kings (GoT X-pac)
Gogogogogo.
Edit: you need no knowledge of Warhammer to play Chaos. Its fucking amazing. So is Game of Thrones. The X-pac is kind of optional, but playing with its Port rules is not. I can send you the details if you need them, but if you play 5-6 GoT, they really aren't optional if you want everyone to have a good time. Other than that, the game is gold right out of the box.
Coincidentally, these are probably my three favorite games. I'm kind of notorious in this thread for being Battlestar's shady pimp, but it's just so fucking good.
Thread Page #27 BSG recommendation complete!
Battlestar Galactica
Chaos in the Old World
Game of Thrones
Clash of Kings (GoT X-pac)
Gogogogogo.
Edit: you need no knowledge of Warhammer to play Chaos. Its fucking amazing. So is Game of Thrones. The X-pac is kind of optional, but playing with its Port rules is not. I can send you the details if you need them, but if you play 5-6 GoT, they really aren't optional if you want everyone to have a good time. Other than that, the game is gold right out of the box.
Coincidentally, these are probably my three favorite games. I'm kind of notorious in this thread for being Battlestar's shady pimp, but it's just so fucking good.
Thread Page #27 BSG recommendation complete!
platypotamus
Member
Neverfade said:
:lol
I take it constantly to my local hobby shop as it's become the top requested game to play recently. It's very fun (Slaanesh FTW) and very balanced as long as everyone plays to their god's strengths. Khorne players should be killing something every turn, not spreading their message through cultists. So far, every god has won at least once with Khorne and Slaanesh twice. It's easy to get into and has a great theme. If you have any warhammer playing friends it's very easy to get them to play.
I've got two recommendations, slayn:
I'm The Boss is an extremely fast paced deal making game for up to 6 people. The gameplay is very stripped down: there are six different characters in the game and there's a board that shows combinations of these characters that represent deals to be made. Each turn a player rolls a die, moves that many spaces, and then sees what sort of deal combination they've landed on. They can then either draw cards or try to make the deal. Making the deal is theoretically easy: If the players who control each of the characters all agree on a basic split - i.e. "Okay, this is a three man deal that offers four shares. I'm the boss this round, so I'll take two shares, and the two other folks can take one. Agreed?" - then the deal goes through. However, the cards included make sure that it's rarely that simple, as other players can start sending people off on vacation, introducing cousins capable of making the deal instead, stealing other characters outright, and declaring themselves the boss. It's a hoot and a half, especially when cards go flying and everyone's trying to screw each other over, and is well worth tracking down if that sort of game sounds up your alley. Note that the game has six characters but does not require six players, so your group of 4-5 would be fine.
Cosmic Encounter has just been reissued in a terrific new edition by Fantasy Flight Games and is getting a lot of play with my local group. Three to five players control five planets each and are attempting to conquer five planets of other players. This is done by a quick number card system and a randomized player system: each turn you see who's being attacked, the attacking player and the defender call for allies, both sides turn over number cards and add the allies, and the highest number wins. However, the trick is that everyone has an alien power that breaks these rules, plus a hand full of cards that also break these rules. Cue all hell breaking loose. The card and power interaction can get impressively outrageous and the action is fast paced and a lot of fun. There are a slew of powers included in the base set, so you have plenty of variety built in, and the game lends itself to expansions easily, so if you like it Fantasy Flight will certainly have more of the game on the way.
FnordChan
I'm The Boss is an extremely fast paced deal making game for up to 6 people. The gameplay is very stripped down: there are six different characters in the game and there's a board that shows combinations of these characters that represent deals to be made. Each turn a player rolls a die, moves that many spaces, and then sees what sort of deal combination they've landed on. They can then either draw cards or try to make the deal. Making the deal is theoretically easy: If the players who control each of the characters all agree on a basic split - i.e. "Okay, this is a three man deal that offers four shares. I'm the boss this round, so I'll take two shares, and the two other folks can take one. Agreed?" - then the deal goes through. However, the cards included make sure that it's rarely that simple, as other players can start sending people off on vacation, introducing cousins capable of making the deal instead, stealing other characters outright, and declaring themselves the boss. It's a hoot and a half, especially when cards go flying and everyone's trying to screw each other over, and is well worth tracking down if that sort of game sounds up your alley. Note that the game has six characters but does not require six players, so your group of 4-5 would be fine.
Cosmic Encounter has just been reissued in a terrific new edition by Fantasy Flight Games and is getting a lot of play with my local group. Three to five players control five planets each and are attempting to conquer five planets of other players. This is done by a quick number card system and a randomized player system: each turn you see who's being attacked, the attacking player and the defender call for allies, both sides turn over number cards and add the allies, and the highest number wins. However, the trick is that everyone has an alien power that breaks these rules, plus a hand full of cards that also break these rules. Cue all hell breaking loose. The card and power interaction can get impressively outrageous and the action is fast paced and a lot of fun. There are a slew of powers included in the base set, so you have plenty of variety built in, and the game lends itself to expansions easily, so if you like it Fantasy Flight will certainly have more of the game on the way.
FnordChan
Oh man I've been on a kick with collecting some classics recently.
I just scored a very nice looking copy of Dune! It's the version with Sting on the cover, which is the lesser favorite of the two box arts, but A) it was 60 bucks and hard to find at that price, and B) I hear this version has the board in one piece rather than the original printing's two.
Also ordered from CSI:
Through the Ages
Penny Arcade card game
Battle for Hill 218
Condottiere
Incan Gold.
I just scored a very nice looking copy of Dune! It's the version with Sting on the cover, which is the lesser favorite of the two box arts, but A) it was 60 bucks and hard to find at that price, and B) I hear this version has the board in one piece rather than the original printing's two.
Also ordered from CSI:
Through the Ages
Penny Arcade card game
Battle for Hill 218
Condottiere
Incan Gold.
platypotamus
Member
Neverfade said:
This one is on my christmas wish list. I'm pretty interested, but pretty afraid of the long game time scaring off some of my group. Looks sooooo good though.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
I too have had TTA for a while, but have yet to break it out. I'm guessing it would take up an entire session alone to get through 1 beginner game counting ramp-up time.platypotamus said:
platypotamus
Member
The one thing I've got going for me is my wife's increasingly hardcore nature. She's been down for two player gaming a lot, including 2 player Agricola and Le Havre. So I think we should be able to do a game or two of TTA two players to learn, to make teaching other people easier, and if no one else will play with us, she'll probably still be in.
She still hates Power Grid though :-\
She still hates Power Grid though :-\
BattleMonkey
Member
slayn said:
You don't need much more than the fluff provided with the game describing the chaos gods, perhaps some background on some stuff like warpstones and the skaven will need to be looked up to understand the context of their tokens in the game.
Fun and simple game.
Played Power Grid for the first time this weekend.
AWESOME! Probably my first real experience with a eurogame + large group and I'm hooked! I loved the efficiency management aspect, as well as the competitive bidding. I think I "broke" it a bit by rallying all the other players to block every available space to prevent the lead player from getting to 14 cities (6 player game), buying me time to get more power stations and beat him in Phase 3 (after one player declared it was "mathematically impossible for that guy to lose). The more seasoned eurogamers seemed to think that kind of play was not in the spirit of the game, but fuck it, no retreat, no surrender!!
Now I'm looking at Stone Age, Agricola, and Puerto Rico, as well as physical copies of Catan and Carcassone.
Also getting back to the GoT LCG, gotta teach it to myself so I can explain it to the wife.
Picked up "Touch of Evil" and it seems cool, but have not played it yet. Gotta love the pirate chick in it though
I got the Battlefoam set for Space Hulk. Most of my minis fit in it, though some of the genestealers have their claws in precarious places just above the level of the foam or buried deep in it. Need to cut away a little more in places so they all fit securely. Still, without using the two container other price, I can fit everything and close the box lid, which is very nice and gives me a lot of piece of mind when carrying it around. Worth the $15 for the mini tray, not sure the component tray is needed and it adds $10 to the cost.
Just to add to the length of this post, my brother-in-law (where I played Power Grid) has a HUGE collection of old Avalon Hill games adn the entire Battletech run. Brings tears to my eyes to see games with 1000 little cardboard chits, rule books 80 pages thick, EIGHT games covering the civil war, etc. He also has the 50th anniversay Axis and Allies game, that game is SWEET! I think it runs $200-300 these days, I'm struggling not to get it!
AWESOME! Probably my first real experience with a eurogame + large group and I'm hooked! I loved the efficiency management aspect, as well as the competitive bidding. I think I "broke" it a bit by rallying all the other players to block every available space to prevent the lead player from getting to 14 cities (6 player game), buying me time to get more power stations and beat him in Phase 3 (after one player declared it was "mathematically impossible for that guy to lose). The more seasoned eurogamers seemed to think that kind of play was not in the spirit of the game, but fuck it, no retreat, no surrender!!
Now I'm looking at Stone Age, Agricola, and Puerto Rico, as well as physical copies of Catan and Carcassone.
Also getting back to the GoT LCG, gotta teach it to myself so I can explain it to the wife.
Picked up "Touch of Evil" and it seems cool, but have not played it yet. Gotta love the pirate chick in it though
I got the Battlefoam set for Space Hulk. Most of my minis fit in it, though some of the genestealers have their claws in precarious places just above the level of the foam or buried deep in it. Need to cut away a little more in places so they all fit securely. Still, without using the two container other price, I can fit everything and close the box lid, which is very nice and gives me a lot of piece of mind when carrying it around. Worth the $15 for the mini tray, not sure the component tray is needed and it adds $10 to the cost.
Just to add to the length of this post, my brother-in-law (where I played Power Grid) has a HUGE collection of old Avalon Hill games adn the entire Battletech run. Brings tears to my eyes to see games with 1000 little cardboard chits, rule books 80 pages thick, EIGHT games covering the civil war, etc. He also has the 50th anniversay Axis and Allies game, that game is SWEET! I think it runs $200-300 these days, I'm struggling not to get it!
jason10mm said:
Does he have Dune, Squad Leader, or Advanced Squad Leader? Those are definitely worth picking up. (EDIT: for some reason I got the impression that your brother-in-law was selling his games)
Advanced Squad Leader is hands down my favorite board game, even though I love RftG and Puerto Rico, and have played Settlers, Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, and Diplomacy.
Dune is also fun (interesting ameritrash euro blend), but I've only played one game so far.
He has the boxed Squad Leader, Panzer Leader, and some other games in that vein, but no Advanced SL that I could see (aren't those just a bunch of three ring binders?). No Dune either from what I can recall.
He has duplicates of almost everything, one still in shrink wrap, one open. I believe my sister said he was selling a NIB set of the AH Civil War games (based on period correct maps, most dealing with Stonewalls campaigns, apparently now picked up by MMP games). Tempted to see what he was offering, but no way in hell am I ever gonna get to play a game that dense, so I saved my money!
He had one called "Gunfight" that replicated Old West fights. Has 2 second turns and seemed to use a combination of dice, cards, and counters. Looked awesome!
Reminded me of the Phoenix Command games (I have most of those) that uses 1/10 second impulses and tracks firearm damage to an insane degree. One game I've ever played were the gun stats take up half a page for EACH gun and account for wind, velocity drop off, and bullet weight
Almost shit myself from nostaligia overload when he showed me NIB copies of Shogun, Fortress America, and A&A, on top of opened copies of the same. Took some iphone pics I would post if I knew how.
He has duplicates of almost everything, one still in shrink wrap, one open. I believe my sister said he was selling a NIB set of the AH Civil War games (based on period correct maps, most dealing with Stonewalls campaigns, apparently now picked up by MMP games). Tempted to see what he was offering, but no way in hell am I ever gonna get to play a game that dense, so I saved my money!
He had one called "Gunfight" that replicated Old West fights. Has 2 second turns and seemed to use a combination of dice, cards, and counters. Looked awesome!
Reminded me of the Phoenix Command games (I have most of those) that uses 1/10 second impulses and tracks firearm damage to an insane degree. One game I've ever played were the gun stats take up half a page for EACH gun and account for wind, velocity drop off, and bullet weight
Almost shit myself from nostaligia overload when he showed me NIB copies of Shogun, Fortress America, and A&A, on top of opened copies of the same. Took some iphone pics I would post if I knew how.
platypotamus
Member
jason10mm said:
I think you missed a rule. You don't have to have all your cities connected, you just have to pay the costs of all connecting routes when you "skip" over cities. So you should have been making his expansion more expensive, but not impossible.
I fully support the first three in particular. Catan pretty much requires Cities and Knights expansion as far as I'm concerned. I <3 Carcassone, but hate playing physically, because it always gets bumped and screwed up.
No, we literally bought EVERY available spot! Took all the other players, but we had every 10 and 15 point city space covered 
So he was stuck at 13, while most of the rest of us were around 10-12. For some reason, the 6 player version told us to block off a section, which probably reduced the number of spots and enabling this tactic.
2 turns later we got the "phase 3" card, which I also snuck in by auctioning up a dinky 15 point plant and getting my sister to buy it, which brought up a 47 point plant I needed to get to 16 power, opened up the 20 point cities, and let me buy 16 cities and beat his 15.
It was a little slimy, and was probably breaking a rule in there somewhere, but still felt good
My previous attempt to block him was to have everyone buy up all the resource he needed to power his plants, but I think he still would have had the 3 oil he needed.
The reverse order mechanic is just one of the things I love about this game!!
So he was stuck at 13, while most of the rest of us were around 10-12. For some reason, the 6 player version told us to block off a section, which probably reduced the number of spots and enabling this tactic. 2 turns later we got the "phase 3" card, which I also snuck in by auctioning up a dinky 15 point plant and getting my sister to buy it, which brought up a 47 point plant I needed to get to 16 power, opened up the 20 point cities, and let me buy 16 cities and beat his 15.
It was a little slimy, and was probably breaking a rule in there somewhere, but still felt good
My previous attempt to block him was to have everyone buy up all the resource he needed to power his plants, but I think he still would have had the 3 oil he needed.
The reverse order mechanic is just one of the things I love about this game!!
platypotamus
Member
Oh wow, I hadn't played with more than 4, and we didn't fill up the board ever before, (2 sections closed off). I don't think I realized it was possible :lol
platypotamus said:
I'm not sure I'm ever going to get my wife on the Board Game train. She'll play Catan by herself on the Xbox, but she's not super keen on tabletop competition. I may have set myself back a month or two by talking her and her sister into playing Race For The Galaxy.
50-something pages!? Is it unusual that I've never heard of most of these games?
Is there a summary for recommendations for a 2-player game suitable for a smart 8 year old? He plays chess already but that sometimes runs a bit long, so something a bit shorter but involving some strategy/thinking, not just roll the dice pot luck.
Is there a summary for recommendations for a 2-player game suitable for a smart 8 year old? He plays chess already but that sometimes runs a bit long, so something a bit shorter but involving some strategy/thinking, not just roll the dice pot luck.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Look around BGG and this thread if you have time, but off the top of my head I suggest starting with stuff like:mrklaw said:
Mr. Jack
Hey That's My Fish
Battle Line
Lost Cities
Memoir 44
When you want to jump up to something a bit more complicated, 1960: Making of the President and Twilight Struggle are awesome.
There's also a bunch of good coop games you can also look into that would be okay for 2 players, like Pandemic or Arkham Horror.
Games like Ticket to Ride, Through the Desert, and Slide 5 aren't bad starting choices either, but are better with 3-4 or more players.
mrklaw said:
If he is into zombies, "Last Night on Earth" is pretty fun two-player. It is a realy stripped down tactical miniatures game. While some of the card art is a wee bit suggestive (girl in a tank top, blonde nurse, etc) and one card hints that two characters of the opposite sex are making out (zombie player uses it to pin them down in the same space), I don't think there is much objectionable, provided zombies are ok in the first place. A game usually takes me an hour at best. The "Growing Hunger" expansion as some quick 2 player scenarios, which can easily be created with the basic box xomponents as well.
Runebound is a great 2 player fantasy game (can also be played solo easily), but it can hit 2-3 hours easy, though you can really trim that down if needed. Again, some skimpy costumed heroines, but otherwise nothing that should be a problem.
Both are very tactile games with miniatures, lots of artwork, etc. They are also very modular, with many, many expansions and differing play experiences so you can get a lot of mileage out of them.
Carcassone might work, but I've only ever played it on the xbox. Not sure how difficult the math would be for the boardgame, but can't imagine it is that difficult.
jason10mm said:No, we literally bought EVERY available spot! Took all the other players, but we had every 10 and 15 point city space covered
2 turns later we got the "phase 3" card, which I also snuck in by auctioning up a dinky 15 point plant and getting my sister to buy it, which brought up a 47 point plant I needed to get to 16 power, opened up the 20 point cities, and let me buy 16 cities and beat his 15.
It was a little slimy, and was probably breaking a rule in there somewhere, but still felt good
My previous attempt to block him was to have everyone buy up all the resource he needed to power his plants, but I think he still would have had the 3 oil he needed.
The reverse order mechanic is just one of the things I love about this game!!
I'm sorry but that's just a retarded way to play Power Grid. It isn't a negotiation game nor is it a gang-up-on-the-leader style. The whole point to the reverse order mechanic is so that other people can catch up, since the "perceived leader", the guy with the most earning, would be the last to buy resources and to build the plants. Everything in Power Grid is open information (with exception to money, depends how you play it), so it should be fairly obvious what you could do to delay the game ending condition, whether through resources or taking valuable connections. To have to "coordinate" an effort among everyone just to block one guy is poor taste, this isn't Risk or History of the World.
Yeah, figured the serious euro gamers would think that tactic is cheap. If everyone is out for themselves and don't coordinate to drag down the leader then things like stockpiling a specific resource to deny it to the last players or gobbling up city spaces aren't very viable, plus it REALLY screws the power station auction mechanic.
Still, it was hard not to when the only other option is to lose I like as much player interaction in my games as possible, so the multi-player solitare nature of some eurogames can bug me. Plus half the players were women FAR too tired to play seriously, I had to motivate them somehow!
Anyway, it all stems from playing far too much Supremacy in high school. Damned if the backdoor negotiations didn't take an hour each turn
Still, it was hard not to when the only other option is to lose
I like as much player interaction in my games as possible, so the multi-player solitare nature of some eurogames can bug me. Plus half the players were women FAR too tired to play seriously, I had to motivate them somehow!Anyway, it all stems from playing far too much Supremacy in high school. Damned if the backdoor negotiations didn't take an hour each turn
I've been playing a lot of Agricola lately, and while I really enjoy it, I've been getting scores in the 20s low 30s. I spend so much time trying to get a food system up and running that by the end of the game I have no time for anything else. In my last game I had a bunch of cards that I felt would work well for a bake bread strategy, but I was never able to stockpile food, due to the fact that the sow and/or bake bread action was always taken. I did try to get the starting player a couple times, but the guy to my left wanted it more, and took it often, leaving me going last quite a few rounds.
Anyone have any strategies that they use successfully when playing?
Anyone have any strategies that they use successfully when playing?
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