joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Where does CSI ship from?
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Screaming_Gremlin
My QB is a Dick and my coach is a Nutt
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
Some place in Florida. Their shipping speeds aren't bad. I live in Connecticut and get my orders within a week. It is just that I am so used to Amazon Prime that anything else seems slow in comparison.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
This is the main reason I prefer TH despite the overall slightly higher prices - only takes a few days to get shipments from Texas to Cali.Screaming_Gremlin said:
The guys in my Minnesota gaming group just played Dungeon Lords -- I can't wait to go there next month and give it a whirl.
Amibguous Cad
Member
So I have 50 bucks of Amazon credit and want to spend it on a board game. I've got a group that meets regularly that's a combination of heavily system-intensive geeks and creative geeks/relatively non-geeks that can still handle and appreciate relatively high levels of complexity. We've really enjoyed Munchkin and Ticket to Ride; we tried Race for the Galaxy tonight and it was confusing for half the table but all agreed it would probably be fun once we've got a few games under our belts.
What do you suggest? I really enjoyed the BSG board game, so I'm considering getting that.
What do you suggest? I really enjoyed the BSG board game, so I'm considering getting that.
Amibguous Cad
Member
Neverfade said:
How different is dominion from RftG? They seem pretty similar, and I'm hoping to get something that's a differnet experience from what we have. BSG's betrayal gameplay seems suitably different.
platypotamus
Member
I fee like a CSI newb since I'm only at 1.5% discount 
Also, their orders take forever to get to Seattle FOREVER
Also, their orders take forever to get to Seattle
FOREVERAmibguous Cad said:
Aside from being played with cards, I'd say they don't share many similarities. Dominion's gameplay involves using coin cards to buy items (more coins, victory point cards, and various action cards that help you gain coins and victory points). Your goal is to have the most victory point cards at the end of the game, but DURING the game the victory points are useless. It's an interesting balance. The expansions add a ton of options including hybrid cards. There's 78-ish cards currently with the total reaching 115+ before the year's end. You only play with 10 of these per game. To say the game has a lot of possibilities is an understatement.
Lan_97 said:Bent/Broken cultists.
I will probably break this game out this week for a change up from our weekly WoWTAG sessions.
If they break, sure. Bending is easily fixable though.
To the TI heads in here: I just bought the base game sans Shattered Empire expansion. I read I could just download the Imperial II card from BGG/FGG, so that will make due for now. I'm curious though, what other "necessary" options come with SE?
spikydavid
Member
Neverfade said:
Board could be slightly less brown - occasionally peasants get lost in the background
Um, I think that's about it
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I won a couple of auctions on BGG a couple of days ago and my first order came in. I got Red November which is a small box Fantasy Flight co-op game and (don't laugh) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is a huge guilty pleasure of mine and when I found out that the boardgame based on the show was actually pretty decent I knew I had to try it. It's brand new, still in it's shrink wrap, and the price was right so I bought it.
biggyfries
Member
StoOgE said:
You can also try Boards and Bits. Shipping is high ($8.50+), but prices are a bit cheaper than CSI. Shipping was quick though; placed my order on Monday afternoon, and got it Wednesday morning. I usually have CSI, B&B, and Amazon open in different tabs, camparing prices before and after shipping. :lol
BattleMonkey
Member
Neverfade said:
The whole set of replacement cards are important, don't really care for the idea of simply swapping out the Imperial card for II without switching the rest.
The new races were a nice addition too to help mix it up if you've played the game quite a bit.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
This is true.*StoOgE said:
*Firefly avatar was added before I saw this message.
Will do. I opened up the box last night and briefly went over the rules. It looks to be an interesting game. There are four scenarios you can run which roughly correlates to the Big Bad of seasons 1-4. (The Master, The Judge, The Mayor, and Adam) One player controls the evil forces and the other players control the Scoobies. Each scenario has different objectives for both the evil player and the good player. Each player (good or bad) has their own strength and weakness and looks like they play differently. There is a moon phase tracker so when it hits full moon Oz changes into a werewolf and can cause some damage. (squee!) All in all it looks like terrific fan service and I can't wait to play the game.Chairhome said:
Are any of the Carcassonne expansions better/worse? I wiki'd them and they all sound kinda cool mechanically, but just reading a ruleset is a tough way to judge whether something works well in practice or not.
I got the wife into BGs using Lost Cities --> Carcassonne --> Dominion, and Carcassonne is her fav. So rather than move on to a new game I think I'll slowly introduce a Carcassonne expansion (or two) over the next few months.
But I haven't played them, so idk which are the best.
I got the wife into BGs using Lost Cities --> Carcassonne --> Dominion, and Carcassonne is her fav. So rather than move on to a new game I think I'll slowly introduce a Carcassonne expansion (or two) over the next few months.
But I haven't played them, so idk which are the best.
Freest Rolexes
Member
GDJustin said:
Carcasonne isn't even worth playing w/o Inns and Cathedrals. Builders and Traders adds a lot, as well, but I personally never play with the builders. The trading aspect makes it beneficial to finish other people's castles, which is neat. I have the Big Box, which has most of the expansions, but I just use the others for interesting tiles, not for their mechanics. I have heard Princess and Dragon is good for bigger groups to help w/ downtime.
Another option is to get Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers, which is a stand-alone game that plays better out of the box than the original.
I just saw that in Japan they have a Rockman.exe edition of Catan. How I wish it was translated.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Heh, that's funny. It looks like BGG has translations for the stuff that really needs it so you can always import it. I'm sure it plays just like regular old Catan.Chairhome said:
It should be smooth sailing for me for awhile in the 5 player diplomacy game I'm playing right now.
I got Austria Hungary and thankfully was able to ally up with Russia in order to crush Turkey. This mostly happened because the Turkish player has been known to be incredibly devious and none of us really trusted him to be reliable. But thankfully Russia did actually back stab Turkey twice, so Turkey has pretty much offered me his territories so that Russia doesn't get them. So I might casually let him know Russia's moves ahead of time to defend against those so I can get the three centers he has left.
Hopefully this alliance can last long enough for us to crush France and England (Italy and Germany are neutrals in 5-player) and then we can have a nice big knockdown fight to get to 18 supply centers. Either that or we can end in a draw between the two of us.
I got Austria Hungary and thankfully was able to ally up with Russia in order to crush Turkey. This mostly happened because the Turkish player has been known to be incredibly devious and none of us really trusted him to be reliable. But thankfully Russia did actually back stab Turkey twice, so Turkey has pretty much offered me his territories so that Russia doesn't get them. So I might casually let him know Russia's moves ahead of time to defend against those so I can get the three centers he has left.
Hopefully this alliance can last long enough for us to crush France and England (Italy and Germany are neutrals in 5-player) and then we can have a nice big knockdown fight to get to 18 supply centers. Either that or we can end in a draw between the two of us.
Wickerbasket
Member
Can you guys recommend a good zombie board game?
I'm thinking about buying my first board game and I'm not sure what to buy. I've been looking at Zombie!!! and Last Night On Earth. I've played Zombie!!! at PAX but it seemed to go on for ages due to continually sending players back to the start.
If you've got any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. It's for a bunch of guys who haven't played any board games before.
I'm thinking about buying my first board game and I'm not sure what to buy. I've been looking at Zombie!!! and Last Night On Earth. I've played Zombie!!! at PAX but it seemed to go on for ages due to continually sending players back to the start.
If you've got any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. It's for a bunch of guys who haven't played any board games before.
Wickerbasket
Member
Thanks, will do.Drey1082 said:
Any other recommendations for board games in general, for first time players?
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I've been hearing lots about this one from a friend. Too bad I don't have the time or anyone to play it with though. No one would be interested.Mr. Lemming said:
Just picked this up the other night. Players cooperate against ancient Lovecraftian horrors. So many cards and tokens!
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/15987
diztrukted
Member
StoOgE said:
thanks StoOgE , started playing and the learning curve is relatively easy but I tend to screw up on either remembering ALL the rules and how the placement of your first road/settlement is pretty important relative to what resource you benefit from and how often that number is rolled.
I also played knights of Catan, and that was like "Head 'splode".....but it was fun for the half hour i was in
LiquidMetal14 said:
I'm in the same boat. I keep thinking about picking it up, but have a feeling we would never play it. Seems a bit too complicated for my group. I'm scared that the massive amount of rules would scare friends away. It's a shame too because I'm interested in getting more co-op games.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
The good thing about co-op games is that it makes helping people out during the game easier. If you find the game for cheap, pick it up and play a few solo games. Learn the rules inside and out then introduce others to it. I would play like a gm and make sure you keep track of all the fiddly bits of the game.(mythos phase mostly) That's really the tough part, the phases are pretty easy to learn and make logical sense.Drey1082 said:
Two things for folks interested in checking out Arkham Horror.
First off, the game isn't that complicated. Now, there are plenty of fiddly details to keep up with and there are a lot of bits and pieces to worry about, but the game itself is pretty straightforward: move around, have encounters where you do what it says on the card, fight monsters with a basic combat system, and jump in and out of other worlds - i.e. have encounters where you do what it says on the card. If you have one person keeping up with the fiddly bits, new players can jump in and learn the game very easily. Arkham Horror has high production values, positively drips atmosphere, and isn't what you would call a strategic brain burner, so I think it's a solid gateway game to get your friends and family involved with board gaming.
Second, Arkham Horror lends itself easily to solitaire play. Since it's cooperative, there's no reason why you can't take a couple of characters and run through the game yourself. I'm not saying this is as fun as playing it with a group of friends, but if you really want to try the game out it's still pretty entertaining. Also, once you've played a couple of solitaire games and have the details down, it's a lot easier to try to organize a game with multiple players, where you can concentrate on the fiddly bits and they can just experience the game for themselves. Soon, you've got a regular game night going! Well, that's the hope, at least.
By the way, while we're discussing the number of players, once you do decide to sit down with a group and teach them the game, don't play with more than four people total. Arkham can support up to eight players, but if folks are new to the game and aren't zipping through turns pretty quickly the downtime can be brutal.
Back to my point: If you're willing to drop the fifty bucks or so to try it out, don't let an immediate lack of other players stop you.
FnordChan
First off, the game isn't that complicated. Now, there are plenty of fiddly details to keep up with and there are a lot of bits and pieces to worry about, but the game itself is pretty straightforward: move around, have encounters where you do what it says on the card, fight monsters with a basic combat system, and jump in and out of other worlds - i.e. have encounters where you do what it says on the card. If you have one person keeping up with the fiddly bits, new players can jump in and learn the game very easily. Arkham Horror has high production values, positively drips atmosphere, and isn't what you would call a strategic brain burner, so I think it's a solid gateway game to get your friends and family involved with board gaming.
Second, Arkham Horror lends itself easily to solitaire play. Since it's cooperative, there's no reason why you can't take a couple of characters and run through the game yourself. I'm not saying this is as fun as playing it with a group of friends, but if you really want to try the game out it's still pretty entertaining. Also, once you've played a couple of solitaire games and have the details down, it's a lot easier to try to organize a game with multiple players, where you can concentrate on the fiddly bits and they can just experience the game for themselves. Soon, you've got a regular game night going! Well, that's the hope, at least.
By the way, while we're discussing the number of players, once you do decide to sit down with a group and teach them the game, don't play with more than four people total. Arkham can support up to eight players, but if folks are new to the game and aren't zipping through turns pretty quickly the downtime can be brutal.
Back to my point: If you're willing to drop the fifty bucks or so to try it out, don't let an immediate lack of other players stop you.
FnordChan
MessieurCouchon
Member
Boardgame GAF, I just remembered a couple of years ago there was an announcement of a Legend of the 5 Rings boardgame. Anyone know if this is still coming out?
Screaming_Gremlin
My QB is a Dick and my coach is a Nutt
FnordChan said:
While I agree the game isn't complicated, it can be sort of a pain to initially learn. Especially if you don't have anyone else around to help clarify rules for you. On the other hand, once you have the game down it is extremely easy to teach to other people.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
That's why BGG is a such a godsend. Most if not all the questions about rules can be found in the forums for Arkham Horror. Not to mention the FAQs in the file sections help out as well.Screaming_Gremlin said:
I would take a look through this thread or on boardgamegeek.com for a better description of games, but I was successful with introducing people to board gaming with:Wickerbasket said:
Catan (Cities and Knights is really where the game gets good but the base game will work to get people interested)
Robo Rally
Last Night on Earth
Pandemic
Vegas Showdown
Colosseum
Wickerbasket said:
As said, Last Night on Earth. Another expansion recently came out, and it's fantastic. We own pretty much all the expansions/additions. It's a really, really, really great zombie game. Get the base game and Growing Hunger. It's sort of expensive, but the new rules and cards add a lot to the game. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Can't recommend Last Night on Earth enough!! I've always had a mild passing interest in board/strategy games but never took the plunge until last year when I went to Gen Con for the first time. I even managed to drag (I mean invite) my gf and two of my buddies. We demo'ed Last Night on Earth there and had such a great time, I bought the original game, Growing Hunger expansion and pre-ordered the Survival of the Fittest expansion. I've even managed to get a few more people interested in board games using LNOE as an intro. And tonight will be my first night playing the new Survival of the Fittest expansion with my friends. I can't wait to duct tape two weapons together for some zombie carnage!!Qaz Kwaz said:
For those people talking about Arkham Horror not being THAT difficult to play, did you have someone teach it to you who was a pro or did you literally buy the game, read the booklet, check online and play a few games and learn it that way? Arkham Horror sounds like such a great game and I've contemplated several times on whether to pick it up or not, but the initial learning curve has always deterred me, as everyone I've talked to has said you really need someone there to teach you the ropes in the beginning. Once you know how it's played, it's a lot of fun but it's rough getting to that point and usually players lose interest long before you get to that point.
ToddG15 said:
A bit of both, really. I played a game with friends and really enjoyed it, then several months later got my own set and taught it to a different group of friends on the fly. Having played with others absolutely helped, and I confess that the game I taught was a little rough around the edges. Like Screaming_Gremlin says, there's a lot to keep up with.
That said, I still think that you could sit down and work out the rules without too much difficulty. Again, it's not that they're complicated per se but that there are a lot of little things to keep track of. Some of these things can be confusing - monsters in the sky, for example - but most of them are straight forward, if numerous. There is a learning curve, but after a few games you'll have them down. Also, help is waiting for you out there, with player aid files of various sorts on BGG or video reviews and tips on YouTube.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the nice thing about Arkham Horror is that it works perfectly well as a solitaire game, so you can run through a few games and get the rules down before trying to introduce it to a group.
FnordChan
And one more question about Arkham Horror... I know there are several expansion sets to it. Ideally, I'd like to buy the base game and make sure I enjoy the game/my friends will play it with me but if any of the expansions make the game enjoyment that much higher, it'd be nice to know up front so I don't needlessly sour my or my friends feelings toward the game.
As a first time player, is the base game a good starting point? If not, what are the needed expansions? If the expansions are necessarily needed at the start, should I (assuming I enjoy Arkham Horror) just pick them up in the order they were released or are some now obsolete compared to other ones?
Thanks for all the help!
As a first time player, is the base game a good starting point? If not, what are the needed expansions? If the expansions are necessarily needed at the start, should I (assuming I enjoy Arkham Horror) just pick them up in the order they were released or are some now obsolete compared to other ones?
Thanks for all the help!
diztrukted said:
Yeah, I think I was screwing up the "having over x number of cards" rule when the robber gets rolled thing for a bit.
The main thing I always try to remember is to try and place one of my first two settlements next to at least one of every type of resource and try and get next to as many 6's and 8's as possible.
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