OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

[Jow]

it really is. I can't wait until the first cycle is completed and the game is fleshed out a bit more.

[hepcat]

Anyone have any opinion on which game is better, Mage Wars or Netrunner?

[Jow]

wish i did. i've played two games of Netrunner and Mage Wars has been sitting on the couch in my living room with the pieces still unpunched for like 2-3 weeks now. not enough tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime...

[Isgrimnur]

Anyone have any opinion on which game is better, Mage Wars or Netrunner?

I liked Netrunner better than my experience with Mage Wars. coop will tell you it has something to do with the way my MW demo played out.

[hepcat]

I've mentioned it before, but I wasn't impressed with a demo of Mage Wars the year before last at Gencon. However, it seems to be garnering a LOT of praise from folks in its finished and released state. Of course, so is Netrunner.

....but Mage Wars is on sale at my local gamestore for 45 bucks. Decisions, decisions, decisions....

[Isgrimnur]

Netrunner is $26 from CSI.

[coopasonic]

Anyone have any opinion on which game is better, Mage Wars or Netrunner?

They are very different games. I wouldn't necessarily even call Mage Wars a card game. You never shuffle or draw a card at random. The asymmetrical nature of netrunner also makes them different.

I'm not sure I'm ready to cast a Mage Wars vote, so Isgrimnur might not even need to balance me out. They are too different for me to call.

[hepcat]

Netrunner is $26 from CSI.

I'm trying to support my FLGS more these days. Especially since they let me play there anytime I want, gave me a megaton of Call of Cthulhu LCG singles after I just happened to mention I was interested in it, and don't have a restraining order against me.

The cyberpunk theme is the turn off for me with Netrunner. Don't get me wrong, I'm also not a big fan of fantasy. Horror and steampunk are my bags. But fantasy is a little less grating on my nerves.

Of course, all that makes no difference whatsoever if the game isn't fun.

[Jow]

yeah, i've taken it up the tailpipe myself the last few purchases supporting my FLGS... bought mage wars, mage knight, Dixit + expansion, and the netrunner stuff there in the last couple of months. Plan on getting at least one more core set and future expansions for netrunner from CSI most likely, though... assuming they ever get the cores back in.

[Lorini]

I like Mage Wars more than Net Runner but like people are saying they are very different games. I don't see a game of Mage Wars ending in less than 2 hours, even with familiarity with all of the cards and permutations. People have had 5+ hour first sessions in Mage Wars. This is partially because you have to look a ton of stuff up (I really should figure out a way to put the stuff in a database or something) and also because the game has a lot to do and a lot of ways to do it. Net Runner on the other hand should be over within an hour, even with new players. Both games are asymmetric. In Mage Wars two players play totally different mages (unless you have a ton of cards) and in Net Runner there's the Corp and the Runner. Just so you know, the Spell Tomes of Mage Wars are duplicates of existing cards, not new cards. With these duplicates though, you can easily have two players play with one set and both tomes. Otherwise you'll really need two Mage War sets. You may also want two Net Runner sets as well.

[coopasonic]

Of course, all that makes no difference whatsoever if the game isn't fun.

Mage Wars is really magic the gathering improved/tweaked in a number of ways to make it more accurately represent a duel between mages. If you can't embrace that spirit/theme I don't think the mechanics alone are enough.

[Smoove_B]

Played ~5 hours worth of the new Descent and enjoyed it tremendously. I have no experience with the original, so my impressions are solely from the current version. We started a campaign and worked our way through the intro scenario. As some of you know, because I won that map I then was able to pick the next location, a two-part map leading into a castle. Both scenarios were actually very close, though my friend was thinking he needs to learn better card management skills as the Overlord. For the intro scenario, he hardly used any cards but in the castle scenario, he was always at a loss (I think) because he started over-compensating and playing cards all the time. Regardless, I like the campaign nature of play and that my characters are building skills and gaining new equipment along the way. Having conditions carry over from the previous map is also rather interesting and I'd imagine adds more replay value. It really felt like a great balance between playing an old-school RPG and a boardgame. Other than reading the rules, there is no prep time and setting up a new map wasn't all the difficult either. The dice portion felt a bit...wonky with how damage is calculated (and then defended), but once I upgraded my weapons after the first scenario I was able to consistently do more damage with surges. I guess the dice system is unique and it wasn't slow, which is probably the goal. He's apparently already ordered the first expansion, so I guess it will be a staple game for a while. I am rather curious to see how it scales if we can add one or two more people. It felt pretty balanced with just two adventurers but in looking at the Overlord cards it seems like it builds pretty fast when you start adding more heroes. Anyway, of all the games we've played over the last 3 years (!) in my basement, this was probably the closest to our old-school high school D&D marathons.

[Lorini]

Of course, all that makes no difference whatsoever if the game isn't fun.

Mage Wars is really magic the gathering improved/tweaked in a number of ways to make it more accurately represent a duel between mages. If you can't embrace that spirit/theme I don't think the mechanics alone are enough.

I'm not a theme person, I thought the mechanics were great. Not well explained but once I could get my brain around them they worked very well to allow you to carry out both short term and long term strategy/tactics.

[Zarathud]

Had a great time getting my ass handed to me by my sister and her boyfriend in X-Wing miniatures at the FLGS last night. Luke and Darth Vader took each other out in the same turn, but that left me with a Y-Wing against 4 TIE Fighters, which ended badly for me. Next time, I should remember to look at my character abilities. But it WAS fun stunning Vader 3 turns in a row with the Ion Cannon.

[Isgrimnur]

Well, my copy of Netrunner has been punched and the rules (mostly) read...

[Chrisoc13]

Finally got to break in some new games I received as gifts as well as try out some other games.

Played a few games of Pandemic with my brother in-law and sister in-law. I don't know how I feel about it. I like the idea of co-op games but the few I have tried haven't really turned out for me yet. I feel like they often end up being 1 or 2 people telling everyone what to do. Fun idea, not sure my personality fits with them.

Played some more killer bunnies which still has one of the worst endings of any game I have played.

Finally broke in dominion and the Africa map for Ticket to Ride. Thoroughly enjoyed both. I always love ticket to ride so no surprise there but I am glad to have Dominion, especially since it seems it will be good for two players.

Still have not gotten around to playing my other Christmas gifts: Star Trek Catan (though obviously I know what to expect) and Lords of Waterdeep. Perhaps tomorrow I will get to since I have the whole day free.

[hepcat]

Let us know if the Star Trek catan is a good purchase for those who don't own the original game. I've been eyeing it for a while.

[baelthazar]

Let us know if the Star Trek catan is a good purchase for those who don't own the original game. I've been eyeing it for a while.

The rules for ST: Catan look more like a retheme than a new game. There are a few interesting tweaks and the ST cast act as "special powers." But, for the most part, the mechanics see to be fairly the same.

My dad and friend got in our first game of Descent: 2nd. I was frankly surprised how fast the first few adventures went. And I was very surprised at how much damage can be dealt. The Overlord seems to wield some power and everyone is a bit of a glass cannon (my Ettin, who I expected to be a bit "tanky" was, dispatched way faster than I thought). Still, I think it is superior to the old version.

[Archinerd]

I bought myself A Few Acres of Snow for Christmas this year and have convinced my wife to play two games of it with me so far. She'll likely want to play again sometime soon as she just kicked my ass yesterday afternoon with a huge British victory.

[hentzau]

I bought myself A Few Acres of Snow for Christmas this year and have convinced my wife to play two games of it with me so far. She'll likely want to play again sometime soon as she just kicked my ass yesterday afternoon with a huge British victory.

My wife is very interested in the theme of AFoS, but there is no way in hell I could get her to play it with me.

[Zarathud]

Had a gteat time last night doing the basic version of Through the Ages, playing another game of X-Wing and learning Omens. The elegance of Through the Ages shines and I'm really looking forward to a full game. Omens is everything Hepcat promised.

[Jow]

Lots of gaming this weekend. Hung out with some local people from Gamers with Jobs Saturday and played three games of 7 Wonders... 3 of the oddest games I've played of it. Much of this was due to 4 players being new to the game I imagine. I usually do decently at the game, but the first two games I tried some things I hadn't really done before and fell flat on my face, coming in last place quite distant from everyone else (20-25 points behind the winner). Then in the third game I had the perfect storm with passed cards and the right leaders and pulled off *71* points from Science cards alone, ending the game with 97 points, by far the most I've ever seen in the game.

Broke out Netrunner over the last two days and played four games... it's a pretty amazing experience, quite unique and different from the other FFG LCGs. In particular, the experience from just a single core set feels more tight and competitive than any of their other games using a single core.

[MythicalMino]

I have played a couple games of War of the Ring (solo)....

I want Omens, but it is not available anywhere....

[hepcat]

I want Omens, but it is not available anywhere....

During the last kickstarter project in December, John (the designer) mentioned that there may be a reprint coming sometime this year. Keep checking their website for updates.

The three games I backed in the aforementioned kickstarter should be shipping soon. Looking forward to what john's done this time.

[MythicalMino]

that is good news, at least

[coopasonic]

Well, my copy of Netrunner has been punched and the rules (mostly) read...

I'm all read up as well... and I have tentative approval for the 19th.

[hepcat]

that is good news, at least

Confirmed (via their facebook page):

Here's what you can expect from SBG in early 2013: Bushido Oni (2 players), The Nile Runs Red (2-4 players), The GearSeed Saga (2-4 players) and Omen. 3rd Edition (2 players, and if you already own Omen, no need to buy).

[Isgrimnur]

Well, my copy of Netrunner has been punched and the rules (mostly) read...

I'm all read up as well... and I have tentative approval for the 19th.

[Chrisoc13]

Let us know if the Star Trek catan is a good purchase for those who don't own the original game. I've been eyeing it for a while.

Last night I played Star Trek Catan and it is pretty much exactly Catan with one added mechanic and a couple other very minor changes. The added mechanic is you get to choose a card of a character that gives you some sort of special ability. these can range from moving the Klingon ship (the robber) to the asteroid area to collecting a resource of your choice when you don't get any resources on a non 7 roll. Really I wasn't a big fan of this addition. It is useful in moving the game along quickly but I feel like it dumbs down the game. For example instead of getting a development card to move the robber you just grab the character you want and presto it is gone on your next turn with no work or real cost. In fact you get a free resource for moving it AND you didn't spend anything to move it. Things like this just kind of mess up the balance I believe.

Thankfully there is no reason it needs to be played with the characters. I will probably leave them off unless I want a quicker game.

There are some other minor changes. One is that the settlements turn into cities (or their equivalent in the Star Trek version) instead of being replaced by cities. Basically there is a disc that attaches to the top out the outpost (settlement). You get 6 settlements now though as a result (can't remember off the top of my head how many you get with standard Catan) so you don't have to go to cities as quickly. Maybe I am just used to normal Catan but I think this was quite a change. It also means when you upgrade to a city you don't get the settlement back since it is upgraded and not replaced. This does actually change the way the game is played.

My last minor note is the numbers pieces no longer have the probability of them being rolled on them. 6 and 8 are still red, but there is no quick way to determine at a glance which is more likely to be rolled other than 6 and 8 being the highest. Not a big deal since obviously 12 will be rolled less than 5 but for younger players it could be a bit of a problem. Even for those who aren't so young it was nice to simply be able to glance at the numbers to determine where the best expansion location is.

Mostly it is just a shiny new pain scheme. It was a gift and I really do like the way the game looks so I am pretty happy with it. I prefer playing normal settlers with seafarers though so when I want to play a normal game I will probably bust this version out. The components look fantastic and really are better looking than the normal pieces.

On another note my wife and I also finally got around to playing Lords of Waterdeep. Wow, what a great game. I feel two of us only scratched the surface but I really enjoyed it. She beat me quite handily our first game out. I should have paid more attention to the quests she was after. I need to get some DnDeeples now though because I really got sick of sending different colored cubes on missions. Fantastic game, can't wait to play it some more, especially with more players.

[hentzau]

LoW was my favorite new game from 2012. Perfect blend of of euro and ameritrash. And the amazing thing is that it can be played with 5 people in under 2 hours.

[Jow]

For those about to embark on Netrunner goodness:

The rulebook for this game is typical FFG in that though all the information is there, somewhere, it's not all presented in the order that you need it. I made an incorrect assumption based on the rules and played a number of games the wrong way before some kind folks over at BGG got me on the right track.

Basically, we were playing runs incorrectly based on the assumption that the way you got past ice was by equaling or exceeding its strength by the strength of your icebreakers; this was incorrect. Instead, you never have to match ice strength to get past it. Instead, the only purpose in matching strength is to allow you to interact with the ice and potentially break the subroutines on that ice. In other words, if there's a piece of ice that does not have 'End the Run' subroutines on it, you can just tank the subroutines and move on without having to do anything with ice strength.

If that doesn't make sense to you yet, it will eventually.

[coopasonic]

The fact that you can take the punishment from ice is in one of the examples.

[Jow]

the way we were playing you could still take punishment from the ice, but the way we read the text was that meeting the ice strength was a condition of getting through that ice. Once we met the strength, we then had to deal with the subroutines as usual and could break them or not as we chose.

[coopasonic]

2006 139.95
2007 141.10
2008 113.46
2010 461.97
2011 395.80
2012 400.88

[hepcat]

3219 232.11?

[Jow]

amount spent on boardgames?

[coopasonic]

amount spent on boardgames?

ding ding



If my wife ever realized...

[LordMortis]

amount spent on boardgames?

ding ding



If my wife ever realized...

That doesn't sound horrible to me if you actually play them. You have something and you get so much entrainment. I've easily had >$1000 board game years and while I'm all I very rarely feel cheated at my purchases. Mainly I've only had buyer's remorse over CCG obsessions in the past. Board games are an excuse to be social and the opportunity cost for this sort of social is great. $40 a pop can usually get 2-5 people 20 hours of entrainment or more and the incidental costs of eating are cheaper than eating at a restaurant or bar or movie theatre. And then you often split the cost of ownership. I but this game. He buys that game. They buy the other game... At least in theory... Somehow we often end up with 3 to 5 copies of the same games within our common gaming circle.

[hepcat]

Just use the old "It could've been cocaine and liquor, you know!"

[wonderpug]

I have too many tabs open and I thought coop was posting year-by-year weight summaries in the weight loss thread.