OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:21 am

In my head I am picturing the warlord's heavy boots crunching over the bones of your minions as he brings his mighty hammer to bear on your pitiful skull.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:52 am

That's great and all, but are we going to play Mage Wars at the next Octocon?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:02 pm

hepcat wrote:That's great and all, but are we going to play Mage Wars at the next Octocon?

But seriously, since I am flying (Destroy Your) Spirit Airlines, I will be coming with just a carry-on bag, but I should be able to fit a spell book or two in there if you can bring the game. I hate being unable to bring my own games.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:43 pm

No prob. I'll bring my copy.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:14 pm

And there'll be plenty of games on hand. No worries.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:43 pm

If there's something besides Mage Wars you want to play, someone here will have or buy it.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:45 pm

I'm planning on offering up an 8 player or more team game of Duel of Ages II at some point during that weekend.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:14 pm

Last weekend the boys and I tried out Star Munchkin, which was - well, it was Munchkin.

The next day I pulled out No Stress Chess to finally introduce the boys to the game of kings. I played one match with Ian, then one with Caiden, then supervised one match between them. They then proceeded to play each other non-stop for an hour and a half without a single argument. This week they are with their mother, and they begged me to let them take the game with them.

On the downside, my Savage Worlds game for Sunday just got cancelled. It is a monthly game, so a cancellation means a two month stretch. As such things go, the game before last was cancelled, too (different reason, also legitimate), so that means that my biggest hobby is currently being engaged in at the rate of one afternoon every two months.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:23 pm

I'm introducing a friend to the Dallas Games Marathon this evening. He has plans to get the lay of the land, then attempt to run a massive game of Arkham Horror at the event tomorrow.

I tried to get him to post it to the BGG group, but I couldn't quite get him to pull the trigger.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:37 pm

Issie, see if you can fit yourself into Coop's carry on for Octocon. We need to make Zarathud cry like a young girl in a game of Nightfall again...

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:04 am

I wish. I'd love to make it, but employment will need to be evident before I wing my way to Chicago.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:21 am

We played a 6-player game of Eclipse this evening. My friend's first, my second. It ended up with two 3-player alliances across the board from each other. The final turn was a. Epic military showdown, but off my friend's excellent 4-vp tokens and scads of obelisks, the loss of the center and a couple other systems didn't come close to taking away his huge lead over all of us, netting our side the victory.

Tomorrow, we play Arkham Horror all afternoon and into the evening. Will probably start 1:30-2:00 and run until elder gods know when.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 4:06 pm

I haven't played Arkham Horror in forever... I miss it (but I don't miss being the official "bearer of the rules").

My wife and I played a nice game of Eminent Domain, a game we haven't played in a long time. I was surprised at how much fun it was and wondered why we shelfed it. I'm also looking forward to the expansion, later this year. It really feels like a more streamlined Dominions (really, do you NEED all of those cards that do nearly the same thing) mixed with a simplified Glory to Rome.

We first tried to play Carson City and Troyes, but had forgotten both of them, so we decided we needed to look over the rules first.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:02 pm

My friend excels at being bearer of the rules. We're playing six players, five new, and he's not actually playing, just administering. Certain games benefit from having that, even when it's not a defined storyteller role.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:07 am

Played an interesting game this weekend. About 6-7 years ago I was visiting a friend out of state and picked up a game called Bootleggers on clearance at a game store. We never got around to playing it, so I took it home where it sat in my closet, unplaced, until this past Friday. And it's a shame, as it's a really fun game.

Bootleggers is out of print and going for $75-$100 on eBay, which is one reason I decided it was time to give it a shot. The game takes place during Prohibition. You play a mob family producing, delivering, and selling bootleg liquor to speakeasies. The player with the most money after 12 rounds (or the first round in which someone hits $100,000) is the winner.

While the game rules are not complex, there are a lot of them so I won't go into detail here. Suffice it to say your ultimate goal is to control speakeasies to make the most profit, and balance the expense of paying drivers and buying trucks to ship your goods. Each speakeasy only has so much demand, so knowing how to split up your deliveries to maximize profit also becomes critical.

The game encourages open deals among players, but also encourages backstabbing them at every opportunity (this is the mob, after all). This was one of the most fun elements of the game, as it ties right in with the fact that in some cases you have no choice but to take some shady deals in order not to fall too far behind.

There are some minor flaws. Both production and demand are based on die rolls, so depending on how things are falling you can potentially get royally screwed. However, part of the strategy is learning how to deal with shitty circumstances to mitigate damage, and capitalizing on the good times. Another flaw is that if one player jumps out too an early lead it can be difficult to play catch up. However, again part of your strategy should be finding ways to limit another player's ability to do that.

The game supports two players, and was a lot of fun, but we knew it would be MUCH better with more people. With two, you'll probably only fight over a couple of speakeasies at most, and can usually always sell your goods. Whereas with more players there are some real chances to totally screw yourself with bad truck placement or unexpected lack of demand.

This is one we'll definitely be adding to the rotation when we have more players. It's not perfect, but the theme is fun and original enough to overcome its shortcomings.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:08 am

A bit more gaming than usual this weekend.

First up was a solo game of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game on Friday. I'll post more about this in the PACG thread (if it still exists.)

Then I hooked up with Hepcat, Seppe, Zarathud, and a friend of Hepcat's on Saturday and got in a game of Lords of Waterdeep with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion. It was a lot of fun, Seppe and Zarathud went hog wild with picking up corruption, and in the end it really bit them in the ass.

We also played a three player game of PACG, with me teaching Hepcat and Zarathud the game. Had a great time with it, came within four turns of losing the game before we finally took down the villain.

Then Sunday night was Star Wars:Edge of the Empire RPG. I have to do some work with my 10 year old, around the concept of staying in character (but in his defense, for this session there wasn't a whole lot for his bounty hunter droid to be doing until we got to the ship to ship battle over Ryloth.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 11:08 am

YellowKing wrote:Played an interesting game this weekend. About 6-7 years ago I was visiting a friend out of state and picked up a game called Bootleggers on clearance at a game store. We never got around to playing it, so I took it home where it sat in my closet, unplaced, until this past Friday. And it's a shame, as it's a really fun game.

I adore Bootleggers, it's a critically-underrated gem. We have a local con here in St. Louis every year, and we always get a full 6-player game of Bootleggers in at some point over the weekend. Somebody always manages a brilliant $50,000 payout in a single turn, and somebody always gets royally screwed over by someone else. It's hilarious fun.

As for games this weekend, got in a fair amount - two games of Robinson Crusoe (one of which was finally a win in the Castaways scenario - woohoo!). I picked up Rise of Augustus to play with the family, and we had a few games of that played. It's a great 20-30 minute light game with a box three sizes too big. We also played a few frustrating games of Hanabi. I'm starting to think that luck is the most important factor for success in that game, we are continually unable to break 20 points in a game.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 11:37 am

We played a full game of Spartacus with the Serpent and Wolf expansion added. Not surprisingly (as it happened with our first game), once 10 influence was hit, a Primus was declared and wouldn't you know the host's Gladiator was treacherous -- meaning he could switch sides during the fight. Somehow we managed to get lucky with the dice and out-roll Theokoles who was armed with a net and armor, making him ridiculously difficult to fight. Not surprisingly when it was apparent that we were going to cut him down, the host switched sides and our team won. However, in doing so another player (at Influence 11) managed to then win the game. Against all odds, the host figured we wouldn't win, but it happened.

Regardless, starting at 1 influence (our first game we started at 7) makes a huge difference. There was some side-bar conversations going on, but it took about 4 hours to play. While I'd never normally agree to sit down to a 4 hour game of anything, the time just blinked by.

I'm not completely sold on the Primus mechanic with 4 players, but overall the game continues to deliver. I'd recommend it to anyone - particularly if you've watched the TV show.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:38 pm

Smoove_B wrote:I'm not completely sold on the Primus mechanic with 4 players, but overall the game continues to deliver. I'd recommend it to anyone - particularly if you've watched the TV show.

I really don't like the Treacherous idea. We've played two games with the expansion, and in both cases a Primus was declared where one of the four gladiators was Treacherous and switched sides which completely screwed over the player left alone. In both games, we could not see any reason why the treacherous gladiator would NOT want to switch sides. It virtually guarantees success, Influence, and Favor for that gladiator. It seems like there ought to be a penalty of some sort for defecting to the other side, otherwise involving a treacherous fighter seems like it just guarantees a 3v1 fight.

I forgot to mention two other games I played late last week - first up was Firefly: The Game. We played with 5 players using the Artful Dodger promo ship, and managed to get through the entire game in about 2.5 hours - I still don't get the complaints about this being a 4+ hour game. That said, I don't think I'd do 5 players again. We were definitely making a concerted effort to keep things moving, but there was so much going on it was hard to keep track of everything. One guy kept trying to complete jobs using only his captain or maybe one crew, and kept losing. Getting a decent crew is definitely priority #1. I'm not sure I'm sold on the whole "random card draw for crew" idea, having a good crew is a huge advantage and it's almost entirely luck of the draw. I almost feel like there ought to be a bigger disparity cost-wise for good crew. When a random scrub crew member with one skill icon costs $200 to hire and Inara or Kaylee with 3 skill icons costs only $300, that seems a little broken considering how much better they are. Still, it was a fun game. I think the sweet spot for this one is 2-3 players though.

We also played a 4-player game of A Game of Thrones 2nd edition, which I will never do again without the Feast for Crows expansion. Without the Martell or Tyrell players in the south, Baratheon cruised to an easy victory with 7 strongholds by about turn 5. I immediately went out and got the Feast for Crows expansion which changes the setup, win conditions, and adds House Arryn. Instead of victory by gaining 7 strongholds the win conditions are a combination of public and secret objectives, which give varying amounts of points based on which House completes it. Holding the Eyrie, for example, gives Arryn 0 points but is worth 3 points for Lannister. I LOVE THIS IDEA, I think this is exactly the kind of victory system this game needed. Can't wait to play again with this version.

Trent Steel · Post by **Trent Steel** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:45 pm

Smoove_B wrote:We played a full game of Spartacus with the Serpent and Wolf expansion added. Not surprisingly (as it happened with our first game), once 10 influence was hit, a Primus was declared and wouldn't you know the host's Gladiator was treacherous -- meaning he could switch sides during the fight. Somehow we managed to get lucky with the dice and out-roll Theokoles who was armed with a net and armor, making him ridiculously difficult to fight. Not surprisingly when it was apparent that we were going to cut him down, the host switched sides and our team won. However, in doing so another player (at Influence 11) managed to then win the game. Against all odds, the host figured we wouldn't win, but it happened.

Regardless, starting at 1 influence (our first game we started at 7) makes a huge difference. There was some side-bar conversations going on, but it took about 4 hours to play. While I'd never normally agree to sit down to a 4 hour game of anything, the time just blinked by.

I'm not completely sold on the Primus mechanic with 4 players, but overall the game continues to deliver. I'd recommend it to anyone - particularly if you've watched the TV show.

One of the best gaming experiences I've had. My only hope of staying in the game with a chance to win at that point was to team up with Theokoles and gain an influence to bring me into a tie for the lead. When Theokoles got tagged with 5 hits on an attack and he rolled a blankenstein on the defense, I figured he was done. At that point, I could only hope for a moral victory in that Theokoles would get decapatated for his shenanigans against Spartacus - and decapatated he got. A perfect ending to the game.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:19 pm

Playing the Beholder Lord in the Skullport expansion was tricky. His ability was to pick up 4 VP for each Corruption token he held. That doesn't offset the -8 VP each token penalty when another player gets into the Corruption game and turns into a mechanism to offset Corruption losses rather than pick up those critical end game 15-20 points from completing quests.

In addition to playing with hepcat and hentzau, I painted 3 of my mouse heroes from Mice & Mystics.

Seppe · Post by **Seppe** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:25 pm

Zarathud wrote:Playing the Beholder Lord in the Skullport expansion was tricky. His ability was to pick up 4 VP for each Corruption token he held. That doesn't offset the -8 VP each token penalty when another player gets into the Corruption game and turns into a mechanism to offset Corruption losses rather than pick up those critical end game 15-20 points from completing quests.

In addition to playing with hepcat and hentzau, I painted 3 of my mouse heroes from Mice & Mystics.

I hope one of them was pink!

Mick & I were talking about that on the ride home, that lord (Xanathar?) is a real challenge. You need to keep the corruption around -2 or so, but with the building that destroys corruption out you were never going to get that.

Anyway, played Andean Abyss. The cartels won, with AUC second, and me as the government as 3rd. Somewhat lucky that a scoring card came shortly after a previous one which allowed the cartel to score a bunch of points and not have time to lose them again. It is a very good game.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:52 pm

I love Andean Abyss. The COIN system is just so damn fun. It gives you the feeling of being an insurgent (or a government trying to manage insurgents) without bogging the game play down in details. I finally tried a learning game of Labyrinth yesterday afternoon (the prior game by the maker of Andean Abyss) and I could see glimmers of what he brought to AA, but it ultimately just failed for me. The fiddly aspects of it are just too much, imho. I think he learned from Labyrinth and brought those aspects that worked to AA.

I was playing the FARC in the game mentioned above and I missed my win condition when the final scoring card appeared. I had it at one point, but the government and the AUC just swept my flanks and destroyed me. However, that's exactly what DOES happen in Colombia.

Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain (two other entries in the COIN series) are shipping now, so hopefully I'll be playing those by the end of the month. I can't wait to see how the designer has advanced the mechanics if he continues to improve upon his ideas.

Today I was home due to a mold issue at our office that has shut down the building, and I played a couple of games of Robinson Crusoe. I ALMOST won the second game, but died due to a storm in the 10th round (out of 12).

RC just gets better and better the more I play it. It's so damn thematic that you find yourself reenacting the situations brought upon you by the cards as if it were an RPG or a really good story.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:36 am

Hep, your comment that you disliked Labyrinth but love Andean Abyss makes me consider Cuba Libre strongly. The one reason I did not grab Andean Abyss or P500 Cuba Libre was that I hated Labyrinth for being overly complicated, convoluted, and ultimately boring.

My parents came over for the long weekend, so I got to play several games with my dad. We played the Lords of Waterdeep expansion modules (separately but not together) and we like them both. LoW is one of my favorite "grab and play" games and I really enjoy it every time I play it. It is likely the most played game I own, and the expansion just made it feel so much better. Very little in the way of mechanical changes or additions (with the exception of the excellent Corruption system) but the new cards are just so cool! The Undermountain cards are kind of crazy, which is appropriate and the Skullport cards are all about short-term gain for long-term price and mitigating the huge point hit you will get for grabbing too many blue skill candies... errr... corruption.

Dad and I also played the ranged tutorial for DoA II. We had fun, but I'm not sure that I fully grasp the LOS or OpFire rules. I need to pour over the living rulebook and see the new examples.

Lastly, we played a nice game of Merchant of Venus (FFG standard version). We love that game and each time I play it I have a good time (even if I am mentally exhausted at the end). I would love to play it with more than 2 players, and I plan on pulling it out in my next game day. I was considering a switch to the Classic ruleset, because they seem much more streamlined, easy to remember, and elegant. I will miss the missions and the racial techs, but I wonder if those things add too much fiddly stuff to what should be a more subtle style (I am also not real keen on the market fluctuations in the standard FFG rules).

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:18 am

Got in a great small game of Sergeants Miniatures game last night. Simple scenario, we each had a 5 man squad, and my orders were to take one of the landmarks on the board. Unfortunately there were only two landmarks, a farmhouse, with all five Germans deployed and in cover, and a crossroads right next to the farmhouse with absolutely no cover. So I opted to NOT stand in the middle of the field and have Tommy's German's shoot holes in me and instead make my way across the board, avoiding the roads when I could and sticking to the trees. Tommy was extremely accurate during the early part of the game, taking out one of my soldiers in the second round of play, and pinning several others. Once pinned, my progress slowed to a crawl, and I could just never get the rally results I was looking for.

However, luck soon turned my direction, and I managed to take out one of his soldiers, then another. He was down to 3, but still had better hands of cards and better position. And this was really the turning point, because we were using some new special "team" cards, and taking out those soldiers left him with several useless cards in his hand, and for a stretch of 3 turns, he was unable to fulfill orders, and that left with initiative which I took brutal advantage of. It ended up a bloody affair, with me taking out his last soldier with while still having 2 left (and one wounded at that.) I took both landmarks for a decisive American victory.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:48 am

hepcat wrote:
Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain (two other entries in the COIN series) are shipping now, so hopefully I'll be playing those by the end of the month. I can't wait to see how the designer has advanced the mechanics if he continues to improve upon his ideas.

Looking forward to your impressions of A Distant Plain. I'm always on the lookout for a good solitaire system since opponents are hard to come by and I like the political variables that are in play in the game. Fire In The Lake which takes place in Vietnam has also sparked my interest and I see on their website it exceeded their P500 threshold. So many games...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:30 am

Seppe is actually getting A Distant Plain and I'm getting Cuba Libre. We just put them on the same order as they're being released simultaneously and to save shipping. I'm certain I'll be playing it, though.

All the COIN games share essentially the same game mechanic so if you've played one, you have a good idea of how the rest will play. Andean Abyss is a great solo game...but it's a LOOONNNGGG solo game. You have to use a flowchart for all the non-player actions so the referencing chews up a lot of time. Still, if you don't mind leaving a game on the dining room table for a week while you play here and there, it's a fantastic game. Cuba Libre is supposed to play in a much shorter time frame though. That's why I jumped on that one.

I also put in a P500 order for another gmt solo game called Navajo Wars. That looks to be a fantastic solo CDG.

Seppe · Post by **Seppe** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:08 pm

I have played a couple games of Thunderbolt/Apache. It is a solitaire game in the same line as Hornet Leader. You choose (randomly or not) a conflict (real or fictional) and the situation (surge, overrun, etc). Depending on what was chosen you get a certain amount of point to spend on aircraft (various depending on the year of the conflict) and pilots and their skill level. You need to leave a couple points left over to spend on weapons and scouts.

It is played over a series of days. Each day you decide how many missions you will send and who/what you will send. You create the map and place the enemy battalion you are attacking, and then place you aircraft. Then you execute the mission over a series of turns attacking enemy units, being attacked, deciding on which weapons and how many to use against each target, etc. It is a very good game, lots of 'interesting decisions' and tension. For instance using the 1000# laser guided bomb which needs a 0+ to hit (so auto-hit) requires you to fly at high altitude which means more enemy can shoot at you and you draw an extra chit each turn to see if more enemy show up; going against a building is -4 to hit so that 0+ can be very useful. I mention that specificaly because on my first game i spent 3 turns trying to destroy a command building with an A-10 thunderbolt and couldn't do it.

Over the days your pilots suffer stress, gain XP, or maybe get killed; your aircraft gets damaged or destroyed; you only gain a few resources each day to spend on repair and fancy weapons. Overall, it can be tense and even stressful if you start to care about Grandpa, Pirate,or that you are sending out a Cobra attack helicopter with damaged display, rotor and pylon and one hit will destroy it but you really need those 2 hellfire missiles (4+) (or if you don't have the resources, 2 old TOW missiles (7+)) to help take out that assault battalion that can reach your airbase next turn, if they move. That isn't even the tactical decisions of moving and targeting with your aircraft.

So far i am 1-1 with the game. i lost the intro scenario because of that darn building but was able to hold out an overrun scenario in Libya in the 80's. The only negative is that there are a lot of chits and a lot of setup. I load up a A-10 with 2 maverick AGM chits, 1 ecm chit, 1 sidewinder missile chit, 1 fuel tank chit, 2 cluster bomb chits, 2 GBU-16 chits, & 2 mk.82 dumb bombs. That is before the mission even starts. But still i cant wait to play it again this weekend.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:17 pm

hepcat wrote:Seppe is actually getting A Distant Plain and I'm getting Cuba Libre. We just put them on the same order as they're being released simultaneously and to save shipping. I'm certain I'll be playing it, though.

All the COIN games share essentially the same game mechanic so if you've played one, you have a good idea of how the rest will play. Andean Abyss is a great solo game...but it's a LOOONNNGGG solo game. You have to use a flowchart for all the non-player actions so the referencing chews up a lot of time. Still, if you don't mind leaving a game on the dining room table for a week while you play here and there, it's a fantastic game. Cuba Libre is supposed to play in a much shorter time frame though. That's why I jumped on that one.

I also put in a P500 order for another gmt solo game called Navajo Wars. That looks to be a fantastic solo CDG.

I'm reading the session thread on the Navajo Wars game and it does look pretty cool and for me off the beaten path since the games I have take place in WW2, hypothetical modern day warfare or a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:44 pm

New games for me:

Bruges: Yet Another Stefan Feld game. (YASFG). I’ve yet to play a bad game designed by him, and 3 of his games are in my personal top 25, with Trajan holding the 9# spot or so, and Castles of Burgundy and Macao in the lower teens. Bruges is essentially a card game, with a bit of a mix of his game Macao mixed in. I need to play it again soon, but it was good.

Forbidden Desert: If you like Forbidden Island, but think it’s too light, then Forbidden Desert, the sequel, is the game for you. I think it’s better than Island, and, while the scope is not as grand as Leacock’s big game Pandemic, I like that FD can be played in less than an hour. The components are great, and the ship, with the moving propeller and solid metal, removable engine is super cool.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:48 pm

Damn it, I wish I'd picked up that other cheap copy of Apache Thunderbolt at Gencon now.

Played 3 straight games of Robinson Crusoe last night. I'm determined to win the first scenario with only one survivor. But man, it's tough. Just when I think I've got a leg up, the game hits me with a storm, or wipes out my food stores.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:53 pm

hepcat wrote:Played 3 straight games of Robinson Crusoe last night. I'm determined to win the first scenario with only one survivor. But man, it's tough. Just when I think I've got a leg up, the game hits me with a storm, or wipes out my food stores.

I've played Robinson Crusoe once, and from what i can tell, it's the "game where nothing good happens." Ever. It's rough. I need to play it more, but I did enjoy it quite a bit.

And hep, your man Michael Barnes reviewed Pathfinder here and said RC now has competition for his game of the year. Just sayin'.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:38 pm

Seppe wrote:I have played a couple games of Thunderbolt/Apache. It is a solitaire game in the same line as Hornet Leader. You choose (randomly or not) a conflict (real or fictional) and the situation (surge, overrun, etc). Depending on what was chosen you get a certain amount of point to spend on aircraft (various depending on the year of the conflict) and pilots and their skill level. You need to leave a couple points left over to spend on weapons and scouts.

I just got my copy of Hornet Leader: The Cthulhu Conflict expansion from DVG yesterday (which, due to medical reasons was a shitty shitty day other than that). Since I have some medical leave ATM, I may fire it up tomorrow and test out the new rules for insanity, the new "bogies" (Mi-Go, Shan, Shantaks) and the new sites (which include iconic Cthulhu Mythos creatures, such as Chaugner Faign). The production value seems very high, which is nice.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:38 pm

SpaceLord wrote: And hep, your man Michael Barnes reviewed Pathfinder here and said RC now has competition for his game of the year. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I saw that. I originally had only a cursory interest in the Pathfinder game as I was worried it would be just another deck builder...and God knows, I've just about had my fill of that genre. But after reading Barnes' take on it, I now must have it. It's in my order from Coolstuffinc though. It's just being held up by Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain.

baelthazar wrote: I just got my copy of Hornet Leader: The Cthulhu Conflict expansion from DVG yesterday

That was the only reason I didn't grab Apache Thunderbolt when it was on sale at that great price at the con. I was holding out for the remaining copy of Hornet Leader so I could then add in the Cthulhu expansion. Unfortunately, someone else must have had a similar thought and snatched it up before I had a chance to the moment it dropped to 35 bucks.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:40 pm

hepcat wrote:Yeah, I saw that. I originally had only a cursory interest in the Pathfinder game as I was worried it would be just another deck builder...and God knows, I've just about had my fill of that genre. But after reading Barnes' take on it, I now must have it. It's in my order from Coolstuffinc though. It's just being held up by Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain.

It's not primarily deckbuilder. About as much a deckbuilder as Mage Knight. I want to have Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain, but I *love* Andean Abyss, and have played just 2 full multiplayer games since getting it late last year. Ugh.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:44 pm

I got a chance to play it last Saturday night with hentzau and zarathud, and I read Barnes' review, so I was quickly disabused of my prior notion that it was just another deck builder. unfortunately, both of those things happened after Gencon, where I could have picked it up a little cheaper.

Ah well, patience is a virtue they say. I'll have it in a few weeks.

SpaceLord wrote: I've played Robinson Crusoe once, and from what i can tell, it's the "game where nothing good happens." Ever. It's rough. I need to play it more, but I did enjoy it quite a bit.

In two of yesterday's games, I was able to pull some treasure that greatly helped me. That and the discovery tokens you get from exploring that usually give you something good will often help lessen the blow from the threat events. So I don't think it's unbalanced in that everything that happens is negative.

As soon as I see The Cellar appear in a game, that's the first thing I go for. Having food that doesn't rot during the night phase is huge.

One thing I'm trying to do more in my solo games is the gather resources action. I've read that that action and exploring are crucial to winning solo games.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:16 pm

baelthazar wrote:
Seppe wrote:I have played a couple games of Thunderbolt/Apache. It is a solitaire game in the same line as Hornet Leader. You choose (randomly or not) a conflict (real or fictional) and the situation (surge, overrun, etc). Depending on what was chosen you get a certain amount of point to spend on aircraft (various depending on the year of the conflict) and pilots and their skill level. You need to leave a couple points left over to spend on weapons and scouts.
I just got my copy of Hornet Leader: The Cthulhu Conflict expansion from DVG yesterday (which, due to medical reasons was a shitty shitty day other than that). Since I have some medical leave ATM, I may fire it up tomorrow and test out the new rules for insanity, the new "bogies" (Mi-Go, Shan, Shantaks) and the new sites (which include iconic Cthulhu Mythos creatures, such as Chaugner Faign). The production value seems very high, which is nice.

I'm waiting for my copy of the Cthulhu expansion to arrive. Looking forward to using the nuke...not that it would do anything of worth against they who should not be named of course.

On a related Dan Versen gaming note, I've pre-ordered the next game in the Leader series: Huey Leader

Being a big fan of the Thunderbolt/Apache and Hornet Leader how could I resist this game with all these fun things going on (from DVG website):

Huey Leader puts you in the cockpits of the Vietnam War’s best Close Air Support aircraft. In Huey Leader, fly search and destroy missions to attack enemy troops, fly missions to deploy US ground troops into hostile Landing Zones and then provide Close Air Support to help the troops complete their mission, and even fly resupply missions to keep US Forward Bases supplied.

Huey Leader is based on our popular Thunderbolt-Apache Leader game system. If you've played TAL, you'll be up and flying missions against the Vietcong in minutes.

The game places you in command of the pilots and aircraft of a squadron of U.S. Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft.

A major part of the game is mission planning. You decide how to arm your aircraft and which pilots are best for the mission. Pilots are rated for skill level. Deciding which pilots to fly each mission is a major consideration. Your pilots will become fatigued with every mission. If you fly a pilot too often, his skills will degrade. Your pilots also gain experience with every mission flown. This makes for some great decision-making. Should you keep flying the top pilots and further fatigue them to get the job done, or fly the new guys to prep them for the tough missions ahead?

Missions are quickly resolved using an area movement system to display tactical combat over the target. Speed and realism take top priority in this game. Terrain cards randomly generate each battlefield. The cards include mountain ranges that block lines of sight from both you and the enemy forces. If you plan it right, you get to fly nap of the earth through the canyons and come screaming over the ridgeline to rain fire down on the enemy before they can react. Beware! During each battle enemy air defenses will pop-up on the map to ruin your day, so watch were you’re flying!

You get to resolve every shot taken at you by enemy AAA, and every air to ground attack you make against the enemy targets. Each enemy tank, APC, Infantry Squad, Machinegun Nest, etc is represented by its own counter on the battlefield.

While performing each mission, you get to decide how your pilots engage the enemy Vehicles, Troops, and AAA Sites. This makes for some tough choices. Do you hit the high value targets first, or take out the enemy AAA assets first?

Your aircraft are usually able to survive more than one attack. These aircraft are rugged and made to soak-up damage. This also factors into your decision-making. How long should you loiter over the target blowing-up enemy targets before heading for home? If your aircraft is too shot-up, it may not be able to fly for days.

Huey Leader features an operation combat sheet that tracks the progress of enemy formations attempting to overrun your sector. You get to select the formation you want to engage each day and assign the air assets you think are best suited to the task.

We’ve included the cards for every pilot to progress in experience from Newbie, to Green, Average, Skilled, Veteran, and Ace!

Key Design Features:
An all-around excellent solitaire game.
Manage your pilots as well as your hardware to be a successful squadron commander.
Intuitive, fast-playing game system.

Huey Leader includes the following aircraft:
UH-1 Iroquois
CH-47 Chinook
AH-1 Cobra
OH-6 Cayuse
A-1 Skyraider
AC-47 Spooky

Component List:
165 Full Color Cards
2 Full Color Counter Sheets (352 counters)
3 Full Color Counter Sheets with Terrain Hexes (18 counters)
22” x 17” Full Color Tactical Sheet
1 Full Color Air Base Sheet
1 Full Color Player Log Sheet

Scheduled Campaign List:
Westmoreland's War 1/1965
Operation Hump 10/1965
Khe Sanh 1/1968
Tet Offensive 1/1968
Easter Offensive 3/1972
And more!

Close air support missions! Troop deployment! What's not to like?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:19 pm

$iljanus wrote: On a related Dan Versen gaming note, I've pre-ordered the next game in the Leader series: Huey Lewis

That's an odd choice for a game's subject. How's that work?

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:27 pm

hepcat wrote:In two of yesterday's games, I was able to pull some treasure that greatly helped me. That and the discovery tokens you get from exploring that usually give you something good will often help lessen the blow from the threat events. So I don't think it's unbalanced in that everything that happens is negative.

As soon as I see The Cellar appear in a game, that's the first thing I go for. Having food that doesn't rot during the night phase is huge.

One thing I'm trying to do more in my solo games is the gather resources action. I've read that that action and exploring are crucial to winning solo games.

This was exactly what helped me win my first solo game. Exploring in the second turn gave me three discovery tokens, one of which was treasure, which turned out to be...a hatchet. +1 wood every turn, which was huge. I also had the cellar (all food becomes non-perishable) and the basket (+1 resource when gathering) available as inventions, which I built as soon as able. Those combined with a couple of successful hunts and an early focus on shelter let me spend the second half of the game focusing on surviving, with an occasional forage out for more food or wood. I was able to stack the last of my wood on Turn 10 for the win.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:28 pm

hepcat wrote:
$iljanus wrote: On a related Dan Versen gaming note, I've pre-ordered the next game in the Leader series: [url=h
http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/" target="_blank]Huey Lewis[/url]
That's an odd choice for a game's subject. How's that work?

You play the leader of a band trying to make it big in the 80s, trying to use the new medium of "music videos" to land the big record contract. Beware the "drug and too much partying card" which will add to your stress. The campaign takes place in the 80s but look for the upcoming expansion where you try and make a comeback in the 21st century to an aging nostalgic yet has disposable income audience along with trying to be relevant to the younger crowd. Fight your way from small fairground venues to larger clubs and perhaps a supertour with groups Crowded House and The Outfield.