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I'd score a copy of this if I weren't getting so close to receiving Oathsworn. They have 75% fulfillment in the U.S., so mine can't be that far away.coopasonic wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:32 am I played a couple laps of HEAT with just one car to learn the mechanics and that seemed to go pretty well so I played a solo game against 3 legends and man those things fly on the straights. The Italy map has a SUPER long back "straight" where they can use all of their speed and it's not really possible to keep up so you have to rock the turns where they tend to get hung up a bit. I'm looking forward to finding myself some real opponents to abuse until they learn how much you need to take advantage of heat.
I just played the solo starter one lap board with five legends (I guess) on BGA. It took three plays through to understand and win. BGA does not reveal their play mechanics, so I have no idea how they work.coopasonic wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:32 am I played a couple laps of HEAT with just one car to learn the mechanics and that seemed to go pretty well so I played a solo game against 3 legends and man those things fly on the straights. The Italy map has a SUPER long back "straight" where they can use all of their speed and it's not really possible to keep up so you have to rock the turns where they tend to get hung up a bit. I'm looking forward to finding myself some real opponents to abuse until they learn how much you need to take advantage of heat.
Legends are super simple AI. Each round, after you select your gear and cards, you draw a new legends card. Then everyone moves from front to back. You do your normal movement and the legends have three options.LordMortis wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2023 10:56 amI just played the solo starter one lap board with five legends (I guess) on BGA. It took three plays through to understand and win. BGA does not reveal their play mechanics, so I have no idea how they work.coopasonic wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:32 am I played a couple laps of HEAT with just one car to learn the mechanics and that seemed to go pretty well so I played a solo game against 3 legends and man those things fly on the straights. The Italy map has a SUPER long back "straight" where they can use all of their speed and it's not really possible to keep up so you have to rock the turns where they tend to get hung up a bit. I'm looking forward to finding myself some real opponents to abuse until they learn how much you need to take advantage of heat.
Happened to me in Dallas last year. I taught 2 new players how to play Lost Ruins of Arnak. They pounded me, and I didn't even give myself a handicap.coopasonic wrote: Wed Nov 01, 2023 11:00 am Finally got to play HEAT: Pedal to the Medal with other people. I taught them the game and then came in last place. My excuse is that, given my prior understanding of the game I gave myself a handicap, giving myself one less heat which could have made a difference. It took a bit longer with mostly new players, but I had a lot of fun with it. Now I want to play with advanced rules.
I don't know how I missed Earthborne Rangers the first time around. I did see they have a Gamefound preview for a second printing, so I'm following that. It looks like it would be right up my alley.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 30, 2023 11:11 am Managed to get through the prologue of Earthborn Rangers over the weekend and rather enjoyed it. I need to re-read the rules, but the prologue has you actually creating your deck as part of the story. What that means is that you're not really fully able to play the game until you finish that process, so they have you skipping some things and ignoring specific elements if they come up. I didn't hate it in terms of a tutorial, but I think I'm ready to get rolling on the full game.
It has a feel a bit like Arkham Horror LCG in that you're always trying to accomplish something on a story or location card and various things pop up to try and slow or change your plans. That said, it doesn't feel overwhelmingly depressing or difficult like Arkham does, it's actually a bit more casual to play. There's a storybook that comes with this game and when events or locations are unlocked you read passages and possibly make choices. It definitely feels more like an RPG - lots of flavor text in the mechanics and the cards. You really can craft a Ranger that fits a theme or your play style just by following the language they use on card types. I'm not really into the deck building mechanic, but apparently it's as deep as you want to make it. Overall it actually felt a bit relaxing to play, which I wasn't exactly expecting.
Freelancers and Fliptown arrived as well, but I haven't even touched them yet.
I was reading this as I was opening my copy (which came last night). My dice definitely have flakes all on one side, but it isn't a huge issue. The bigger issue is they smell exactly like I poured gasoline into a bag. I am going to lay mine out on a CTG dice tray and put them outside today.Fishbelly wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 11:36 am There's been quite a bit of controversy over the quality of the dice, as well as the quite STRONG smell of the game components, so I was a bit worried when I opened the package. Personally, I am fairly sensitive to strong smells, and I did indeed get a slight headache while opening the game. Too tired to play anyway on a Friday evening, I let the components sit over night. When I sat down to play the next morning, the smell had dissipated almost entirely. (If I hold the dice very close to my nose, I can still catch the slightest hint of a gasoline-like odor, but I do not notice it while playing.)
The dice themselves seemed to be the culprit, which was verified by Ghillie of CTG on their Gamefound page. Apparently dice are usually allowed to sit/air dry for a period of time before packaging--and this was sped up (or skipped entirely) to expedite shipping a delayed product.
That's exactly what I did--left them in my CTG tray over night. Here's hoping the gasoline smell fades as quickly for your dice as is did for mine.baelthazar wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 12:17 pm I was reading this as I was opening my copy (which came last night). My dice definitely have flakes all on one side, but it isn't a huge issue. The bigger issue is they smell exactly like I poured gasoline into a bag. I am going to lay mine out on a CTG dice tray and put them outside today.
The name 'adventure book' and what I've seen are throwing me off. Does this have a narrative element, or is it mostly just background theme? And how is the replayability?YellowKing wrote: Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:47 pm Tried out the latest in Ravensburger's Adventure Book series, Lord of the Rings tonight. This is the third in the series after The Princess Bride and The Wizard of Oz, which were very light but which I still enjoyed.
The adventure book is basically just the premise that the campaign is divided into chapters, and the game boards themselves are in book form. There's no real narrative element - you're basically just playing cooperative mini-games based on different notable scenes from the movies. Technically to "beat" the game you need to finish every chapter without meeting a losing condition (in earlier games this is failing a chapter twice, while in LOTR it's reaching the end of the doom track).Blackhawk wrote:The name 'adventure book' and what I've seen are throwing me off. Does this have a narrative element, or is it mostly just background theme? And how is the replayability?
Mine's apparently been stuck in Atlanta since Wednesday. Ugh. No updates to the tracking, so I don't know if it's lost, being stealth delivered, who knows.Fishbelly wrote:I received my copy of 20 Strong from Chip Theory Games on Friday, and was able to take the game through its paces this weekend.
Thanks. I saw it was only ~$30, and it caught my attention. "Consider it when it's on sale" it is, then.YellowKing wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 2:04 pmThe adventure book is basically just the premise that the campaign is divided into chapters, and the game boards themselves are in book form. There's no real narrative element - you're basically just playing cooperative mini-games based on different notable scenes from the movies. Technically to "beat" the game you need to finish every chapter without meeting a losing condition (in earlier games this is failing a chapter twice, while in LOTR it's reaching the end of the doom track).Blackhawk wrote:The name 'adventure book' and what I've seen are throwing me off. Does this have a narrative element, or is it mostly just background theme? And how is the replayability?
It's certainly replayable in that there's no revealed information or anything. However, I must stress that these are very much light, family-oriented games so whether you'd *want* to replay it multiple times is a valid question. Playing solo I've been pretty much one and done with them, but YMMV if you're playing with kids.
I would like to play these if the opportunity presents itself.coopasonic wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:57 pm Heat: Pedal to the Medal - Second place finish, damn do I waste my heat too often.
Sniper Elite - Close win as the sniper
I've got this and played a few sessions - we actually liked it quite a bit (and yeah, the group included people who haven't played the video game.coopasonic wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:57 pm Deep Rock Galactic - Co-op win on mission 1, not very interesting to me
As I own and enjoy them both, I think that can be arranged.Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:02 pmI would like to play these if the opportunity presents itself.coopasonic wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:57 pm Heat: Pedal to the Medal - Second place finish, damn do I waste my heat too often.
Sniper Elite - Close win as the sniper
The people I was playing with were very familiar with the video game, but the board game seemed pretty simple. We were trying to speed read the rules and learn it as we went which might have hurt us. We were highly amused at one players amazing ability to miss pretty much every shot he took.Blackhawk wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:30 pmI've got this and played a few sessions - we actually liked it quite a bit (and yeah, the group included people who haven't played the video game.coopasonic wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:57 pm Deep Rock Galactic - Co-op win on mission 1, not very interesting to me)