OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

[EzeKieL]

Didn't play anything meaningful but I'm going to CMON EXPO in Bangkok 2-3/11. It's basically the only CON I can visit . We did a podcast preview:

Spoiler:

[Punisher]

I've been wondering why they haven't announced a Star Wars/Trek version of Zombicide.
Maybe now that DC Zombicide is well on it's production way.
Either would work but Star Wars has old lore that would fit as well as newer lore via Asoka. I do prefer the older version.
Let me know if you see anything similar from them. As well as any other new CMON stuff coming.

[baelthazar]

I mistakenly purchased the Beasts of Enveron expansion for Maladum, which apparently is included in the Kickstarter version...which I stupidly didn't check before going to the game store today.

If anyone has the retail copy of Maladum and wants a free copy of this, just pay for shipping and it's yours. I did open it and punch out some tokens before realizing my mistake, so I'm not going to try and return it to the store.

PM me if you want it.

I preordered the Ale & Adventure expansion and had to quickly cancel when I got the base KS game and realized it was already in that as well. It is pretty confusing exactly what is in each box type.

[EzeKieL]

I've been wondering why they haven't announced a Star Wars/Trek version of Zombicide.
Maybe now that DC Zombicide is well on it's production way.
Either would work but Star Wars has old lore that would fit as well as newer lore via Asoka. I do prefer the older version.
Let me know if you see anything similar from them. As well as any other new CMON stuff coming.

They didn't reveal anything too crazy to be honest.
- A new version of Ethnos
- New Massive Darkness
- New Cthulhu Death May Die, this time with Godzilla
- Marvel Invasion of which they couldn't say much except 'Skrulls!!'
- The new and revamped Super Fantasy Brawl

Here are the videos I took:
(I don't know why but the first 2 'live streamed videos' refuse to be embedded and are just a link.)

Spoiler:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Atnr9kmKjl4

https://www.youtube.com/live/AU2rHNGaX-w

[hentzau]

Played a lot of Pulp Alley at RockCon this weekend. I ran three games and capped it off with a Gunfighters Ball nightcap.

[Punisher]

I've been wondering why they haven't announced a Star Wars/Trek version of Zombicide.
Maybe now that DC Zombicide is well on it's production way.
Either would work but Star Wars has old lore that would fit as well as newer lore via Asoka. I do prefer the older version.
Let me know if you see anything similar from them. As well as any other new CMON stuff coming.

They didn't reveal anything too crazy to be honest.
- A new version of Ethnos
- New Massive Darkness
- New Cthulhu Death May Die, this time with Godzilla
- Marvel Invasion of which they couldn't say much except 'Skrulls!!'
- The new and revamped Super Fantasy Brawl

Here are the videos I took:
(I don't know why but the first 2 'live streamed videos' refuse to be embedded and are just a link.)

Spoiler:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Atnr9kmKjl4

https://www.youtube.com/live/AU2rHNGaX-w

Thanks!
Not a big Cthulu fan but damn, I want tgat Godzilla!

[hepcat]

I love both, but I don't want Godzilla in my Cthulhu.

[AWS260]

Godzilla in my Cthulhu.

I'm sure there's fanfic for that specific scenario.

[hepcat]

Not with all the time I spend on my Bea Arthur and Paste Pot Pete fiction blog.

[EzeKieL]

My CMON EXPO Vlog is up

Spoiler:

[Isgrimnur]

Anything I should try out and report back on for you cardboard addicts?

[AWS260]

All of them, please.

[Isgrimnur]

I can't get drunk enough to stand in that whirlwind for that long.

[Smoove_B]

I've heard good things about LotR Duel, but the others...are probably not games in my wheelhouse.

[Zarathud]

Arcs, Rebirth, lord of the Ring.

[wonderpug]

Anything I should try out and report back on for you cardboard addicts?

I'd personally be most drawn to trying out Arcs and SETI. I should have a chance to try Arcs within the next few weeks, and SETI buzz has been making me curious.

I've played LOTR: Duel three times so far and I really like it. Feels like an improvement to 7 Wonders: Duel that has more tangible win conditions.

I also really enjoyed Rock Hard: 1977. It's a lighter worker placement game, so the reduced complexity might make it too simple for experienced gamers, but I loved how well the theme came through in the gameplay.

[Fardaza]

I played my brand new copy of Dungeons of Infinity this weekend. I got in 3 one-off scenarios. Here are my thoughts.

(Copied from the Kickstarter thread)

After my first few turns, I have to say that Dungeons of Infinity is oddly frustrating.

There's something fun there. And the number of different ways you can play it is fantastic. But it just seems like the designer tried to balance it with some arbitrary rules that are just not intuitive. That's something that bugs me in games.

...
So...yeah...I like the exploration, I like the character choices, I like the various ways to play the game, but I'm not sold yet on the basic mechanics of the game. It just feels half baked at this point.

I really like the basics of the game. However, the rulebook is my biggest complaint. It's really hard to find what you're looking for. The player aid is also poorly put together. Trying to find a rule for something you remember reading before is a real chore.

I love the slowly expanding dungeon with its various possibilities. The sun-dropped minis from the deluxe edition are very well done. For a game with so many possibilities, it doesn't seem overly fiddly like a Gloomhaven does.

There's one other major thing that is bugging me. The designer says that he usually plays one-off scenarios. But, the one-shots don't give you enough time to level up and use all the better gear cards. The 3 scenarios I've played so far ended up with essentially the same equipment. I have yet to make it to level 2 in a game. It almost makes the experience points you earn for doing things irrelevant because you never get enough of them to level up before the scenario is over. I know there's plenty of time for that in the mini-campaigns, but I like the playing time of the scenarios.

Putting these complaints aside. The game is growing on me, and I hope these learning curve problems go away soon. I'm also looking into chaining scenarios together with the same heroes to make leveling something to actually achieve like in an ongoing D&D campaign.

[AWS260]

I played a wild game of Lords of Waterdeep over the weekend. Which is a crazy thing to say about Lords of Waterdeep, since it's such a straightforward worker placement game. We discovered that with five people and the Skullport expansion, things can get awfully tense.

Crucially, the Skullport expansion introduces corruption, which gives negative points if you have it at the end of the game. The more corruption, the more negative points. And if there are no corruption tokens left when you have to take one, you instantly lose 10 points.

In our game, players were taking corruption like it was candy, because that's the price of the most powerful action spaces. By mid-game, the corruption supply was nearly empty, so suddenly no one wanted to go to those powerful action spaces. But with five players, it was inevitable that some workers would have to go there.

The Waterdeep Harbor space is normally coveted, because it lets you re-place that worker on an available space once everyone else has gone. But with the corruption supply empty, placing last is a liability, since you'll almost certainly have to go to a space that forces you to take it.

It was unlike any game of Lords of Waterdeep that I've played before. Lots of tension and very fun. At the end, I was winning - until we had to subtract points for corruption. I came in next-to-last.

[hepcat]

The game is growing on me, and I hope these learning curve problems go away soon. I'm also looking into chaining scenarios together with the same heroes to make leveling something to actually achieve like in an ongoing D&D campaign.

I tried the second standalone scenario yesterday (Orb Quest) in Dungeons of Infinity... and promptly lost. The game can be punishingly difficult. But I sat back afterwards, read some strategy tips, and I'm going to try again this week armed with new knowledge.

First off: the training room, if found, is your friend. Find it and use it. Especially if the Dungeon Lord hasn't been revealed yet.

Also, remember that even landing a blow without having enough power to damage the enemy results in an XP point.

Retreating is your friend in the early game. Back off and go look for better gear. Then come back and level up in a fight.

I might tackle one of the campaigns this week to, but I feel like i need to spend some time learning the strategies of the game with a standalone scenario or two first.

And yeah, that rulebook needs some work. The player aid is useful though. Have that on standby.

The more I play it, the more I see of Mistfall. And that game could be very difficult to win too. At least until you understood the finer points of combat and exploration. I'm going to try and approach DoI with the same mindset.

[hentzau]

I played a wild game of Lords of Waterdeep over the weekend. Which is a crazy thing to say about Lords of Waterdeep, since it's such a straightforward worker placement game. We discovered that with five people and the Skullport expansion, things can get awfully tense.

Crucially, the Skullport expansion introduces corruption, which gives negative points if you have it at the end of the game. The more corruption, the more negative points. And if there are no corruption tokens left when you have to take one, you instantly lose 10 points.

In our game, players were taking corruption like it was candy, because that's the price of the most powerful action spaces. By mid-game, the corruption supply was nearly empty, so suddenly no one wanted to go to those powerful action spaces. But with five players, it was inevitable that some workers would have to go there.

The Waterdeep Harbor space is normally coveted, because it lets you re-place that worker on an available space once everyone else has gone. But with the corruption supply empty, placing last is a liability, since you'll almost certainly have to go to a space that forces you to take it.

It was unlike any game of Lords of Waterdeep that I've played before. Lots of tension and very fun. At the end, I was winning - until we had to subtract points for corruption. I came in next-to-last.

I still have a deep love for this game. Haven't played it in forever, though.

[Fardaza]

I replayed the Orb Quest in Dungeons of Infinity today. I decided to start the threat meter at 4 heroes instead of 2 which gives an extra 4 spaces. This little bit seems to have helped. It delays the appearance of the dungeon lord by a couple of rounds.

Indulf the paladin and Lona the ranger were my team this time. We won, but I'm still not sure I'm playing everything correctly. The designer posted on BGG that he's going to be gone for a week and won't be able to answer any questions. Can you (Hepcat) answer any of my questions?

1- I read on BGG a couple times but can't find the following (or something like it) rule explained. If my heroes don't take any Lord Event Actions on their board, do I still draw LE cards at the end of the round?

2- If the dungeon lord moves into a space with one of my heroes but doesn't have the combat symbol on the card, does he still attack anyway? If not, can my heroes just walk out of the space?

After my previous post above and adding 4 spaces on the threat meter, I did manage to get both heroes up to level 2. Not a huge difference, but the instant healing came in handy! The ranger also got a killer level 2 card!

[hepcat]

If no dungeon lord cards are drawn at the end of any heroes turn, then the dungeon lord charges during the maintenance phase of rounds end. So you’ll want to try and kite him away if possible. 3 spaces sucks. The designer said he added that rule so stealth build parties don’t just run away with the game by avoiding drawing DL cards.

As for attacking when moving into a tile with a hero, I believe he focuses and attacks even without the combat symbol. But I could be wrong. That’s just how I interpret the rules for DL entering a hero’s tile. Sneak is your friend.

[AWS260]

I just played Age of Steam, the economically punishing rail-building game, using the new Brooklyn map. There are a tons of different maps available for Age of Steam, each of them building on the base game with new geography, rules tweaks, and sometimes an entirely new theme.

The theme of the Brooklyn map is nonsensical: you are building links between neighborhoods in order to demonstrate your mastery of fashion trends. Apparently one of the designers lived in the area for a few years and somehow came away with the impression that Brooklyn is the fashion capital of the world. The four frumpily dressed Brooklynites sitting around the table tonight were evidence to the contrary.

Theme aside, it was great, because Age of Steam is great. The map adds a small-but-important rules tweak, encouraging players to diversify the types of goods they're delivering for big end-game bonuses. Lots of fun.

[Isgrimnur]

Taught Whitehall Mysteries in two games to three people.

Got in a game of Arcs with four. Once we got into it and had a handle on it , it sailed along. I managed a second place finish with some warlord and tyrant scores. The winner got plenty of tycoon points.

[coopasonic]

Taught Whitehall Mysteries in two games to three people.

[Smoove_B]

Managed to play the recommended introductory scenario for League of Dungoneers last week and enjoyed it quite a bit. We'd taken the time to roll up four characters last month and then I painted miniatures for us and the scenario to elevate things a little bit. We also just focused on the rules related to anything we'd need just for this encounter which then largely ignores all the dungeon elements, map crawling, town activities, etc... Basically it was a focused tutorial on combat and it went well. So much so that we're rolling up four more characters and we're going to try it again. The first group was a mix of melee and ranged characters so now we're going to see how a group with more of a mix (Alchemist? Druid?) will feel, plus it will help with the special rules for those characters.

This is the start of the scenario. The party (center) is ambushed in the wilderness as four bandits come in from random sides and close in for combat.



It's an interesting mix between a skirmish miniatures game and an RPG. At first it was a bit frustrating because there are things I expected to be able to do based on my skirmish gaming experiences, but once I started to think of it more like a simplified version it went much better. You do track things (like a stance or being stunned) and there's definitely a bit of puzzling out each round what works best with a random token pull activation for the party and enemies.



So anyway, yeah we enjoyed it. Definitely scratched an itch related to playing an RPG but also some tactical fighting.

[hepcat]

Archinerd brought his copy over to a recent game day and we played the tutorial. I enjoyed it even though Seppe’s friggin’ character hid behind my rogue and used me as a shield for most of it while he used his spear to attack those in front of me.

Also, he didnt have professional voice narration. What’s even worse is he refused to do his amateur narration like Werner Herzog, no matter how much I begged him.

Oh, and I saw no signs of a play mat.

[TheMix]

Oh, and I saw no signs of a play mat.

[hepcat]

The order in which you should purchase your games is:

1) Play mat
2) Game for play mat
3) (optional Zarathud step) Order organizer that costs 3 times what the game did

[Blackhawk]

4) Place on shelf indefinitely

[Smoove_B]

There isn't a play mat, but there is a neoprene world map that you can unfurl like a pirate and then chart a course across the continent...

[Blackhawk]

There isn't a play mat, but there is a neoprene world map that you can unfurl like a pirate and then chart a course across the continent...

Does it have a space to stick a dagger into?

[Zarathud]

Make one. On that note, I did order my organizer for ARCS now my preorder has arrived.

[hepcat]

...I see no mention of a play mat in that reply. If I don't have a clearly marked box on a piece of neoprene telling me where to set my pieces, I'm out. I can't lower my standards. Even for you.

[Zarathud]

I will organize, not set out a table mat for you. If you can’t keep from spilling beer all over the game board, we’re cutting you off.

[Isgrimnur]

The expansion for Arcs apparently is set up to organize everything with the new pieces and has a 3-game storyline component.

[AWS260]

Can confirm, the insert in the Blighted Reach expansion does a solid job of organizing everything (I do not own it, but a friend does). But the expansion is a big commitment: more expensive than the base game, more components, bigger box, longer and more complex.

[hepcat]

The expansion for Arcs apparently is set up to organize everything with the new pieces and has a 3-game storyline component.

I don’t believe zarathud went with that. I am curious about the expansion though. But I heard from a few folks at gencon who had played it that it felt like a different game. That kind of worried me.

[Zarathud]

I only got the base ARCS game plus a card pack. If we’re going to sign up for an extended multi-session game, I want it to be Arydia or Akarios.

[coopasonic]

Bribed my 15yo to play some games with me. He agreed to play 3 games if I bought him Farming Sim 25.
- Lords of Vegas (Reno board from the Americana kickstarter that target 2-3 players). Plays very much like the standard gam's 2 player rules.
- Space Base - he played the most straight forward strategy, always take the VPs and only buy cards that give VPs while I played a slower strategy that almost caught up. He won 42-38.
- Clank - he was tired so he made a run for the first artifact, grabbed it and bailed. I managed to get out with a turn to spare and 2 more points, winning 34-32.