Octopus Overlords

Tiny Epic Zombies looked like it would be a mess, which is why I skipped it.

hepcat wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:12 pm If Mage Knight and Mistfall have taught me anything, it’s that I’m a sucker for puzzles in my games.

Have I introduced you to Legends of Andor?

I actually own the English first edition. I've played it a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

RMC wrote: Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:04 am Looks like Western Legend will be here on Thursday for me. Of course, we are bringing up a hospital in early October, so I have no time to do anything, so it will sit unopened for a while on my gaming table.

So this was actually shown on South Park this week. The kids were playing it. I guess Trey and Matt are big boardgame fans, but I didn’t think they’d show something like that.

I played my first game of Western Legends tonight. Honestly, it fell a bit flat with the group. Four players, two of us went Marshal, one went Wanted, and the 4th didn’t bother to pursue either track. He ultimately won by doing nothing but gold nugget runs with his donkey.

The real problem I see is that it is just too easy to get money and there isn’t that much to spend it on. Also, the ease of getting money means there isn’t much incentive to actually rob or interact with other players. If money were hard to come by robbing other people would make more sense but as it is we all were sitting at our cap for most of the game. I spent the game mostly doing Cattle runs and I still had more money than I knew what to do with.

I would give the game another shot but none of us left super eager to play again.

My copies of the new editions of Greenland and Neanderthal just shipped. Along with my copy of Phil's latest game, Emancipation. Can't wait!

I now have a shiny new copy of Endeavor. To sit next to the well worn one.

Oooh...this weekend?

Hoping mine arrives soon. I've enjoyed playing it before but not enough to seek it out. But then it was so blinged out I couldn't help it.

Endeavor was waiting for me at home. I have to say that is by far the most impressive insert ever. Blown away. I knew it was coming (it was all over the Kickstarter) and it still exceeded expectations. Good thing the game is good too because that insert is so beautiful I'll never get rid of the game.

A couple I've got my eye on:

Cloudspire - new game from Chip Theory (Too Many Bones, Hoplomachus) starts tomorrow 10/16/18.

Street Masters expansion starts 10/23/18, but will also include reprint bundles of the core game for those who didn't get it the first time around.

Yeah, I"m tempted by Cloudspire as well. It looks great, but I know it's going to be pricey. Plus, they'll probably have a 2nd edition by next Gencon. I may just pick it up then.

That's a good thought, hep. I'm already locked in for GenCon 2019, so that would be an excellent opportunity to just grab it in person. Plus by that time we'll have a better idea how it plays.

I feel like I'm setting myself up for failure, but I can't help but remain interested in Level 7: Omega Protocol.

It's basically a sci-fi dungeon crawl with a campaign, randomized mission elements and RPG leveling/stats for the soldiers. Why is it trouble? Because it's not something you can solo as it requires one player to run the aliens and at least one to run the marines. Think of it like Descent, but XCOM.

Anyway, it's been out of print for a few years and copies have been hard to come by. I don't know if I'm thinking maybe *this* will be the dungeon-crawler like game I will finally like or that I'll somehow run an entire game against myself, but dammit KS, I can't quit you!

Also, another game that went out of print has returned to KS as part of a 10 year anniversary celebration - Ancient Terrible Things. I found it years ago and have played a few times solo. It's not a crazy difficult game, but I really liked the art and theme. I'd been looking for the expansion for years now, so at least now I can finally complete the collection there.

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:11 pm I feel like I'm setting myself up for failure, but I can't help but remain interested in Level 7: Omega Protocol.

I played it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. I never picked it up because I am not sure I really have anyone to play it with and now with Batman: Gotham City Chronicles coming, I think it might be redundant.

YellowKing wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:13 am A couple I've got my eye on:

Cloudspire - new game from Chip Theory (Too Many Bones, Hoplomachus) starts tomorrow 10/16/18.

Street Masters expansion starts 10/23/18, but will also include reprint bundles of the core game for those who didn't get it the first time around.

I've been so good about not buying many new games this year, but Cloudspire will be tough for me to resist. I quite like Hoplo, and Too Many Bones is probably my favorite game--especially with the extra goodies from Undertow and this year's other expansions. But money is tight, so it's tough to rationalize grabbing it during the Kickstarter. Sigh.

coopasonic wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:33 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:11 pm I feel like I'm setting myself up for failure, but I can't help but remain interested in Level 7: Omega Protocol.

I played it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. I never picked it up because I am not sure I really have anyone to play it with and now with Batman: Gotham City Chronicles coming, I think it might be redundant.

I owned it, but sold it at Gencon one year. If you’re going into it for a dungeon crawl, I think you’ll be disappointed to be honest.

It seemed like it was closer to a tactical miniatures game in a dungeon sci-fi setting. I guess I described it as a crawl because of the module tiles, not the game play style.

Fishbelly wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:32 pm But money is tight, so it's tough to rationalize grabbing it during the Kickstarter. Sigh.

Sorry for being an enabler, but they did announce a few hours ago that the KS backing price will be $100, saving you $30 off MSRP. The $100 gets you the game and all the unlocked stretch goals. Shipping TBD.

100 dollars gets you the base game and some stretch goals. 150 smackers gets you the base game, an expansion and a 5th faction. Shipping will probably run between 20 to 40 dollars, depending on what you're buying. For me, it's going to be cheaper to just pick this up at Gencon (should the reviews prove good). I know that's not a solution for many though. I will say that this last kickstarter proved frustrating for many after they tried to fulfill shipping in house...and ended up taking more than a month to finish it. I'm hoping they learned from that experience though.

Thanks to the supurb writeup by Smoove, I'm eagerly waiting to throw my money at the next shiny KS, Street Masters.

I have a feeling shipping logistics (and charges) are going to be a huge unknown factor for all KS projects moving forward, particularly those with deliveries already pending in 2019. I think I've had two KS projects send out updates saying their shipping charges were now 2x the estimate. I don't remember if that was EU related shipping or all, but I think that shoe is about to drop.

$iljanus wrote: Tue Oct 16, 2018 11:44 am Thanks to the supurb writeup by Smoove, I'm eagerly waiting to throw my money at the next shiny KS, Street Masters.

I can't stand the theme and I'm still interested, damn it.

For reference, I was completely ambivalent towards the theme (even though I liked playing the video games it was based on) and didn't think it would work as board game. I was so wrong - it works fantastic and I'm still astounded at how well it's balanced and how different the fighters feel. I think the only problem is that it doesn't scale well above 2 players (not in difficultly, but in turn length), though from what I understand they've created a workaround for that to speed things up. But as a solo or 2 player game? It's ridiculous fun - particularly if you like insane card combos.

i should do another solo write up for this weekend. I've played three characters now and have a good idea of how different they are. Haven't even touched the expansion characters, tried playing as the enemies or used campaign/story mode.

Well, today was expensive.

Cloudspire

Tidal Blades

Wow, Tidal Blades looks gorgeous. I'll have to keep an eye on that if it goes retail.

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:06 pm

Fishbelly wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:32 pm But money is tight, so it's tough to rationalize grabbing it during the Kickstarter. Sigh.

Sorry for being an enabler, but they did announce a few hours ago that the KS backing price will be $100, saving you $30 off MSRP. The $100 gets you the game and all the unlocked stretch goals. Shipping TBD.

Yeah, I saw that. But I know me--if I do bite on the KS, I will get the expansion and extra faction. I certainly have time to think about it. If I have to wait until pre-orders I will survive. I'll bitch and moan, but I'll survive.

Same here - Spirit Island + Belfort

Tidal Blades is tempting. Cloudspire might be interesting, but I'm not sold yet.

I'll most likely get Cloudspire when we hit Gencon 2019. So prepare to mule for me.

Street Masters announced their Street Masters Tier for newcomers to the game, and it's a sweet deal:

For $109 you get:

- Street Masters core box
- KS exclusive Legend of Oni expansion
- All stretch goals from original KS campaign
- All stretch goals from Aftershock KS campaign

Definitely jumping on this.

And only 94 new minis to paint!

A few days ago I heard about Inhuman Conditions at almost the last minute of its Kickstarter. (It should be possible to get a copy eventually some other way.)

Essentially the game is a two-person, five-minute Voight-Kampff test in which the investigator player must determine whether the other player is a human or a replicant robot. The second player (especially if a robot) must follow certain conversational constraints in order not to be discovered, making the whole thing a game of verbal cat-and-mouse. A slew of cards and options helps determine these constraints.

It's from the makers of Secret Hitler, and like that game there's a print-and-play version you can access right now. I imagine that (like SH) the final production version will be pretty impressive.

Inhuman Conditions is a five-minute, two-player game of surreal interrogation and conversational judo, set in the heart of a chilling bureaucracy.

Each game has one Investigator and one Suspect. Armed only with two stamps and a topic of conversation, the Investigator must figure out whether the Suspect is a Human or a Robot.

Robots must answer the Investigator's questions without arousing suspicion, but are hampered by some specific malfunction in their ability to converse. They must be clever, guiding the conversation in subtle ways without getting caught.

Humans may speak freely, but may find this freedom as much curse as gift. There are no right or wrong answers, only suspicious and innocuous ones, and one slip of the tongue could land Humans and Robots alike in the Bureau's Invasive Confirmation Unit. There, alongside Investigators who make improper determinations, they will await further testing ...

And another interesting prospect this week: Barrage . It will probably be silly and completely unnecessary but I went all in on the 3D game board.

And the Street Masters Aftershock KS has launched. As mentioned above, for the price of $109 you can get the original game with its own expansion and original KS stretch goals. But for $209 you get the base game, the Aftershock expansion which has a huge box to put everything in, a shitload of other things.

Dammit, that $209 pledge level looks mighty tempting. And I'm a big fan of boxes to put stuff in...

I'm all over that KS. I promise this weekend I'll get another solo game in and document the fight for the solo thread. It's so much damn fun!

The premise behind Aftershock is just the kind of silliness I like. And since you can’t play Aftershock without the base game I think there’s a big purchase in my future. But you’re getting a lot of stuff at the $209 lev. Heck, the $109 level for the base game comes with a lot of extras as well and if I weren’t such a completist I’d be happy just getting the base game.

There really is value at the $109 level for the core set (what I have). The problem is that 30 minutes after you finish your first game and realize all the other content you could be playing (if you owned it), you're going to go bonkers. If you're a completionist, yeah you're going to drop some coin. However, if you just get the $109 core game bundle reprint, that's still a ridiculous amount of fun.

The only bad thing is that they're saying this entire KS will be printed and shipped at once. They've suggested October 2019 as fulfillment, but my guess (based on the 5 month ahead of schedule that Brook City has right now) is that this will actually ship right before GenCon 2019. I don't think they'll advertise it, but my guess is that they want to show up there with copies in hand.

If you have spent any time playing games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Double Dragon and/or enjoyed various cheesy (and some legit) martial arts movies, the game absolutely captures the feel all around.

Yeah as much as I want all in on this (and had planned on it), we just have too many unexpected expenses this month. We're getting a new roof due to the hurricane, had some unexpected medical stuff come up, etc. Nothing devastating, just a bunch of things that prohibit dropping $200 on a game I won't see for another year.

I'll hope for a base game at GenCon, and if not then I'll shoot for a copy after the KS ships. It's not like I don't have more than enough to play at the moment.

Lordnine wrote:And another interesting prospect this week: Barrage . It will probably be silly and completely unnecessary but I went all in on the 3D game board.

Looks cool. I'm currently backing it but... Will likely cancel if the metal coins aren't unlocked and they don't fix the 3 box thing. No Euro should need 3 boxes that's absurd. Game looks cool though.

Chrisoc13 wrote: Wed Oct 24, 2018 7:21 am

Lordnine wrote:And another interesting prospect this week: Barrage . It will probably be silly and completely unnecessary but I went all in on the 3D game board.

Looks cool. I'm currently backing it but... Will likely cancel if the metal coins aren't unlocked and they don't fix the 3 box thing. No Euro should need 3 boxes that's absurd. Game looks cool though.

I seem to be in the minority for being OK with 3 boxes. If I am only going to play the game at home, one large box is great but If I am carrying it elsewhere, I probably don’t need all of the expansion content and would prefer to just carry a single smaller box. Also, it looks like one set of metal coins are already unlocked. Odd that they would be separate goals.