OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:38 pm

Looks like they shipped mine out from Earth City, MO. So that's much closer than Florida. If I hadn't ordered on Thursday evening, I probably would have gotten it in 2 actual days rather than business days.

I might try Boards & Bits with in stock items, but the customer service was a bit "odd." The guy I talked to sounded like a zombie.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:09 am

Just played a CLOSE game of FanG vs. the Mob using 2 heroes. I had enough Fortune to win, but I had to get back to the starting cities. Problem was....the Mob was very close to getting the final artifact that they needed to take the win. I tried to get my one character down to the temple that one of the Mob villains was at, but I wasn't able to make it. That particular Mob villain (the woman mafia villain) searched, but only got 1 success. This kept the game going, as they now had 14 points on the tracker (they only needed 15). The next turn starts, and an event card is drawn and needs to be played immediately. A card that puts 2 Mob thugs into two random cities. The two cities? Paris...and Berlin. Berlin already had one Mobster there, so that bumped up the track to 15, giving the Mafia the win.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:42 pm

my copy of Star Trek: Fleet Captains arrived today. And I gotta say, there is not a problem wtih it. The large pack of cards stayed wrapped, and the ships all look in great shape. Nothing broken, nothing bent or misshapen. So, I am a happy gamer!!

Chris

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:07 pm

It's a fantastically fun game. My complaints about the quality of the components shouldn't deter anyone from buying the game. The minis can be fixed easily enough when (and they will, unfortunately) shed a nacelle or a base, and the cards are easily sleeved if you worry about the thickness/durability (which some folks feel is unwarranted...although I do not share that opinion).

In spite of the issues, it's in our (read: gamers) best interest to support this game. If we don't, we won't see any expansions...and this game cries out for Romulans and others.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:44 pm

GAH!!!!

Drakkenstrike has got me Jonesin' for another game. Want the paranoia of Battlestar Galatica? Like card games? Like Aliens? Don't have 3-4 hours? Here's a card game that seems to capture the feeling of this kind of experience in a quick card game. Looks awesome.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 1:31 am

Got my copy of Star Trek:FC. Man... those are some thin cards. But my ships were perfect and look fairly robust at the moment.

The tiles and cards are certainly poorly produced, but I think the game will be excellent besides.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:35 am

for those of you that have Star Trek: Fleet Captains, I have a question about one of the Klingon cards. The Kor character card. His "captain" ability lets the ship decloak without doing a power adjustment. How, exactly, does this help the ship he is in? Perhaps I am just simply missing something, but what is the strategic use of that ability?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:39 am

MythicalMino wrote:for those of you that have Star Trek: Fleet Captains, I have a question about one of the Klingon cards. The Kor character card. His "captain" ability lets the ship decloak without doing a power adjustment. How, exactly, does this help the ship he is in? Perhaps I am just simply missing something, but what is the strategic use of that ability?

My initial guess is that you could explore a sector since cloaked ships have to stop the moment they enter an unexplored tile. Since you can only make one power adjustment per turn per ship, this effectively allows you to change your tactics on the fly by decloaking in the same turn you cloaked. I'll check on bgg for further info though.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:50 am

hepcat wrote:
MythicalMino wrote:for those of you that have Star Trek: Fleet Captains, I have a question about one of the Klingon cards. The Kor character card. His "captain" ability lets the ship decloak without doing a power adjustment. How, exactly, does this help the ship he is in? Perhaps I am just simply missing something, but what is the strategic use of that ability?
My initial guess is that you could explore a sector since cloaked ships have to stop the moment they enter an unexplored tile. Since you can only make one power adjustment per turn per ship, this effectively allows you to change your tactics on the fly by decloaking in the same turn you cloaked. I'll check on bgg for further info though.

Is it "doing" a power adjustment or "using" a power adjustment? I don't have the card in front of me to see the exact text, but I could envision it being that he would get a free adjustment to decloak with weapons at full, and then get his normal adjustment to bump his shields back up after he's fired. But that's just off the top of my head...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:04 am

I just posted the question over on bgg. I'm sure we'll get an answer shortly.

update: and here's an excellent breakdown of the ability from a very helpful poster named Mundane on BGG:

His ability allows his ship to make two power adjustments in a turn. For example the ship starts the turn cloaked and moves to a new location with a Federation ship. The player uses Kor's ability to decloak, setting the dial at maximum weapons setting so it can shoot at the Federation ship. After the combat the player can now adjust the dial to maximum shields.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:08 pm

SpaceLord wrote:GAH!!!!

Drakkenstrike has got me Jonesin' for another game. Want the paranoia of Battlestar Galatica? Like card games? Like Aliens? Don't have 3-4 hours? Here's a card game that seems to capture the feeling of this kind of experience in a quick card game. Looks awesome.

That does look pretty awesome.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:44 am

Picked up Space Empires 4X yesterday. I was really on the fence about this one, but a bit of a windfall pushed me over the edge to pick it up. Normally I don't enjoy games where you spend a lot of time pushing chits around a board, especially when it looks like there are lots of them to push. But I started looking through the rulebook last night, and it looks like it could be a pretty fun game. Might try and get in a solo game tonight after a concert I have to go to. Cautiously optimistic.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:41 am

hentzau wrote:Picked up Space Empires 4X yesterday. I was really on the fence about this one, but a bit of a windfall pushed me over the edge to pick it up. Normally I don't enjoy games where you spend a lot of time pushing chits around a board, especially when it looks like there are lots of them to push. But I started looking through the rulebook last night, and it looks like it could be a pretty fun game. Might try and get in a solo game tonight after a concert I have to go to. Cautiously optimistic.

I was debating that as well, but I've got too many new games recently. Speaking of which, I received notice that my copy of Eaten by Zombies is in and they're starting to ship to the backers who donated on kickstarter...of which both Smoove and I are a part of, I believe.

Played two games of Star Trek Fleet Captains last night with Seppe and to be honest, it left us a bit underwhelmed. The first game I was the klingons and I tried to initiate combat for the VP's from destroying enemy ships plus I had 3 combat missions in front of me. The first time I tried to attack, he pulls a card that reads "combat ends". The second time, same thing. Then, on the third try...he throws down another one. He then told me had a 4th card that ended combat abruptly sitting his hand.

That's just ridiculous as it left the Klingon empire completely unable to attack. That's NOT a star trek experience, if you ask me.

But we decide to play again as it could just be horrible luck.

The second game, I'm ahead by 4 or 5 points...until in one turn, Seppe completes a mission, then pulls a replacement mission that has its condition already met (meaning he gets the vp's for it)...and then immediately replaces it with another mission that ALSO has its conditions met already. Win in one turn.

I've posted on BGG about this as I'm hoping I'm just not playing it correctly or that we're missing some basic strategy that offsets this kind of thing. I'd hate to give up on the game as it does have some neat moments...but right now I'm worried about wins based almost entirely on luck of the draw.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:20 am

That mission thing sounds serious! I haven't had a chance to play yet, but I realize that the game is a little closer to Talisman than, say, Descent. Or perhaps the better comparison would be with Last Night on Earth - yes, you have tactical battles and minis, but a lot can change due to the cards in your hand. I'm fine with this, as long as there aren't too many cheesy moments like you describe.

I played a game of Fortune and Glory last night, solo-style. ATM, like every Flying Frog game, I was consulting the manual nearly every time I moved. I'm going to have to create a "Common Rule" sheet or find one online. So far, I like the game, and I think I will like it better with other players involved. In many ways, it reminds me of Arkham Horror - you have monsters, you have dangers and skill tests, you have items, and you need to complete a goal before the bad guys do (or your other players). The difference is the theme (which I actually feel is heavier in Fortune and Glory) and about 3 hours of playtime less with FanG. Obviously I prefer Lovecraft to Indiana Jones, but both are cool. The decisions do seem meaningful, although I think they will be more meaningful when I get the rules ironed completely out. Also, I was getting strangely high rolls all night long, leading to far more successes than there should have been on both sides. A luck issues, yes, but it was rather noticeable (particularly when one bad guy, Herr Teufel, gets two successes on the roll of a 6). But, I like it, and I know my group will like it.

One thing that worries me is that I always seem to get some board warping in the character sheets and boards of Flying Frog Games. Not sure why, it happened with ATOE, LNoE, and even more with Conquest of the Planet Earth. I've put silica packets in all of the boxes and that does help a little. I'm worried this will translate to the large board of FanG, and I already saw a slight corner curve. Nothing too awful, but I don't want it to get worse.

I'm cutting myself off until Christmas now. I've got Legend of Drizzt pre-ordered and Eminent Domain coming through Kickstarter, but that is it. I'm going to request the Rex and Wiz-War re-release as holiday presents... but both my will and wallet are getting too weak!

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:20 am

I'm sure seppe played to maximize his chance for a lucky draw.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:41 am

Speaking of Space Empires, the Vassal Module is now out. It was partially built by the designer. My homemade expansion, the Dwarf Galaxy, is pushing 160 downloads. Now I need to playtest it!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:51 am

Zarathud wrote:I'm sure seppe played to maximize his chance for a lucky draw.

Like you WOULDN'T do that??? You two are twins when it comes rules lawyerin'

p.s. you're my next victim. free up a night next week.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:32 pm

I get what you are saying Hepcat. Admittedly I only have one full game under my belt, but in that game the Federation totally stomped the Klingons on VPs simply because of the ease of their missions. I drew lucky and got Kirk attached to one of my ships, and he adds +1 VP for every influence mission his ship completes. FIrst mission was explore six adjacent sectors. Done in 2 turns, 3VPs. The new mission: Control six adjacent sectors. Two turns of dropping control tokens: 3 VPs. So by turn 4 I had accumulated 6 VPs and he hadn't made it halfway across the board to me yet.

But it was still fun. But maybe that's because I came out on top.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:38 pm

I think the key for the situation I mentioned is using the once per turn ability to discard and draw a new command card in order to get the right kind of cards into your hand. I also believe keeping a die with your score in plain view of the other player is a plus. That way you can tell how close the opponent is to winning and take the appropriate steps to stop him/her. Checking the missions they have is the other important thing NOT to forget.

I'm also somewhat convinced that the conditional mission cards that award vp for meeting a condition are a little unbalanced as they immediately give you the VP if they come into play after you've met the condition listed.

You're my other victim next week, by the way.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 6:29 pm

Just got my replacement ships from Wiz Kids. One of the Klingon's guns was broken off.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:37 am

Played Elder Sign for the first time tonight. The first game we started off playing the wrong way and I had to correct the owner of the game after perusing the rulebook.

Specifically, he tried to tell us that you lose a die every time you roll no matter whether you're successful at completing a task or not. That screwed me hard and I literally went the entire first game, even AFTER we discovered we were playing incorrectly, without completing a single adventure. Despite that and a ridiculous chain of character deaths for all involved right at the very end, we won, beating Cthulhu by dropping Elder Signs before he arose. Game #2 was a rollover as we pretty much kicked everything's ass without any deaths... or any near-deaths even, really. I'm not entirely sure we were doing all the rules correctly despite. You go, Fantasy Flight.

Speaking as a very experienced Arkham Horror player, this one was pretty fun but too light for me to consider picking it up. The homogeneity of the items felt a little odd. I know they were trying to keep with Arkham Horror conventions when naming all the items, but with so many different common items giving you a yellow die, for example, it just felt sort of silly (and not really thematic feeling at all) naming them things like .38 revolver and knife. The speed with which you could go through characters was a little off-putting too. In the first game I languished with Sister Mary for a while, then when she died I drew (I think) Michael Glen. I got one turn with Michael before some event triggered a global loss of 2 sanity, immediately killing him and forcing me to draw yet another character. Meanwhile, two OTHER characters of our four-player group were also killed the turn McGlen went out, resulting in almost complete turnover. Somehow, despite all the deaths, we still took Cthulhu out before he awoke. It didn't feel nearly as tense or exciting as taking out an Arkham Horror GOO. All in all it was a fun game, but I feel like they lost a lot of what made Arkham Horror so great in the transition.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:53 am

Wow, we played and a simple two deaths was enough to change the balance and awaken the Old One and that was that. You were placing the dice that completed the task on the card right? You lose the dice spent in completing a task, if successful and lose one die plus terror results if you fail. BGG has a nice flowchart available to help.

Granted ES is a bit generic and tacks on a theme, but so does Arkham Horror, in a way. As a quick dice
game of luck, I feel it succeeds. We had a good time and it only took an hour.

With multiple players, the clock can be a real problem. Advancing 3 spaces each player means you have to plan ahead for nasty midnight events. If you need healing, you better heal, cause you might not get a chance if you wait.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:34 pm

baelthazar wrote:Wow, we played and a simple two deaths was enough to change the balance and awaken the Old One and that was that. You were placing the dice that completed the task on the card right? You lose the dice spent in completing a task, if successful and lose one die plus terror results if you fail. BGG has a nice flowchart available to help.

Granted ES is a bit generic and tacks on a theme, but so does Arkham Horror, in a way. As a quick dice
game of luck, I feel it succeeds. We had a good time and it only took an hour.

With multiple players, the clock can be a real problem. Advancing 3 spaces each player means you have to plan ahead for nasty midnight events. If you need healing, you better heal, cause you might not get a chance if you wait.

Yeah, that's how we were playing it. We got down to 3 doom tokens remaining before Cthulhu woke up in the first game and that was with me failing to successfully complete an adventure the entire game. The second game we earned the 14 Elder Signs necessary to win before Azathoth was even halfway to waking up. Perhaps there may have been something else we were playing wrong but since we were being taught I can't say for sure.

It definitely succeeds at what it's trying to do - bring the mythos to the table in a more compact form.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:27 pm

Folks have started receiving their copies of Eaten By Zombies. I'm hoping mine is here this week.

In other news, I think I'm addicted to Star Trek Fleet Captains, in spite of its warts (component quality, high luck factor, etc.). I've been itching to play again and I'm thinking of new ways to improve game play all the time.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:40 pm

hepcat wrote:Folks have started receiving their copies of Eaten By Zombies. I'm hoping mine is here this week.

In other news, I think I'm addicted to Star Trek Fleet Captains, in spite of its warts (component quality, high luck factor, etc.). I've been itching to play again and I'm thinking of new ways to improve game play all the time.

We should try a four player game sometime...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:56 pm

hentzau wrote:
hepcat wrote:Folks have started receiving their copies of Eaten By Zombies. I'm hoping mine is here this week.

In other news, I think I'm addicted to Star Trek Fleet Captains, in spite of its warts (component quality, high luck factor, etc.). I've been itching to play again and I'm thinking of new ways to improve game play all the time.
We should try a four player game sometime...

I have a problem with 2 player games that get forced into 4 player mode through teams. They just don't feel right to me. However, once expansions hit the shelves, this game could shine as a 3 or 4 player game.

There's also some great ideas about adding The Borg as an "NPC villain" to the game to add a coop mode or hybrid coop/head to head mode. I think that would be fantastic.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:01 pm

hepcat wrote:Folks have started receiving their copies of Eaten By Zombies. I'm hoping mine is here this week.

There's a thorough, second video posted on the Geek. It looks good.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:11 pm

Urban Sprawl preview review from Undead Viking

It's an hour-long preview of US, the next game from Chad Jensen. UV is really excited about the game, and I think it looks great too.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:52 pm

SpaceLord wrote:
hepcat wrote:Folks have started receiving their copies of Eaten By Zombies. I'm hoping mine is here this week.
There's a thorough, second video posted on the Geek. It looks good.

And now Tom Vasel weighs in. He liked it, but he said everyone he played with liked it more.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:33 pm

SpaceLord wrote:Urban Sprawl preview review from Undead Viking

It's an hour-long preview of US, the next game from Chad Jensen. UV is really excited about the game, and I think it looks great too.

I'm fairly interested with Urban Sprawl. I'm trying to NOT buy more games but I've eyed this one for a long time. The only issue I have is that Chad Jensen games take 3 hours to play. I've not yet gotten to play Dominant Species, despite having owned it several months.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:35 pm

Picked up a copy of Merchant and Marauders. Stupid Octocon is now costing me money on games I only watched rather than those I played (yes, I was looking to pick up Arcana and they didn't have it so I will be spending more money on that eventually). Now I just need to find the time to learn the game and play a few times.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:41 pm

Remus West wrote: (yes, I was looking to pick up Arcana and they didn't have it so I will be spending more money on that eventually).

Awesome. So I don't have to pick up Arcana.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:52 pm

Remus West wrote:Picked up a copy of Merchant and Marauders. Stupid Octocon is now costing me money on games I only watched rather than those I played (yes, I was looking to pick up Arcana and they didn't have it so I will be spending more money on that eventually). Now I just need to find the time to learn the game and play a few times.

M&M is a really fun game. Play time is kind of daunting the first couple of times you play, but after you get a couple of plays under your belt, you'll be pillaging the high seas with the best of them! And it is SUCH a pretty game. I really should paint up the ships...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:30 pm

I loved my game of M&M at Octocon. I'd love to play again sometime.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:41 pm

Played several new-to-me games the other day, including Elder Sign, Catacombs, King of Tokyo, Alien Frontiers, and Automobile.

Elder Sign was okay, although we were completely crushed in the game. I think I still prefer Rune Age and it's myriad game types. Catacombs was fun for a light dexterity game, but the final boss room seemed all but impossible. King of Tokyo was a nice light 20 minute filler.

Alien Frontiers was great, I'll be looking for a copy of this if/when it's ever available again. Not paying the $70-$80 that current sellers are demanding.

I liked Automobile a lot more than I expected. I'm not a huge fan of economic Euros, they tend to seem rather dry and boring. Power Grid is about the limit for me, and even that gets ridiculously mathy at the end. (I'll never play Container or Wealth of Nations again.) Automobile hits a nice balance of unknown demand vs. calculated capacity, which should keep players from over-analyzing. It also somehow really hits the theme of early 20th century cars. Nothing I need to rush out and buy, but I'd pick it up with a good deal.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:45 pm

Boudreaux wrote:Elder Sign was okay, although we were completely crushed in the game.

Were your dice just bad?

A friend of mine is picking up Fleet Captains based on his love of all things Trek. I can't think of any other time since I got into boardgaming that we've had so many new games and not nearly enough time to do justice to any of them.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:54 pm

The owner of my FLGS loaned me their copy of Catacombs, I was dying to get a game in at OctoCon, but just ran out of time. It, like Ascending Empires, seem like perfect games for a crokinole loving boy like me. I still need to get Catacombs back to her. Maybe I'll goof around with it solo tonight or tomorrow night before I have to bring it back to her.

And yeah, what was up with Elder Sign for you? Seems like the game is a bit too easy, if anything. I'm 3 games into it and we haven't lost yet. And yes, Alien Frontiers is awesome. I'm surprised it didn't hit the tables at OctoCon. I guess too many new games that everyone wanted to play instead...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:09 pm

Crikey, i didn't even see a copy of Alien Frontiers at Octocon. I would have played had I seen it.

But yeah, there was WAY too many new games to try out.

Jow wrote: A friend of mine is picking up Fleet Captains based on his love of all things Trek.

In spite of my complaining about the quality of the components and the luck factor which can sometimes cause a game to go south, I STILL highly recommend this one. It has so many great mechanics (even an area control a la Twilight Struggle) that work so well together, plus the theme doesn't feel tacked on at all.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:17 pm

I had my copy there, but I just didn't have time. Went from game to game without a break.

The time I did have to play it, a non-gaming buddy of mine showed up unexpectedly and I wanted to play something with him. Settled on Elder Sign, because he's a Cthulhu fan and a total gamer noob, so I knew we could coach him through a game. Throwing him into Alien Frontiers would have fried his brain.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:15 pm

hentzau wrote:The owner of my FLGS loaned me their copy of Catacombs, I was dying to get a game in at OctoCon, but just ran out of time. It, like Ascending Empires, seem like perfect games for a crokinole loving boy like me. I still need to get Catacombs back to her. Maybe I'll goof around with it solo tonight or tomorrow night before I have to bring it back to her.

Honestly, I'd rather play Ascending Empires. Catacombs is an interesting idea but it seems like the flicking part of it is pretty much the entire game. There's some additional stuff layered on like spells, items, and abilities, but most of it comes down to the tactics of flicking, and whether you can make particular shots. It's not very forgiving, either. Screw up a single shot and you can be knocked out of the game really quickly. For a strategy game with some crokinole-like flicking, Ascending Empires is better. For a straight dexterity game I'd rather just play crokinole.

And yeah, what was up with Elder Sign for you? Seems like the game is a bit too easy, if anything. I'm 3 games into it and we haven't lost yet.

It was my first play, so I don't know. We were up against Cthulhu, so investigators were minus one stamina and sanity from the start. Lot of die rolls where we needed one particular symbol and couldn't get it. We lost the yellow die early on to a monster that was really difficult to defeat, so that was pretty much out of the game.

The other player died twice and I died once before we just called it. We had only two elder signs (out of 13 needed) and the doom track was almost full.