OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:59 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:In the second, I had LA to Miami, Miami to New York, so I strung together all 45 cars around the edge of the board and never had to reroute due to opponent interference.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:04 pm

coopasonic wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:In the second, I had LA to Miami, Miami to New York, so I strung together all 45 cars around the edge of the board and never had to reroute due to opponent interference.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:09 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
coopasonic wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:In the second, I had LA to Miami, Miami to New York, so I strung together all 45 cars around the edge of the board and never had to reroute due to opponent interference.

Don't act all innocent.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:21 pm

I'm not acting innocent, I'm acting oblivious. I seem to recall blocking you in a game, but that also fostered my goals, so it wasn't a deliberate act.

That and it's been months, so my recollection is a bit foggy.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:57 pm

This year I resolve to finally play the following games that I own, but have not yet played...or have only played once or twice:

1) Successors

2) All Things Zombie

3) Labyrinth

4) Campaign Manager 2008

5) Earth Reborn

6) Incursion

7) Washington's War

I also pledge that this year I will start a Tide of Iron campaign.

I will also try (and ultimately fail) to avoid buying new games until I've played the above.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:21 pm

hepcat wrote:This year I resolve to finally play the following games that I own, but have not yet played...or have only played once or twice:

1) Successors

2) All Things Zombie

3) Labyrinth

4) Campaign Manager 2008

5) Earth Reborn

6) Incursion

7) Washington's War

I also pledge that this year I will start a Tide of Iron campaign.

I will also try (and ultimately fail) to avoid buying new games until I've played the above.

Get Marty to organize an extra Octocon and we could make one a "less than five plays" only night.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:25 pm

The only problem with playing those at Octocon is that only two of them are more than 2 player. Successors and All Things Zombie can take more than 2, but Successors is one of those LOOOONNNNGGGG GMT games.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:53 pm

For Christmas I received copies of Alien Frontiers (yay!), Ninjato, and completely out of left field, a game from 2009 called Tobago. I knew what I was getting from the first two but Tobago was a fantastic surprise. How did I miss this the first time around? We must have played 5 or 6 times over the course of a few days. Great game.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 9:55 pm

Glad to hear your thoughts on Tobago, Boudreaux - it's one I've had my eye on for awhile now but was scared to pull the trigger on.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:35 pm

Is Tobago the one with the "Jeeples" or Jeep shaped meeples?

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:46 pm

Yes, that's the one. It also has three little statues that I'd swear were solid stone, they look like little Easter Island statues. Great bits.

YK, I don't know how I missed it but Tobago is a fantastic game. It's dead simple - every turn you either move your jeep on the island, or play a card that narrows down the possible locations for one of four treasures. As soon as a treasure is down to only one hex, anyone can go dig it up, and everyone who contributed cards to that treasure gets a share. There are other little twists like curses and magic amulets that break the rules a little, but in the end it's one of those gems that's simple to learn but provides a lot of really subtle strategy and tactics. Can't recommend it enough, and my wife loves it.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:00 pm

We played three games of Tobago a few weeks ago. I managed to come last every game, finding all six scull and cross bones.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:58 am

LordMortis wrote:We played three games of Tobago a few weeks ago. I managed to come last every game, finding all six scull and cross bones.

Simple poor planning on your part.

We need to play that game again though.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:17 am

Well, I bought Mage Knight yesterday, and I am glad I did. I played through the intro scenario yesterday evening (solo), and I really liked what I saw. I feel that the game is pretty good, and a few more plays will iron our some of the questions I had regarding the rules.

The components are pretty good. Love the artwork. Love the gameplay, though. I like how different "parts" of other games are all merged together.

All in all, a great purchase (plus, 10 dollars off from my LFGS).

Today, Dungeon Run will be arriving. That is another game I have had my eyes on for a bit, so looking forward to checking that one out, also.

Chris

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:14 am

Good to hear about Mage Knight. I nearly purchased it with some gift money, but the poor reports regarding components and the reviews (which were positive) stated it was a heavy-weight game. That means it won't hit the table here and that my gaming group (once monthly or so) would need significant coaching. Instead, I ordered Vlaada's other game, Dungeon Petz, as the theme will appeal to my wife.

This year, I'm going to curtail some of my collecting obsession. Partly because, with Urban Sprawl, Eclipse, and Super Dungeon Explore - I have three fun games from different genres covered. I also pledge to play more BSG, which my group really loves, and actually get Runewars to the table.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:04 pm

For fellow fans of 51st State, the follow up titled New Era is out and available from some mail order sites. I just bought a copy from Coolstuffinc.com. 2 to 5 players and direct attacks. How could I pass that up?

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:10 pm

We got in a game of Sergeants Miniatures Game (the Sergeants Miniatures Game?) on Monday. Hope to have a full report soon. Quick synopsis though...it was a hell of a lot of fun, even with slogging through rules and losing by a damn lucky shot.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:19 pm

hepcat wrote:For fellow fans of 51st State, the follow up titled New Era is out and available from some mail order sites. I just bought a copy from Coolstuffinc.com. 2 to 5 players and direct attacks. How could I pass that up?

Not surprisingly, you've broken that New Year's resolution within 24 hours. Don't tempt fate....

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:00 am

I'm breaking it again this weekend as I just found out the expansion for the star trek deck building game is out now.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:40 am

Think I'm going to pull the trigger on Memoir 44. I watched the online tutorials last night and it looks like great fun. I also mentioned it to one of my gaming buddies and he went nuts - I didn't realize he loved WWII games.

First up though - our first game of Defenders of the Realm, which will probably prove to be our new "cast iron bitch" after we whooped up on Ghost Stories.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:48 am

YellowKing wrote:Think I'm going to pull the trigger on Memoir 44. I watched the online tutorials last night and it looks like great fun. I also mentioned it to one of my gaming buddies and he went nuts - I didn't realize he loved WWII games.

First up though - our first game of Defenders of the Realm, which will probably prove to be our new "cast iron bitch" after we whooped up on Ghost Stories.

My last purchase came down between Memoir '44 and Mage Knight. And even though I do not regret taking Mage Knight over Memoir '44, I will be picking up '44, most likely as my next purchase maybe in February.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:55 am

Interestingly enough, Tom Vasal has done a new review of the classic, TI3. Video format this time....

http://www.dicetower.com/game_reviews/t ... m-iii.html" target="_blank

He is one of my favorites to watch...along with UndeadViking, Drakkenstrike and now the "Watch It Played" guy.

Tommy20 · Post by **Tommy20** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:21 pm

hentzau wrote:We got in a game of Sergeants Miniatures Game (the Sergeants Miniatures Game?) on Monday. Hope to have a full report soon. Quick synopsis though...it was a hell of a lot of fun, even with slogging through rules and losing by a damn lucky shot.

To be fair, you didn't lose to a damn lucky shot. You lost because I didn't adequately read the victory conditions...

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:27 pm

Tommy20 wrote:
hentzau wrote:We got in a game of Sergeants Miniatures Game (the Sergeants Miniatures Game?) on Monday. Hope to have a full report soon. Quick synopsis though...it was a hell of a lot of fun, even with slogging through rules and losing by a damn lucky shot.
To be fair, you didn't lose to a damn lucky shot. You lost because I didn't adequately read the victory conditions...

Well yeah, that too. But it was a heck of a lot of fun. And needs to be played again, now that we know kinda what we are doing.

Tommy20 · Post by **Tommy20** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:59 pm

hentzau wrote:Well yeah, that too. But it was a heck of a lot of fun. And needs to be played again, now that we know kinda what we are doing.

...and the boards are clean, so no more black fingers!

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:30 pm

Tommy20 wrote:
hentzau wrote:Well yeah, that too. But it was a heck of a lot of fun. And needs to be played again, now that we know kinda what we are doing.
...and the boards are clean, so no more black fingers!

Such racism!

I like Memoir 44 but the wife didn't care for it. The problem with Memoir is you have luck strike in both card draws and rolls. It is also a bit of a bear to set up (people were complaining about Mansions of Madness need to keep this in mind). It can be fast paced, so that is nice, but don't expect the depth of other WW II tactical minis games.

Also Memoir has a large number of expansions and scenario books - which is a good and bad thing. Good for replay, bad for the wallet. I have heard that the air expansion adds much more "hardcore" rules to the system, so if you want a deeper minis game, you might pick it up.

I have a job interview in Chicago this weekend, so no gaming for me. I wish I had time to met up with some of the Chi-town crew here, but I'm all booked at a conference downtown. Any good game stores and restaurants along the river (north side) about ten or so blocks from Navy Pier around North Dearborn?

Also, once this interview is over, I intend to embark on Tom Vasel-like video reviewing.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:45 pm

The thing that we have always done with Memoir, since it does take a while to set up and the games are so quick, is to play the same scenario twice in a row, switching sides.

And yes, you do have double elements of randomness to the game, but I love it when you have a plan that you have to abandon halfway through and come up with an alternative strategy because you aren't getting the cards you want/need. Keeps you on your toes.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:53 pm

War's pretty random as well, so it's probably pretty realistic.

Actually the fact that it's a simplified minis game is what is most appealing to me. I'd love to try some hardcore grognard type games but I don't know anybody that would play them with me.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:03 pm

Mr. Tom Vasal has reviewed Mage Knight ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deh64zhdb6A" target="_blank )

This is easily one of my top games in 2011. I agree with pretty much everything that was said in the review....

For those of you that are or were wary about this one, check out the review. Tom does a great job (as usual, I feel). Great game here. Very happy I bought this one, and happier everytime I look at it again...

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:23 pm

I hate you so much Mino... I was convinced Mage Knight was not for me, but watched Tom and wanted it more. Of course, I felt the same way about Star Trek Fleet Captains and he misled me there. I've got some Amazon points coming in a few weeks... my heart screams Mage Knight but my mind screams Tobago, as I know the wife will love it.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:30 pm

baelthazar wrote:I hate you so much Mino... I was convinced Mage Knight was not for me, but watched Tom and wanted it more. Of course, I felt the same way about Star Trek Fleet Captains and he misled me there. I've got some Amazon points coming in a few weeks... my heart screams Mage Knight but my mind screams Tobago, as I know the wife will love it.

I actually like fleet captains.

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:03 pm

Memoir 44 is basically designed to be played twice, each player swapping sides. Very few of the scenarios are "balanced" with the idea of each player having a 50/50 chance of winning. To get a proper "game" out of it you play each side and figure out who won by the combined scores. Say you play the strong side and win 6-4, then playing the weaker side you lost 6-2, your combined score is 8, he had 10.

I love Memoir 44 and it is a very approachable, simplified war game. I think the command cards do a good job of trying to represent the limits of command and control while the dice and unit types cover the basics of how combat plays out (tanks are mobile and strong in the open but bad in rough terrain, infantry are kind of the reverse, etc.). Luck can certainly play a role in the game... but the dice never bothered me as much as a bad hand of cards though. Bad die rolls can be present, but a large part of the "game" is deciding the best attacks at any given time... do you attack that unit that's far away (maybe only rolling 1 die) but is easy to score a hit on or do you hit a target closer (more dice to roll) but that's harder to hit.

I've posted about it before, but if you like Memoir 44 but don't often get to play it in board game form, Memoir 44 Online is a great (albeit pay-to-play) place to go.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:15 am

hepcat wrote:
baelthazar wrote:I hate you so much Mino... I was convinced Mage Knight was not for me, but watched Tom and wanted it more. Of course, I felt the same way about Star Trek Fleet Captains and he misled me there. I've got some Amazon points coming in a few weeks... my heart screams Mage Knight but my mind screams Tobago, as I know the wife will love it.

I actually like fleet captains.

It's not so much I don't like it... it is that I paid a premium for crappy components and the rules are a bit of a mess so I can't get up the nerve to teach anyone to play it with me.

Which is why I haven't bought Mage Knight out of the gate (and I nearly had the "purchase" button pushed one day). I know that it will gather dust, even if I would LOVE it personally.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:25 am

The components are crappy (which seems to be whizkids stock in trade) but I didn't really have any issues with rules. The game's pretty simple and everyone I've taught it to has picked it up by turn 3 or 4. I still hope an expansion appears in the near future.

edit: woot, my copy of New Era just shipped from Coolstuffinc. Miniaturemarket.com got it in the day after I called them and asked about it unfortunately, or I would've gone with them (they're closer to Chicago and I get stuff from them overnight usually).. Plus, the new Star Trek the Deck Building Game should be at my FLGS for pickup Saturday.

...is it too late to amend my previous New Year's resolution post?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:34 pm

Played through two rounds of Quarriors! last night and I think it's a winner. I'm not sure if our general familiarity with deck building games helped, but it was surprisingly fast to learn and relatively quick to play. I am curious to see how more games play out as my strategy for the second game was to simply purchase the most expensive monster each turn until I finally was able to get a Dragon. Once that happened - and I summoned the Dragon to fight for me two rounds in a row, I won the game quite easily. Our first game the urge to ready the Assistants was a common play, but they really didn't seem to be worth it after everyone else started purchasing just about any other monster - they're simply too weak. I'm thinking that culling them out of your bag as soon as possible makes sense, but who knows.

Regardless, it felt like a solid game and I don't have to sleeve 1000 cards...which is nice.

Another round of the Bridge Battle (tm) - as requested by Trent Steel - and once again his squad of Gladiators was no match for Master Win Chiu Woo and his army of Shaolin Monks.

Another round of Inn Fighting followed by Get to the Chopper (this time with iPhone supplied movie sound effects) finished the night.

We were going to try Dungeon Run, but I think we need to start the night with that game. By 10pm we were full of beer and mentally drained. Hopefully next month...

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 4:36 pm

I picked up Memoir '44 and am looking forward to playing. May not get to it this weekend, but after reading through the rule book and watching the online tutorials, I'm confident my gaming group is going to love it. We own very few competitive head to head games and no war games, so this will definitely fill a niche we were missing.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:12 pm

Start with Dungeon Run, and Quarriors is a great end game.

Chaosraven · Post by **Chaosraven** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:35 am

The assistants are good chumps for absorbing damage to let your other monsters survive to score (in the event you have low toughness beasts) at the cost of a single quiddity you may not have used to capture a new die from the wilds, and the reroll ability is nice for the times you roll quiddity on a monster die.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:36 pm

Some monsters also go better with some set ups and sometimes grabbing spells is better than the more expensive monster. There is actually some good light hearted strategery in there.

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:51 am

I tend to cull Assistants when I play but I've seen so many games come down to a few points you never know when a scoring Assistant or two might make the difference.