Octopus Overlords

I'm on a seafood diet...I see food, I eat it.

I just late pledged Dungeons of Infinity: 2nd Edition. The designer, Jack Spoerner, said he's hoping it ships first quarter 2023. Me too!

ISS Vanguard just arrived; what a beauty. I know feelings are mixed on Awaken Realms, but they really deliver an A++ product. Not just the packaging it arrived in,but the actual game box and components are a marvel to look at. I've actually been looking forward to this one for quite a while so I'm hoping it'll hit the table soon.

They make stuff that is almost art in appearance…but once I start playing their stuff, I soon realize that for me, they often forget to make a fun game. I’m still intrigued by Tainted Grail, but it’s such a slog to get into. Same with Etherfields and its “fixed” reprint that apparently many folks think is just a neutered version of the first edition. I love that they think outside the box…I just wish they put more thought into making it fun instead of making it unique.

But I’ve heard good things about Vanguard. I hope you enjoy it.

I bounced off Tainted Grail pretty hard (because of the grindy mechanics) and for whatever reason, I'm having a really hard time understanding how to play Etherfields. I guess it was also potentially grindy but yes, they fixed it (just like they fixed it for the new Tainted Grail stand alone). I've just been marveling at Vanguard for the last hour - the components and storage is really off the charts awesome. What hooked me more on this is that it's dice and cards - my ultimate weakness.

Well this kinda came out of nowhere - 20 Strong by Chip Theory Games:

https://gamefound.com/projects/chip-the ... /20-strong

Small-footprint + cheap + solo + dice rolling. Very smart.

Yeah, I'm on the fence with that one. Looks great, but with so much stuff coming out I'm not sure how much play it would get compared to the big box Chip Theory stuff.

In other Chip Theory news, they believe US backers may be getting their copies of Hoplomachus: Victorum next month instead of the Feb/March delay they anticipated. That would be awesome if it pans out. That would be a nice treat to play over the holidays.

Sequel to King's Dilemma funding now:

I might be in the minority here but I really didn't enjoy King's Dilemma past the first couple sessions. So much of the game felt meaningless with players having very little impact on how things played out. Also, money had almost no value and my group basically stopped taking bribes because it didn't matter. We would have to offer ridiculous amounts, like 15 coins at a time to get people to even consider taking a bribe for a single power.

All that negativity out of the way, the sequel does sound like it's closer to the game I hoped the original would be.

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:05 pm ISS Vanguard just arrived; what a beauty. I know feelings are mixed on Awaken Realms, but they really deliver an A++ product. Not just the packaging it arrived in,but the actual game box and components are a marvel to look at. I've actually been looking forward to this one for quite a while so I'm hoping it'll hit the table soon.

So, after getting nothing in the mail for a while, I am getting both ISS Vanguard and Everdell... at the same time... tomorrow.

My wife is likely to kill me.

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:09 pm Well this kinda came out of nowhere - 20 Strong by Chip Theory Games:

https://gamefound.com/projects/chip-the ... /20-strong

Small-footprint + cheap + solo + dice rolling. Very smart.

As a Chip Theory Games fanboy, I'm in for this one. I particularly appreciate the much smaller cost compared to their larger games.

Here's hoping it's not the dud their first "cheap" game turned out to be (Triplock). Sadly, I never did get into that one.

Yeah I'm starting to come around on 20 Strong after watching the gameplay demo. It's a very, very simple ruleset, but that's not a bad thing. And the price is definitely reasonable for the core set and 3 decks. Looks like it would be a great game to be able to toss in a travel bag. My current game for gaming-on-the-go is Set a Watch, but it wouldn't hurt to have another.

Edit: And....I backed. Considering it's a $10 per deck savings and free shipping, I knew I'd be kicking myself later on if I didn't.

YellowKing wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 1:11 pm In other Chip Theory news, they believe US backers may be getting their copies of Hoplomachus: Victorum next month instead of the Feb/March delay they anticipated. That would be awesome if it pans out. That would be a nice treat to play over the holidays.

It would be, but right now I think the weak link in this chain in QML. For whatever reason, they've been taken down a few notches. Not sure if it's staffing, COVID, irregular delivery schedules, etc... but their turnaround time once they receive something has dropped significantly this year. It wouldn't surprise me if this arrived to QML next month and we didn't see it until early January.

And yes, the price (and free shipping) on 20 Strong is hard to resist.

I just don't see the need for 20 Strong in my collection at this point. It's another press your luck dice game, and I've already got quite a few of those. However, I may pick it up from their booth at one of the conventions in the future. Especially if Harkonis and Zarathud haven't been watching me and I'm back in the dealer hall after a 5 martini lunch.

Speaking of needs, here you go friends:

sigh....backed.

...with the caveat that unless they add a ton of stretch rewards, I'll drop it and get it retail.

update: sheesh, I'm watching the counter on that page go up in increments of 3 to 6 every second. They've already blown through about a half dozen unlocked stretch rewards.

I'm going to pass on it and just pick up the retail version. I've still got Chapter 2 in the shrink, and having just backed Oathsworn and 20 Strong, I just can't see throwing more money at this when I haven't even played what I already own. I know I'll miss out on all the KS exclusives, but I missed out on all of them for the first two chapters so I don't really feel the need.

I haven't even touched 80% of the S1 and S2 stuff yet, but I love this game so much and I love the sculpts I just can't help myself.

I’ve actually played all of season 1 and about half of season 2. For a while, it was the game we’d pull out at the end of the night pretty regularly because it was easy to play, yet frantic and fun.

I’m hoping they’ll put some of the rewards from the first Kickstarter on the pledge manager for this one.

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Sep 22, 2022 9:32 pm I've just gone in to collecting P500 GMT games.

Skies Above Britain - At The Printer

We're writing to let you know that game Skies Above Britain is one step closer to being completed and shipped out to you! Please note that today we captured your card for your order of 1 copies for a total of $81.00. As with all P500 games, this is done when the game is in our final printing process, so it won't be long now until the process is complete and we can ship your game.

hepcat wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:04 pm I’ve actually played all of season 1 and about half of season 2. For a while, it was the game we’d pull out at the end of the night pretty regularly because it was easy to play, yet frantic and fun.

I’m hoping they’ll put some of the rewards from the first Kickstarter on the pledge manager for this one.

And they did. All the stretch rewards from the first campaign are now in a separate 120 dollar box...which I will also back.

I've backed a little over 500 dollars worth of games in the last 2 months. It's time for a break.

hepcat wrote: Thu Oct 27, 2022 2:45 pm I've backed a little over 500 dollars worth of games in the last 2 months. It's time for a break.

That's a solid plan - Maladum (the fantasy version of Core Space) is allegedly coming just after the new year...

Core Space hasn't grabbed me as much as it has others. I suspect I'll be passing on that one.

Well, at least you didn't go with homelander pleasuring himself over the city.

Speaking of core space, someone made a very helpful app.

AWS260 wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 3:39 pm
John Company is very procedural, that's for sure. First the Chairman allocates funds, then the Director of Trade tries to open up a new trading location, etc, etc. Having played it only once, my impression is that there are three "games" interacting and co-existing:

First, a co-operative game with other players to open up new areas of India and trade there, bringing revenue to the Company. You're playing together against the event deck; it's basically Pandemic.

Second, a negotiation game with other players to make sure you can take your desired actions. Want to trade in Madras? You may need to bribe the Director of Shipping to make sure that there are ships in port to carry your goods back to England. This part of the game vacillates between friendly - a favor for a favor - and straight up blackmail.

Finally, the competitive race for VPs that shapes every decision in the game. If you've built up a VP point lead, for example, you may want to abandon the co-operation and let the company crumble.

Overall, it's a game of influence by inches, not tactical master strikes.

Okay, I've been giving this game a chance the last few weeks. I've played two (very short due to loss) solo games, and Saturday I played a 4 player game. That game took about 6 hours. I can chalk about 90 minutes of that up to teaching stuff, so it's not TOO bad.

For the most part, the game flows smoothly. However, we had a player who struggles with any game that has even a hint of coop in a game that ends with a winner. He's always going to play to win. So he was disappointed right out of the gate about the semi coop nature of the game. That's a player issue though, and not the game's fault.

Other than that, the only real issue I had with it was the Events in India phase. Having up to 4 events possibly occurring...and the ensuing likelihood of at least one...but most likely more...crisis...seems too much. The game felt like it would come to a crashing halt whenever we had to resolve a rebellion or an invasion. Since areas exist at any one time in one of 3 different states (dominated, sovereign and company controlled), that meant having to follow a flow chart of sorts that would change sometimes from turn to turn. Then you need to "march the elephant" after each of those events. It's just too fiddly, in my opinion. If we rolled 3 or higher (which happened at least twice near the end of the game) on the event/storm die, you could just feel the enthusiasm for the game just drain right out of people.

Still, we had fun. Although I doubt I'll ever play this as anything but a solo game in the future. I do want to try deregulation at some point to see if that adds more fiddly-ness, or if it makes it more fun.

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:05 pm ISS Vanguard just arrived; what a beauty. I know feelings are mixed on Awaken Realms, but they really deliver an A++ product. Not just the packaging it arrived in,but the actual game box and components are a marvel to look at. I've actually been looking forward to this one for quite a while so I'm hoping it'll hit the table soon.

So no surprise since our retail board gaming tastes are quite similar and expensive but I also recently received ISS Vanguard. It's well produced but I think I pledged back when I was more in love with miniatures because this game certainly does not need minis but at least I can repurpose them for a Five Parsecs From Home game if I ever get around to it.

I am playing through the tutorial which is well designed and holds your hand very nicely. But, and this could very well where I am mentally regarding board games, it's just a lot of busy work for me. Granted it's just the tutorial but I really find myself wanting to power through it because I want to get it off my table and play another game I received recently, American Tank Ace 1944-1945. It's a great solo game from the designer of The Hunters and Silent Victory which are solo sub games and his recent tank game uses many of the same game principles. It's been called a worthy successor to Patton's Best which I haven't played but is an old solo tank game. The difference between Vanguard and Tank, gameplay wise, is that I'm able to get Tank Ace on the table really quickly and knock out a bunch of missions. There's a bit of a time commitment to Vanguard. The game save mechanism in Vanguard and even though I haven't played this portion, the ship operations part, is a really nice design. But when you find yourself wanting to get back in your M4 and try to survive the first months after D-Day vs rolling to pass tests to get supplies or find samples or open a door I think I may just read ahead and box things up so it's ready for the actual campaign. At the very least I could just speed through the tutorial and maybe things will start to gel for me.

I think I'm just kind of tired of these elaborate big box games like Gloomhaven, Sword & Sorcery, etc. that are similar to games that I can just boot up and play on my PC or PS5. I'm excited to roll up a character for the new D100 Space game and that's really easy to get on the table. At the moment however I'm in a "It's not you Vanguard, it's me. Now, now you're very pretty." kind of mood which I hope changes by the time the Wave 2 shipment comes...

Edit: Just looked at the rulebook to see where I left off in the tutorial and I'm at the point where I've learned enough and I'm on my own for the rest of the tutorial mission. I think back in the box you go...

I am 100% with you. I like the idea of these big box campaign games but when they show up, I open them, read the rules and then put them away. I'm beginning to think my days of that kind of board gaming are over (if they ever existed); I just don't have the energy lately. ISS Vanguard is allegedly something you can finish in a reasonable amount of time, so that's encouraging me a bit.

Funny thing about that American Tank Ace game. There was a thread a few months ago accusing the creator of stealing mechanics for this game from GMT's Tank Duel. It got to the point where the author entered the thread and defended himself; his claims that he never heard of or played Tank Duel seem...odd. Regardless, it definitely looked interesting though he's someone I'm not a big fan of as a designer. I guess at some point a number of people pointed out various errors and issues with the GMT submarine games and he pretty much said, "Yeah, that's all true maybe someday they'll fix it" and brushed everyone off. Felt like a "I got paid, don't care anymore" response which was odd to see. Contrast that with someone like the creator for Combat! who's still answering questions on BGG and updating rules when necessary...

D100 but in Spaaaaaaaace looked cool too but I was going to wait until it hit some more revisions. I still think it's hard to compete with the entirety of D100 when you add the world builder.

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:08 pm I am 100% with you. I like the idea of these big box campaign games but when they show up, I open them, read the rules and then put them away. I'm beginning to think my days of that kind of board gaming are over (if they ever existed); I just don't have the energy lately. ISS Vanguard is allegedly something you can finish in a reasonable amount of time, so that's encouraging me a bit.

Funny thing about that American Tank Ace game. There was a thread a few months ago accusing the creator of stealing mechanics for this game from GMT's Tank Duel. It got to the point where the author entered the thread and defended himself; his claims that he never heard of or played Tank Duel seem...odd. Regardless, it definitely looked interesting though he's someone I'm not a big fan of as a designer. I guess at some point a number of people pointed out various errors and issues with the GMT submarine games and he pretty much said, "Yeah, that's all true maybe someday they'll fix it" and brushed everyone off. Felt like a "I got paid, don't care anymore" response which was odd to see. Contrast that with someone like the creator for Combat! who's still answering questions on BGG and updating rules when necessary...

D100 but in Spaaaaaaaace looked cool too but I was going to wait until it hit some more revisions. I still think it's hard to compete with the entirety of D100 when you add the world builder.

So I have second editions of The Hunters and Silent Victory and haven’t really encountered any game stopping issues with either game. He’s been really helpful in answering questions that pop up about his newest game, also answering a few of my own and is quite easygoing about it. So if you ever have a itch that needs scratching in the form of a solo tank game give it a look!

As for the Tank Duel controversy, I read the locked thread and I also own both games. All I can say is that they’re quite different and any similarities really don’t rise to the level of plagiarism. The drama was entertaining though.

I think it’s early days for D100 Space but I think a huge world builder is probably in its future and I don’t think you lose out by waiting. Meanwhile I’ll be looting and freebooting in my small corner of the universe.

Hope that you enjoy ISS Vanguard though. I do enjoy space themed games and hopefully when I give it another chance I’ll get hooked.

Ok, I wasn't sure if you'd seen it. The thread went from 0 to 11 with the quickness. I just happened to stumble in before it was locked. I wish I could remember what sub game it was and what the specifics were. My buddy fixed it with photshop during the earliest days of the pandemic and dropped off a set of updated materials for me. It was a series of the sub sheets - information on them was wrong.

I'm sure as hell going to try. Not excited that it'll be a year before the rest arrives - part of me thinks that's intentional to keep people from flooding the market with 2nd hand copies. I'm genuinely looking at my collection and thinking I could do a 50% reduction. I really just don't even know anymore. Pretty much anything I'm keeping around has to be something I can repurpose for other games - minis or terrain that can be used in system agnostic tabletop gaming.

$7,613

My total kickstarter expense to date.

I made a random comment about how much I spent on kickstarter (close to $10k) and decided to check the actuals. How much of that is still on my shelf? Uhhh... let's not think about that.

I look at it like this: I gave up smoking just about the time kickstarters began to take off. So the money I would have spent on death sticks instead went to a safer alternative.

Actually, considering how much a pack of cigs costs these days, I might have actually saved quite a bit.

The real question I should be asking is how much of that went to CMON. I'm afraid to look.

I did stop drinking, which has saved me approx, uhhh... well... nothing because i pretty much never bought my own drinks, as I only really drank at company events or at my in-laws house where my father-in-law would personally import Yuengling for me, before it was available locally.

The money I used to spend on video games just got converted to board games instead. And compared to some of my friends who are into astronomy, cars, and other pricy hobbies, board games are an absolute bargain.

I just try not to think about it. Kickstarter is mostly about delayed regret.

Blackhawk wrote: Wed Nov 02, 2022 12:06 pm Kickstarter is regret.

fixed

I spent 17k so far on Kickstarter... that averages to 100USD per game

My wife walked by me yesterday and mentioned
'You buying a lot of games again?'

She normally doesn't mention anything at all .

I told her that I'm still buying but less than before, which is true but the prices are higher now so yeah...

Atm I have 68 KS coming in over the next couple of years, the last being Sea of Legends in 2024.

YellowKing wrote: Wed Nov 02, 2022 12:02 pm The money I used to spend on video games just got converted to board games instead. And compared to some of my friends who are into astronomy, cars, and other pricy hobbies, board games are an absolute bargain.

I totally agree.

Also, I know myself, if I don't spend it on games it will definitely be going someplace else so yeah :shrug:

My only concern is that I’m more a collector these days. I buy them, play a couple of times, then they just sit on a shelf in many cases. I need to have a fire sale, reduce my collection volume, and just concentrate on the 2 to 3 thousand games I do want.

I’m looking at the new box for Vindication. I’m going to need another Kallax.