Octopus Overlords

Managed to have a co-op attempt through Mission 02 (Y-Zone) for Zombicide. It seemed rather easy and in checking on BGG, there are other people that had the same issues. All we really needed to do was make a run for the exit. I guess with the right variables, taking a shortcut through the middle building (to avoid the street spawns) could have worked out much worse, but we were all in the blue threat level so the building interior was rather empty. It almost seems like the mission should have required us to get something first, and then exit but it was still a good exercise in learning the mechanics (more so than the tutorial mission). Plus, I was able to fill the 3x3 board with all my painted zombies.

We also did two races in Formula D -- first time ever playing that game and I'm pretty impressed. We just used the basic street racing rules and had a blast. I have to believe with 4+ people and a few beers, the game is completely bananas. Incidentally, that's the plan for next Friday.

hentzau wrote:

MythicalMino wrote:Just played 2 games of King of Tokyo with my 2 boys....I won one, then the second game, got wiped. I don't know why we don't play that game more often...

Those of you that have it, what are your thoughts on the expansion?

It's not necessary, but it adds some fun to the mix. Gives you mutations that you can spend those extra hearts that you roll to give you different abilities. If you can pick it up on the cheap, it's worth it, but it doesn't change the game that much. Just gives you some more options. And the nice thing is that the mutations are specific to the monsters.

Which means it DOES matter which one you use!

I still love this game

Smoove_B wrote:Managed to have a co-op attempt through Mission 02 (Y-Zone) for Zombicide. It seemed rather easy and in checking on BGG, there are other people that had the same issues. All we really needed to do was make a run for the exit. I guess with the right variables, taking a shortcut through the middle building (to avoid the street spawns) could have worked out much worse, but we were all in the blue threat level so the building interior was rather empty. It almost seems like the mission should have required us to get something first, and then exit but it was still a good exercise in learning the mechanics (more so than the tutorial mission). Plus, I was able to fill the 3x3 board with all my painted zombies.

We also did two races in Formula D -- first time ever playing that game and I'm pretty impressed. We just used the basic street racing rules and had a blast. I have to believe with 4+ people and a few beers, the game is completely bananas. Incidentally, that's the plan for next Friday.

Y-Zone can be fairly easy if you cut through the first building. If you decide to make the medicine cabinet a necessary objective it makes it a lot more fun and challenging, but as it stands now if you cut through the building and head straight out yeah I think it is a bit on the easy side. Luckily there are plenty of missions that are ridiculously tough so there is no shortage of difficulty.

I had a decent weekend of gaming. I was able to play a game of Railways of the World which is one of my new favorite games. Since there were just two of us we played the Mexico map which works well for 2 player games. Now my wife really wants the Europe map so that is probably an upcoming purchase. She kept eyeing it while we were at Chicagoland games last week. Won't be long before it finds a way into our collection.

I was also able to teach Zombicide to one of my friends. He seemed to rather enjoy it but we played a scenario that I thought would be fun, but it turned out to be rather boring. We played the scenario where you have to kill 300 zombies. I didn't think there was any way we would accomplish it, I figured we would get overrun and outnumbered. But we actually ended up having ridiculous weapons and killing all of the newly spawned zombies just about every turn. So we really just waited for zombies to spawn to kill them. We did lose on survivor due to a fluke draw. He was one space away from a spawn point, which spawned runners. The next card drawn was all runners one extra activation so they came in and killed him. But it was at the end of the game and really we had started getting sloppy because it was getting boring. My friend enjoyed it a lot though, so it wasn't all a loss. Now I will have to show him what Zombicide can really be. We never had a moment where the end was in doubt. The end should always be in doubt in zombicide. He will learn...

Chrisoc13 wrote:I had a decent weekend of gaming. I was able to play a game of Railways of the World which is one of my new favorite games. Since there were just two of us we played the Mexico map which works well for 2 player games. Now my wife really wants the Europe map so that is probably an upcoming purchase. She kept eyeing it while we were at Chicagoland games last week. Won't be long before it finds a way into our collection.

I really want to try the "Middle of the Board" variant for 2 player RotW.



The old Railroad Tycoon boards came in 3 parts, and someone recommended running a 2 player game just using the middle of the board, and not reducing loads. Seems like it would make for a very tight competitive game.

One of the threads talking about this variant here.

any of you ever play Wallenstein, and if so, what are your thoughts about the game? It looks interesting...

Wallenstein's one of my favorites. I actually imported my copy from Germany years ago, before it became available in English in the Japanese and Germany varieties. It's got a solid mix of building stuff and light combat. The combat's enough to keep things interesting, but can't happen often enough that the game turns into a full-on war game. The cube tower is probably one of the most satisfying methods of combat resolution I've ever seen.

It can be slightly (and I do mean slightly) tricky to teach just because the scoring is one of those things that you have to see happen before you can really grok. What I usually do is play through the first half of the game as a practice/teaching thing, explaining as we go, do scoring, and then ask if everyone wants to re-start or finish out the game.

Highly recommended. Cube tower!

cool...because I believe I will be picking this up in a bit.

Good call. Wallenstein is one of about 25 games I held on to a few years ago when I cut the collection down from a high of 125 or so.

hentzau wrote:

Chrisoc13 wrote:I had a decent weekend of gaming. I was able to play a game of Railways of the World which is one of my new favorite games. Since there were just two of us we played the Mexico map which works well for 2 player games. Now my wife really wants the Europe map so that is probably an upcoming purchase. She kept eyeing it while we were at Chicagoland games last week. Won't be long before it finds a way into our collection.

I really want to try the "Middle of the Board" variant for 2 player RotW.



The old Railroad Tycoon boards came in 3 parts, and someone recommended running a 2 player game just using the middle of the board, and not reducing loads. Seems like it would make for a very tight competitive game.

One of the threads talking about this variant here.

That looks interesting, I may have to give it a try. I don't think the north america map is bad for two players, but it doesn't give a tight competitive game, and this might do that.

had to order through coolstuffinc...but I have Wallenstein on its way. Also, went ahead and bought Asgard (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131118/asgard" target="_blank), and the Blood Bowl Team Manager Sudden Death expansion.

Looking forward to them all...

Anyone here have any opinions of Kemet versus Terra Mystica? Also, does the Conquest of Planet Earth Apocalypse expansion add enough to justify the cost?

baelthazar wrote:Anyone here have any opinions of Kemet versus Terra Mystica?

Other than the fact that they look like very different types of games, no. Terra Mystica does seem like it's the current "it" game for gamers though. I finally earned a 50% off coupon from my FLGS and intend to use it on a copy when it's here in May.

Chaz wrote:Good call. Wallenstein is one of about 25 games I held on to a few years ago when I cut the collection down from a high of 125 or so.

There is no real difference between Wallenstein and Shogun, right? Other than the theme? As I understood they are essentially the same game. Game shop here in town has a couple of pretty new-looking ding and dent copies of Wallenstein for $30 each. Was tempted, but I already have Shogun, and prefer the medieval Japanese theme to Wallenstein's.

I think the maps are the primary difference. I got the feeling Shoguns' maps are longer, while Wallenstein's map is more clustered. I haven't played Shogun, but it always seemed like Wallenstein would promote more interaction just because there are more shared borders. I don't think you can go wrong either way though, and I don't think there's a reason to have both.

Finally bought Love Letter \o/

Can't wait to play it again ^^

EzeKieL wrote:Finally bought Love Letter \o/

Can't wait to play it again ^^

Such a great, simple game.

Scenario #2 of Zombicide is set up on the kitchen table...going to play some solo games...this will be our game this Sunday evening. Along with a couple of bouts of King of Tokyo and Sentinels of the Multiverse

baelthazar wrote:Anyone here have any opinions of Kemet versus Terra Mystica? Also, does the Conquest of Planet Earth Apocalypse expansion add enough to justify the cost?

TOTALLY different games. Kemet is a fast playing multiplayer conflict game. TM is a worker placement with fourteen different races, no direct conflict at all. I like them both but for completely different reasons.

Played SPARTACUS with Remus West (who won) and LordMortis and YoungestSonDrake.

They pulled me down from 12 Influence to 8 in one Intrigue, then Remus pulled the win by Hosting after LOSING damn near every arena battle after talking LM into keeping Drake from the win.

baelthazar wrote:Anyone here have any opinions of Kemet versus Terra Mystica? Also, does the Conquest of Planet Earth Apocalypse expansion add enough to justify the cost?

On CPA:A, heck yeah. It adds more players, numerous new races, and multiple game modes (including a brutal version of the competitive version of the game). And I haven't even brought up all new cards and the sea based locations.

Lorini wrote:

baelthazar wrote:Anyone here have any opinions of Kemet versus Terra Mystica? Also, does the Conquest of Planet Earth Apocalypse expansion add enough to justify the cost?

TOTALLY different games. Kemet is a fast playing multiplayer conflict game. TM is a worker placement with fourteen different races, no direct conflict at all. I like them both but for completely different reasons.

Do you have a preference? Particularly as a two-player game?

Hep, thanks for your opinion regarding CotPA:A! That pushes it to the "buy" category.

Terra Mystica needs four to shine. I have not tried Kemet with two but I doubt it would be much fun. I would highly recommend Mage Wars as a two player, noting it has a learning curve.

My boys and I survived the updated Scenario 2 (The Y-Block one), with all 6 survivors making it to the exit. Wanda (one of my characters) was wounded, and a runner would have killed her on the next zombie turn, but Josh (played by Jacob, my middle child) moved in front of her, taking the wound. Wanda promptly killed the runner with a chainsaw!! The Abomination came out twice, with the first time being killed (by Wanda) with the Molotov (and, fortunatly, a Runner was in the same spot as the Abomination).

Fun game, and we were all very excited to actually win!!

Chaosraven wrote:Played SPARTACUS with Remus West (who won) and LordMortis and YoungestSonDrake.

They pulled me down from 12 Influence to 8 in one Intrigue, then Remus pulled the win by Hosting after LOSING damn near every arena battle after talking LM into keeping Drake from the win.

I only lost all the damned arena battles because you thumbs downed my gladiator the first time I lost (after I had won once) then you guys made me switch Spartacus out every time I tried to fight with him.

So you guys broke down and got Spartacus after octocon?

Introduced a couple more friends to Zombicide. They seem hooked, we lost the same scenario three times in a row because we made some pretty stupid mistakes but we kept coming back for more. They were still hooked though and have already asked me when we can play again. I decided we needed the other survivors so I printed the cards off on cardstock and I am subbing some of the survivors from last night on earth. Not perfect, but also I already own them so... I can deal with them not being perfect in that case.

where did you get the file to print the other cards?

I have some mini's to cover for them, but I cannot find the files to use to print for the cards...

MythicalMino wrote:where did you get the file to print the other cards?

I have some mini's to cover for them, but I cannot find the files to use to print for the cards...

I searched the board game geek forum for proxies and one if the threads had a link to the file. If I get a chance later I'll try and give you a link to the thread.

Sent using tapa

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/960 ... romo-minis" target="_blank

coopasonic wrote:http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/960 ... romo-minis

That's the one! Thanks, I was in the middle of my commute when I posted earlier.

Then I just printed those on cardstock and coated then with playing card coat (really just clear acrylic coating). I think they turned out well and it only cost me a couple bucks.

Sent using tapa

hepcat wrote:So you guys broke down and got Spartacus after octocon?

"You guys" would be me.

Chaosraven wrote:Played SPARTACUS with Remus West (who won) and LordMortis and YoungestSonDrake.

They pulled me down from 12 Influence to 8 in one Intrigue, then Remus pulled the win by Hosting after LOSING damn near every arena battle after talking LM into keeping Drake from the win.

That was Drakes fault for handing Remus two points for no reason other than to throw attention at him. Not much you can do about that. It may have worked for him if he held six guards in his hand, laid them down, and then discarded them but you can't literally "have all of your cards on the table" with an overt victory in site and then set up the other guy to take all of the heat because he might be able to pull off a victory. Not to mention, 90+% of the time if you put me in a choose you or him situation, I will choose him. The exception to the rule is the other guy has been unreasonable or an ass for most of the game and even then I'm still likely to choose him over you.

Gifted my son Mice and Mystics for his birthday yesterday, so we resumed around Chapter 3 after playing a borrowed copy earlier this year. We didn't get far - made it to maybe the second board before a couple of us got captured, and the enemies kept respawning. Bad die rolls ended that game pretty quickly.

This is one are where I really like the campaign structure of Descent 2e and other adventure games with a similar campaign seem to fall flat. In Descent's campaign, if you "lose" the story still goes on - you're just at a disadvantage, or the Overlord gets a benefit. In Mice and Mystics, there's nothing to prevent us from going on in the story if we "fail" a chapter, but it feels weird. Seems like we ought to be completing each Chapter to success before continuing on. I suppose this gives more replayability, as (I would think) later chapters get more and more difficult. With kids though, it sucks to get stuck on a difficult scenario and not progress.

Still a fun game.

I was actually thinking of grabbing Mice & Mystics as an alternative to the above mentioned games (Terra Mystica or Kemet) - totally different type of game, but it comes with nice minis to paint! I'm also feeling the call of X-Wing... the force looks very strong with that one. I think I prefer the simplicity of Wings of Glory, but we are talking Star Wars versus WWI/WWII - Star Wars always wins. Plus, I think I could sell my wife easier on Star Wars than real war planes.

See... my birthday is coming up in two weeks and I'm hunting for my self-gift (i.e. the gift from my wife).

I'm a big fan of M&M. You can really tell it was a labor of love. I was planning on introducing it to the guys tonight, but one of my gaming crew is not available so I think I'm going to wait.

I think it's going to be the Star Wars deckbuilder instead tonight.

I tried the Star Wars deckbuilder, but I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I really think you have to be a Star Wars fan to truly enjoy it. I'm sure that's the primary reason I enjoy the Star Trek deckbuilders...I'm more a fan of that world.

hentzau wrote:I'm a big fan of M&M. You can really tell it was a labor of love. I was planning on introducing it to the guys tonight, but one of my gaming crew is not available so I think I'm going to wait.

I was really excited for it, but when I got it I was less impressed. It didn't help that my 6 year old lost interest in about 5 minutes. I haven't played anything else like it to compare.

hentzau wrote:I'm a big fan of M&M. You can really tell it was a labor of love. I was planning on introducing it to the guys tonight, but one of my gaming crew is not available so I think I'm going to wait.

M&M is really a good game. His newer game, Clash of Cultures knocked the "dudes on a map" Civ-style game out of the park. hepcat's favorite reviewer, Michael Barnes, called it a masterpiece in his recent review. I highly suggest anyone who likes Civ-building computer game check out Clash.

<ears perk up> What's that you say? Barnes' loves it? Hmmmm....methinks this is now on my radar.

I must have glossed over that review somehow as I tend to follow his columns on a weekly basis.