OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:05 am

Played games of Blood Bowl: Team Manager and Sentinels of the Multiverse both Sunday and Monday. Fun games.

I have also been playing the Legendary (Marvel) Deck Builder, but only solo right now (using a solo variant that seems to be decent). I am not sure what I really feel about that game. I like it, but there are so many little (nit-picky) things about it that irritates me and makes it not much fun to me. For one thing, the set-up. And the fact that they do not include proper dividers for the cards (I know there are dividers, but they are not labeled). And, from what I understand, this was not "fixed" via the expansion!!?? Why do these companies continue to do this type of stuff? Another little nitpick is that the art is all the same for each Hero. I know that in the expansion, each card's art is different, but still. I wonder if now sometime in a couple of years they are going to release the "Deluxe Version" with new, varied art?

I did go ahead and purchase the expansion (I am a sucker, I know). Hopefully, the more cards (Heroes, Villains, and Plots Schemes) will add more...the spice of life? I do like the game, but the biggest issue for me is the set-up time. With Sentinels (the best Superhero card game there is, in my opinion), all you do is get your Hero's deck, set up the Mastermind, and the Environment...and you are all set and ready. In this game, it takes awhile just finding the Heroes to use.

What is everyone else's thoughts on the game? And the theme? especially in MP...How does the theme "fit" with the mechanics of each player controlling the same 4-5 Heroes, but being against each other? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, theme-wise...

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:08 am

MythicalMino wrote:I have also been playing the Legendary (Marvel) Deck Builder, but only solo right now (using a solo variant that seems to be decent).

Care to share the solo variant? I have only played what's in the manual for solo and it has been trivially easy to the point of boring.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:55 am

I don't think Legendary really shines until you get at least 3 people playing, preferably 4. At that point the game really gets going. I wouldn't even think about playing it solo, it's so mind-numbing at that point.

And yes, set up and tear down is a pain, and there's really no way around it. And the lack of labels was annoying. But it's still one of my favorite deck builders.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:07 pm

The Dark City expansion seems to address many issues that people have had with the game, from what I saw at Origins.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:37 pm

Here is the link to the solo variant I came across...it works for me, for the most part...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/913 ... nt-version" target="_blank

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:05 pm

hentzau wrote:I don't think Legendary really shines until you get at least 3 people playing, preferably 4. At that point the game really gets going. I wouldn't even think about playing it solo, it's so mind-numbing at that point.

And yes, set up and tear down is a pain, and there's really no way around it. And the lack of labels was annoying. But it's still one of my favorite deck builders.

I have only played with 3 or 4 people, but we love the game now. I have to pick up the expansion, but once I get it I am sure I will love it even more. There are little nit picks with it, but overall I love the game. And as for set-up/tear down. Compared to some of my other favorites (Eclipse, TI3, and RuneWars) well it is fairly easy.

And I know, completely different games, but still cool.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:28 pm

MythicalMino wrote:Here is the link to the solo variant I came across...it works for me, for the most part...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/913 ... nt-version" target="_blank

Thanks, that certainly looks to be significantly more challenging. I'll give it a try.

Like RMC mentioned, my other solo game is Zombicide. The setup and teardown for Legendary is easy.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:30 pm

yeah, but those other games tend to stay on the table a bit longer...a game lasts much longer. In the span of a typical game of Zombicide, I will be setting up 2 or 3 games of Legendary, or I would be, if setting up wasn't so annoying.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:46 pm

My local game store is expecting Dark City today or tomorrow at the latest.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:58 pm

I foolishly had Dark City on the same pre-order as the Netrunner Creation and Control expansion. It looks like C&C will be mid-July at best.

I sent CSI an email about switching around my pre-order items and just got a response back that they will so I should get it next week if whatever else I have that is on pre-order shows up... and it looks like the other one is Hanabi which is running late also. I can't win.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:02 pm

CSI and Miniature Market are driving me towards more purchases off Amazon and from my FLGS these days. The cheapest shipping method from CSI takes over a full week to get to my door, and MM has a tendency to screw up orders lately.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:05 pm

Somewhere around 25 orders from CSI and I have never paid for shipping. You just don't buy enough!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:13 pm

My purchases are usually impulse buys though. I don't have the patience to wait until I have 100 dollars worth of games I want.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:36 pm

Yeah, it is hard to not have the 100+ order show up and explain to my wife. Ordering through Amazon with the free shipping via Prime is always easier for some reason. I buy almost everything from Amazon.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:38 pm

If I impulsively buy something, I add enough other somethings I thought I might want at some point to make a $100 order.

I used to comb through threads here and BGG looking for things to add to my wish list. I have done the above enough now that list has grown incredibly slim and my library is mind-boggling (to my small mind).

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:41 pm

I love first world problems.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:15 am

coopasonic wrote:X-wing miniatures... Hopefully Isgrimnur is interested in playing Saturday.

Oh, I guarantee I'll be interested in playing it. And lunch is on me.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 5:36 pm

I am pretty excited...

My copy of Core Worlds (plus the expansion) is arriving tomorrow!! The game never really got on my radar, because of the box art. To me, the box art looked too much like the pc game, Homeworld...and I never was much of a fan of that game. BUT!!! Tom Vassal said it was either his #1 or #2 Deckbuilding games, so I started to look into it...and decided the game looks pretty awesome, and one that my boys would be able to play without much problem (and they say that 3 players is the "sweet spot"), so I bought it.

Looking forward to it.

On another note, I have decided that Marvel Legendary sucks as a solo game. Oh well...I have the expansion for that coming too, though, so hopefully that game will get some play with my group.

On yet another note...it won't be much longer until Yedo is released. Really looking forward to that one, too.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:16 pm

I would agree that the deck building in Core Worlds works much better than the other games. Partially, it's the theme of building and deploying ships that are then used. Also, that mechanic means you keep drawing only the stuff you're not keeping ready. We'd play Core World more often if hepcat had fewer new toys.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:04 pm

I just ordered the promo set of cards for Core Worlds from BGG's storefront this morning, oddly enough. I really do love the game (ESPECIALLY with the expansion which addresses almost all my problems with the base game). I know Seppe and I have played with the expansion, but I don't think you have. We'll have to rectify that soon.

Warning: with the expansion it can be a seriously long game for a deck builder. Even without it, it was a bit long, but 3 hour games with the expansion are not unheard of.

And I just got back from my FLGS. They had copies of the Spartacus expansion on the shelves. 6 players AND team gladiator bouts? Oh hell yeah.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 9:33 am

I have fallen in love with Core Worlds...oh my God that game is awesome....

That is all.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 9:38 am

hepcat wrote: They had copies of the Spartacus expansion on the shelves.

My buddy just ordered a copy of the base game. He's off work and apparently when he spends any amount of time sitting around at home, he just starts buying board games. Not sure how he settled on one about gladiators, but it's probably best I don't ask.

I forgot to mention that last weekend we managed to play Survive: Escape from Atlantis! and after about 3 minutes of setup and basic explanation, Trent Steel had a PTSD flashback to his childhood where he suddenly remembered playing it as a kid. What was my first move? That kind of flashback is priceless.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:36 am

MythicalMino wrote:I have fallen in love with Core Worlds...oh my God that game is awesome....

That is all.

It really does feel like a 4x4 game in a deck builder. That you only use some of the cards each time you play ensures a different feel each time it hits the table.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:34 am

Just played through about half of a solo session of Defenders of the Realm, using two characters (Sorceress, Rogue) to try and get the rules and flow down. This game is possible to win, right? Good lord it seems nigh-impossible.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:39 am

Smoove_B wrote:Just played through about half of a solo session of Defenders of the Realm, using two characters (Sorceress, Rogue) to try and get the rules and flow down. This game is possible to win, right? Good lord it seems nigh-impossible.

My group has never won the game, but they don't really play well together.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:08 pm

RMC wrote:
Smoove_B wrote:Just played through about half of a solo session of Defenders of the Realm, using two characters (Sorceress, Rogue) to try and get the rules and flow down. This game is possible to win, right? Good lord it seems nigh-impossible.
My group has never won the game, but they don't really play well together.

After getting our asses handed to us in the first six or so plays, we've finally gotten to the point where we can win this game about 60% of the time, using just the base set. Success factors will vary wildly if we add in the new global effects cards...some of those can be pretty brutal. And if you add in the Dragons expansion, well, we haven't won yet using Dragons.

The biggest thing I can tell you is don't worry about completely clearing a space of minions. Once you get a space down to one minion, don't waste any more time there, just move on and take care of another space. The most any card will place on a space is two minions, so dropping it to one will make you safe. Once we figured that out, it really bumped up our success rate.

Don't get too distracted by quests. Controlling minions and taint is your first priority, and then take care of quests if you happen to be in the area.

Winning with only 2 characters is kinda tough. Three and four really are the sweet spots, with only two characters it's much more difficult to control all of the areas of the board as well as gather enough cards to be able to take down the generals.

Try your first few games with the royal blessings variant. If you have less than four characters, put a token in Monarch City for to make up the difference. Use these tokens at any time to: re-roll one dice roll, stop a general from moving, ignore the effects of a darkness spreads card, or clear one region of taint. Might help.

Good luck! This is the only game I have rated as a 10 on BGG, so you could say I'm a bit of a fanboy.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:26 pm

awesome game, Defenders of the Realm is. My only complaint was the expansion heroes in comparison to the base game heroes...different material or something, giving them a different color and feel, and the expansion ones seem so much bigger than the base game. A nit-picky thing, of course...but still, irritating to see that on the table.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:38 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Just played through about half of a solo session of Defenders of the Realm, using two characters (Sorceress, Rogue) to try and get the rules and flow down. This game is possible to win, right? Good lord it seems nigh-impossible.

Two Characters with out house ruling for more cards? Nigh on impossible. It seems difficult with three. If the players are cooperating then 4 players should be fairly easy once you get the mechanics down.

With the dragons, I'd say we're probably at about 20 or 30% win rate with 4 players. I don't think we could do it with 3 characters.

To counteract the disadvantage of having less players I always suggest increasing hand sizes because aggrage hand sizes are critical for defeating dragon. It's been a couple of years but I think max hand size was 10 or 40 cards for four players. So I'd make the max hand size 12 in a 3 player game and probably feel around between maybe 14 and 17 in a two player game. This makes a 3 player game against dragon possible, IMO.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:52 pm

Good to see my initial impression wasn't off.

I'm not the kind of gamer that is quick to monkey with the rules unless they explicitly indicate we should do so under certain conditions, so I think I'm going to try the game as designed first and see what happens. I'd also read on BGG that you can start each player off with 4 instead of 2 hero cards, which seems like a good idea too. Regardless, even from my brief time playing solo I can see why raising the hand limit above 10 in a two player game could certainly make a huge difference. Though unfortunately the guy I'll be playing with will likely be on tilt as the more cards and options he has, the more likely he'll descend into vapor lock over all the possible decisions. Should be an interesting affair...

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:54 pm

Giving him two characters with 10 cards each won't help that.

I don't think we were quick to monkey with the rules. I think it took a bunch of "wow, we lost that game fast without a shot" in a row to start studying what makes for success vs failure in 4 player vs less than 4 player.

the thing is 20 total cards trying to fight of the hoards while also actually taking down 4 bosses to me seems about impossible to me. If that's your thing have fun. I could have fun with three players (30 cards) doing it in the basic game. If might even have fun with three players (30 cards) against the dragons if I ever once felt like we had a real shot at winning and would try it again if I played the game enough to feel like we could build a real strategy to have a shot in a three player dragon game.

The dynamic really seems like it was built to challenge you but be beatable with 4 characters.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:42 am

Oh, yeah, it went terribly.

After running around and putting out minion fires, we finally felt like we had enough cards between the two of us to take on the demon. I had three, he had six. I'm playing as the Dwarf, he's playing as the Eagle Rider. Anyway, I lead the attack and grab my three red dice, and then check to see if the demon can banish them before combat starts. In an unbelievable show of my luck, I roll three ones -- I've been Heroscaped. My buddy then comes in with his six dice (all of which would need to hit) and in ground-attack form, rolls 4 hits. He re-rolls them all (as per his power) and rolls 5 hits. The demon is seriously wounded, but not defeated so we're sent back to Monarch City with D3 wounds. My buddy rolls a 6, so he takes three, leaving one life left, and I take two. Here's the kicker -- there's an Orc minion on Monarch City, so my buddy now takes the final wound for his character and dies. We just stopped playing at that point.

Thematically it is s a fun game, but we definitely need to fiddle with something (as already mentioned) if we are going to continue to play with two heroes. He really was on overload just trying to manage 10 cards so I'm not sure what we're going to do. I like the King's Favor suggestion, but I can definitely see the benefit of having more cards.

Regardless, we then went on to play a full basic game of MERCs, now using way more cover and elevation on the map. Very different experience from our first game which was over rather quickly and mostly came down to taking pot-shots at range which worked in my favor as all of my guys have camouflage making them more difficult to hit . This time it was way more tactical and I unfortunately did not take into account his incinerator's ability to ignore cover and ultimately that was my downfall. It took us close to 4 hours to slog through this one:

You'll note the re-purposed Heroscape trees, which worked quite nicely. I think the plan is to incorporate the advanced rules next, which are really just a few tactical options. Mechanics like suppression and fear plus overwatch...and hopefully get it down to the typical 120 minute match time.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:33 pm

Dallas Games Marathon, which was pretty much me playing games with coop:

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
Netrunner
Memoir '44 (2nd scenario)
Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas
Airlines Europe

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:47 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Dallas Games Marathon, which was pretty much me playing games with coop:

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
Netrunner
Memoir '44 (2nd scenario)
Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas
Airlines Europe

Curious what you though of Pirate Dice.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:31 am

It's a quick and dirty game in the vein of RoboRally without all the overhead that RR requires. given the small size of the boards, I imagine a full board of 4 in the right, humorous mood, would have a blast with it.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:47 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Dallas Games Marathon, which was pretty much me playing games with coop:

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
Netrunner
Memoir '44 (2nd scenario)
Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas
Airlines Europe

He left out X-Wing: Miniatures where he schooled me in dogfighting tactics.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:48 am

How the hell did I forget that?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:11 am

Argh, that reminds me, I saw pirate dice at origins but forgot to grab a copy.

As an aside, anyone ever play Duel of Ages II? What I'm reading about it intrigues me.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:07 pm

coopasonic wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Dallas Games Marathon, which was pretty much me playing games with coop:

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
Netrunner
Memoir '44 (2nd scenario)
Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas
Airlines Europe
He left out X-Wing: Miniatures where he schooled me in dogfighting tactics.

First came X-Wing: Miniatures. Isg had 2 vanilla tie fighters, a tie advanced and boba fett in Slave I. I had Luke and Wedge in X-Wings and Dutch in a Y-Wing. The Imperials took advantage of the Rebels dogfighting in experience and weak tactical decisions and the Rebels were quickly turned to space dust. I like the game and see a lot of potential. I've already learned a lot of what not to do from one match. Hopefully I get to play another to build on that before I forget all about it.

Next was Android: Netrunner. We played with my decks and it was the first play for my revamped NBN deck and it needs work. Isg was playing my crim deck with the Andromeda identity that has too damn much money. I did make a couple mistakes that cost me, but I don't think my NBN deck is very well put together.

Legendary Marvel: was Isg's first play, and my first non-solo play. It's definitely more challenging with 2 and we ran into some trouble early but once we turned the corner, there was nothing stopping us. it must have been my brilliant play because I crushed him in VPs.

Memoir '44. Isg got a couple of really good cards that helped him overcome my lucky dice. He managed to wipe out my tanks before they ever got to fire a shot.

Pirate Dice was another first play for both of us. It's light and the skullduggery keeps it interesting. I can't remember exactly how Isgrimnur got stuck behind, but he did and I cruised to pick up the treasure pretty easily. I could see this being better with more players.

Airlines Europe was yet another first play for both of us. I ran away with an early lead but Isg managed to make it close by the end.... just not close enough. This is another game that I think would be more interesting with more players. It's pretty similar to ticket to ride, but the extra layer of complexity makes it more interesting.

6 games in ~7 hours, including 4 new experiences for me.

I also watched a group play Resistance: Avalon and that was interesting. I don't think it is the kind of game I would feel comfortable playing with a bunch of strangers, though.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:40 pm

Pirate Dice is just a rethemed RoboRally in many ways...which is why I like it!

Asked my FLGS to order a copy of Duels of Ages II Basic Set. I couldn't resist.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:26 pm

hepcat wrote:Argh, that reminds me, I saw pirate dice at origins but forgot to grab a copy.

As an aside, anyone ever play Duel of Ages II? What I'm reading about it intrigues me.

I just played the starter mission (which only teaches melee, the rules slowly introduce concepts through actual play). My dad and I liked it, although we both felt the scenario's teams were not balanced. If you get the Master set with the base game, you will literally have a game you can play every week and not have the same map or characters for years. So the value is there. We very much enjoyed it and we thought that the ranged combat will make the game even more fun (second mission) not to mention the addition of adventures, special powers, and bases.

I think it is well worth the money and the platters do not suffer from the same cardboard curling that the first edition had. Also, the challenge cards that are used instead of dice have been contentious, but I like them.

It does create awesome stories. I had William Wallace (Braveheart) and a futuristic cat alien getting hammered by Spartacus and a Captain Kirk-like guy. Seeing the cat alien fall, Wallace ran over to another member of my Dad's team, who had been peacefully scrounging up items, pulled out his battle ax and cleaved the man in two with one hit. Wallace fell shortly after, it it was that sort of epic feat that really makes the game hum.