Octopus Overlords

Grandparents would probably like Spartacus.

hepcat wrote:Grandparents would probably like Spartacus.

My grandmother would have been all over it. But when I left her place after a visit she would say "Drive fast, take chances" so maybe she isn't the best example.

Boudreaux, be glad you get to play anything over the holidays. Several times I have considered taking a game or two with me to the in-laws, but I know better.

I am thinking of trying Wits & Wagers with them. Maybe. Anything other than a party game, though? Not likely.

Boudreaux wrote:Tonight, the annual "what games do I schlep across the state to play with family and friends over the holidays?" exercise gets to happen. The one time of year I really hate my 100+ game collection. So much potential...so many hard choices.

This usually coincides with the "remember Thanksgiving, and how you only played 3 of the 12 games you brought" exercise, which is usually followed by the "middle-aged man realizes he wants to bring more games than clothes, takes a hard look at life choices" exercise.

My buddy is driving a tub of my games to Oklahoma, and we're going to spend several days playing them after Christmas. I'll be flying, and could only take a couple with me.

I'm taking:
Caverna
Kemet
Duel of Ages
Pathfinder card game
Robinson Crusoe
Several different werewolf games

You've already given up on Tash-Kalar? I'll take your copy. While I am there I may mug you for Robinson Crusoe.

hepcat wrote:Grandparents would probably like Spartacus.

This is an unusual sentence.

coopasonic wrote:My grandmother would have been all over it. But when I left her place after a visit she would say "Drive fast, take chances" so maybe she isn't the best example.

Boudreaux, be glad you get to play anything over the holidays. Several times I have considered taking a game or two with me to the in-laws, but I know better.

Your grandmother sounds awesome.

And yeah, I realize it's definitely a stupid problem to have. I always pack way more games than we ever play. I can't think of a time I've wished I brought something that I didn't. That never helps when I stand in front of my game shelf and try to decide what to bring.

So far I have a pile with 7 Wonders, Robinson Crusoe, Flash Point, Railroad Tycoon, Love Letter, Coup, Hanabi, Lords of Waterdeep, Legendary, Twilight Struggle, and Firefly. On top of that I'd like to pack Mice and Mystics, Takenoko, Vinhos (got for Xmas last year and STILL haven't played it), and Mystery Express.

And then I'll pack all that in the back of our van and realize how ridiculous I'm being when half of our luggage for a 10-day trip is board games.

Yeah, leave Love Letter, Coup and Hanabi home and you'll have room for another pair of socks.

coopasonic wrote:Yeah, leave Love Letter, Coup and Hanabi home and you'll have room for another pair of socks.

Nope, those are tucked away in the RR Tycoon box. Anyway, I don't think cutting out the three smallest games in the list helps.

Vinhos is like a series of mini-games within an interesting resource management game. It's great to play while sampling the subject matter, as long as you can spend the next day with a hangover.

I like Madeira better by the same publisher, it fits together better and is easier to teach.

Yea, Vinhos is very hard to teach. Which is why you drink wine while playing, so no one really notices what poor decisions you're making.

Played several games of 12 Days over the holidays.

Today, I get my D&D game ready, and pack up a tub of games to take down to my parents and hopefully play games for about 5 days straight!

Played Robot Turtles with the kids. Very easy game of Robo Rally. The kids enjoyed getting to the "jewel" before the adults, but the secret is they get to order the adult "turtle mover" around. You ease the kids into the game by "unlocking" new rules.

When we decided that we should play 2 turtle orders a turn, one of the adults forgot that the turtle before him would move TWICE. He ended up blocked by another turtle and had to take the long way around, with the kids taunting him. Next game, we'll add more than 2 obstacles then turn on their lasers.

Last weekend, I got two games of Bohnanza in. My parents each one once, I came in 2nd both times, as I recall.

Got in a couple games of Last Night on Earth on Sunday with the wife. Finally broke in my copy.

I managed to win both games - one as humans, one as zombies. But only by means of a lot of luck. She made some "learning" mistakes as the humans that allowed me to get two kills and win. This was especially satisfying since I'd struggled through the middle of the game with absolutely horrible rolls (I think 50%+ of my rolls were 1s and 2s).

The second round I was incredibly lucky. Had the sheriff as one of my starting characters. So free revolver. Then got the shotgun on my first search. And I was right outside the Police Station. So every time I lost the shotgun, I'd just go "search" in the police station and pick it up again. Considering her incredible luck with rolling zombies, I wouldn't have had a chance without the shotgun and revolver. For almost the entire game she had 12-14 zombies on the board. Of course, with the shotgun, that just benefited me.

Had planned on taking another stab at Star Trek: Fleet Captains. But I couldn't stop playing Skyrim....

Maybe this weekend.

coopasonic wrote:You've already given up on Tash-Kalar? I'll take your copy. While I am there I may mug you for Robinson Crusoe.

No, i love it, but I brought games best for 4+. Gaming commences tonight!

Robinson Crusoe is in stock at Miniature Market. I don't play cooperative games normally but this is supposed to be pretty good two player. Any opinions?

Lorini wrote:Robinson Crusoe is in stock at Miniature Market. I don't play cooperative games normally but this is supposed to be pretty good two player. Any opinions?

Hepcat loves it. I'm waiting for my FLGS to get a copy for myself.

Played my Xmas presents last night and today:

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. A very fun, flexible mystery-solving game. I love how it uses very simple mechanics to lay out a complex mystery. In our first game, we were completely confident that we had found the solution -- which turned out to be a red herring. I really hope that the subsequent mysteries don't get harder!

A Few Acres of Snow. Despite being on my back heels for the final 2/3 of the game, I ended up winning as the French, 52-51. My early native raids proved to be the difference, as I was able to raze a couple of high-value villages before the British started investing in anti-raid measures.

I gave up on getting it, and put the credit I had marked for it toward AC4 instead. Game I'll get to play and can actually buy trumps board game with questionable availability that I won't get to play.

Robinson Crusoe pre-ordered from CSI and with that I think I am done buying board games for this year!

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of this game on my front doorstep:



Filling the time watching some good setup and gameplay videos. And going to queue up some music from Das Boot when I do finally play of course.

Game video U-Boat goodness

hentzau wrote:

Lorini wrote:Robinson Crusoe is in stock at Miniature Market. I don't play cooperative games normally but this is supposed to be pretty good two player. Any opinions?

Hepcat loves it. I'm waiting for my FLGS to get a copy for myself.

Yup, it's a great game. I'm a huge fan of Ignacy (the designer) though.

I'm surprised to see it's still in stock. I was ready to write off Z-Man as a game maker after the debacle that was the distribution for this game originally. But it looks like they may have printed a decent number of the game this time and are meeting most of the demand.

Played Quirkle with my wife and 75yo dad. We got it for him because he likes dominos, and it has a similar flavor. Schooled them both.

Played a long and ultimately futile game of Eldrich Horror on Momday. We lost right before the third mystery. After that we got in a game of Tales of the Arabian Nights. We always have fun with that one.

The night before we played Firefly and Alien Frontiers.

My Christmas loot included Legends of Andor from redwarlord and a 2 player battle box for warmachine as well as a bunch of different units for my hordes armies. Another friend got me a Seamus set for Malifaux as well.

My father built me a 4 x 4 felt covered table for gaming out of some cherry wood. It was a bitch hauling it back to Chicago but it's way too nice not to play on. Hopefully I'll get a chance to break it in with a warmahordes game soon.

I have one kid (5) whose attitude turns real crappy the moment a game stops going his way, so I picked up Castle Panic a couple of weeks back. I figured he won't feel the sting so bad in a co-op game. So far it's worked out well. One win and one loss and everyone (me + boys 5, 8, & 11) seems to be loving it so far.

The loss was fantastic - 3 monsters on the board, final monster draw is a giant boulder that tears through the only zone that lines up with our last remaining tower.

$iljanus wrote:I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of this game on my front doorstep:

Oooo... solitare tactical. Oooo... "Those familiar with the classic Avalon Hill game title, B-17: Queen of the Skies, will come to enjoy the same type of gaming experience of the German U-boat War". You must be mine!

A Few Acres of Snow: How do the French win? In the three games I've played this week, the French only won once, and then only because the British made a really dumb mistake on the very last turn.

I feel like I have a pretty firm grasp of France's advantages -- an early military unit, easier access to the Great Lakes, more favorable map for raiding, easier to defend against raids/ambushes due to militia -- but I can't figure out how to put them together into a winning strategy.

The game has fairly serious issues so don't expect to win much as the French.

Lorini wrote:The game has fairly serious issues so don't expect to win much as the French.

So it's an accurate historical recreation?

Got in a game of Takenoko last night, and after a promising start, came in a distant third.

Then broke out Flashpoint. And had a very bad run of the game, and lost pretty badly.

This afternoon? D&D Next with my old high school D&D gaming group. Favorite part of the holidays!

Had a marathon gaming session last night, did not get to bed until 4am. I am not 21 anymore, and these long nights kill me, but the gaming was fun!

We started off the night with a 4 player game of Mage Knight, which we all love, but hate the rules. We ended up calling the game about 1/2 way through, as the rest of the crew arrived.

Then we started a 6 player game of Spartacus, and my group keeps really enjoying this game a lot. We all know to keep everything in game, and not take things out of the game. Plus for some reason, my friends like to say all the four letter words on the cards, and then giggle like little girls.

We had some people need to leave, so we played a quick game of Smash-up, and my Alien Robots were not effective at all, but it was a very fun game overall.

Then we played a game of Risk Legacy, this was the first time we had broke this game out, as we never really only have 5 people. I have to say, even with a win, this game was okay. I hate throwing away parts, and writing on the game board, but all but one other liked the game. the one other that did not care for the game, got up and left right when he was losing. <shrug>

Then we finished up with a 4 player game of Spartacus, this game quickly devolved into a give and take of screwing over everyone else. One of the players asked for help on turn one, and then after getting it, slapped a -1 influence on that same player that had just helped him. Ouch... But this game ended with myself and one other finishing in the arena for the win. He had a monster of a gladiator at 5,5,2 and my gladiator was a 4,4,3. He had no gear, but I had a ranged SPD attack weapon, and armor that allowed me to reroll one defense die and my special ability allowed me to reroll initiative. On the first hit I got through, my opponent took the extra SPD die off his guy for wounds. That sealed his fate, He could only move 1 and I could move 3, and with my higher SPD, not only could I out move him, but I always went first, so I would move in hit him, after he moved, and then win initiative next turn, and hit him and then move away. He was not amused that his champion lost to my 'lesser' guy. He called it the speed cheese. <sigh> Screw him, I won.

And that finished up the night at 3am or so. Then clean up and I got to bed around 4:30... Had a blast overall.

hepcat wrote:

Lorini wrote:The game has fairly serious issues so don't expect to win much as the French.

So it's an accurate historical recreation?

I don't know, I can read a book for an accurate historical recreation? If I'm play im a game, I'd like a chance to win.

two friends, my son, and I won a game of Darkest Night last night...pretty awesome game. We used the An Inner Light expansion (love those quests), but we did not use the Pall of Suffering variant (we most certainly would have lost, as we came pretty close to losing as it was). Can't wait for my copy of On Shifting Winds (the 2nd expansion) to arrive this friday...

Played D&D for 9 hours last night with my brother, two old friends from high school, and our kids. Had a great time. Lots of laughs (mostly at my daughter's ranger's expense...she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. The whole session she scored 3 hits. Plus, the rangers in D&D Next are nowhere near as deadly as they were in 4E, much to her disappointment.)

After that, we played a 4 player game of Love Letter. Great session, in the end all four of us had delivered 3 love letters to the princess, so it all came down to the final round. I drew the last card, knew someone probably had the king, and someone probably had the countess...I was left with a priest and a prince in my hand, So I could either play the priest and let fate decide who was going to be the winner, or play the prince and decide who was going to win between the two other remaining players.

I played kingmaker, and made my buddy Joe discard his hand, giving the game to John (who had never played before). There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Lots of fun in such a small game.

Hello. Long time board gamer, first time poster (in this thread). I went and bought Pandemic and Munchkin Deluxe on Boxing Day from the local hobby games store. Pandemic clocked in at C$26.40 after the 20% off sale. Looking on-line that appears to be a pretty good deal.

Played both with the Moat_Kids and really enjoyed Pandemic. I goofed and only put two Epidemic cards in the stack instead the four recommended for the Easy level. It made it super easy but we still only managed to win one turn before the player deck ran out. We also cured up what I thought was really quickly but then, bam, the cards ran out.

Two questions. Do you find that is the most common way to lose? Also, how does it play with three or two players? Is it "designed for four" but playable by less? You know what I mean.

Munchkin was ok but it took basically the whole game to get used to what the heck was going on. Most of the cards seem to be exceptions to the rules or have some special effect. That takes some getting used to. I think the next game will be more fun. For this one we only had three players and it seems like it might be more fun with four to six players.

Off to game some more tonight!

Running through the deck in Pandemic happens about as much as any other losing condition in my experience... but it's just a very frustrating way to lose, playing that long and usually being very close to winning otherwise. As for the "right" amount of players, it's harder with more. More players means the cards are spread out more, players have spend more actions to meet up and trade cards around, etc. Certain specialist types and getting lucky with players drawing the same colors will help, but that's just luck.

Just put in an order for Cruel Necessity from Victory Point Games, along with an order for the latest expansion for Darkest Night. It didn't hurt that their end of year sale starts today. 10 percent may not be much, but it helps.

Apparently the code 2014_NEWS will get you 15% off instead, with some limitations:

Note: This sale does not include VPG's multi-packs or items already on sale, such as the Darkest Night Necromancer Bundle. This sale is not cumulative with any other discount.

Crap. I could've gotten another 5 percent off.

Ah well, it would've only saved me a couple of bucks more. I won't beat myself up over that.