Octopus Overlords

Yeah, what he said.

Looks like my edit got ninja'd.

Just a BTW:

in our first game (which I stressed to my son was just a learning game), on my sons first icebreaking run he hit a piece of ice which did three damage to him, taking his grip size to one. He figured since he already took the hit, might as well grab the reward. The remote server contained an ambush which did an additional three damage. I didn't know yet what that meant, so I just trashed the last card from his grip and we went on for a bit. Then I found the bit in the rules about how the game was already over at that point.

Games can be short for the unwary. A bit of an interesting feature.

He said he wants to try the corp for our second game, so we'll see how that goes.

Had a great game of Dead of Winter last night with some co-workers (very appropriate, considering the weather here.) We had a full five players, all new except me. We played the Samples scenario again, because that's the easiest for first timers. Everyone got a real appreciation of the deadliness of the game when my Soldier character died on his very first action. We managed to ferret out the betrayer by turn 3 and get him exiled (he played it pretty clumsily and threw too many non-contributing cards into the crisis, and I was able to deduct who it was pretty easily by what I played and what I knew others had played.) In the end we got all of the samples, and all players (including the exiled player) won except for one, who was too busy killing zombies to keep track of his own objective of gathering library books.

This game is easily my #2 game of 2014, right behind Shadows of Brimstone.

Daveman wrote:Heh, turns out a silly little picture I took of an Easter Egg inside the Imperial Settlers box insert was the top photo of 2014 on BGG

That's great! I remember when that picture turned up, no idea it was you!

I don't come in here often, so forgive me if it's been posted, but this was too good to pass up.

Which boardgame to play.

Deciding would take all evening. I don't know how I feel about Carcassonne being at the bottom. Anyone play Battlestar Galactica?

Alefroth wrote:Deciding would take all evening. I don't know how I feel about Carcassonne being at the bottom. Anyone play Battlestar Galactica?

I've played a few times including one memorable game where out of 6 players we had 4 cylons due to a mistake during setup.

I was one of the humans. We did not win.

LOL, I used to play Battlestar Galactica every year with hepcat at Origins Game Fair about 4-5 years running. Great games, but schedules have't worked out the past 2-3 years.

My favorite game was when one experienced player made an amazing argument about how he and one other player were likely the Cylons, then reminded everyone how as our pilot he was critical to holding off the Cylon fleet the past two jumps. She decided to execute the other player and give the pilot an extra turn to protect the transports. He used that turn to fly to safety instead. The Cylons shot down the transport, and it was the pilot's turn again. Laughing, he declared that he would have shot the other guy too -- except he knew he was definitely the Cylon and he flipped over both You are a Cylon cards. He spent all game trying to show his loyalty knowing he only had a one-time shot of sinking us. It was a sweet move.

Twas my birthday this last week, and I was given 2 new games for my Birthday. First was Catan the dice game. We were on a cruise when I was given it so it was perfect for the ship. We played it a few times, it is a pretty fun little filler game or travel game and manages to capture the feeling of settlers of catan to some degree. I'm pretty happy with it.

The other game was Star Wars Imperial Assault, which really caught me off guard. Played the tutorial today and so far I am a big fan of the game. It really feels like star wars while playing it. The only part about it that bums me out is that I know that I will often have to be the imperial since I will be the one running game sessions with it. But the imperials are fun to play as so it's all good. I really enjoyed the game a lot in the session we played tonight. The game has excellent production value as you would expect from FFG, and it oozes star wars and has a really fun campaign mode. It also has a skirmish mode that I will need to look into, should be pretty fun.

Played Xia and Roll for the Galaxy on Saturday with hentzau and hepcat. Sunday was another game of Roll through the Galaxy, Diner and Star Realms.

Xia is a great mix of exploration, pick up and deliver, missions and optional combat. It seems very complex until you get into a few turns. The production value is incredible, especially the painted ships. It is a longer game, but I expect more play will help. I would really like to play again. It is definitely better than Firefly. Next time I'll keep my guns so hepcat can't fly a defenseless, crippled barge by me without a challenge.

Roll has all the play of Race for the Galaxy with a dice mechanic. I have to work on explaining, but it is much more teachable than Race. The dice help push your strategy, and knowing the combos makes for a huge advantage.

Diner was sold as a Real Time Card game. It's not only insanely fast, but frantic! Play time is 15 minutes. Then you'll want to rush in again to play waitstaff trying to get the most tips. One side of the card is orders. The other side is the food. You circulate action markers but can keep taking actions as long as the action markers keep circling back to you. Grab food from the kitchen to your hand, or get a new order, or toss an order, or fill an order. As fast as you can, but every unfilled order at the end counts against your tips.

Star Realms is a great game, but it can drag with a 4 player group trying to drag everyone's VP Authority down equally. They had to work at it especially when 2 players kept healing 5-15 VP a turn/putting up defensive starbase outposts while the highest attack combo thrown was doing only 25 VP damage.

Xia was a treat. I really, really enjoyed it. It's like a Mage Knight/Magic Realm/Duel of Ages style sandbox game with a lot of possibility. I think the mission system needs a bit more variety, and the economy behind trading is a little too simplified for my tastes, but other than that it has all the right carrots on a stick to keep me invested in a game.

From what Hentzau was telling me, I guess the creator has released a "development kit" for the game online, which I'm assuming is going to result (or has resulted, I haven't looked) in some community made mods. I'm betting someone has upgraded mission cards that stretch beyond the simple fetch mode most of them seem to be, as well as having created some variant rules to make the trade system a little less simplistic.

Definitely looking forward to playing it again at Octocon!

Roll for the Galaxy was a game I was going to get, but Zarathud beat me to it. It's fun, but I don't think it has simplified or streamlined the experience of Race for the Galaxy as much as I thought it would. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, however. It's a fantastic dice game that adds depth I don't think any other dice game has. Plus, I think it will play fast once we get the rules down pat.

My impulse buy that night was a copy of Kingsport Festival. I was sold on it after one of the owner's of the Dice Dojo (our FLGS) described it as Kingsburg with a Lovecraft theme.

My gaming group has really taken to 7 wonders, so I'm wondering about the expansion. Any thoughts on the Leaders and/or Cities expansion? If you were only getting one, is there a clear choice between the two?

hepcat wrote:Xia was a treat. I really, really enjoyed it. It's like a Mage Knight/Magic Realm/Duel of Ages style sandbox game with a lot of possibility. I think the mission system needs a bit more variety, and the economy behind trading is a little too simplified for my tastes, but other than that it has all the right carrots on a stick to keep me invested in a game.

From what Hentzau was telling me, I guess the creator has released a "development kit" for the game online, which I'm assuming is going to result (or has resulted, I haven't looked) in some community made mods. I'm betting someone has upgraded mission cards that stretch beyond the simple fetch mode most of them seem to be, as well as having created some variant rules to make the trade system a little less simplistic.

Definitely looking forward to playing it again at Octocon!

Roll for the Galaxy was a game I was going to get, but Zarathud beat me to it. It's fun, but I don't think it has simplified or streamlined the experience of Race for the Galaxy as much as I thought it would. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, however. It's a fantastic dice game that adds depth I don't think any other dice game has. Plus, I think it will play fast once we get the rules down pat.

My impulse buy that night was a copy of Kingsport Festival. I was sold on it after one of the owner's of the Dice Dojo (our FLGS) described it as Kingsburg with a Lovecraft theme.

Variable trade is one of the big mods that a lot of folks add to the game, to prevent the establishment of "single turn" trade routes. I do think that is one thing that Merchants and Marauders (a game that Xia is often compared to) does better. And I really love the stories that this game brings out...such as how Hep won the game after I blew through every bit of energy I had trying to blow him out of space, and then in one turn tried to finish blowing me out of the sky, and when he couldn't do that gave me 2 energy (gaining a fame point for "rescuing" me) and then completed a mission for his final fame point.

My impulse buy was a copy of Tokaido. Been wanting to pick that up ever since I saw it played on Tabletop.

We tried out Roll for the Galaxy this weekend (3 2-player games) and love it. Our first game went long as we were both building up lots of expensive developments and planets but my son didn't quite get the shipping/consuming thing so I wound up winning 43-32. Our next game we both had a better handle on things. My startup focused on trading/consuming so I started leaning that way while I also tried to work on some good developments I scouted. Meanwhile, my son's startup included the -1 cost for reassign developments... and he wound up scouting several cheap reassign developments. Long story short, he was cranking out cheap developments and planets and quickly filled out 12 tiles, bringing the game to an end. I realized what he was doing and started all-out producing/consuming for points but was too late. That game went 26-24.

The game got the coveted "can we play that again?" award from my son, so it's a keeper. Note that while I did own Race for the Galaxy for a while, it never got to the table as the cards/icons seemed overwhelming to us. Roll doesn't have that problem at all. They do put the puzzling icons on the tiles, but there's basic text as well so you don't even need to learn the icons.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:My gaming group has really taken to 7 wonders, so I'm wondering about the expansion. Any thoughts on the Leaders and/or Cities expansion? If you were only getting one, is there a clear choice between the two?

Leaders adds another level of complexity, as players start with a Leaders draft that gives you a hand of four leaders to play throughout the game. Leaders make the game more asymmetric, and help each player develop more combos and opportunities to pursue specific strategies.

Cities kind of amps the base game up another level (more powerful/costly building cards) and also adds a new category of black cards for intrigue/spying. Cities is really about increasing the player interaction, as now there is much more reason to pay attention to what your neighbors are doing, and more of your cards will interact with other players' cards.

Personally, I'd go with Cities. I started with that expansion and haven't felt any need to add Leaders to the mix.

Well, I had an Amazon GC burning a hole in my pocket so I went ahead and got both of them. I'll report back after we've played a few games.

I played a few solo games of Legendary Encounters to learn the game and check it out (christmas present). I liked it a lot and am looking forward to playing in a group. It seems more interesting than Marvel Legendary.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:Well, I had an Amazon GC burning a hole in my pocket so I went ahead and got both of them.

That's always the best path, I've found.

My copy of Dead of Winter arrived. If it had shown up a few days earlier, I could have let my sister die in the cold again. Last time, it actually helped her meet a secret objective and win.

Birthday gifts today = Dominion: Intrigue and Pandemic: The Cure. My kids know me well.

First on the table after cake was Intrigue. Dominion is our current fav so it was more goodness. I'll let you know what I think of Pandemic: The Cure when we play it. I really like Pandemic so I am hoping it is MOTS with dice and maybe a bit quicker.

Moat_Man wrote:Birthday gifts today = Dominion: Intrigue and Pandemic: The Cure. My kids know me well.

First on the table after cake was Intrigue. Dominion is our current fav so it was more goodness. I'll let you know what I think of Pandemic: The Cure when we play it. I really like Pandemic so I am hoping it is MOTS with dice and maybe a bit quicker.

Is Pandemic: the Cure what happened after Pandemic went through its rough adolescent emo punk phase?

My wife and I picked up Imperial Assault a few weeks ago and had some friends over to play recently. It plays almost exactly like Descent, but with a Star Wars setting, and the campaign we started was a big hit with everyone.

We haven't had much luck getting regular board games together lately, but there was enough interest in Imperial Assault to schedule our next game already.

I also just ordered Roll for the Galaxy recently. Looking forward to giving it a try.

My Alien Frontiers Faction/Expansion Packs arrived today. Finally.

At least the Alderman handed it to my wife after knocking on our door on her election rounds.

Fallen ( http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140125/fallen )

Been playing this quite a bit...anyone else get it?

I'm hoping to get it out at the Octocon. I haven't had a large enough group get together yet this year.

Zarathud wrote:I'm hoping to get it out at the Octocon. I haven't had a large enough group get together yet this year.

Fallen? It says it's a two player game, something I'm always interested in. What do you think of it, MM?

Ah, I am thinking of the card game Falling...

Fallen is a great game.

It is a 2 player game. One player plays the Hero (base game gives a choice of 3 to choose from: Sorceress, Pit Fighter or Thief) and the other player plays as the Dungeon Lord (also a choice of 3). There are 30 story cards in the base game. You use 3 of them in a game. If any of you remember the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, the story cards are very similar to those. After you go through the 3 story cards, you have a "Final Battle" between the Hero and the Dungeon Lord, with the winner being the one who wins 3 challenges first (basically a Best 3 out of 5).

Each Hero has a deck of 10 cards made specifically for that hero. There is a deck of 20 "general" cards, also, that you take 10 cards from and shuffle those 10 cards with the Hero's specific 10 cards to form a 20 card deck. The Hero also starts with 3 "starting items" that are specific for that hero (the thief, for example, starts with the "Long Knife", a "Grappling Hook" and the "Hunter's Cloak", whereas the Pit Fighter starts with the "Iron Sword", a "Torch", and "Leather Armor". Each Hero also has 3 skills (specific to that particular hero) they can level up (lvls 1-3) throughout the game. And, the hero starts with 1 skill at level 1.

Each Dungeon Lord has a similar set up with their deck of cards. Each DL has 10 cards that are specifically theirs, mixed with 10 cards (taken from a deck of 20) general cards, to form a 20 card deck of Power Cards for him. There are 3 decks of Creatures (ranked levels 1, 2 and 3). The DL starts with 4 lvl 1 Creatures. Each Hero and DL also has an "Ultimate Ability" that they have to "charge up" to use (although, each Hero/DL starts the game with it fully charged).

The core of the game are the Story Cards. Like I said above, you will use 3 of them per game, followed up by the "Final Battle" (and each DL has their own deck of Final Battle cards, I think made up of 13 or 14 cards each). The story cards are kind of like a branching story, depending on the Hero's choice. The DL will read the "Adventure Text", and the Hero will choose the action. For example, (Basically), "You rush into the room full of Orcs who are feasting on a rotten animal of some sort. One of them turns around but you slice him down without even a second thought. As he falls to the ground, the others turn with stunning looks across their faces. They begin to shout about an intruder and draw their weapons, while a small goblin turns to run out of the room, possibly to try to raise an alarm." Now the DL would give the Hero what choices he has...maybe for example: Do you try to cut off the goblin, or do you face off against the Orcs? Whatever the Hero chooses, you read the next portion and there will be a challenge of some sort.

The "challenges" are made up of dice rolling (and the dice are good, hefty engraved custom dice). Some dice are better than others (blue being the weakest, with red being the best). You start with your dice (hero has 2 white dice, while the DL has 2 black dice). The DL will choose a creature, trying to use a creature that matches the challenge type (either strength, agility, or intelligence). Creatures will give different dice to the challenge, while also usually having some sort of other skill that you may use if they match up to the challenge type. You can use Power Cards to add dice to your roll, reroll dice of yours or your opponent, or different things can happen, depending on what card you use. You also can use your Ultimate Ability, and that will usually add dice and even have an added benefit if the "shadow tracker" is on your side of the board. The Power Cards cost "fortune", depending on where the Shadow Tracker is located, also (a card may cost more if it is on the dark side, than on the light side, for example).

The DL rolls first, and then the Hero gets his dice pool together and rolls. Creatures (for the DL) and equipment (items, weapons and armor for the hero), once used, cannot be used again until the next story card unless some ability refreshes the card. Whoever has the most successes (sword icons) wins, but along with the sword icons, the dice results may also give "charges" (to charge up your Ultimate Ability, which you need 3 to use again) or wounds that will either wound the "active creature" or the Hero (and once there are wounds equal to or greater than the armor rating on the hero's armor, it has been "breached", and the Hero receives an effect card, which is never good).

There are 4 challenges per Story Card. Challenges may give treasure (for the hero) or Omens (for the DL). Experience points to level either creatures (DL) or skills (Hero). After each challenge, the winner of the challenge, draws 2 Reward Tokens, chooses one, and leaves the other. The loser then draws one token, and chooses the one he drew or the one the winner left. These tokens can let you draw a Power Card, or give you more fortune, or give you a charge to your ultimate ability, or move the shadow tracker towards your side....there are different rewards.

My son and I love the game. It is not difficult to figure it out, and the game play is pretty smooth after a few rounds. The game takes right about 90 minutes on average. Just a fun, and awesome game. There is LOTS of game packed into the base, retail game. I am actually getting the Kickstarter version delivered soon (I was able to purchase it for what I thought was a decent price). With the kickstarter, I will have much more to use...but even with just the base game, there is a lot of game in there.

Do I recommend it? Oh HELL yeah...I keep geeking out about it, trying to get anyone to check it out...

While staying with friends due to our plumbing emergency, I brought over Twilight Struggle and taught it to a father and son (14). It was a big hit, and they're ready for another couple of matches soon.

My own oldest (11) wanted to try Guns of Gettysburg again. It's a very original and unusual set of rules, but he has picked it up pretty quickly. It was an especially good time since he has been reading about the battle and was able to compare game events to historical.

Thanks for that detailed write-up, Mino. That's going on the list for sure.

wonderpug wrote:Thanks for that detailed write-up, Mino. That's going on the list for sure.

Ditto! Is it something that would ever end up at my FLGS?

Looks like they're selling it direct and through an Amazon storefront. That writeup sounded really good. Have you played Claustrophobia at all and if so, how does it compare?

sigh, the shipping costs to Canada is more than the game itself and amazon.ca doesn't seem to carry it. Oh well

Looks like x-com the board game from FFG is out now. At least on coolstuff inc. I've heard some good things about it.

hepcat wrote:Looks like x-com the board game from FFG is out now. At least on coolstuff inc. I've heard some good things about it.

I watched a couple of plays of it at BGGCON and it looked pretty cool (I lost my voice early in the con and that would make it impossible to actually play myself), but I decided it was one of those games that I was OK with other people owning (yeah, that's something new for me) since it's not something I would ever get to play at home. I definitely want to play it though.

The solo capability has me thinking I might grab a copy. Also, the Shut Up and Sit Down guys raved about it at Gencon.

I think the interaction makes the game. I think I could find something better to do solo... like play X-COM.

Meh, I like a good solo boardgame every now and again. Taking a break from video games to go old school is fun for me.

With the XCOM board game you are kind of splitting the difference anyway.

True. I usually shy away from games that incorporate tablet apps, but like I said, it's been getting some thumbs up from a few folks.

My buddy has become obsessed with owning all the the top BGG solo games. I think in the last month he's purchased Friday and Space Hulk: Death Angel. To date, the only game I've managed to actually enjoy solo was Elder Sign. I was excited to see a new expansion is coming in February. For reference, I own Friday, Death Angel and Mage Knight.