Octopus Overlords

Fardaza wrote: ↑Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:20 pm In all the years I lived near L.A., I only went to one gamecon. It wasn't really my thing for most of those years. Now that I've moved to TN, I feel like I've missed out on knowing another celebrity!

I'm the lead on the front page now folks! https://www.boardgamegeek.com/

It's overwhelming, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be on the front page of a website that's visited by millions.

That's really awesome! Congratulations.

As a side note, I noticed your tag was Game Designer. I thought you just reviewed (and analyzed, and discussed, and promoted, and.... etc., etc., etc.). You've designed as well?

AWS260 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:13 pm https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177 ... vilization

Cool! Thanks.

Ah. That was a little while ago. So I didn't miss an announcement here.

Lorini wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:56 am I'm the lead on the front page now folks! https://www.boardgamegeek.com/

It's overwhelming, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be on the front page of a website that's visited by millions.

It's not enough to be on page 21 of a thread in a forum that's visited by dozens?

Seriously, though - congratulations. Your love of the hobby is infectious.

Lorini wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:56 am I'm the lead on the front page now folks! https://www.boardgamegeek.com/

It's overwhelming, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be on the front page of a website that's visited by millions.

That’s awesome. Congrats! Reading through those comments, it’s obvious you’ve had a big impact on the gaming community in LA. Awesome work.

On a separate note, I think I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike Pokémon. After begrudgingly playing a couple rounds with the Pokémon-obsessed Wonder Twins this afternoon, I have come to the conclusion that it is my absolute least favorite game ever. Even below Monopoly. Every time they ask me to play, I just cringe. Such a garbage game.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:30 pm On a separate note, I think I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike Pokémon. After begrudgingly playing a couple rounds with the Pokémon-obsessed Wonder Twins this afternoon, I have come to the conclusion that it is my absolute least favorite game ever. Even below Monopoly. Every time they ask me to play, I just cringe. Such a garbage game.

Have you considered introducing them to Star Realms instead?



It's basically a small and fairly inexpensive deck builder, very easy to learn and quick to play. It may be worth a shot, as it'd scratch a similar itch for the kids, and you'd certainly find it a whole lot more interesting to play.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:04 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:30 pm On a separate note, I think I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike Pokémon. After begrudgingly playing a couple rounds with the Pokémon-obsessed Wonder Twins this afternoon, I have come to the conclusion that it is my absolute least favorite game ever. Even below Monopoly. Every time they ask me to play, I just cringe. Such a garbage game.

Have you considered introducing them to Star Realms instead?

It's basically a small and fairly inexpensive deck builder, very easy to learn and quick to play. It may be worth a shot, as it'd scratch a similar itch for the kids, and you'd certainly find it a whole lot more interesting to play.

We have Hero Realms, which is basically the same game with a fantasy skin. They enjoy it, and we play at least once a week.

As with many (most?) 7 year olds, they’re obsessed with all things Pokémon in general, and thus always want to play. I think it’s more about them “showing off” their cards to mom and dad.

Halo. Roblox. Ninjago.

That's what it was when my kids were 7. I swear I was about to hang myself Airplane! style if I had to sit through another talk about Ninjago. Now they're 17 and 19, and I actually miss those things, just a little bit.

For fans of Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.

Awesome, thanks! I have most of the stuff for the miniatures game, but I'd love to get the RPG stuff for kicks.

Yeah, I already have most of that stuff, but it's actually worth it to get digital versions of some of it, plus the vault and and Sanctuary hills STL files.

(Although that would make it the 3rd vault set that I own...one in MDF and two in digital.)

Stardew Valley: The Board Game released today. Yep, no Kickstarter...just go and buy the game. Or don't. Up to you.

Not sure if this has been posted before, but here's "Friendly Distance Bundle", a collection of 14 RPG / RPG-adjacent games (NOT PC or console) that's PWYL (pay what you like), even nothing.

https://jackrosetree.itch.io/friendly-distance-bundle

I am throwing these guys $10 just for the heck of it.

I'm working on terrain for Rangers of the Shadow Deep, which is sort of a cross between a tabletop skrimish wargame and a board game. It's solo-friendly, plays fast like a board game, and takes up board game space, but is played on terrain and with miniatures like a war game.

First up is tiles - basically dungeon tiles. I need a total of 900 square inches worth (a 30"x30" table) for the largest scenario. Today I cut out 50 3"x3" and 6 6"x6" tiles out of XPS foam (I cut a few extras to account for mistakes.) I'll need to cut some 12"x12" tiles, too, but I'll need to use a knife for those and wasn't set up for that tonight. I'm using this method from Black Magic Craft. I have a bunch of other stuff I need to make (walls, stairs, a well, statues, doors, etc), but decided I'd start with the simplest pieces first.

My gamer friends bought me a Proxxon Thermocut for Christmas. It's basically a scroll saw using hot wire to sculpt foam, and this was my first time using it for any serious work, mostly because this is the first time it's been warm enough to open the windows for ventilation. It was amazingly easy and effective to use.

Ooh, I love Black Magic Craft and love the idea of that Proxxon device for terrain.

Then again, I just started working with foamboard to make dividers for my Warlock Tile sets. So I’ve already crossed the Rubicon on basic dungeon tiles.

The Proxxon is surprisingly satisfying to use, almost cathartic. You just move the foam and it just sort of parts itself wherever the little line goes. And Black Magic Craft is such a fun channel. The stuff he makes from a pound of insulation is nuts. The only thing that really holds me back from some of the larger projects is that I literally wouldn't have space to put them after they're built. I have enough space cleared out for a bunch of tiles and walls, plus some odds and ends (scatter terrain and such), but giant, elaborate houses? There's just nowhere to put them. I'll be relying on collapsible Battle Systems for that sort of thing.

I don't have the foam cutter, but I really like my Proxxon rotary tool. It doesn't have as high of speed as a Dremel, so I can do more fine detail stuff and just hold it in my hand without worrying too much about sanding the ends of my fingers off.

The only issue I have with mine is it needs a power converter (included) which is bulky, but there are newer battery powered versions that don't have this issue.

My card for Uprising the upcoming expansion for Maracaibo! I was like shocked when Mr. Pfister showed it to me!



Unfortunately it's a pdf, and the jpg just wasn't as clear.

The translation (from Google)

Card Name: revolt
Bottom text: Place a removed nation marker return to the influence track and get 7 [money icon]

Hey Hentzau, have you seen this?

Gascony's Legacy

It's the latest in the "Legacy" line of games (Albion's Legacy, Sherwood's Legacy, etc.). Apparently each game is fairly different. This one being a dungeon crawler set in the world of Dumas' Musketeers. Expansions are also available and include a Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask themed entries.

For 28 bucks on Miniaturemarket, I'm tempted to grab a copy. They use standees not minis, hence the inexpensive price point.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:52 am Hey Hentzau, have you seen this?

Gascony's Legacy

It's the latest in the "Legacy" line of games (Albion's Legacy, Sherwood's Legacy, etc.). Apparently each game is fairly different. This one being a dungeon crawler set in the world of Dumas' Musketeers. Expansions are also available and include a Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask themed entries.

For 28 bucks on Miniaturemarket, I'm tempted to grab a copy. They use standees not minis, hence the inexpensive price point.

Interesting. A little turned off by the magic swords in the pictures, though...

They're in the original Dumas' drafts for his books. Along with a race of little people called "Le Ellves".

Kinda random, seems like it should go here. I've been working on consolidation - space is an issue. I normally use Broken Token organizers but I've become increasingly frustrated with them. I don't know what's changed but the last few I've had needed lots of fine tuning - they weren't cut properly and weren't fitting together properly or even in the box. Anyway, I'm trying to condense Xia down to a single box and figured I'd try Folded Space. It's basically fancy foam core. Here's how it looks (for Xia) after being assembled and white glue applied.



I understand now why people make their own custom foamcore storage solutions. This stuff is awesome. Super easy to work with, quick to assemble and zero problems. As an added bonus, it's a fraction of the weight of what a BT insert would be. Would strongly recommend. You can buy them from various locations, including Amazon.

Meeple Realty and Go7 Gaming have been coming out with organizers before Broken Token lately. I think BT found demand for existing product to exceed capacity.

This could also go in the deepfakes thread:

Just saw this. I don't know their games that well, although I have played Boss Monster a few times and seem to remember enjoying it (it's been a while.)

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:13 am Just saw this. I don't know their games that well, although I have played Boss Monster a few times and seem to remember enjoying it (it's been a while.)

Boss Monster was...OK. A decent enough take on the retro theme, but it wasn't a terribly interesting game.

My kids LOVE Dragon Prince though, so I'm sure this will be a purchase for me.

Lorini, you're on the front page of BGG again tonight. First in "Hot Videos".

Excellent discussion on representation, and congrats on the card!

AWS260 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 2:33 pm This could also go in the deepfakes thread:

Has anyone tried the DUNE cover worm?

Best...review site...ever.

If anyone with any interest in miniatures or tabletop terrain has an Oculus Quest, go to the Oculus store and download Adam Savage's Tested VR. In season 2, there is a high quality, fully 3d-180 degree video of a visit to the studio of Johnny Fraser-Allen, a tabletop terrain maker. He demonstrates his terrain close-up, and they even put the camera inside it to get a closer look.

This guy has been featured on Tested before (in 2d), used to work for Weta Workshop, made the minis for the Labyrinth board game, has had successful (if late) Kickstarters, etc etc etc. It's worth it for the price of free.

/edit - the rest of the videos are also 100% worth the watch. I enjoy watching the creative process.

My group had the worst RNG luck I have ever seen during this week’s session. We went back and looked at the Roll20 log to see that on 21 straight d20 rolls, we got nothing over a 4.

This included the rare double 1 when rolling with advantage to stabilize my dying Cleric, a 1 on my ensuing death save, followed immediately by a 2 (on a d100!) as they were trying to perform “miracle CPR” (as the DM called it).

We did manage to somehow survive the encounter with the venom troll, but at the cost of all our healing potions and spells...and my poor Dwarven Cleric’s life.

awSHUX (the online Shut Up & Sit Down convention) is this weekend.

Anyone that's looking for some neoprene gaming mats for miniature gaming (Rangers of Shadow Deep, etc...) check out Miniature Market today - they have the Song of Ice and Fire gaming mats on sale for 50% off. The best thing about them is that they're split - much easier to store; total area is 4'x4' when they're slapped together.

Whispering Woods
Blackwater Bay
Mummer's Ford

I guess these were exclusives during the KS, but apparently they're now in retail. I share because I care.

Wow. They're nice, but at 50% off they're about what I'd expect to pay at retail to begin with.

Well, that's CMON for ya.

I'm guessing whatever license or pricing agreement they had for ASoIaF somehow limited what they could be sold for and that deal expired. But yeah, $40 seems about right to me.

Unrelated, but I don't think I've ever seen this before - as quickly as the Disney+ show just ended, Marvel Crisis Protocol now has a figure ready to go.