Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: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.

I really love the MCP figures. And they’re fun to paint too. I think I’ll be grabbing that one.

Why is he flying over a giant, half melted, urine soaked marshmallow though?

hepcat wrote:Why is he flying over a giant, half melted, urine soaked marshmallow though?

He did it all for you, buddy.

That is obviously popcorn.

Still doesn't explain the urine though.

I left that unexplored as an exercise for the reader.

My son and I have just started our first game of Imperial Struggle. This is a political/military/economic treatment of the 18th-century rivalry between Britain and France (with Spain as an optional non-player empire).

It's from the designers of Twilight Struggle and is a kind of spiritual successor to that game, but the systems are all different and a definite step up in complexity.

We're having fun!

In case anyone is looking to make some money and unload a closet full of D&D materials, Noble Knight is running some type of promotion right now looking for all things D&D and TSR related. Apparently this older stuff is in high demand right now (for whatever reason). I share for anyone interested; ignore if you'd like.

People at home are apparently using their stimulus checks to buy collectibles. I know my miniature collection has grown from staying at home, and not spending money on other things.

Chip Theory Games + Elder Scrolls = ?

Sign up to learn, apparently coming in 2022.

Once I see a title or something, I'll start a new thread.

Also, might be time to start a regular Core Space thread - two more sets being released this summer, unrelated to any KS project. I'm astounded at how much support this game gets from the creators.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed May 19, 2021 12:54 pm Also, might be time to start a regular Core Space thread - two more sets being released this summer, unrelated to any KS project. I'm astounded at how much support this game gets from the creators.

I have a CS thread that started as a AAR. I'll dig that up and retitle it.

Can't wait until we are gaming in person again. This is one of the game I really want to get going again.

I am playing my first 18xx on Sunday (specifically, 1849: The Game of Sicilian Railways). Wish me luck!

The rebooted Kickstarter version of Twilight: 2000 has gone to print, and backers have just received PDFs of the included material.

Production values look really high for this one, and there are even rules for easily converting all the old 1980s modules to the new system.

FFG is finally changing the way they release the Arkham Horror card game cycles.

Instead of kicking them off with a small box release then finishing the story through a half dozen or so smaller "mythos packs", now they're going to release two bigger boxes for each cycle: one will be all the scenario and story cards for the adventure. You can use this with just a core box if you want. And then they'll release an "investigator" box with all the deck building cards that would normally be released in small sets throughout the previous cycle run.

The end cost (MSRP) looks to be around 100 bucks for an entire cycle. Previously it would have been about 90 bucks for a half dozen mythos packs and then about 30 to 40 bucks for the kickoff box for the cycle. So the savings isn't huge...but it is far easier to play through a cycle now than it was previously when you had to hunt down those small mythos packs, which were often sold out by the time you were ready to play.

I'm pretty confident that this change happened because cheap, reliable shipping form China ended their ability to sustain their prior sales model.

Ah, that could be as well. Still, I think I prefer this approach. I hated having to hunt down multiple mythos packs months after their release. Now I just have to hunt down the one box.

It's a welcome change, but I won't be going back to that game. I sunk probably $300 into it playing through the core box and a couple of expansions, and while I had fun with it, I'm not sure it was worth that kind of money. At least not when I own other similar games like Arkham Horror 3rd Ed and Mansions of Madness that I can keep up with an occasional big box expansion every year or so.

I really love Arkham Horror 3rd edition. The story card approach they took from Fallout the board game fits it perfectly. And so far, I've lost most of the scenarios, which makes me go back and try again. So there is at least SOME replay value to the game.

And the expansion approach they take is MUCH better than the one they used for the 2nd edition game. After about the 8th expansion, I just stopped playing altogether because it became a chore to figure out what went with what...and the table space it could use was ridiculous. The same problem now occurs with Eldritch Horror too, unfortunately.

But in Arkham Horror 3E, just adding mostly new stories and smaller map tiles makes it feel less bloated and more organic to the game.

In other news, I just bought an android tablet so I could install Valkyrie and start playing some of the community made Mansions of Madness scenarios.

hepcat wrote:And so far, I've lost most of the scenarios, which makes me go back and try again. So there is at least SOME replay value to the game.

I've never been able to beat the first scenario, and I refuse to move on to any other scenario until I do. So it remains the Moby Dick of my collection, an old nemesis that stares at me from the shelf. That said, I love the game and my inability to beat it hasn't led to any animosity. I kind of like having it as a ready challenge.

I've played a couple of the other scenarios from both the base and at least one of the expansions. We also played over TTS one afternoon and it was a pleasant surprise with the scripted version.

We lost, of course.

This is a really lovely post on Hollandspiele's blog about the designer of one of their games.

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/holland ... -all-costs

I'm glad we signed it. It's not because the game was a huge hit; it wasn't. It's impossible to play solitaire, depending on bluff and deception, which usually doesn't translate into the strongest sales. On top of that, it had the misfortune of being released weeks before the entire world went into lockdown. And while I think the game is very compelling, and fraught with delicious moments of card angst, that's not the reason either. No; the reason is that, however briefly, it brought into our orbit the game's designer, who we would come to know as Crow.

The thing I remember about them most acutely is their enthusiasm. Perhaps more than any designer I've encountered, Crow was excited about their game. An email from Crow was never perfunctory, never only informational, but bursting from the seams with an infectious, impatient energy.

AWS260 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:24 am This is a really lovely post on Hollandspiele's blog about the designer of one of their games.

[...]

I've always been impressed with Hollandspiele's posts about their design choices and philosophy, and this takes it all a step further. They're one of my favorite publishers.

I am not into this game (but many of your are), that said - adding Dwemer models to it would be one way to get me VERY interested:

https://www.modiphius.net/products/elde ... nd-spiders

https://www.modiphius.net/products/elde ... eq=uniform



These look very cool!

I painted up the starter set because they painted up SO well just using Contrast Paints. Haven’t actually played the game though.

I really despise GW.

Games Workshop has just recently changed their policies to forbid any form of fan animation or film based off of their IP, and are ruthlessly enforcing it.

This likely would also make it a violation to film WH/40k cosplayers for YouTube, mod Total War games, use animations to explain gameplay, or do anything else they felt like going after. They are likely doing this because they don't want any competition for their upcoming all-Warhammer streaming network (!). There is no indication that they intend this for beyond actual animation/film, but they have a reputation for IP bullying, and they wouldn't hesitate to go after anything else if they got the urge. They already make it pretty much impossible to run a fan site (you can't use their logos anywhere on the site, you can't quote any text, you can't show any statistics.)

My favorite is that they have a zero tolerance infringement rule on imitation models, which they define as "Imitators produce models which copy heavily from Games Workshop’s artwork, books or products." In other words, are inspired by their art style. They're claiming to hold copyright on vague concepts, and they're bullying people on that basis.

GW launched Age of Sigmar and killed off Warhammer's Old World just because they got curb-stomped trying to sue a small company for putting out products that were too similar to theirs. In other words, they tried to enforce that 'Imitators' clause and someone had the balls to make them prove it in court. It killed the company because of the costs of defending themselves, but it established a precedent that made GW cry. But while the law and precedent are against them, most people aren't willing to go up against the giant. They might win, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory.

Remember, this is the same company that tried to have an author's books completely removed from the market because they claimed they owned any and all usage of the term 'space marine'. They just had two Kickstarters shut down the other day for models that they said were too similar, and they've been going after third parties that have similar models for sale online left and right. They're essentially claiming that they own concepts - if you have a ghost miniature and give him a two-handed sword, they own that because they have ghosts with two-handed swords in their line. Or guys in sci-fi armor with mutations. They own that, too.

And they are winning because nobody can afford to fight them (although I notice that they haven't gone after Blizzard which is a pretty blatant example...)

I used to love Warhammer, but I won't touch them with a ten-foot pole now.

hentzau wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:32 pm I painted up the starter set because they painted up SO well just using Contrast Paints. Haven’t actually played the game though.

Great work!

It's a little lighter than Fallout, so I'm not as much of a fan. They dropped some of the mechanics that I liked from Fallout in favor of a faster playing system. For me, that meant losing some of the flavor. If you're ever interested in learning it, let me know. I've played a solo game and two player game, so I would just need to brush up on the rules in order to teach it.

Some pretty damning accusations against the CEO of Broken Token today.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:39 am Some pretty damning accusations against the CEO of Broken Token today.

Jesus...

TheMix wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:45 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:39 am Some pretty damning accusations against the CEO of Broken Token today.

Jesus...

Yeah, I just read his response on FB.

hentzau wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:52 am Yeah, I just read his response on FB.

That was certainly…something.

So the guy's response via a statement is weird in that he writes about "the close and consensual interactions I had with others in and outside the organization". Then he closes it by stating he expects other accusations to come out, as mentioned elsewhere.

Up until that part I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he makes it sound like he was having multiple relationships with people within his company.

I suspect this is it for Broken Token. Or, at the very least, his stewardship.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 12:57 pm So the guy's response via a statement is weird in that he writes about "the close and consensual interactions I had with others in and outside the organization". Then he closes it by stating he expects other accusations to come out, as mentioned elsewhere.

Up until that part I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he makes it sound like he was having multiple relationships with people within his company.

I suspect this is it for Broken Token. Or, at the very least, his stewardship.

Yeah, I agree with you man. I always want to hear both sides of a story, but being the father of three daughters I almost laways side with the women and make the man prove he is not the scum bag. But his rebuttal is odd, and the fact that it seems he is admitting to relationships with employee's, so just so over the top. Not giving them a dime for a while.

Just disguting behavior for anyone that is in charge.

In other news, Zarathud was just spotted standing on the ledge of the Dearborn Street Bridge clutching his Blood Rage organizer and threatening to jump....

Broken Token hasn't released many new organizers lately. Just dice towers and t-shirts (very unfortunate for anyone who bought a t-shirt). I wonder if this fallout has been an internal problem for a while or if they're just stalled out.

I thought they'd stalled out because of a wood-sourcing problem, but yeah maybe more is going on.

Of course you want to hear both sides, but it seems like she had way more to lose by going public with this. If true, absolutely horrific.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:27 pm I thought they'd stalled out because of a wood-sourcing problem, but yeah maybe more is going on.

Of course you want to hear both sides, but it seems like she had way more to lose by going public with this. If true, absolutely horrific.

And the fact he didn't deny it, and even expects more to come out... Wow...

Blackhawk wrote:

Ouch. That would be a hit on the bottom line…

I expect Broken Token to have an outflow of talent and opportunities, as well as a few lawsuits for workplace sexual harassment. I don’t need them to go bankrupt, but their brand and business will be hurt.

There’s room for new companies in the insert market. Some of the best insert designs have been coming from Russia/Ukrainian companies on Etsy.