Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:03 am**

MythicalMino wrote:I have been playing lots of Defenders of the Realm. Mostly solo games, though, but I have had 2 actaul multi-player games. Even my wife likes this one!!

I also got the Dragons Expansion. I am really liking just about everything about it, though.

One thing about the expansion though: Why didn't they put an expansion symbol on the cards to make it easier to separate the cards if and when they get mixed?

Anyone in the southwest Michigan area that wants to play this? (heck, I have several others too). I am even on vacation next week!!

Chris

Southwest Michigan? Get your ass over to OctoCon in two weeks! I'll be happy to get in several games.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:39 pm**

Just set up another Mansions of Madness game for tonight - we're going to be replaying the first scenario, but of course I've switched the story elements. Setup was only about 45 minutes this time instead of an hour...which was nice. Also, having a small fishing tackle box to hold the various counters helped a great deal. I'm hoping it will speed up the game as well.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:42 pm**

I am still obsessed with 51st State and hopefully I can convince some folks to play me at Octocon. Here's the rules if anyone's interested. I'd love to get a full, 4 player going at some point. As I mentioned earlier, if you like Race for the Galaxy, you'll probably like 51st State.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 3:39 pm**

where can I find info on this OctoCon that you speak of?

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 3:43 pm**

MythicalMino wrote:where can I find info on this OctoCon that you speak of?

Why, right here.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 3:47 pm**

hentzau wrote:
MythicalMino wrote:I have been playing lots of Defenders of the Realm. Mostly solo games, though, but I have had 2 actaul multi-player games. Even my wife likes this one!!

I also got the Dragons Expansion. I am really liking just about everything about it, though.

One thing about the expansion though: Why didn't they put an expansion symbol on the cards to make it easier to separate the cards if and when they get mixed?

Anyone in the southwest Michigan area that wants to play this? (heck, I have several others too). I am even on vacation next week!!

Chris
Southwest Michigan? Get your ass over to OctoCon in two weeks! I'll be happy to get in several games.

I don't know why you're wasting your time. He's mythical. He can't attend.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:04 pm**

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:12 pm**

and....actually, I cannot. If I was taking my vacation a week later, or if this thing was a week earlier, then sure, probably. But, my vacation is this next week, not the week after.

I will have to watch for info for maybe next years, though.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:48 pm**

You won't have to wait until next year. We'll probably be getting together again in fall.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:07 pm**

very cool. Maybe I will be able to make it to that one then. I work in retail, though, so vacations are sometimes taken when I can, not exactly when I want. But, I would love to try to meet up.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:34 am**

since I'm REALLY not up on the latest and greatest this year, I'm looking for advice from those who might be. With Gencon event reg less than a week away I'm starting to research games that might be interesting for a group of 4-6 to participate in. Especially interested in games that y'all think would play well in a convention setting for that size group (or less, if we splinter). Muchas gracias.

On that note, is anyone else going this year?

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:26 pm**

Jow wrote:since I'm REALLY not up on the latest and greatest this year, I'm looking for advice from those who might be. With Gencon event reg less than a week away I'm starting to research games that might be interesting for a group of 4-6 to participate in. Especially interested in games that y'all think would play well in a convention setting for that size group (or less, if we splinter). Muchas gracias.

On that note, is anyone else going this year?

I've got the green light to do all four days this year. Going to be hooking up with a gaming buddy from my childhood (who's also going to be at OctoCon again this year), and Tommy20's going to be doing at least a day or two with me as well.

I can't really speak to the games there, as I've never played. I'm planning on spending a lot of time at the boardgaming room, and trying to get into at least one Living Forgotten Realms game a day. And if I can make it, get into the LFR Battle Interactive (assuming they are going to have one this year.)

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:33 pm**

Got some good games with the extended family this holiday weekend. 7 Wonders was a hit (again) and with the release of the rules for 7 Wonders: Leaders (that included a list of what the leader cards do) I can't wait for that expansion to come out. Most of the games were 3-4 players but we did get a 5 player game in as well. I still maintain the game loses a lot with more than 4 players, but is still a good game if you're looking for something relatively quick that still works with that many people.

We also tried out 2 new additions: Survive: Escape from Atlantis and Revolution!. Both were hits as well but I was most surprised by Revolution! For a seemingly simple game there was a lot of strategy to it and everyone asked that it come back soon. I picked up the Palace expansion today at lunch so we can fit 5-6 players as well.

In other gaming news I'm excited to hear there's another new Small World expansion coming, Small World Underworld... although there seems to be speculation and some healthy evidence this will actually be a stand-alone game that can hopefully co-exist with Small World as well, even if it's just mixing up the various races/powers.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:49 pm**

Daveman wrote:Got some good games with the extended family this holiday weekend. 7 Wonders was a hit (again) and with the release of the rules for 7 Wonders: Leaders (that included a list of what the leader cards do) I can't wait for that expansion to come out. Most of the games were 3-4 players but we did get a 5 player game in as well. I still maintain the game loses a lot with more than 4 players, but is still a good game if you're looking for something relatively quick that still works with that many people.

No replacement cards. No word on replacement cards since the 4th when they kind enough to say they'd look into it and make it right and basically telling me I'm screwed for the mixed language placards "that do not affect play." I get that I paid $50 for the privilege of owning a piece of their intellectual property but 7 Wonders is now the last game I ever get from Asmodee. Maybe someone else I play with will support them.

I think the game gains a lot when you go above 4 players. The reason it gains a lot is because military at 4 players or less is more or less an either/or luck of the draw. The arms race is a bad dynamic in a 4 player or less game, IMO.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:45 pm**

Anyone know anything about Pathfinder, the RPG system? My D&D group broke down, because I broke the cardinal rule of playing D&D with a couple (and they broke-up). All the roleplaying groups around here play Pathfinder, which I hear is more like 3.5 D&D. Is it back to being mathy and overly complicated?

I don't know if it is my gaming buying addiction, or just pure insanity, but I am thinking about re-buying Runewars. I had it and played it a couple of times, but it left me with the extreme desire to buy and play Twilight Imperium 3rd. So I sold it (for a profit, funny enough) and got TI:3rd. But now I'm wondering if I made a mistake, and some gift money came my way so I am thinking about getting it again. It does play quicker than TI, it has a certain allure, and I believe is less convoluted than Civilizations. I know Hep is a big fan of Runewars, does it hit the table often and are people happy in the long run?

Got to play more Wrath of Ashardalon. I'm very very happy with this game. And the wife really likes it too, since it scrathes the D&D itch.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:52 pm**

Pathfinder thread: http://octopusoverlords.com/forum/viewt ... 15&t=74378

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:47 pm**

Thanks AWS260! From perusing that thread, I think going from the pure elegance and streamlining of 4e (which was good for my over-taxed brain) back to a byzantine system like that might be a bit of a shock. Instead, I may pick up Gamma World and see if I can get some of my more casual gaming friends into that!

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:03 pm**

LordMortis wrote:I think the game gains a lot when you go above 4 players. The reason it gains a lot is because military at 4 players or less is more or less an either/or luck of the draw. The arms race is a bad dynamic in a 4 player or less game, IMO.

But with 3-4 players, you know what your hand is, and that many of those cards will come back to you at some point. You also get to know what the other hands are like and what's getting passed around and when. You just have more control over what's going on, and you have more ability to influence what your neighbors are doing. In 5+ games, every hand you're passed is a new one... you just have to accept what comes your way, and you have little if any influence on half the players. I dunno, I just didn't find my few large games satisfying at all.

As for the arms race, in our early games it felt like they decided more than their fair share of games and we often focused on either building up our military or denying those cards. Now military power isn't any more influential in most of our games than any other branch of cards. I've won or been competitive many times with little or no military buildup at all.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:21 pm**

baelthazar wrote:Thanks AWS260! From perusing that thread, I think going from the pure elegance and streamlining of 4e (which was good for my over-taxed brain) back to a byzantine system like that might be a bit of a shock. Instead, I may pick up Gamma World and see if I can get some of my more casual gaming friends into that!

If they ever get the VT ready for prime time, maybe we could try a pick up OO 4E game. I'd love to do it.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:58 am**

Daveman wrote:
LordMortis wrote:I think the game gains a lot when you go above 4 players. The reason it gains a lot is because military at 4 players or less is more or less an either/or luck of the draw. The arms race is a bad dynamic in a 4 player or less game, IMO.
But with 3-4 players, you know what your hand is, and that many of those cards will come back to you at some point. You also get to know what the other hands are like and what's getting passed around and when. You just have more control over what's going on, and you have more ability to influence what your neighbors are doing. In 5+ games, every hand you're passed is a new one... you just have to accept what comes your way, and you have little if any influence on half the players. I dunno, I just didn't find my few large games satisfying at all.

As for the arms race, in our early games it felt like they decided more than their fair share of games and we often focused on either building up our military or denying those cards. Now military power isn't any more influential in most of our games than any other branch of cards. I've won or been competitive many times with little or no military buildup at all.

You have a pretty good idea of what cards are in the game (even after only playing it three or so) so you know what's circulating anyway. My thought is the other way around and specifically for the military. If you are unlucky enough to start with two military cards in your hand on the first round ironically you can't compete. The problem is that if you don't compete then your neighbors will just put down one military and they net a 12 point advantage. The saving grace is that they player kittty corner to you might go for military. Only they can't, because now you are handing all your military over their enemy, so now your neighbors are netting a 21 point advantage. Looking at it that way, you have to get involved, but if the cards don't fall your way, they still net a 21 point advantage and you've wasted all your plays losing an arms race. When you get to 5 players the arms race isn't so clear. You can't count on it for just the reasons you talk about. You have to build your strategy around knowing that cards aren't coming back to you, that there is going to be a scarcity. For me that makes the game much more interesting.... Kinda like how Heroes of Might and Magic lost all interest for me when they took out the search and competition for resources but just made the game about the tactics of advancing unit stacks. But that's me. I find that I am often in my own world when it comes to dybancs that fascinate me versus dynamics I don't care for in games.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 11:46 am**

hentzau wrote:
baelthazar wrote:Thanks AWS260! From perusing that thread, I think going from the pure elegance and streamlining of 4e (which was good for my over-taxed brain) back to a byzantine system like that might be a bit of a shock. Instead, I may pick up Gamma World and see if I can get some of my more casual gaming friends into that!
If they ever get the VT ready for prime time, maybe we could try a pick up OO 4E game. I'd love to do it.

Now that sounds intriguing!

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:36 pm**

baelthazar wrote:Got to play more Wrath of Ashardalon. I'm very very happy with this game. And the wife really likes it too, since it scrathes the D&D itch.

I played for the first time this past weekend and I was surprised at how different it was than Castle Ravenloft. Sure, the general idea is the same, but the overall theme is different enough that it felt like a classic dungeon crawl. Once again (with just two players) we were constantly teetering on the edge of failure for the entire adventure and when we finally won, it felt like such a tremendous victory. Overall the monsters and treasure cards seem to be much better than Castle Raveloft. I was skeptical that it was just a re-skin, but I'm a believer now.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:40 pm**

[fingersinears]

Wrath of Ashardalon

yingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingimnotlisteningyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingying[/fingersinears]

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:47 pm**

baelthazar wrote:
I know Hep is a big fan of Runewars, does it hit the table often and are people happy in the long run?

actually, i sold my copy at origins last year. every time i played, someone came away from the game annoyed or disappointed, so i gave up trying to force it on others. not sure why it was so cursed for me, but i've got way too many gaming addictions to worry about one.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:53 pm**

hepcat wrote:actually, i sold my copy at origins last year. every time i played, someone came away from the game annoyed or disappointed, so i gave up trying to force it on others. not sure why it was so cursed for me, but i've got way too many gaming addictions to worry about one.

If Rune Wars is the game I think it is, I'm one of those people but I'm the only one around here. They're fine to play the game. Just let me know that's the plan and I won't come out is all. If we're going to decide what to play after the fact then I'm either going to veto the game or play in protest.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:41 pm**

LordMortis wrote:
hepcat wrote: or play in protest.

that's probably not the wisest course if you want to be invited back, though.

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:51 pm**

LordMortis wrote:[fingersinears]
Wrath of Ashardalon
yingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingimnotlisteningyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingying[/fingersinears]

I'll have my copy at OctoCon. For your enjoyment, LM.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:30 am**

hepcat wrote:
baelthazar wrote:
I know Hep is a big fan of Runewars, does it hit the table often and are people happy in the long run?

actually, i sold my copy at origins last year. every time i played, someone came away from the game annoyed or disappointed, so i gave up trying to force it on others. not sure why it was so cursed for me, but i've got way too many gaming addictions to worry about one.

You may have saved me a re-investment of nearly $70. What I want is something as epic as Civilization and Twilight Imperium 3rd, but that I can play in 2-3 hours. Looks like I'm going to be living near my current gaming group another year, so I thought it might be a good investment.

But it is such a polarizing game. Some people are saying how much they love it, others are saying how much trash it is. Normal for BGG, but not in such numbers. I only got to play it twice, and we all seemed to enjoy our time, but not in the same way we do with TI:3. I think I'm just wanting a new minis epic game.

I'll bust out Civilizations again to fill the lower playtime void. Hopefully, next weekend (May 7) and can get people involved in a great TI:3rd, "day before Bael's b-day" extravaganza. Would be pretty awesome!

I pre-ordered Troyes last night (it is getting sent to distributors, according to Z-man). The buzz is strong with this one, and I'm a big fan of dice euros.

Wrath of Ashardalon is very very cool. We had a ton of fun, even though we lost horribly. I still prefer the setting of Castle Ravenloft, but I agree that the treasures, chambers, and monster abilities of WoA are better. I'm still working on how to best adapt the WoA chambers to CR, and I think using chamber rules and randomly drawing a villain token from the CR villains to face in the chamber may be the best way to go here.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:37 am**

baelthazar wrote: Wrath of Ashardalon is very very cool. We had a ton of fun, even though we lost horribly. I still prefer the setting of Castle Ravenloft, but I agree that the treasures, chambers, and monster abilities of WoA are better. I'm still working on how to best adapt the WoA chambers to CR, and I think using chamber rules and randomly drawing a villain token from the CR villains to face in the chamber may be the best way to go here.

WotC posted the first official bonus expansion scenarios for Ashardalon a few weeks ago - and it includes instructions on how to mix in the Castle Ravenloft set. We were going to try it last weekend but just figured we should try and enjoy the stand alone first.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:17 am**

Yeah, hep (I believe) hooked me up with those bonus scenarios a few pages back (but thanks anyway). They offer some scripted adventures, but what I am really looking for is a way to recreate the random chamber scenario (Adventure 4, I believe in WoA) with CR's villains. What CR was missing, IMHO, was chambers with some personality, and WoA fixed this.

I like the idea of mixing the treasure decks, that seems pretty easy to do. I may mix the monster decks as well (or follow the guidelines in the pdf).

One thing I do not like about WoA are the villagers. Not very fun, IMHO. We had a prison break scenario and it instantly failed when Cave Bears offed both villagers with very little effort. Not particularly thrilling if you ask me.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:42 pm**

baelthazar wrote:Yeah, hep (I believe) hooked me up with those bonus scenarios a few pages back

tweren't me...i think it was zarathud.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:54 pm**

Monday we pulled out Formula D and got a 3 player game in. I had forgotten how much fun that game was. We hadn't played it for at least a year, so we ran a basic game to remember the core rules (just one lap) and then we upped ourselves into the advanced rules. We had never played by the advanced rules and boy do they bring a whole new level of strategy to the game. Having to divide your wear between tires, brakes, and gearbox really makes you think about how you want to approach those corners.

The game was fairly close, and we were coming into the last corner. Stuart was trailing both Tommy and I by quite a bit, he got into early brake and tire trouble and had to play it more cautiously as well as pit after the first lap and he never really made up his lost ground from a slow start out of the pits. I had a slight lead on Tommy, and was in 4th gear over his 3rd gear. He was in a better position to shift up into 4th and take the corner successfully, whereas if I downshifted to make sure I didn't blow the corner, he would be a gear up on me.

I had 4 wear points left on my tires. Looking at the distance, only if I rolled a 12 on the die would I end up blowing completely through that corner and waste my tires. Anything under that I would blow through the corner but still have tires left. Go for it!

And of course, I rolled a 12. Blew through the corner, completely wore out my tires, and spun out. Starting off in 1st gear next turn. Tommy cruised through the corner, and breezed on to an easy victory. Dammit!!!

Now. There is a caveat. I was unsure of a ruling (the Forumla D rulebook is fairly skimpy and open to interpretation), so I didn't do it, and I have since found out that it is generally accepted that this is the correct way to play: I could have taken 1 point of brake damage, and 3 points of tire damage, leaving my tires intact and having me in the good position to take the race. We had been playing that you had to take all of your wear damage from one area at a time. So, lesson learned, and I won't let you get past me next time, Tommy!

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:10 pm**

Small World: Underground is officially revealed!

http://www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/en/underground/" target="_blank

At a quick glance at the developer comments thus far, looks like the maps will include rivers... which sound like they'll have offensive penalties trying to cross, but allow for some sort of bonus by moving along them? Also some sort of relics or other goodies on the map for players to fight over. Seems like there might be some compatibility with this and Small World, but it looks like terrain-based racial/special powers might not work so well as they're different. Unless it'd be easy to consider one type of underground terrain as "farmland", another as "swamp", etc.

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:51 pm**

hepcat wrote:
baelthazar wrote:Yeah, hep (I believe) hooked me up with those bonus scenarios a few pages back
tweren't me...i think it was zarathud.

Yes, I am hepcat's evil twin. There is also a BGG geeklist rating all of the user created adventures, and a link to the user created characters.

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2011 11:33 am**

Zarathud wrote:
hepcat wrote:
baelthazar wrote:Yeah, hep (I believe) hooked me up with those bonus scenarios a few pages back
tweren't me...i think it was zarathud.
Yes, I am hepcat's evil twin. There is also a BGG geeklist rating all of the user created adventures, and a link to the user created characters.

Damn... if you are hepcat's evil twin, you must be a downright black-hearted, soulless, bastard!!!

Thanks for the geeklist! I'll put that to good use. The best thing about WoA/CR is that it is still pretty awesome to solo play. I prefer to play with a group, but it isn't strictly necessary.

Still deciding where I am going to get my epic gaming fix. I really really want to play Twilight Imperium 3rd, and probably will try to swing it, but the length of that game makes it difficult to hit the table frequently. I wish Civilization was quicker to play, but it just isn't... you only save about an hour or so with that.

My own personal interests makes Here I Stand by GMT games look very attractive, but I hear it is LONGER than TI:3rd!

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2011 4:01 pm**

I've always wanted to get Here I Stand played, but several things stood in the way:

1) Really needs 6 people to be done right.
2) Rules are pretty long, something like 40 pages, and each playable power has a fairly distinct set of rules and abilities that makes it difficult for one player to effectively teach and police everyone, so pretty much everyone has to be familiar with their rules before starting.
3) 8 hour game time. Probably longer for a first play.

As a result, I wound up passing my copy along to a buddy in the Great Boardgame Purgening of '10. Maybe one day I'll pick it back up and put it in the "I'll want to have it when I'm old and retired" closet.

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2011 4:17 pm**

I still kindle the dream of playing Here I Stand, Chaz. With the 8 hour playtime, and the kiddo, realistically that's probably only going to happen when and if the wife and kid are out of town for a weekend, or at least a day. Which who knows when that'll happen, but you better be free when it does.

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2011 4:58 pm**

oh man, Here I Stand sounds right up my alley. Specifically, ever since I started playing Chaos in the Old World I've been on the lookout for great asymmetrical games like this. Unfortunately, playtime and weight would pretty much make it impossible to get to the table. Blaaaaah.

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:17 pm**

Yeah, I nearly bought Here I Stand with the Facebook deal coupon from GMT. But that 9 hour playtime is insane. And I've heard that the game plays well with odd numbers, like 3 and 6, but terrible for the more normal numbers of 4 and 5.

EDIT: when I said odd numbers, I mean "strange" not as in odd and even.

Posted: **Sat Apr 30, 2011 12:50 pm**

We played Werewolf a dozen times this morning, with my kids and kenetickids kids. Lots of loud and boisterous fun. Silly spurious logic and random acts of ludicrous accusation. My favorite was dealing out six wolves and one seer. The expressions on the six wolves looking up was awesome, but not as funny as the seer finding out he was alone. Great time.

Octopus Overlords

OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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