Board Games

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Enjoy - still play it solo at least once a week!

When you play solo, how many heroes do you use? I'd like to keep it as low as possible yet I don't want to sabotage myself too much early on. Is two enough? What about three? I'd definitely like to avoid four if I can...

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I think Im about done with card driven games. I played Smash Up last week, And I just couldnt get it going because of the way my deck was put together. When the game ended I was just getting to the cards that would have helped me out.
I really had no chance to win. There was not much I could do.

I only played it once, but I probably played the worst combo for AP players, and I felt like I was constantly fighting my deck. I think card games can work, but that's not really a good example of one that does.

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

When you play solo, how many heroes do you use? I'd like to keep it as low as possible yet I don't want to sabotage myself too much early on. Is two enough? What about three? I'd definitely like to avoid four if I can...

I think the recommended minimal number is 3.

[CleBrownsfan]

Yeah - I use use 3 and I feel it's a good mix. If possible, I suggest using the app that helps you do the "bookkeeping". Saves a lot of time and space...

[cschex]

3 is the minimum for Sentinels. Use the Complexity Guide in the rulebook to get an idea of who you should play in your first games solo. Avoid AbZero and the Shattered Timelines heroes for your first game - use heroes like Legacy, Haka, Ra and Wraith who are farily straightforward. Have fun!

Matt, on the card driven games, someone gave me Mage Wars a few weeks ago and it eliminates the card draw issue by giving access to every card in your spellbook in each turn. It's a much longer game than Summoner WArs, but it certainly cuts down on that luck based aspect. It still involves dice for hits, though

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Yeah - I use use 3 and I feel it's a good mix. If possible, I suggest using the app that helps you do the "bookkeeping". Saves a lot of time and space...

Thanks! I bought the Sentinels Sidekick iOS app in anticipation earlier this week, I assume that is the one you mean.

In a fun side-note regarding the game and that app, earlier this week I was out on my street with my kids who were playing with our neighbors kids. I was chatting with the father and mentioned I had ordered Sentinels, which he had never heard of. I told him about it for a couple minutes and then we moved on to other discussions.

Fast forward to the next morning and I get a Facebook message from the neighbor. Turns out a good friend of his from university in Edmonton (he was doing his masters in comp-sci before moving back to Winnipeg) runs a company called Handelabra games, who were announcing that day that they were creating an iOS app port of Sentinels of the Multiverse! Turns out they also created the Sentinels Sidekick app, which I then went and purchased immediately.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by cschex

Matt, on the card driven games, someone gave me Mage Wars a few weeks ago and it eliminates the card draw issue by giving access to every card in your spellbook in each turn. It's a much longer game than Summoner WArs, but it certainly cuts down on that luck based aspect. It still involves dice for hits, though

The problem is that it currently is a two-player game which won't get played unless I solo it. I've played SW 19 times and two of them were with another player. I haven't really seen MW make that much of an impact locally so game day's at stores won't be that much of a help. The one friend who would play it I see twice a year and our lists of games we play is full.

Soloing SW means the game take a much longer time, so that translates to an even longer game of MW. The play two cards a turn aspect can lead to AP issues, and my previously mentioned AP prone friend wouldn't help matters either.

I have an aversion to building decks at this point even though I could just use standard configurations or find ones people post online. I'm not sure it really offers something different enough to gain actual interest in it. When news of MW first dropped I researched it as much as anybody, but I never felt like it was the right match. I think it is closer now, but again, it won't get played unless I solo it. I would just rather spend money on a multiplayer game that gets played. I am looking at Sekigahara for a two-player game, but again, it offers a different enough experience to have me be interested.

[Warhammer]

Having picked up Mage Wars yesterday and being a big fan of Summoner Wars, I think I can weight in. If you don't like CCGs or want a game you can just pick up and play, Mage Wars is not for you.

Mage Wars will be a better game for me, provided I can find an opponent. However, Summoner Wars will see MUCH more play. Part of this is due to game time, Summiner Wars plays in 30 mins. or so. Mage Wars will take much longer due to setting up spell books, etc., and the non-random chance of cards means you can plan that much more. AP out the wazoo for some players.

Now, if you have two people that liked Summoner Wars, wanted a less random game, and had the time to set up and play, then Mage Wars is for you.

[RainRaven]

This will vary locally store to store, but found multiple copes of the base x-wing miniatures game at target for twenty bucks.

[tarcone]

I have found a game I have wanted for awhile. It was only available from a publisher in Germany. I didnt want to pay that cost, so I waited. And it now available in the US. It is out of stock right now, but I emailed and it will be available again in about a month. Its expensive. And will be my last purchase this year. The game is Turfmaster. If you want, IMO, the best racing game out there, this is it. $89.95 for the base game and $39.95 for the extra tracks, which there are 2 sets.
The game is strategic, balanced with meaningful decisions and loads of fun. I cant wait.

So I am in the process of waiting for games. I pre-ordered 11775: Rebellion. Due in August.
I KSed Storm The Castle. Check this one out. If you like fantasy themes, this has it. The game is semi-coop. Which sounds really cool. The premise is you are a horde trying to take a castle. And beat the defenders of the castle. It plays up to 4. Has 4 very distinct races with different abilities. This one comes in late August. I cant wait. Hoping it gets here before Labor day.
I KSed Lost Valley. This one looks like it wont be here until Christmas. It is a reprint by Pandasaurus games. The game looks like a lot of fun. Trying find gold as a gold miner. But it has all sorts of things to buy and do. Unfortunately, Pandasaurus games is not a very well run company. Poor communication, slow in all aspects of getting the game out. Its a one man show. On this KS project, he KSed it and is now fine tuning the rules. So he gets the money then starts the process. Oh well.

These are the 4 games I am getting to stop my year of buying. Too many games, not enough playing of games. And my group gets real busy in the Fall. Rarely do we get together to play. Labor day weekend is the next goal.

[tarcone]

I made a trade for Twilight Struggle. A friend is coming over to play it today. I can see why this is the #1 game on BGG. It looks awesome. 6 pages of rules, but it will take a long time to master. It looks like it is deep. I cant wait to play it.

[CleBrownsfan]

I bought TS and traded it without even playing it... I could not find anyone to play it (I only know a handful of friends that play board games)

I'[m curious of what you think of it...

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I bought TS and traded it without even playing it... I could not find anyone to play it (I only know a handful of friends that play board games)

I'[m curious of what you think of it...

I own it and can't find anyone to play with. Also intrigued to hear your thoughts.

[Matthean]

I think the one possible issue I would have with TS would be getting a number of cards that you couldn't use but your opponent could. Odds are they would go through the same situation. To me that creates more of a down period for each player versus engaging play.

[tarcone]

But you can do different things with cards that wont help your opponent. Such as playing the space race.
But I will find out soon. We will start in about an hour.

[Solecismic]

We're starting to play Castles of Burgundy. First game was a mess due to a couple of mistakes in rules interpretations. It's definitely a rules-heavy game. Second game went much better, and I'm finding it lends itself well to different strategies. With two players, rather than mixing up all the tiles, I would consider having a smaller subset of the tiles (particularly with the animals) to lessen some of the random nature of tile selection.

I'm looking forward to getting a copy of Suburbia. Apparently it's back in stock at Bezier, and starting to make its way to resellers. Plus, there's an expansion coming this fall.

[Umbrella]

I really enjoy Twilight Struggle, but like you guys, I have trouble finding someone to play it with me. Also, someone who has played it a few times has a huge advantage over a first timer, just because the knowledge of the cards is pretty important.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

We're starting to play Castles of Burgundy. First game was a mess due to a couple of mistakes in rules interpretations. It's definitely a rules-heavy game. Second game went much better, and I'm finding it lends itself well to different strategies. With two players, rather than mixing up all the tiles, I would consider having a smaller subset of the tiles (particularly with the animals) to lessen some of the random nature of tile selection.

I'm looking forward to getting a copy of Suburbia. Apparently it's back in stock at Bezier, and starting to make its way to resellers. Plus, there's an expansion coming this fall.

I printed off the player aids from BGG. It seemed like I kept finding a rule error and even thought I had everything down until I watched a video play of it.

Suburbia will likely forever be one of my higher ranked games even as I play more games. Expansion comes out in October, and it was designed along with the base game versus being added on as an afterthought. So far I like what I'm seeing.

[tarcone]

That was a great game of Twilight Struggle. I see where Mathean was saying you have to play other player events. But there are things to avoid that. Keeping it as your held card or playing it on your last turn.
There are lots of decisions. Do I play influence or the event or try a coup or try realignment or do the Space Race?
Good stuff. I really like this game.
I ended up winning in roud 7 and 5 hours into the game. I was the USA. I got influence in Cuba early and booted the USSR out. I got the cards that made it possible to get influence in SA and CA. That was a huge advantage. The USSR was way ahead int he space race. But that didnt really negatively affect me. I had influence all over the world. At one point we had a card about the player with the most battleground countries gets VPs. I had 12 and he had 4. Going into turn 7 I had really flexed my muscle in SA and I got the SA scoring card. I was at 17 VPs and played that as my headline.
Victory was mine.

Im not sure how many plays it will take to learn the cards. But I imagine it will take a long time.

If you own it, go to a game night at a LGS and get someone to sit down to play with you. Its a must play.

[Autumn]

My friend and I play Twilight Struggle whenever we can. it's definitely one of the best games I've ever played. It's fun from the first game, but you're only scratching the surface at that point. It can be very very long though. We basically play when one of our families goes away.

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I think the one possible issue I would have with TS would be getting a number of cards that you couldn't use but your opponent could. Odds are they would go through the same situation. To me that creates more of a down period for each player versus engaging play.

That's one of the major components of the game, I think, is deciding how to manage your opponents' cards. Do you bite the bullet and just fire them early? Do you hold them off until later? Do you counteract them immediately? once you know the cards and game well you have an idea of when you should use a card adn when you can bury it in the discard. But it feels very thematically tense, wtih every round you're triggering some reactoin that's going to hurt you.

[Warhammer]

Multiple plays of TS are huge. Also, multiple long games are nice. I think my first 10 games were over before turn 6. First time I made it to the late game I got stomped because I had no clue what the cards looked like.

My complaint about it is the scoring cards. Three scoring cards in one round kill you no matter what.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I was the USA. I got influence in Cuba early and booted the USSR out.

Actually, this could have been a very dangerous play. If you were forced to play the Ortega card at DEFCON 2, you would have lost. For that reason alone, I am hesitant to have any influence in Cuba as the US. That is why card knowledge is a HUGE advantage over a new player.

/TS nerdiness

[tarcone]

Reading the Ortega card, Im not really sure what you mean. If the Russia player plays their free coup at defcon 2, so what? I wouldnt have lost.
I would have lost Nicarauga and Cuba, but that isnt too bad.

[Umbrella]

If you have influence in Cuba, they can use their coup in Cuba. Since Cuba is a battleground, DEFCON drops to 1 on a card you played, and you would lose. It's one of the many subtle ways to lose. Believe me, once it happens to you, you don't forget it.

In your situation that you described, I prefer to realign them out of Cuba if I can get some good modifiers. It sounds like the cards you had would have allowed you to do this. It locks them out of the region, without the downside of the Ortega trick. However, once Ortega has been played or spaced, then this isn't a concern.

ETA: I think the confusion is with the "free coup" designation. I know it confused us when we first started playing. The rules to look at are 6.3.5 and 8.2.5. Basically, a free coup does not give military operations, and can ignore regional DEFCON restrictions. However, using a free coup in a battleground will still lower DEFCON. I think some players think because it is free, it doesn't lower DEFCON, but 6.3.5 specifically addresses that.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I think the one possible issue I would have with TS would be getting a number of cards that you couldn't use but your opponent could. Odds are they would go through the same situation. To me that creates more of a down period for each player versus engaging play.

Originally Posted by Autumn

That's one of the major components of the game, I think, is deciding how to manage your opponents' cards. Do you bite the bullet and just fire them early? Do you hold them off until later? Do you counteract them immediately? once you know the cards and game well you have an idea of when you should use a card adn when you can bury it in the discard. But it feels very thematically tense, wtih every round you're triggering some reactoin that's going to hurt you.

I agree with Autumn. And like you said, if you have a hand full of your opponent's cards, chances are they are going to be playing some of yours. And sometimes, you can use cards to your benefit.

For example, let's say you are the US player. On your initial deal, you get dealt Blockade, De-Stalinization, Romanian Abdication, Vietnam Revolts, Asia Scoring, Warsaw Pact, Fidel, and Independent Reds. Six USSR cards, one US card, and a scoring card, and not a lot of ops. Pretty awful, right?

You could then choose to leave West Germany empty during setup, and render Blockade useless, and even headline it. Or you could use Blockade and discard De-Stalinization, getting rid of two bad cards at once. I would probably just bite the bullet and play Warsaw Pact early, knowing at least that allows NATO to activate if USSR has the card. Definitely play Warsaw Pact before Independent Reds if your use Reds for the event. You could play Romanian Abdication followed by Independent Reds. That's even more fun if your opponent is stuck with Truman Doctrine. Make sure you play Asia scoring before Vietnam. These are just a few ideas, and there are probably many others that would work.

You will still be behind the eight ball with a hand like that, but it is still something that can be recovered from with a little forethought. However, you aren't playing in a vacuum, so your opponent will have a say about this as well . But hopefully they will be having the same amount of stress with their cards as you are experiencing.

[tarcone]

I think we might have played a "free" coup as not lowering Defcon. And playing it on my card making me lose would have been something we did wrong. I think we would have played it as the USSR player initiating the coup, they lose. Good to know.

How do you choose to leave West Germany empty on set up? Arent they one country that you have to put influence in? Im not looking at the game and cant remember.

[Umbrella]

Most people use some of their 7 Europe choices to fill West Germany, with the other 3 in Italy. However, sometimes if you have Blockade, and no good cards to use for the discard, you can leave West Germany empty with no repercussions. Also, if they headline Red Scare/Purge, Blockade can become a huge problem.

Although if you leave West Germany empty, you take the risk of them moving freely into the country. But that's not so bad either if they do it the first turn, because now you can expand out of Iran into Afghanistan, and have an entry into Western Asia.

To me, this little conversation displays why TS is such a great game. There are so many possibilities and options on every card, depending on when and how it gets played. A strategy that works one game may be completely ineffective in another.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I think we would have played it as the USSR player initiating the coup, they lose. Good to know.

Keep in mind, that the card says the USSR "may" make a free coup attempt, so if they initiated the coup on their own with DEFCON at 2, then they deserve to lose. I suppose if the US had a bunch of units in Nicaragua, and USSR held CA scoring, and removing influence in Nicaragua would change scoring, then they might play it as an event without activating the coup. But that is a pretty unlikely situation. I don't think it is a very strong event for the USSR to play. I would rather have the ops points as USSR.

[Matthean]

Game night.

Two new people showed up. The husband is part of the reserves so he'll be in and out, but the wife will continue to show up. We started out looking for a quick game in case another player showed up who was a maybe. I talked them into No Thanks! and the wife liked it enough to have us keep playing it so we burned through three games of it. Afterwards we played Carcassonne so I finally got to mark that off of my list. I liked and knew enough about it that there were few surprises. I actually was in the lead until final scoring as the wife pulled off a farm with 11 completed cities for 44 points and thus she beat me by 9. They even mentioned how usually a farm might score for around 6 completed cities.

They left early due to needing to pick up their daughter at 2am in the morning coming back from a missions trip. Normally there is 2-3 more people there so it was kind of odd to have me and just new people, but they are definitely coming back. Maybe the biggest issue with the group is people check it out, and then never come back.

I talked about some of my games and they were interested in them. The husband liked the idea of Suburbia, and I got the wife talked into Keyflower so I'm pumped about that. They said their son was into gaming with his friend as well, but they work weekends so it might be harder to get them to come. I can't recall how wargames came up so I asked them to clarify since there are war games and then there are wargames. They mentioned stuff like Axis and Allies and Memoir '44, so I'm thinking they mean more of the war game side when they mentioned they use to play Up Front a ton some years ago and how heavy the game was. It definitely sounds like I can get some of my actual wargames played which would be nice.

[Matthean]

Game Night

Finally got to play Power Grid. In short I enjoyed this more than most of the big name games I have played. I'll likely put it in the area of an 8. I made a couple of mistakes, but we all did since it was a new game for everybody. I tried to set up myself for the 3rd stage thinking it would longer than it did. One player suddenly realized he could have buildings at 17 cities and power 16 of them for the win. For the most part I think I decent some decent strategy but it definitely needs more plays to get a better handle on things.

Maori was next. It is a tile placement game with an island theme. Not bad for a lighter game. Carcassone would likely win out, but I don't think it is that far off. I committed a huge error and finished last. I don't think I would have won anyway, but I still disliked doing such a newbie error of me placing two tiles in a way I couldn't complete either island and thus had to burn a turn just to fix it.

We then played Pickomino. It is similar but not to Sushizock im Gockelwok. It is a nice filler type game as well. I'll give the edge to Pickomino between the two. One of the new people kept getting screwed over but in a kind of humorous. The game was really down to two people as the other three had no tiles or was the person who kept getting screwed.

We played No Thanks! to end the night and had a humorous moment when I and another player realized we had been playing the game wrong. You only end your turn when you place a token on a card so this means you can draw and take multiple cards. We had been playing it your turn was done when you placed a token on a card or took the card. Oops. Playing it correctly does give a different vibe to the game. I'm not sure I like the official rules.

I only need to play four more new to me games for the year which should be painfully easy.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I love Power Grid. It's like Monopoly with strategy instead of dice rolls.

[Matthean]

I finally kicked out a 3-player solo game to knock off Samurai off of my unplayed list. I'm guessing I'll still like Suburbia the most out of the tile placement games when it is all said and done, but Samurai is the cleanest. I can definitely see getting repeated plays out of it when playing with others. I love the one special tile and how it can screw players over if they invest heavily into getting one of the scoring pieces, and you swap it with something that gives them zero influence over it. Being able to swap one of your own tiles can be huge as well if timed right. I'm trying to think, but this might be my favorite Knizia I have played so far.

I haven't tried it, but I read on BGG that there might be issues with the two player game played as is, so that might hurt its rating in the end. Suburbia plays fine with two and maybe might be best for some due to the lack of keeping track of the bonuses.

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I love Power Grid. It's like Monopoly with strategy instead of dice rolls.

I love Power Grid! My main gaming friend got tired of it so I haven't played in a while, but I love the strategy to this one.

[tarcone]

With Birthday money and the sale of Dominion, Im buying Kemet tomorrow. I have a game dayt at 1:00. And this will be the game I suggest. It looks like it is a game right up my groupsl alley. We shall see. If not then Im suggesting Fortress America. Been awhile since I played that. Ive got an itch.

We will see how it goes. Will report back.

[Warhammer]

The other beautiful thing about Samurai is it scales beautifully with 2 - 4 players.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by tarcone

With Birthday money and the sale of Dominion, Im buying Kemet tomorrow. I have a game dayt at 1:00. And this will be the game I suggest. It looks like it is a game right up my groupsl alley. We shall see. If not then Im suggesting Fortress America. Been awhile since I played that. Ive got an itch.

We will see how it goes. Will report back.

If you have a group that you think would like Fortress America, then Kemet should be a great fit. It's thematic, There is a tech tree ... with monsters in it, and conflict is required. A sure fire hit when I played it. I just need to get my copy to the table.

[cschex]

Love Kemet. Have played it 3 times and had a total blast.

[Matthean]

Kemet is one of the games that has bounced back and forth on my wishlist as much as any game. The people who I would play with it the most is my one friend who I see the least, and we already have our slate of games that we play.

[ColtCrazy]

The principal of our local high school is a big gamer and lives in my subdivision. He invited me over to play Richard III. I did well after round one, tying him for the crown (I was York), but a disastrous 2nd campaign left me catching up in the third and I lost. Loved the game, so I'll be picking that up next month.
This month's buy was Memoir '44. Arrived two days ago and my 9 year old and I played one game of it. He liked it and I am pretty impressed with it.

[ISiddiqui]

So I took a plunge! I have been a very casual boardgamer. I've played the old standards (Clue, Monopoly, etc). But recently one of my friends introduced me to 7 Wonders and I've loved it. Last night played two games of the Cities expansion (with the Leaders included too). I figured he already has those games, and I wanted to play something that works as a 2 Player game (for girlfriend and I), so (after having been doing some research for a few weeks) I went down to Amazon and get Pandemic and Ticket to Ride.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I figured he already has those games, and I wanted to play something that works as a 2 Player game (for girlfriend and I), so (after having been doing some research for a few weeks) I went down to Amazon and get Pandemic and Ticket to Ride.

Solid choices.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Solid choices.

+1

If you guys like Ticket to Ride and play 2 players a lot, I'd highly recommend Nordic Countries. It's made for 2-3 players and is much better for smaller numbers than the vanilla game.

[Matthean]

I haven't played Pandemic with two, but you might want to each play a second role.

[ISiddiqui]

Will check that possibility out. I know Pandemic is listed as one of those games that is well done for 2 players.

Ticket to Ride as well, though I have read that it's a very different game than with 3 or more, because with 2 its more of a zero sum game.

[Solecismic]

The second edition of Suburbia arrived yesterday. Good to see the issue with component quality (cardboard bits difficult to remove without tearing, printing off-center) was completely absent in my copy.

No changes from the first edition, as far as I could tell.

I'm enjoying Castles of Burgundy as a two-player game, but I think it's a bit too dice-luck dependent, different rules are necessary to alter the tile universe for a two-player game, and I think the mechanism for turn order is flawed.

It is hard to beat the strategy of doing everything to ensure you can play last in the last turn of a phase so that you can use a ship to grab first in the turn order for the first turn of the next phase.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Will check that possibility out. I know Pandemic is listed as one of those games that is well done for 2 players.

Ticket to Ride as well, though I have read that it's a very different game than with 3 or more, because with 2 its more of a zero sum game.

Since only one player can play on the double-routes in the two-player game (and the three-player game), there are a few choke-points. It's very important to get a handle on what your opponent is doing and adjust accordingly. The power in the game is in deciding whether to go for tickets or go for longer segments. Your initial tickets plus whether there is contention over the choke-points that affect you most determines that choice.

The beauty of Ticket to Ride is that it can be played in under a half-hour with very little setup time, and it's a decent strategy game. We have worn our copy to the point where we might need a new 1910 deck and have had to duct-tape every joint in the board.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The second edition of Suburbia arrived yesterday. Good to see the issue with component quality (cardboard bits difficult to remove without tearing, printing off-center) was completely absent in my copy.

I had a first printing and never had any issues with the punching. Sometimes I think people dont know how to punch very well.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The beauty of Ticket to Ride is that it can be played in under a half-hour with very little setup time, and it's a decent strategy game. We have worn our copy to the point where we might need a new 1910 deck and have had to duct-tape every joint in the board.

Woot, that's fun news! One thing I loved about 7 Wonders is that it takes a half hour (maybe a bit more with Cities and Leaders) and has decent strategy.

[Danny]

Just keep in mind that to play Ticket to Ride to its strategic depth, you need to play ruthless.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Danny

Just keep in mind that to play Ticket to Ride to its strategic depth, you need to play ruthless.

I have only played it twice. Once a few years ago and then just last weekend. My wife asked me to buy it, because she likes it.

Neither time have I really been able to focus on the strategy of the game. I've always been very focused on completing my routes and not really paying attention to what others are doing. Needless to say, I have yet to win a game.

The are a few games that I am pretty good at. "Dungeon Lords" and "Agricola" are two of them. Both of those games just click with me for some reason or another.