Board Games

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thought there was a Magic:The Gathering specific thread around here somewhere but didn't see it with a search so I'll stick this here I guess.

Cool story from my old hometown, kid got all 15 of the Mythic Rare cards in a single pack (one of three randomly packs he won with a 3rd place finish in a recent tournament)

Young player strikes gaming gold at Fastest Dog

[Matthean]

Surprise - it's a Sale!

We're looking to build up some extra funds for producing reprints and also to increase the print run on selected games (so they don't go out of print so quickly), so we've decided to launch a surprise one-week sale.

Details: Between now and midnight Pacific time next Friday (May 9th), you can make ONE ORDER with UP TO THREE IN-STOCK GMT GAMES, and get those games for 50% OFF the retail (or sale - the games on our Specials page DO qualify) price.

Note: this only applies to IN-STOCK games, and only games from GMT, not from the third-party companies (Consimpress, UGG, etc) that we rep on our website.

Coupon Code: When you place your order on our website (GMT Games) or with our office ladies (800-523-6111 or 559-583-1236 or via online chat from our website), use the following Coupon Code at Checkout to get your discount:

SS2014

Normal Shipping Costs apply.

I hope you guys can use this opportunity to pick up a few games that you've been wanting at a terrific price! Enjoy!

A good deal if you aren't doing an order with a OLGS.

[britrock88]

Hmm. Does GMT have good stuff in the 1-2 hour range?

[tarcone]

Geekway to the West is around the corner. Im thinking of getting a weekend pass. 600 hundred people expected. The last time I went, I had a good time.

Anyone planning on attending?

[ColtCrazy]

The Command & Colors range would play in that time frame. I can play Napoleon in 1-2 hours. I haven't played it, but I've heard Washington's War is a lot shorter time frame than other CDGs they have.

[Matthean]

BBG has Washington's War listed at 90 minutes.

[ColtCrazy]

Finally got 1775 Rebellion on the table. What a fun game! Not the hardcore war game, but a lot of fun to play. It'll be going on the table for my gaming club at school this week.

[Matthean]

If and when I get around to buying wargames again, Heroes of Normandie looks to be it. The more I see of it the more I like it.

[Thomkal]

TableTop reaches its $1 million dollar goal! As a result there will now be an RPG show as well as 20 episode of Tabletop. Season 3 likely won't be until later summer/early fall while the RPG show not till early 2015.

Wil Wheaton on TableTop S3: We Did It! Over $1M! - YouTube

[CleBrownsfan]

Anyone plan on going to Origins this year? I plan on going down for Thursday and Friday - I've never been to a gaming convention so my geeky self is excited to go!

[tarcone]

Im watching a youtube show called Tabletop Deathmatch. Its a game design competition. 16 games were chosen as finalists from over 500 designs. The 16 present their games to a group of judges. The winner gets the game published. Its pretty interesting.

Im 8 episodes into it.

Here is episode one.

[Matthean]

Self liner

There's stuff like this on clearance at Meijer(Midwest) for under $3.50. I might pick up a couple as any modular board, or board in parts will benefit from this in helping the board to not shift around.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Tried Through the Ages today. Love the mechanics and the idea...but good lord the game drags on a long time. With some practice and familiarity, I'm sure we could cut down on the time, but we weren't even playing the full game and it took nearly three hours with just three of us.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Tried Through the Ages today. Love the mechanics and the idea...but good lord the game drags on a long time. With some practice and familiarity, I'm sure we could cut down on the time, but we weren't even playing the full game and it took nearly three hours with just three of us.

I've played Roll Through the Ages. It's quick, simple, and I enjoy it quite a bit. I haven't tried this one, but I have heard it does drag on. I wonder if Nations is better for that. I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[tarcone]

This time tomoorow I will be at Geekway to the West. Cant wait.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

I've played Roll Through the Ages. It's quick, simple, and I enjoy it quite a bit. I haven't tried this one, but I have heard it does drag on. I wonder if Nations is better for that. I've heard a lot of good things about it.

I'll definitely be giving it another shot, so we'll see how much the time improves the second time through. I'm also probably going to play it again with new people, so I'll be able to teach it better.

[Matthean]

Summoner Wars is now on Android. Since I have an older Kindle Fire and no other Android device, I'm still waiting for a Steam version.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Got to play Fortress America tonight, which means I have now played every single board game I own. The game was interesting (and super close), but I'm not sure we'll be playing it much. The four player limit (we're typically 5-6 at our game nights) and the style of the game don't speak to our group much. We've obviously only got the one play in, but it also seems like the game isn't balanced very well for each individual player. Basic gameplay, for those who don't know:

Very Risk-esque. Troops in territories on a board, dice are rolled for combat. The general story is that the US has developed laser weaponry that can strike anywhere on the globe. They're using it to build a defense (supposedly), but the world says 'Uh, no thanks. You need to not build that.' The US flips the rest of the world the bird, says we're doing it anyway, and the US is invaded on three sides. 4 player game, it's three against one. The game is won or lost based upon control of cities, and the map is simply the US. There are 30 cities on the board. The Invaders win if they can ever control 18 cities at one time. The US wins if they survive 10 turns. The invaders get steady reinforcements every turn, but there is a finite supply. The US player draws a pair of cards every turn (plus gets bonus cards for re-capturing cities) that have extremely random events on them - most of which are a handful of reinforcements (put in random territories that the player doesn't choose) or 'kill X enemy units' where X is a small number. Each turn, the US gets a laser, which can fire once per turn, and kill a single enemy unit at a 60% chance.

Because of the nature of the game (control cities) and the layout of the board (map of the US), it seems like the American player's only shot is to punt on the west coast and most of the south, and just bottle up in the Midwest and New England. Obviously it would take more playthroughs to fully figure that out, but tonight I essentially turtled up in Washington DC and dared the East invader to come through me, slowly bled the Western invader as he came across the Rockies, and held the Southern guy off at New Orleans. It was comical how streaky my dice rolling was this evening. My lasers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but the guys I had stationed in Washington, D.C. couldn't miss. I even had an event where my lasers hit on 3-10 (on a 10 sided die) instead of 5-10, and I missed with ALL FOUR of them. In the end, I finally held out because I was able to bleed the Eastern invader dry and re-take Atlanta and Florida before the Southern and Western guy could advance far enough to end the game.

A little random, but fun. I feel like 'Fortress: Made Up World' on a more balanced map would be a better game, however..

[Matthean]

The secret cost of getting games(sleeves, deck boxes, Plano boxes, bags) is starting to kick my butt again. Games bought so cheap end up not being so.

[tarcone]

Fortress America is built so the invaders have to be aggressive. Otherwise, yeah, the USA wins.

Just got home after 4 days of intense gaming. Geekway to the West was outstanding. I played 30 hours of gaming. All games I havent played before. The library had, probably, a thousand games.
I participated in the trade table and picked up the DC Deck Building game. Im not a huge deck builder fan. But i really like this game. Its a great game.
Every pre-registered person got a free game. I got a game called Frontiers: Liberty or Death. My buddy got 7 Wonders.
There were 1000 people at the con. So much game play opportunities.
Im exhausted.

Cant wiat until next year.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Fortress America is built so the invaders have to be aggressive. Otherwise, yeah, the USA wins.

Just got home after 4 days of intense gaming. Geekway to the West was outstanding. I played 30 hours of gaming. All games I havent played before. The library had, probably, a thousand games.
I participated in the trade table and picked up the DC Deck Building game. Im not a huge deck builder fan. But i really like this game. Its a great game.
Every pre-registered person got a free game. I got a game called Frontiers: Liberty or Death. My buddy got 7 Wonders.
There were 1000 people at the con. So much game play opportunities.
Im exhausted.

Cant wiat until next year.

Sounds like fun! I've never been to a convention before. May have to give it a try sometime. STL isn't too far away.

[tarcone]

Geekway is getting big. They have lots of give aways. A play and win table with newer games. You play the game and enter a card in a bucket and they draw a winner on Sunday.
I really had a great time. $45 for a 4 day pass. Next year it is 95% planned for May 14-17.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I participated in the trade table and picked up the DC Deck Building game.

I wonder if they grabbed it from Barnes and Nobles sale as trade bait.

[tarcone]

I really like that game. Im sure they did. There were 4 other games with the group, but at that point it was either Fortune and Glory or this. I played Fortune and Glory, which is a fun game. But it drug. I was hoping my family would be able to play that. But my wife wouldnt have the patience.

[Matthean]

Yeah, F&G needs a good amount of streamlining to be good.

[bob]

Curious - what do you guys do with games that you don't play? I bought a few that I doubt I'll ever get my family to play more than once (light strategy is ok, but wargames aren't for my family).

[Matthean]

Trade or auction. I haven't gotten to that point yet although I feel like I'm getting there now since I have a better feel of what I like and what my game groups like.

[tarcone]

I trade my games. If I wont play them, I look to BGG. You can find what youre looking for, usually.

What games are you looking to get rid of?

[Glengoyne]

Gearing up for Kublacon this weekend.

We were very teen heavy with my nephews and my family. Essentially the same crew that comes to Kublacon plus a good friend who often hauls his chunks of his collection to my house for game days. This Sunday we played some Betrayal at the House on the Hill, two times. The Traitor (my daughter) won the first with a swarm of rats, and in the second there was no traitor and the forces of good carried the day. We followed that up with some quick moving bluffing and stealing with Mascarade and Coup. I enjoy Coup, but I am criminally bad at it. Mascarade is superior in my book as the confusion reigns supreme.

We also played 10 days in Africa, which I found to be pretty charming. A very interesting little game where you draw African nations from a pile, and arrange them in order for a ten day tour across the continent. We may have to get other parts of the series.

We wrapped up with Lewis and Clark, which I liked but somehow missed the mark for me. I like engine building games and that is L&C's claim to fame. The "race" is less so. I am thinking a second play would go faster, as this one dragged on with three first time players. I admittedly suffer from a bit of AP, as when I usually ask "whose turn is it?" it is mine. I don't think I was the biggest culprit Sunday, but in any case the game dragged on. It could improve with multiple plays, so I won't write it off yet.

KublaCon will be interesting as usual, but atypically I'm going to try and curb my spending this year. Usually I make no such efforts. Only time will tell.

[Coffee Warlord]

...the traitor won? Wow.

We've played a shit-ton of Betrayal. I think the traitor was won maybe 3 times, ever.

[Coffee Warlord]

As a side, we played Robinson Crusoe over the weekend. 4 player co-op game placing you on a deserted island, where you have to survive and build a bonfire big enough for a passing ship to spot you.

'Bout a 2 hour game, was actually pretty fun.

[tarcone]

Minature Market is in the middle of their huge Spring Sale. Its a great sale. But the site cant handle the traffic. I have tried all day and get a 502 Bad Gateway error or a 504 Gateway Timed out.
Lots of frustrated people on BGG.

[Danny]

I thought I submitted an order this morning but I guess it didnt go through. Most of the stuff I wanted was gone by the time I got home from work

[Matthean]

There would be some items of interest if I could pull off a free shipping order, but I am not going to. Sentinels of the Multiverse is a great deal, but shipping kills it if you aren't getting free shipping.

[Matthean]

Also, Toys for Thought is doing a 10% discount on their games. They have a flat shipping rate. Some games are rather low priced already.

403 Forbidden

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

...the traitor won? Wow.

We've played a shit-ton of Betrayal. I think the traitor was won maybe 3 times, ever.

Well I'll call this a special case. The trigger room was in the basement, and all the traitor had to do was essentially get to the trigger room. The traitor was in the room that lets you "fall" into the basement, so we had only one turn to stop them.

[Matthean]

Been wanting to start a tradition of playing wargames on things like Memorial day. Gonna see how far I can wrap my brain around Band of Brothers: Screaming Eagles.

[tarcone]

Tell me how it plays. Ive been looking at Ghost Panzer. But Im not sure if I can play tactical games. Tuesday or Wednesday im going to sit down and play Nuklear Winter '68. That will be my 1st experience.

[Matthean]

I'm not sure the high amount of dice rolling is going to work for me. The more I play games the more I like the strategic side of things.

[Matthean]

Also, the BoB 2.0 rules can be downloaded so you can get a look at them. If I were getting into the system now, I would go Ghost Panzer first since you get more diverse units and things like smoke get added in. My complaint with BoB:SE right now is the rules that come with the game are version 1.1, and you get the old counters. So, in order to update the game you need to get the new rules, do some math on the fly to create the needed numbers for the new rules or modify the counters, or buy the forthcoming expansion to have the new counters in it.

Not sure how quick I get a feel for the game as the first scenario is a standard neutered first scenario where you deal with the game in the most basic form. It is 4 concealed German units and 6 American units trying to go from one side of the single board map to the other while trying to have 4 American units survive. Terrain is basically open, road, or hedges. Add in a previously started game of Mage Knight, me wanting to fit in a regular play of Netrunner, and it might take some time for multiple scenarios to get gone through to get a proper feel.

[Matthean]

List of recent buys.

Uncharted: The board game. Played it a couple of years ago and was surprised how much I liked it. Amazon had it for $12.99 with free shipping and figured it would be a nice lighter game to add.

Steam Barons. Stores seem to have few copies and nobody giving deals on the expansion to Steam. I found a copy on Amazon that was 25% and had free shipping. 25% off was a deal by itself. Hate how everything can fit into the base game's box except for the stock board and manual and it is obvious the board could be small enough.

Mythic Battles. A game on my radar for two years of going back and forth on it. I saw that Funagain still had it on clearance at $19.99 from a 2013 mass clearance sale, and yet it still hadn't sold out even though they were doing their 2014 clearance sale for some time. It is early, but after reading the rules I think I'll side closer to Marco's glowing review versus Tom's meh review although I doubt I would give it that glowing of a review.

Meuterer. I'll blame Joel Eddy for this one. Citadels came across lukewarm to my group and myself, but I need more plays of it. I watched Joel's review and this clicked for me.

Taluva. Another game in the 2 year process from being my first grail, to finding out it was OOP, feel like finding a decently priced copy an act of constant taunting me, to the eventual reprint, Funagain getting exclusive rights and jacking the price up, writing it off, seeing them go OOS and the same with Game Surplus, was wondering if it wasn't going to go OOP again, and deciding to ask Game Surplus about it and finding out a new shipment was coming in 5+ weeks, and thus biting on it. Funagian got another batch in but jacked it to $57+. The game isn't worth it at that price. I would say it is hardly worth it at Game Surplus's price as well, but I'm jumping now before the pricing gets so out of hand it really becomes a no go and eventually simply becomes OOP for good.

[tarcone]

I just bought this today. Its called The Front Nine. My Dad and Mom are visiting from Florida (Hopefully) after my Nephew gets married in Iowa. My Mom has alzheimers early onset. So their traveling is pretty much done. but this is their first grandchild getting married, so they are doing it. My Mom may not want to stop on the way home. We will see. But if they do, I will have this game to play with my Dad. He got me started on Cribbage and Backgammon. He is an avid golfer. They live on a course in a gated community in Florida.



This looks like a fantastic game. Very original, very well designed. Im excited to get it.

[ColtCrazy]

Picked up Lewis & Clark over the weekend. Great racing game with a lot of options to it and some nice historical theme. Prefer it to Jamaica quite a bit.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by tarcone

This looks like a fantastic game. Very original, very well designed. Im excited to get it.

I watched part of Richard's review on it. Looks decent, but you need to be careful with table space. Feels like a game you can wait on after it gets picked up by a publisher and not have to deal with shipping cost from Europe.

[Matthean]

Hour long interview with the guys behind Dead of Winter.

[Matthean]

Amazon has BattleLore 2nd edition for $44. They also have a deal where you install an app and get $5 off of an order but it looks like the items have to be 100% through Amazon so no 3rd party stuff. The deal does work with BattleLore, Lewis & Clark, and Russian Railroads so there are sold games to use it on. It is still highly limiting since only two items on my wishlist were eligible.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/BIT/oneBut...ardgamegeek-20

[bob]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I trade my games. If I wont play them, I look to BGG. You can find what youre looking for, usually.

What games are you looking to get rid of?

Sorry, just noticed this response now. I'm not set on it yet, but will likely get rid of the following, none of them popular items:

Axis & Allies: D-Day
Axis & Allies: D-Day | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

D-Day Dice
D-Day Dice | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

Startup Fever
Startup Fever | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

1955: The War of Espionage
1955: The War of Espionage | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

I've played the first one twice with my wife, but she was never really interested in the other three, which I backed on Kickstarter.

[tarcone]

Twilight Struggle the digital version is live on Kickstarter. It funded in a couple hours. This is an outstanding game. It is rated the #1 game on BGG. GMT tried to get a digital version published but cancelled it a few months ago. The teamed with Playdek and its on.
I am going to get in on this. TS is a really fun game. But requires 2 players. Hopefully the AI is good.

Twilight Struggle Digital Edition by GMT Games — Kickstarter

[Matthean]

Already blown my budget on games. I'm sure I'll get some sort of version of the game at some point.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I own the board game. My roommate and I (veterans of many, many games) struggled (har) to understand the game with the one playthrough we did. We've been meaning to give it another shot, but just haven't gotten around to it. There's a lot there, but the learning curve seems very, very steep.