|
Chill la Chill posted:Kindred spirits. My group played Antiquity 7 times the first week/half it came out. Same with Endeavor. Right now we're in an 18xx kick as well. CZ/30/89/46 as well lol. Going to try for 49, 17 and 83 whenever that gets here. I think the most interactive games are the ones I'm more keen on playing. I realize now what the people like Barnes who decried the invasion of the euro point salad and puzzle solitaire games meant. They're great for a while, but they lose interest after a dozen plays compared to the evergreen T&E, el grande, chicago express, die macher, etc. Yeah interactivity is a huge factor. Like, we played Lorenzo for a bit recently and while it's not exactly a puzzle (there's a decent amount of inherent WP board competition) I don't think it has enough interactivity to last with us. Then again if the game is quick and fun enough (Saint Pete 2nd Ed) people don't seem to mind as much if it's a bit more solitaire. 49! I've got that too, that's probably the next one we'll get to the table. 22, 22CA, 44, 54, and 2038 are group owned as well but those are all going to require everyone setting aside an entire day at least. FulsomFrank posted:God help you if you get Mega/Advanced Civ onto the table. It's all people will ask for. It's all you'll ever want. Ugh I love Civ Games. I play nTTA all the time (online only of course because it's vastly superior). Jedit posted:Any two of Windwalker, Opener and Sleeper to let you play five with some faction variety, and the High Priests because once you've played with them you'll find they're practically indispensable. drat, they're all OOS. Looks like a few of the other ones (Ancients, Tcho-Tcho) are still floating around though. cenotaph posted:Well I went ahead and ordered Chinatown, thanks for the advice. Probably going to completely ignore hidden money and just play with chips. Yep that's what we do.
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 03:32 |
|
|
Tekopo posted:Some of the quite basic stuff that most people will get after a couple of games include: Thanks for posting this. Excellent timing as I just bought Petz from thespaceinvader. I love Vlaada's games but sometimes find them a bit of a challenge getting the hang of them just by reading the rules. Paul Grogan's rules vid has helped a bit. Now I just need to get a game organised...
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:12
|
|
|
Chill la Chill posted:I agree with goose's assessment. I really like the game since it has crucial timing elements to the usual area-only considerations of logistics. Neuland is similar. If you're looking for a similar theme, get antiquity. You not only pollute, but people die and graves start piling up and turn off the buildings you so desperately need. silvergoose posted:I also agree wi...wait. Thanks! I will take a look into both Neuland and Antiquity. Morpheus posted:Oh. Apparently the day after I used it the Gloomhaven helper app got ads put into it. A banner ad at the top, which isn't too intrusive, but between rounds a quick ad plays, which absolutely is. If it helps any, my group used to do everyone running the app and managing their own character's HP and exp and statuses, and me managing initiative (since we use the slide ordering instead of inputting numbers) and monster hp and statuses; but we moved and now we board game in the same room my computer's in, so I pull up the app on my phone and manage everything on it myself, but have it connected to the desktop app and the other players can just look at my monitor. You could similarly put it on a TV if you can hook up your computer to it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:21
|
|
|
T-Bone posted:Yeah interactivity is a huge factor. Like, we played Lorenzo for a bit recently and while it's not exactly a puzzle (there's a decent amount of inherent WP board competition) I don't think it has enough interactivity to last with us. Then again if the game is quick and fun enough (Saint Pete 2nd Ed) people don't seem to mind as much if it's a bit more solitaire. 49! I've got that too, that's probably the next one we'll get to the table. 22, 22CA, 44, 54, and 2038 are group owned as well but those are all going to require everyone setting aside an entire day at least. If you like Civ games and enjoy interactivity you will die playing Mega/Advanced civ. I promise you. I sound like an evangelist amongst my friends because I genuinely believe if you like playing games you will enjoy it. The time length scares people and that's fair but every person who has tried it has walked away saying the game felt shorter than some other short-long games they've played like Betrayal or Dead of Winter because you're engaged the whole time and the mechanics are dirt simple. VVVVV Hold off doing something dumb like buying it unless you've got a leg up on a cheap copy because the non-trademark infringing Western Empires will be coming out around GenCon, I think. FulsomFrank fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Mar 18, 2019 |
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:22
|
|
|
FulsomFrank posted:God help you if you get Mega/Advanced Civ onto the table. It's all people will ask for. It's all you'll ever want. Civ was the first real boardgame I played with my dad growing up. Mega Civ is so drat tempting for me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:24
|
|
|
Zack Ater posted:If it helps any, my group used to do everyone running the app and managing their own character's HP and exp and statuses, and me managing initiative (since we use the slide ordering instead of inputting numbers) and monster hp and statuses; but we moved and now we board game in the same room my computer's in, so I pull up the app on my phone and manage everything on it myself, but have it connected to the desktop app and the other players can just look at my monitor. You could similarly put it on a TV if you can hook up your computer to it. That's what we do (or rather, did the one time we played it) - except it was on laptop. I just like having other players updating their health and initiative (not sure if you're aware, but if clients input initiative, the server's display just reads '??' until everyone's is entered and you start the round). This isn't going to stop me from playing the game or using the app, it's just a feature I liked that we're probably not going to use again.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:26
|
|
|
Another really good negotiation game to check out is Genoa/Traders of Genoa.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:26
|
|
|
FulsomFrank posted:If you like Civ games and enjoy interactivity you will die playing Mega/Advanced civ. I promise you. I sound like an evangelist amongst my friends because I genuinely believe if you like playing games you will enjoy it. The time length scares people and that's fair but every person who has tried it has walked away saying the game felt shorter than some other short-long games they've played like Betrayal or Dead of Winter because you're engaged the whole time and the mechanics are dirt simple. Mega Civ only lasts 2 hours. There’s a long break for food somewhere in there for some reason but I refuse to believe it’s more than 2h.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:28
|
|
|
garthoneeye posted:Another really good negotiation game to check out is Genoa/Traders of Genoa. I liked it but it also felt like it layered on a bunch of stuff on top that I didn't necessarily want in a trading game. Maybe I'll feel the same about Sidereal once I finally play it (although rules wise it seems like it's just a more *intense* trading game rather than drawing away from the mechanic as Genoa can sometimes do). Rudiger Dorn is a boss though. He has a lot of interesting designs. FulsomFrank posted:If you like Civ games and enjoy interactivity you will die playing Mega/Advanced civ. I promise you. I sound like an evangelist amongst my friends because I genuinely believe if you like playing games you will enjoy it. The time length scares people and that's fair but every person who has tried it has walked away saying the game felt shorter than some other short-long games they've played like Betrayal or Dead of Winter because you're engaged the whole time and the mechanics are dirt simple. plz stop I can't spend more tax money on OOP games
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:55
|
|
|
Morpheus posted:That's what we do (or rather, did the one time we played it) - except it was on laptop. I just like having other players updating their health and initiative (not sure if you're aware, but if clients input initiative, the server's display just reads '??' until everyone's is entered and you start the round). This isn't going to stop me from playing the game or using the app, it's just a feature I liked that we're probably not going to use again. Oh my bad, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yeah, managing everything for everyone is annoying, though you could have then still manage their xp and exp with the dial things that came with the game? I manage health but gently caress no I'm not managing their exp too  I know there are some options for initiative, we just found sliding to be simplest and quickest.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 20:57
|
|
|
Chill la Chill posted:Mega Civ only lasts 2 hours. There’s a long break for food somewhere in there for some reason but I refuse to believe it’s more than 2h. Most of the bloat is in walking between the tables that have the maps and the tables with the tech stuff. You could rack up a lot of steps in a full game, judging by what I saw 
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 21:20
|
|
|
T-Bone posted:plz stop I can't spend more tax money on OOP games I edited my post above but in case you missed it they're doing a sequel to Mega Civ under a different name called Western Empires that is expected to be released around GenCon or at least shown off. I think the game will be nearly identical except the E/W hard split but I'm curious what changes they're supposedly integrating. Might as well shill this while there's some attention but if there are any goons in Southern Ontario looking to try Mega Civ out we're running a game at Gryphcon on April 6 at the University of Guelph. You can check it out here (http://www.gryphcon.org/info.php) and sign up if you're interested. We're planning on capping it at 9 but if interest spills over we can crack open the second map if necessary.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 21:34
|
|
|
T-Bone posted:drat, they're all OOS. Looks like a few of the other ones (Ancients, Tcho-Tcho) are still floating around though. Did you look at Petersen Games' own site? Tcho-Tcho is not a beginner faction, and I don't think Ancients will be either. It doesn't have a GOO, it's the only faction with innate Terrors and it has the only unit that can be permanently killed.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 21:46
|
|
|
I just got back from JoCo Cruise and yeah, 2019 is Year of the Roll an Write because all I did was smoke cubans and play On Tour, Welcome To, Railroad Ink, and Ganz Schon Clever. I don't know if On Tour is a particularly good game, it's too simple as an R&W, but it's also the most casual experience and a lot of people appreciated playing it. Also Cockroach Poker was the hugest hit, maybe the best party game that literally anyone can pick up and requires zero space.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 21:53
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Did you look at Petersen Games' own site? They're OOS there too and have been for almost a year.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 21:53
|
|
|
al-azad posted:I just got back from JoCo Cruise and yeah, 2019 is Year of the Roll an Write because all I did was smoke cubans and play On Tour, Welcome To, Railroad Ink, and Ganz Schon Clever. I don't know if On Tour is a particularly good game, it's too simple as an R&W, but it's also the most casual experience and a lot of people appreciated playing it. Cockroach poker is really good yeah.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 22:13
|
|
|
Man you guys have efficient groups if you get to play Antiquity 7x in a week and a half. I normally do 2 meets up a week (sameish people, but one at an event space and the other at my house) and we basically do 1 game per meetup. I wish I could get through more games.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 22:27
|
|
|
I would like to chime in to Root chat to say that I did buy the $150 level of the KS. I've played the game enough times, and have enjoyed it and the politicking and take-thats and strategy, that I want to own it for myself and have it around if the other person that owns it in my group doesn't bring it. The winter board is also the correct way to play the game. I also played Brass: Birmingham this weekend, and by God I want to play it again and a few more times after that. It's really easy to pick up and the game flows really well. We had a lot of blocking occurring in my game, and I ended up losing by 20 points when it appeared that I was in the lead for most of the game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 22:39
|
|
|
I still haven't managed to get Brass Birmingham. After the second play I went into the second age ahead on points and income, and in first player, but my only second level building was not next door to a port, but was in a town with a coal mine - so I was in a good position to spread out from there, if I could build that coal mine, which first player would guarantee, as if I didn't draw right I could use wilds. Then someone else built using the only other copy of that city card in the game. And I was basically completely screwed because every single possible plan I had involved having coal and not connecting to ports. I was so close.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 22:43
|
|
|
thespaceinvader posted:I still haven't managed to get Brass Birmingham. After the second play I went into the second age ahead on points and income, and in first player, but my only second level building was not next door to a port, but was in a town with a coal mine - so I was in a good position to spread out from there, if I could build that coal mine, which first player would guarantee, as if I didn't draw right I could use wilds. There's your mistake. You should always be able to have several Level II buildings going into the Rail Era, even if some of them aren't flipped, but if for some reason you can't then you should aim to have none so you can restart your network anywhere on the map.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 23:33
|
|
|
Jedit posted:There's your mistake. You should always be able to have several Level II buildings going into the Rail Era, even if some of them aren't flipped, but if for some reason you can't then you should aim to have none so you can restart your network anywhere on the map. Mm, if I'd known I was only going to have the one AND not be able to build the coal I would have got more or not placed the one, but, you know, poo poo happens.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2019 23:38
|
|
|
thespaceinvader posted:Mm, if I'd known I was only going to have the one AND not be able to build the coal I would have got more or not placed the one, but, you know, poo poo happens. Sure. But from your description of the situation I can deduce several other things about what you did. For example, you had lots of income but no level II industry to speak of, so I'm fairly sure you ignored develop actions in favour of building and flipping level Is. I would say this is nearly always the wrong play - building Coal II and Iron II is a gain of 4 income steps and probably 10 VP over building the level Is at a cost of one action and as little as £4. The exception is that if other players develop first then if cards permit I'd open with a canal to the external market followed by taking a loan then building Iron I for an immediate flip on turn 2. Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is that 70-80% of your VPs are scored in the Rail era. The guy who spends the Canal era trying to score points and raise income will lose most of the time, as you did. The guy who sets up his scoring opportunities and takes loans so he can go into the Rail era with a big wallet and small income will win more often than not.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 02:00
|
|
|
Why won't my cubes die in JoCo. 12 cash in hand ready to retire into the House of Lords but nope. Cole giveth, Cole taketh away.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 03:22
|
|
|
djfooboo posted:The CMON game I want to try without buying is Rum and Bones. Has any goon got a quick and dirty review? I love pirate things and the minis looked rad as F. Great fun, trashy dice chucker. Buy second tide or get the upgrade pack for the first set though; makes the game much shorter and better.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 03:34
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Sure. But from your description of the situation I can deduce several other things about what you did. For example, you had lots of income but no level II industry to speak of, so I'm fairly sure you ignored develop actions in favour of building and flipping level Is. I would say this is nearly always the wrong play - building Coal II and Iron II is a gain of 4 income steps and probably 10 VP over building the level Is at a cost of one action and as little as £4. The exception is that if other players develop first then if cards permit I'd open with a canal to the external market followed by taking a loan then building Iron I for an immediate flip on turn 2. Yeah that all seems fair I'll have to try to get some more 2s out next time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 10:12
|
|
|
Played Eric Lang's Victorian Masterminds at the meetup. It's a light worker placement game where you are trying to build a doomsday weapon, capture landmarks, and complete various objectives. The game felt simultaneously over- and under-produced. While the landmarks are quite decent minis and the workers are plastic gears the size of a poker chip the components for the doomsday machines are the teensiest widdle bits of cardboard I've seen in a game. And while the landmarks are nice they are not much more than prettier versions of the already-existing victory point tokens. The worker placement aspect involves taking the top worker from your stack and placing it onto a stack on a location. Each worker has a different ability, and since you have no choice in which worker you are placing you also have less choice in where you place them (since some combos are clearly useless). When the location stacks get high enough each player in the stack gets the benefit from the location and from their worker. One of the workers' special abilities is to sabotage another player lower in the stack. This is a horrible take-that mechanic. The person playing it is essentially forced to screw someone over (since you have to play each worker before refreshing your stack), and only way to avoid the attack is to be the first player in the stack since for any other position there's a risk you'll be hosed. There's limited control on either end of it. On the bright side I did play Arboretum and Azul as well. Doctor Spaceman fucked around with this message at 13:08 on Mar 19, 2019 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 12:38
|
|
|
oopsie wrong thread
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 12:39
|
|
|
Buuut this is a pretty helpful newish NT video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_WKoMLwKHU
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 12:51
|
|
|
dishwasherlove posted:Why won't my cubes die in JoCo. 12 cash in hand ready to retire into the House of Lords but nope. Cole giveth, Cole taketh away. Tying the only way of getting VP to an essentially unmitagatable dice roll is what marks John's Company an experience generator (as opposed to a game). Sure, there are laws which fiddle things a bit, but for how important retirement is, it's silly how it's entirely out of player's hands.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 13:04
|
|
|
There is an alternate rule for modifying the rolls somewhere on BGG. Its semi endorsed by Cole in that he thinks the idea is wrong but if you must here's how
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 13:47
|
|
|
StashAugustine posted:There is an alternate rule for modifying the rolls somewhere on BGG. Its semi endorsed by Cole in that he thinks the idea is wrong but if you must here's how It’s a two-part low-luck variant. 1.) If you roll a Check action at strength 4, it automatically succeeds. 2.) During the Attrition Phase, for every Attrition roll your family members fail, take a black disc as a “Seniority Disc”. You may use Seniority Discs to increase the value of future Attrition Rolls. Seniority discs may also be traded between players. e: The intention of the rules as written is that you can mitigate bad luck on Attrition by just getting more of your family cubes into the Company, but that’s something that takes multiple turns to set up. Triskelli fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Mar 19, 2019 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 14:04
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:Tying the only way of getting VP to an essentially unmitagatable dice roll is what marks John's Company an experience generator (as opposed to a game). Sure, there are laws which fiddle things a bit, but for how important retirement is, it's silly how it's entirely out of player's hands. The idea behind the roll is both a thematic uncertainty and a desire to disengage with the infrastructure->VP curve that you see in practically every Euro that has an engine or tableau. The uncertainty disrupts it and there’s some designer diaries and posts on BGG about it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 14:52
|
|
|
I was surprised how much I liked Photosynthesis, and nowhere did I read from anyone that reviewed/played the game stress that it's a luckless strategic game which would've got me to buy it instantly. I don't think I'll buy it because I discovered it way too late with my shelf being more rounded out in this area, and I can also see how people would shy away from it because I cannot imagine sitting it down in front of an AP prone player.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 15:19
|
|
|
I disliked Photosynthesis quite a lot. It has a bunch of systems added to the game that don't really improve the formula that much, and overall the actual gameplay felt too plodding and methodical. I was thoroughly bored during the entire experience.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 16:02
|
|
|
al-azad posted:I was surprised how much I liked Photosynthesis, and nowhere did I read from anyone that reviewed/played the game stress that it's a luckless strategic game which would've got me to buy it instantly. I don't think I'll buy it because I discovered it way too late with my shelf being more rounded out in this area, and I can also see how people would shy away from it because I cannot imagine sitting it down in front of an AP prone player. You dodged a bullet. Photosynthesis is effectively solved and the first player has a massive and insurmountable advantage.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 16:02
|
|
|
Jedit posted:You dodged a bullet. Photosynthesis is effectively solved and the first player has a massive and insurmountable advantage. I would be interested in reading something about this as I found the last player had the first opportunity to camp the central space forever.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 16:12
|
|
|
Jedit posted:The guy who spends the Canal era trying to score points and raise income will lose most of the time, as you did. The guy who sets up his scoring opportunities and takes loans so he can go into the Rail era with a big wallet and small income will win more often than not. I agree with everything Jedit said, but this is the heart of it. Loans are almost always better than income throughout the game. I've played dozens of times and have still never seen an income tie breaker.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 16:43
|
|
|
CaptainRightful posted:I agree with everything Jedit said, but this is the heart of it. Loans are almost always better than income throughout the game. I've played dozens of times and have still never seen an income tie breaker. With the rider that I didn't mention, which is that in the Rail era you are guaranteed to get at least as much money and generally more from loans than you would from the income. £30 per loan at a cost of £3/turn breaks even on Rail 1 and is pure profit from then on out, all you lose is the action.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 16:53
|
|
|
All you people naysaying about JoCo retirement rolls aren't doing enough strategic bankrupting/presidency closures when you can simply laugh away the meager scandal fee.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 17:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 03:32 |
|
|
All you people talking about it remind me that I held off buying it and now it haunts me to this day.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2019 17:37
|
|