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fr0id posted:Stop punching your board games one-handed EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM PUNCH A CHIT OUT OF THE SHEET. ITS CHRONICLES OF DRUNAGOR AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I START STACKING THE TOKENS ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, TOM VASEL. I DO EVERY SHEET AND I DO EVERY SHEET HARD. MAKIN WHOOSHING SOUNDS WHEN I SLAM DOWN SOME STACKS OR EVEN WHEN I MESS UP THE PUNCH. NOT MANY CAN SAY THEY RACED FOR THE GALAXY’S MOST VICTORY POINTS. I CAN. I SAY IT AND I SAY IT OUTLOUD EVERYDAY TO PEOPLE IN MY GAME STORE AND ALL THEY DO IS PROVE PEOPLE IN GAME STORES CAN STILL BE IMMATURE JERKS. AND IVE LEARNED ALL THE RULES AND IVE LEARNED HOW TO MAKE MYSELF AND MY APARTMENT LESS LONELY BY SHOUTING EM ALL. 2 HOURS INCLUDING PUTTING THE BOX LID BACK ON EVERY MORNING.
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Feb 20, 2023 06:21
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PRADA SLUT posted:RIGHT THEN AND THERE I START STACKING THE TOKENS ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, TOM VASEL. ahahahahahahahahahaha
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Feb 20, 2023 06:32
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Come for board games chat, stay for cardboard punching strats.
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Feb 20, 2023 16:13
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fr0id posted:I know they failed to ban you for liking Kingdom Death but I really think you should be thread banned for this opinion. Thread ban Prada Slut
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Feb 20, 2023 21:12
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I’ve been playing a bunch of Martian Wallace games recently, London, Anno and Brass : Birmingham . Anno is by far the weakest of the 3, it’s fun enough but the random nature of the rewards from the cards makes it more random than I would like really. The core tension of the game is good but for me doesn’t really work in the end. The cost for buying resources from folk isn’t really high enough or gold isn’t good enough, not sure which. London is better and the mechanics of discarding and recycling cards through the board is neat. It flows well as a game , always slightly short of being able to do everything you want. The poverty mechanic is really brutal. Brass is easily the best of the three. The network building is good and it turns into a really tense game of almost brinkmanship where you might not want to make a connection because someone else might get to use it before you. What all 3 do have in common is that don’t really have satisfying endings. They’re mechanically good, and build up well but the just kinda end. London especially your last turn can just be doing nothing because any other move is actively worse for you. I won a game of London just drawing cards for 2 turns just to force the game to end, I didn’t have enough money to build anything and running my city did nothing. I just wish they all had slightly better endings than whelp guess it’s over now, or not being able to do anything productive.
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Feb 20, 2023 21:46
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Aramoro posted:I’ve been playing a bunch of Martian Wallace games recently, London, Anno and Brass : Birmingham . Anno is by far the weakest of the 3, it’s fun enough but the random nature of the rewards from the cards makes it more random than I would like really. The core tension of the game is good but for me doesn’t really work in the end. The cost for buying resources from folk isn’t really high enough or gold isn’t good enough, not sure which. Brass sometimes has a final turn of overbuilding a level 2/3 brewery to enable you to ship even more goods/pottery/(in 2p) cotton, which is satisfying, but yeah, it's often grubbing around trying to find if you can put down a link worth more than four points anywhere.
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Feb 20, 2023 22:48
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Aramoro posted:London is better and the mechanics of discarding and recycling cards through the board is neat. It flows well as a game , always slightly short of being able to do everything you want. The poverty mechanic is really brutal. Was this 1st or 2nd edition? 2nd is the small blue box with no map board.
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Feb 21, 2023 00:25
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Couldn't help but think a bit more about your post, AramoroAramoro posted:The poverty mechanic is really brutal. quote:What all 3 do have in common is that don’t really have satisfying endings. They’re mechanically good, and build up well but the just kinda end. I've only played Tinner's Trail once, but it perhaps had the most interesting last-minute grubbing for points of MW games that I've played. Railways of the World is a lot of fun until the endgame; it doesn't so much peter out as glide to a stop at a predictable finish line. Age of Steam, perhaps because it's less granular than RotW and more brutal in its expenses, might be a little less deterministic than RotW before the endgame, but without bonus cards there are fewer surprises at the end. I do agree that the ending is generally the weakest part of the MW games I've played, with the exceptions proving the rule.
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Feb 21, 2023 02:29
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Finally got Dune to the table, with six players. For reference, I bought the game at the start of March 2020 with what I would charitably characterise as unfortunate timing. Most of my boardgame playing friends now have kids so finally managing to wrangle everyone together to commit a day to this was a win in and of itself. We played with what used to be called the Optional rules, which is everything in the Advanced rules except for Double Spice Blow and Advanced Combat, as every one of us who read the rules made a  face upon reading Advanced Combat (I think there's probably groups for whom it'd be a great rule, ours was not one of them). We managed to not gently caress up any rules too bad (some minor timing issues with Bene Gesserit advisor/fighter flipping was the most egregious and we caught that fairly early on). I played the BG and loving loved it, all of the faction advanced rules are so delightfully thematic. As it was everyone's first game, the opening turns were pretty tentative. The Fremen began reinforcing the Sietches on the Western edge of the board, with the Harkonnen and Atreides reasonably content to fortify Carthag and Arrakeen as the Emperor and Guild both began to funnel manpower to the table, with the Bene Gesserit quietly starting to slide in to various strategic positions around the board through their tag along advisors. Everyone had a very sharp and sudden object lesson on the viciousness of combat when the Emperor found all of his Sardaukar dead at the hands of a Harkonnen force in a three-way conflict between them, the Atreides and the Harkonnen over a spice blow. The next few turns lead to much jockeying for position with Tuek's Sietch trading hands a few times but most territory staying firmly controlled by its starting factions. A worm (RIP a bunch of Spacing Guild forces) signaled the first chance of Alliances - the Guild and Emperor promptly allied forming an economic powerhouse, and the Atreides and Harkonnen paired up to match them. The Fremen, desperate for any ally, asked me to join them and I acquiesced as my plans were finally beginning to come to fruition, though I had no plans to share victory with anyone else. Turn 5 and the Alliances started to shake things up. A stack of Bene Gesserit advisors suddenly turned hostile and slammed into Arrakeen, weakening troops at key positions albeit at the cost of their own lives. The Emperor/Guild flooded the map with troop shipments and seized Habbanya Sietch (despite strong Fremen resistance), Tuek's Sietch and Carthag. The Harkonnen found themselves on the receiving end of significant losses against most other factions even with Atreides prescience to aid them - crippled badly at this point, they never really recovered enough to present a credible threat again. With the weakened Atreides presence, the stage was set for the Guild/Emperor to roll into Arrakeen on Turn 6 and declare victory. Just as the Bene Gesserit had forseen (Emperor victory, Turn 6)  I was so stoked, I was going to get a Prediction victory and on my very first game too!The Atreides played a weather control card, shunting the Storm over Arrakeen and keeping them safe from a rapid invasion, and I bitterly watched my dreams slip through my fingers like grains of sand. The tail end of the game became a brutal slugfest. The Atreides managed to cling on tenaciously to Arrakeen despite repeated attempts to dislodge them. The Fremen/BG alliance caused countless losses to the Emperor/Guild but ultimately were having victory slip away from them as they couldn't compete on economy. It became clear that there were two likely outcomes - if the Fremen/BG could remaining in control of Tabr and Habbanya as well as sieze Tuek back from the Emperor, they would win via the Fremen win condition. Otherwise, the statemate at Turn 10 would give the Guild/Emperor victory through the Guild win condition. The Atreides suddenly added themselves to the pool of contenders right at the end - a Guild vs Fremen rumble in Turn 7 had resulted in a lasgun-shield explosion annihilating everyone in Carthag, and the Atreides had been able to dash in and secure it. A worm on Turn 8 let them break their Alliance with the now sadly dead weight Harkonnen, leaving them with 2 of the 3 Strongholds they needed to victory. Turn 10 came down to who would be left controlling Tuek's Sietch at the end of the turn. Turn order meant that the Atreides beat the BG to the Stronhold, shutting out the BG/Fremen from any chance of victory. Combat didn't go their way though, not even the Kwisatz Haderach could stop the Emperor/Guild from finally clawing their way to victory at vast expense (both players were running on fumes spice-wise in the final turn). Everyone immediately wants to organise another day to play again as different factions, and I'm excited to see the negotiations that will take place now that we have a bit more of a stronger idea of the value of certain cards or pieces of knowledge. While the game went down to the wire, there were several close calls for victory at points by various factions - had I had one or two combats against the Atreides run in my favour, the BG/Fremen alliance would have had a strong shot at a victory via Stronghold control around Turn 7 or 8.
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Feb 21, 2023 03:13
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What are some fun games for two players to play cooperatively against the game? I know of Gloomhaven and spirit island. Any other really good ones? I am interested in the Downfall game from GMT p500 where it’s competitive but both players are trying to murder nazi germany. Basically something where you’re on the same side, but there may or may not be competition. Especially if it’s a war game.
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Feb 21, 2023 03:53
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Black Orchestra is an interesting take on the pandemic formula and has you attempting to assassinate Hitler. Also Root has a Clockwork Expansion that adds “AI bots” you can use as fill-in players.
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Feb 21, 2023 04:03
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fr0id posted:What are some fun games for two players to play cooperatively against the game? I know of Gloomhaven and spirit island. Any other really good ones? I am interested in the Downfall game from GMT p500 where it’s competitive but both players are trying to murder nazi germany. Basically something where you’re on the same side, but there may or may not be competition. Especially if it’s a war game. It doesn’t have the competitive aspect, but the Arkham Horror LCG fuckin rocks.
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Feb 21, 2023 04:22
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Anonymous Robot posted:It doesn’t have the competitive aspect, but the Arkham Horror LCG fuckin rocks. Is there a way to summarize why the Arkham Horror LCG rocks in comparison to the LotR one? I have only played the latter.
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Feb 21, 2023 05:45
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homullus posted:Is there a way to summarize why the Arkham Horror LCG rocks in comparison to the LotR one? I have only played the latter. For one, Arkham has a fail forward mechanic. The story progresses even if the players don't reach a "good" ending to a scenario. So no need to replay a scenario to succeed and go forward. What I have read online, people who have played both, usually prefer Arkham. And while I haven't played LotR, I can also attest that Arkham indeed rocks. Edit. And one big thing is that cards can have different levels for you to buy. So you upgrade your deck with the experience you earn from each scenario. High Tension Wire fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Feb 21, 2023 |
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Feb 21, 2023 06:36
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In LotR you're deckbuilding to beat a given scenario - you either prepare for the gimmick or you fail. It's more puzzle-y in that regard. In AH your deck is basically the character sheet for your investigator, if this were an RPG, so as you progress through a campaign it grows and improves. Scenarios tend to have multiple ways in which they can end and that modifies what happens later on and it may even add cards to your deck depending on what you did during the scenario. It's pretty great.
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Feb 21, 2023 07:45
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The scenario design for LotR improved a lot over the life of the game and the later ones are better about allowing a broader range of approaches, and the Saga boxes and rereleases include more campaign content than the initial standalone aporoach. Even then it's still more about deck construction than the other LCGs.
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Feb 21, 2023 07:51
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an actual dog posted:I first played BotC at a game night with a guy who also wasn't sure if he was going to actually play it a ton, so he printed out a bunch of stuff and we had to look at the roles on our phones, very jank stuff. And despite all that, it ruled! Is this game actually officially out? It always seemed like one of those absurdly simple projects that could not get its poo poo together. I was in contact with them a few years ago to be one of their 'promoters' or whatever as a storyteller to drum up interest at local game stores but then they eventually ghosted me and I completely forgot about it. Every so often I'd remember it and see some Kickstarter style nonsense. I guess now they sell it directly from the site? Is it really worth $150 bucks? It's just Werewolf with a glowup? I live in a place where shipping is always ludicrous so I have to be real careful about getting something.
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Feb 21, 2023 09:31
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Mr. Grapes! posted:Is this game actually officially out? It always seemed like one of those absurdly simple projects that could not get its poo poo together. Yes, I saw three copies in a store a couple of weeks ago and also someone at the university has a regular group going.
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Feb 21, 2023 09:44
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Mode 7 posted:Dune chat Great write-up! Dune is one of those games that when it clicks it clicks and people can have a blast with tremendous stories full of betrayals and clutch plays. But my God... when Dune fails... it fails hard. It can be way too long, the rules are a disaster, and the asymmetric factions are a nightmare to keep track of for new people who aren't totally clear on what people can do or are too busy trying to grok the main gameplay beats to remember all that poo poo. Guess you can kind of use this summary for a lot of games but I feel like Dune in particular is one of those love it or hate it games.
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Feb 21, 2023 17:18
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Mode 7 posted:Everyone immediately wants to organise another day to play again as different factions, and I'm excited to see the negotiations that will take place now that we have a bit more of a stronger idea of the value of certain cards or pieces of knowledge. While the game went down to the wire, there were several close calls for victory at points by various factions - had I had one or two combats against the Atreides run in my favour, the BG/Fremen alliance would have had a strong shot at a victory via Stronghold control around Turn 7 or 8. Ahhh this is all so good! We've found that, the strong shot at stronghold victory on turn 7 seems to be fairly consistent, and the other three turns tend to just be 'things shaking out' after everyone's spent everything, and the game can go super super long, so we tend to limit it to 7 rounds. I'm glad to hear though, for you, it actually came down to the wire. I've played BG in 90% of my games, and have pulled off the prediction win excactly once, lol. I do think that's one of the best mechanics in all of gaming.
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Feb 21, 2023 17:31
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homullus posted:Is there a way to summarize why the Arkham Horror LCG rocks in comparison to the LotR one? I have only played the latter. I have never played the LOTR LCG so I can’t speak to that except to say that the urban fantasy period-piece horror theme of Arkham is more interesting to me than Middle Earth. AH does a great job of executing on that aesthetic compared to other games that leverage it. For my group, Arkham Horror makes a character-based role playing experience accessible without the huge time sink of a tabletop rpg, and hybridizes rpg style skill check gameplay with the tight, crunchy mechanics of a ccg, which works really well. I also find the deck building aspect to be intriguing and satisfying. To return to the rpg comparison, it brings me back to experience I used to have reading the d&d players’ handbook as a kid, shopping it like a Sears catalogue full of fantasy artifacts. My Arkham binders are full of cool poo poo and it (for the most part) all offer ways to design characters that feel powerful and capable. Then you start the game and it’s mean as hell and makes you prove it.
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Feb 21, 2023 17:58
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Arkham feels like you are leveling up. It has upward growth. Also “losing” isn’t binary, there are different levels of losing and they progress story. LoTR feels static in comparison. You build a deck until you can beat an encounter.
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Feb 21, 2023 18:37
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I've only played a few early LOTR scenarios, but what I really like about Arkham is the scenario design, and how it can vary so much. Like, you can be making your way through a party to talk to sinister people, or moving through a train as the cars are destroyed behind you, or exploring a campus as a monster rampages through it. Plus there's campaign progression in choices you make, changing results further down the line, or changing the tokens that you can draw during skill tests and such. My gf and I like playing through it on easy just to see this sort of thing.
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Feb 21, 2023 18:46
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I've only played a couple games of each but I thought LOTR (and Marvel Champions) was much more fiddly than AH. Which was disappointing because thematically I was least interested in AH. Edit: also there's an LCG thread if you want more opinions.
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Feb 21, 2023 19:08
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thank you all, that was extremely helpful information on the Arkham Horror LCG. I was unhappy with the LotR LCG and wasn't sure whether the enthusiasm for the AH one was a difference of taste or mechanics. It's both, but it sounds as though there are significant mechanical differences between the two. I will check out the LCG thread, too.
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Feb 21, 2023 19:29
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homullus posted:thank you all, that was extremely helpful information on the Arkham Horror LCG. I was unhappy with the LotR LCG and wasn't sure whether the enthusiasm for the AH one was a difference of taste or mechanics. It's both, but it sounds as though there are significant mechanical differences between the two. I will check out the LCG thread, too. Arkham Horror thread's OP is really really good at telling what the game is like and what to expect and buy. Helped me a ton when I started with the game a few months back.
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Feb 21, 2023 19:33
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 https://www.riograndegames.com/games/wabash-cannonball/
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Feb 21, 2023 19:42
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I'm glad they're going back to the original superior name.
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Feb 21, 2023 19:48
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Who's this John Bohrer guy? Is he friends with Harry Wu?
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Feb 21, 2023 19:48
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Does Rio Grande have the worst art design for a major studio? That is an ugly box.
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Feb 21, 2023 19:52
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Bubble-T posted:Agreed with the setup/teardown time and that the PvP rules aren't good. That's exactly my point with regards to "friendly" competitive. I'm not using that term as shorthand for pvp-disabled competitive, but to mean a competitive game where players aren't actively and purposefully hindering each other. A game where everyone goes off in their own direction mostly not stepping on anyone else's toes (which, despite my previous hyperbolic statement, is fine if you and your family want to play like that, I just think there's little difference between that and the co-op scenarios). There's zero recourse in MK if you fall behind and the other player is playing cutthroat and actively denying you nodes. They're ahead, they have more units, more crystals, more & better cards (incl. movement). They're taking all the good nodes around you not because you made the mistake of following them, but because they are very deliberately hanging around you to do so.
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Feb 21, 2023 20:32
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Jedit posted:Was this 1st or 2nd edition? 2nd is the small blue box with no map board. It was in a blue box and there was no map so 2nd?
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Feb 22, 2023 00:40
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Admiralty Flag posted:Couldn't help but think a bit more about your post, Aramoro I said 3 but I could have easily extended that list to more. I actually really like Tinners Trail and it has the best climax of all the MW faces I've played. You know when and how it's going to end and someone else can't end your game. But there is still some grubbing for points. It's on BGA as well. I like Rocketmen as well, nice tempo to the band once you're past the rocky start. Railways of the World is the one I've played the most because its on BGA. You're absolutely right though it's calculable from fairly far out if you can guess the barons so just pulls into the station and ends.
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Feb 22, 2023 00:46
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Aramoro posted:It was in a blue box and there was no map so 2nd? Yes. The thing about London 2E is that as you saw, it's possible to manipulate when the game ends. You're ideally trying to arrange things so you get one last good run in and then the game ends before you take another turn - preferably with the other players being out of sync with you so they don't get a good run. In the game you described you got just a little too far ahead in the cycle and had to force the ending, but it doesn't always happen like that.
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Feb 22, 2023 01:25
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Feb 22, 2023 07:11
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that's kinda too much punching. someone get Kenshiro in here to do it for me
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Feb 22, 2023 09:03
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Feb 22, 2023 09:59
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Seriously if you complain that you have to punch out like 10 sheets of tokens, never get into wargames
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Feb 22, 2023 10:03
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Tekopo posted:Seriously if you complain that you have to punch out like 10 sheets of tokens, never get into wargames Punching out ten sheets of tokens still wasn't as bad as stickering a C&C:Ancients expansion.
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Feb 22, 2023 11:06
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Jedit posted:Punching out ten sheets of tokens still wasn't as bad as stickering a C&C:Ancients expansion. Ooooof
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Feb 22, 2023 15:32
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