Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

T-Bone posted:

I'm having a good time with Chaos in the Old World. My group played pretty much all played Risk growing up so the progression is pretty natural. Dealing with Khorne at first is a pain but I think once you realize you're a loving Chaos God and this not a game about turtling in your own area but being a dick 24/7 poo poo starts to open up

Actually, fighting with Khorne is a surefire way to let him win much faster. None of the other three gods gain anything from engaging Khorne except possibly killing his warriors.

Playing Khorne with experienced players is actually kind of frustrating because not only do they know that they need to avoid Khorne, but they know the best ways to keep him out of their little corner of the map.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2015 17:25

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 01:42

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

fozzy fosbourne posted:

Spergy question: Anyone have a high quality thingy to put a universal head rules sheet in? I'm imagining something like those hard plastic toploaders that you buy magic cards in, but letter sized. Or brochure sized maybe for the half sized references.

What about laminating them?

# ¿ Jan 13, 2015 01:27

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Azran posted:

Not really, just wondering because I only decided to get an actual boardgame that's better than Clue like a week or so ago, so I'm full of incredibly dumb questions - I don't even know if games like Catan are supposed to be good. I only know Carcassone is good because the OP says so - etc etc.

Thanks for the answers by the way.

Catan was good 20 years ago. There's been 20 years of board game development since then.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2015 04:22

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

What the gently caress just happened in this thread?

# ¿ Jan 13, 2015 07:38

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Bubble-T posted:

Matt Lees' Takenoko review still angers me.

"Takenoko isn't Cosmic Encounter, the best board game ever, and therefore is not worth anyone's time. There's no way someone would play this game and decide to try any other board game."

I'm not exaggerating as much as you might think.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2015 23:58

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Diosamblet posted:

Seattle is stuffed with nerds and has three board game cafes (that I know of so far), one of which has in-store prices about halfway between MM/CSI and FLGS retail. It's always among the first to get Amazon delivery experiments like "2 hour delivery" or "lockers" etc. And if you are a fan of Magic and/or Warmachine, this is their home. PAX is a solid con for a board gamer too, if you can manage to get tickets.
On the downside, if you're a cheapskate like me the cheapest sources of games are on the opposite side of the country so free shipping is usually 7-8 business days.

I really miss having Cardhaus in Lynnwood. When I lived in Bellingham, I used to order stuff from them and pick it up on my way down to Seattle.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2015 06:28

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

QnoisX posted:

So just got Eminent Domain. I've only played one game so far with my cousin. The rules didn't mention pulling any cards out of the decks to make the game go faster...and it took around 2 hours. I ended up winning by having a massive number of planets but only 6 influence tokens. He comboed the tech to get 2 influence per resource with mostly fertile planets and ended up with 18 influence tokens. I think he had 6 planets total. We both ignored warfare for the most part. I did conquer two planets from occasionally getting ships if I had nothing else to play as my action. It was a long game after all.

It is a good game and it seems there are a bunch of different paths to victory. Even though I did win, I don't think I played it that great. My cousin started trashing Survey cards which really sucked because I couldn't follow to nab more planets. I had improved Colonize, but never got to use its action. It seems really hard to get a bunch of face down planets down quickly so you can work on more than one at a time. I did get the double Survey tech that's action let's you take the top planet, it was handy. Any tips on when you should start trashing? I trashed a grand total of one card, a Warfare. I have the expansion, but probably won't add it in for a while. Unless I get a game going with 5 players I guess.

Absolutely start using the expansion. The base game will wear out its welcome very very quickly, but the expansion does a lot to extend the game's shelf life.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 03:09

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

QnoisX posted:

About the expansion, all of the new techs have warfare or research costs. Do you replace the old techs with the new ones, throw them all into the pile with no changes, or add them all in but use warfare or research to buy them like the new tech?

No, yes and yes. The new techs are in addition to the base techs and they can be bought with either Research symbols or Fighters.

quote:

Still have to introduce it to my usual gaming group, but it won't meet for another couple of weeks at least. Should I play at least one game with them base or just throw everything in at once? Starting the game with different cards from everyone else and a level 3 tech sounds neat. Even with 8 cards in my hand and a planet with a research symbol, I never managed to get 7 at once.

New players should play without the expansion to get their heads around the mechanics, but the expansion is a better game.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 03:44

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

QnoisX posted:

Ah, that makes sense. Too bad they didn't include a sticker sheet to add those icons onto the cards. That would be a nice reminder. They still keep their default second resource, right? Most of the new ones have ships as the second icon. That would be annoying actually.

I'm not sure I understand. The new techs can be used for an Action or can be used to Boost whatever role matches the symbols on the tech in question.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 04:03

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Gutter Owl posted:

Er, Some Numbers misspoke: No, yes, and no. The old technologies can still only be purchased with research. Only the new technology can be purchased with fighters.

Oh, good call, I misread that.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 04:31

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

The ones you can buy with Fighters have different world type prerequistes.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 04:39

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Fat Turkey posted:

I once caught the start of a Big Bang episode while changing channels and I paused because Sheldon had designed his own board game and was explaining it to the others. It took one line from him to turn to my partner and say "I don't believe someone like Sheldon would design a game that used a roll-to-move mechanic" and she stared at me blankly and I realised what I had become.

I've clearly become the same thing, because I know exactly what you mean.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 20:34

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Chomp8645 posted:

I played a couple hours of Dominion online with my buddy using that German whatever client "Brett Spiel Welt" or something. It was pretty fun and thanks to computerized assistance it was a fast, fun pace. I can't imagine the game being anything but torture if I had to play it with real cards, especially with a four or more people.

Interestingly, you aren't obligated to play with more than 4.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2015 19:36

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Azran posted:

I wish it was stdh.txt. I am from Argentina so racist jokes and the like are dime a dozen. This guy in particular is 100% Argentinian, but slightly copper skinned instead of totally white. So his nickname is "slave" and "black". Not surprising at all for an Argentinian, and they are tired of me saying it is racist to the point of discrimination talk being vetoed whenever I am around since even the guy in particular is fine with it. gently caress, his girlfriend calls him negro too.
It is a running joke for their group (who have known each other for way longer than I have been in it, they were class mates for year and we are all in our twenties) to always make sure "the Negro dies first".

A 'negro' is any kind of criminal here, matter actual skin colour or ethnicity. A "China Man" is anyone with slanted eyes. A "Jew" is anyone who is cheap and greedy. A "gipsy" is someone who does not wash often, Etc. It annoys me a lot but that is literally every Argentinian I have met. It doesn't help either that they consider Family Guy, 9gag and Adam Sandler to be the paragons of comedy.

Anyways Monopoly and Mafia sucked.

I feel compelled to ask why this guy continues to game with them if he always dies first?

Also, HOLY. poo poo.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2015 18:22

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

StashAugustine posted:

Happy MLK day, everyone!

Oh wow.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2015 18:57

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

PerniciousKnid posted:

Given the games they're playing, dying first is probably ideal.

Right, but why would you continue to attend gatherings if you knew you were going to be eliminated first, no matter what?

# ¿ Jan 19, 2015 20:59

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Countblanc posted:

I love late capitalism

How did they get funded that much so quickly?

# ¿ Jan 21, 2015 00:50

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

MildManeredManikin posted:

Is there a game that does what Diplomacy does but without all the bullshit? I've heard a lot about diplomacy, I've never played it myself but it just seems kind of dated and bloated with mechanics that are sort of periphery to the part of it that is actually fun. Also with a long play time and high player count it seems difficult to even get people to play it.

Uh, what? Diplomacy barely has any mechanics at all.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2015 03:21

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Rutibex posted:

My local gaming store had a cat named Rusty. He was adorable and slept in the empty comic boxes. He got to be super fat from nerds feeding him slim jims and cheetos and died RIP Rusty

Those monsters.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2015 23:51

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Radioactive Toy posted:

I'll be learning, and then teaching, Chaos in the Old World later today. Anything I should be aware of like commonly missed rules, misconceptions, or other stuff?

Units can only be placed in or adjacent regions containing units of the same color. Cards may be played in any open spot on the map.

Each time a player fulfills their dial advancement condition, they get a token. Getting one token is worth one advancement, but tokens beyond the first are useless unless the player has more than anyone else. At most, one player can turn their dial twice per turn.

Khorne is not the easiest god to play, he's actually the second hardest; Nurgle is the simplest and most straightforward. Khorne requires a lot of knowledge of what the other players can do and if Khorne is played poorly, one of the other gods will run away with the game.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2015 17:07

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Gutter Owl posted:

First, there is no rule preventing you from summoning and resummoning the same figure multiple times. If you want to spend your entire round hopping a single Bloodletter around the board, you're welcome to.

The only exception to this is Nurgle's Cultist upgrade, which allows each Leper to be summoned for 0 power once per round.

But that's a pretty corner case.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2015 21:04

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

PerniciousKnid posted:

I'm still hoping for an enemy called The Provost.

...holy poo poo.

Broken Loose, you have to do this if you can.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 04:40

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

If you want a pick up and deliver game in space that also involves shooting aliens get loving Terra Prime.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2015 17:59

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Impermanent posted:

I was just given a $50 dollar gift certificate for Amazon as a very late Christmas present. Because I already got Dungeon Lords and Vinhos this month thanks to lucky finds on the BGG marketplace, I'm looking for thread recommendations on how to blow this on board games.

I am specifically looking for recommendations on heavier games that are good with two that aren't super competitive. (I know, I know. Just go with Rahdo. But he put Shadowrun: Crossfire at the top of his last best of list so he's completely unreliable.)

Kemet.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 18:12

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Jedit posted:

If I were ever going to recommend a game on the basis of not being supercompetitive, Kemet would be the first game I would never think of.

Oh hey, that's a thing that was said in that post. My bad.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 18:48

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

chemosh6969 posted:

I thought games with dice were considered the devil in these parts because of the element of chance.

There's nothing inherently wrong with putting dice in your game. See: BSG and CitOW

There is something wrong with making everything in the game based on the result of a die roll. See: Arkham Horror

# ¿ Feb 7, 2015 20:46

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

malkav11 posted:

The only thing in Arkham Horror that's dice-based are skill checks. (Well, and rolling for losing Blessings/Curses/etc.). Which are the primary method of action resolution in it, don't get me wrong, but there are plenty of parts of that game that aren't dice-based. Some of them aren't even card-based, like movement.

A better example would be Talisman.

You are right, dice are only used in skill checks...which are used to 1) close gates, which is the central point of the game, 2) kill or avoid monsters, which is necessary to get to the gates, 3) resolve the majority of all encounters and 4) fight the Great Old One, if necessary.

The only part of the game that doesn't require rolling dice is movement. Your stats are explicitly the number of dice you roll, with the sole exception of speed.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2015 21:33

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Jedit posted:

Not quite. Arkham Horror provides several means to manipulate the rolls; Blessings make rolling successes more likely, equipment increases the number of dice you get to roll (and in some cases makes successes count double), and Clues can be spent to re-roll dice. All these things can be obtained by spending limited resources, although they can often be acquired for free via skill checks. AH is also a cooperative game, so you will have several characters who can be allocated to perform the different tasks and the requirements for those tasks are as a rule known ahead of time. This gives the players agency in being able to pick the best character for any given job. If that character is occupied elsewhere or too far away you have to choose between waiting and wasting time or attempting the task with a character less likely to succeed. This adds a level of tactics to the game.

Compare this to Talisman. Every player has to face the same tasks, and as the game is competitive you have to do it for yourself. All checks are roll a die, add stat and get a total, which some characters cannot achieve naturally. You can manipulate your stats to some small degree, but only at certain locations. Whether or not you get to those locations is the result of a die roll, and in most cases a second roll is required to improve the required stat. Both these rolls are entirely random and except in very rare cases have no modifiers. As a result, success or failure in Talisman is entirely at the whim of the dice.

I don't think anyone is arguing that Arkham is more dice-centric than Talisman, but saying that you can accomplish things in Arkham without rolling dice is a gross exaggeration.

Sure, you can move places and buy things without rolling dice, but to accomplish anything that means anything, you will be rolling a fuckton of dice and you will be their mercy.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2015 23:39

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

I don't think you're wrong. Defining and restricting your actions based on your dice (and always being able to accomplish something) is vastly preferable to having the freedom to do anything except when the game says "well, you rolled 8 dice, but didn't get a single 5, so all that effort was wasted. Want to try it again?"

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 00:09

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

It's like clockwork.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 00:15

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

jivjov posted:

It it really that light on mechanics? There's so much...stuff in there, I thought it had the same "gather resources, expend them to modify dice rolls" feel that Eldritch does.

It's Yahtzee with a coat of Lovecraft colored paint.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 02:57

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

jivjov posted:

Yeah, that doesn't sound too terrible to me. Maybe a hair overpriced, but if it has the same level of care and attention to the theme that Eldritch does, then it sounds right up my alley.

It also sounds like it would be better suited to solo or 2p play a bit more than Eldritch is.

It doesn't.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 03:11

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Durendal posted:

I'm going to make a game called "Cuthulu vs Zombies". It's just going to be reskinned checkers, and I will still make millions.

Only if you spell "Cthulhu" right. :colbert:

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 03:36

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

SnowDog posted:

I have no dog in the Lovecraft Yahtzee fight, but want to say if we're talking about Yahtzee-likegames, I really enjoyed To Court The King. I mean, it's out of print, but you could probably print&play it fairly easily. It's not deep or anything but it was a lot of fun the time I tried it.

I played this once a couple of years ago and it wasn't bad.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 03:47

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

And just like CCGs, this will collapse very soon and be almost completely abandoned. It's definitely a problem but I wouldn't worry too much.

You know CCGs are still a thing, right? Magic is bigger now than its ever been and in the last few years, a bunch of digital knockoffs have popped up.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 01:17

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

EvilChameleon posted:

What's the goonpinion on Euphoria? There is a guy who brings it to board games night every week and the visuals are very compelling but there's just so many dice. What else is new and cool? I feel like I should buy something new but I don't know what has come out lately besides a few things (King of New York, Castles of Mad King Ludwig).

I liked Euphoria a lot the one I played it. It's a worker placement game where your workers are dice and high numbers (of and on dice) are both good and bad. I think it's actually really cleverly designed and I wish it wasn't out of print and infinite dollars because I'd really like to play it again.

I would highly recommend giving it a shot if you get the chance.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 06:09

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Bubble-T posted:

Dungeon Lords owns so much. I'm getting to the point where I can just about construct my gameplan from the opening monster/room/orders setup and it's like seeing the matrix, the skill curve is really satisfying.

Never forget Tom Vasel's opinion of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8k9Auuw5g&t=18s

I'm watching this from the start and I love that the one guy when Cosmic into 7 Wonders and was basking in the hate.

Edit: and then he goes Zombicide! I'm okay with this.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 06:53

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Bubble-T posted:

Ironically that's the worst of the three, Sam Healy

That's also Sam. God he's terrible.

Zee only wanting the building part of Galaxy Trucker encapsulates him pretty well, it wouldn't even be a game. He just doesn't want to feel bad.

He's the worst of them? That's disappointing.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 06:55

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Oh wow, that segment on Dungeon Lords is amazing.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 07:04

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 01:42

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

S.J. posted:

What time does that start? Because gently caress if I can sit through that. I got through the first guys number ten and turned the video off. He didn't even say anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8k9Auuw5g&t=1120s

# ¿ Feb 10, 2015 07:10

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

«‹›26 »