GWT is my absolute favourite game, I’m intrigued by Argentina and NZ but not gone for it yet
Sorry to disagree with you, but I think trains or builders are more powerful than cowboys in the base game and generally win. It’s why I love it - there are 3 specialisation strategies that are really well balanced, plus deck shredding, station masters and a hybrid strategy all can be competitive if you’re the 4th player and lose out in the job market.
@Captbnut thanks again for teaching me. way back.
i have been waiting for NZ version to come out and get a verdict from those who have played them all about which one I will be getting.so i am also anticipating the sheep iteration.
I’ve only played GWT Argentina once, but I would class it similarly to the differences in Brass Lancashire/Birmingham - it’s a glorified expansion variant that required a stand alone game to work.
If you love GWT and want a variant, it’s great. Otherwise you’ll question the point of both existing. I wouldn’t say one improves the other, just focuses on different parts of the game.
Might just be different table experiences or from sounds of it might be player count difference. I mostly play 2-players. I’ve seen buildings work a couple times, never engineers. It’s always cows plus a little something, partly because they can rush the end game and still get their points while doing so.
I tend to agree about not needing more than 1. Due to a preference of sheep over cattle and very fond memories of my single (and likely to remain so) trip to New Zealand I am holding out for that one for now 
“Get out of here, you’re dead! You don’t exist anymore.”
The King is Dead… Long Live the King.
This isn’t a new product and I’m only dealing with about 10 working days of anticipation as of this post, but the following purchase represents the total collapse of three years (precisely, as it turns out) of careful restraint and I needed to document it somewhere. Gimme this one. 
Today I purchased the “Maxi edition” of Set & Match from some unknown-to-me traditional games company out of the UK. I did catch a modest discount and was able to score a US Open-themed variant, but it’s still costing me an arm and a leg… and I’m not certain if I’ll clear customs unscathed.
No matter! I had been sniffing around this edition for long enough. It was clear there wouldn’t be any North American stock to draw from, so between the discount and preferred colour scheme, I was in. Set & Match is a dexterity game that can stand alongside Crokinole in terms of purity of design and skill ceiling (IMO, etc. etc.), and I absolutely can’t wait to feel the changes this big version brings.
No Pun Included mentioned (on their bonus podcast material for subscribers) that there’s probably a reprint of El Grande coming - anyone know anything about this?
Hans im Gluck a few months back made a twitter post that seems to tease the reader that they’ll reprint it. If you’re into that tea leaves reading stuff.
So… one cryptic post 5 months ago, got it 
I mean, they SHOULD be reprinting it constantly. Seems like the kind of game that should be on store shelves all the time.
I do thing it needs to be a bit less beige in today’s market, but broadly I’d agree.
A £40 no expansions box with a £30 all in expansions box.
It takes up my whole damn table. 
I should note that big conical marker is slid, not picked up, so it’s not the nightmare piece it looks like.
[EDIT]
*Well let the record show that Asmodee Canada should have this on local (to me) shelves as early as next month. SMH. 
I was looking into this GWT vs GWT 2e vs Argentina thing a few weeks back. Those who have played it to death had a clear consensus: GWT 2e WITH Rails to the North = GWT Argentina. You really only need one, and you’ll probably stick with whatever you play first. They have some different twists but neither is better, has more longevity, etc.
They said GWT without Rails had a smaller decision space and you’d need to grow into the expansion.
So, as a first buy, the vote was Argentina as you get all the game you need in one box.
I’m also waiting for NZ, though, as it has sheep.
Edit: I guess the unstated implication would be, if you want something a little simpler or cleaner, or want to switch between levels of “how much is going on,” get GWT OG so you can play the base set.
Edit 2: The 1e vs 2e debate remains unsettled. This was the best breakdown I could find. About half of the changes are immaterial unless you’re doing tournament level play. Some are easy to implement at home (larger starting hands for people later in turn order, moving one starting building, larger cattle market). Several, though, seemed really key for enabling more strategies ($1 income when trashing a card, allowing lower value deilveries) or forcing the game to be played the way it was meant to be played (dollar values for Kansas City and Teepee/Bandit spaces).
One of my greatest weaknesses is balance changes, so I shelled out to upgrade.
Edit 3: possibly the hardest part about upgrading was the loss of the Indians / Native Americans. I know it’s a sensitive subject and no handling is perfect, especially in a game setting. But this alternative, erasure, perpetuates the unconscious but comfortable belief that the lands were empty, which we passively fall back on when rationalizing our national identity. That’s worse. I think 1e did a “sufficient” and therefore better job.
I also came here to bring back the Tom Lehmann buzz. Xeno Counterstrike (Race) and Starry Rift (New Frontiers) have both been delayed for years but are getting conversations again? Both have a new mechanic of push-your-luck Xeno worlds, whatever that means.
But the crazy thing, mentioned above, is Xeno Counterstrike.
They increase the game end to 15 (tableau size, and/or vp chips per person in the starting pool). This is meant to make the game last 1-2 rounds longer and is there for those who want to make their engine go big. I mean, once you get it, Race ends at just the right time. But it is great to turn the crank on that produce/consume a few more times just for funsies. And it may shift the meta toward tableaus that peak bigger and later.
BUT, if you play the full Arc 3 (meaning Invasion + Counterstrike), the only game end condition is obliterating the Xenos. Unlimited tableau. Unlimited vp chits. The word is that tableaus of 25 cards are common.
This sounds like “Glory to The Galaxy” in terms of the bonkers combos, massive card draw, and military size that could be happening.
Probably like The Orb, something I definitely want to try, will want to play from time to time, but not the core experience I come back to. But still, I so want to try this.
I think Days of Wonder just announced Ticket to Ride Legacy on Instagram. They posted a video for a Ticket to Ride version coming soon designed by Moon (TtR designer) and Leacock and Daviau (Pandemic Legacy designers) anyway. Not sure how I feel about this. My husband and I love legacy campaigns, but we aren’t too big into TtR.
Holy moly that sounds dead cool. I think the original pandemic legacy remixed a lot of old expansions with narrative and new bits and you can see some real possibility with this. In particular Old West which has you spreading out from a city and france which has you building the colours of the tracks. So there’s some good basis. The only worry would be dipping into the UK version which has individual powers.
I have so many questions now. But it’s likely pointless to speculate…
