Splotter went crazy with the bits again.
I worked out the perfect storage, bought a pile of trays, then realised all the bits just barely fit back in with perfect packing and there isn’t room for a single tray, let alone a pile of them.
13 Likes
Worse than Antiquity or Roads & Boats?
3 Likes
Antiquity I never played physically, but there’s a lot of putting things on and taking them off the central board - a lot of movement. Roads & Boats too, producing, transporting, consuming…
With Horseless Carriage, nearly all the cardboard you place is permanent. Cars do get added to and removed from the marketing board, as do market windows, but I think that looks like it’s nowhere near the amount of fiddle of those two games. Just have to see how it plays today.
On the other hand, I actually had room for trays in the RBO&ATS box, making packing and unpacking much less hassle. On the other other hand, I can actually fit Horseless Carriage in a normal backpack.
8 Likes
I bought a couple of things
k3 - this simple stacking two player duel game where you try to corner your opponent to being unable to place a block.
Halli Galli - mostly because it has a squashy banana.
My hope is that Orleans - Joan of Arc - Roll and Write comes soon too.
3 Likes
Some post-Christmas (and post-big birthday) orders on the way:
For me (i.e., mostly soloing)
- Flash Point: Fire Rescue
- Final Girl with the Happy Trails Horror scenario
For my casual gaming group
- The Fuzzies
- The Mind
- PitchCar
Plus, for my RPG reading
- Call of Cthulhu 40th Anniversary Starter Set
- Solo Game Master’s Guide
6 Likes
Bought the latest Cthulhu Wars expansions:
- Azathoth faction
- Bubastis faction
- new Tcho Tcho power tiles
- Ultimate Errata pack
Eclipse Second Dawn - got it from boardgameguru for 85 quid. Which is the cheapest I’ve seen on retail!
So far, Eclipse and 1883: Northern Italy are my first purchases of this year. I’m doing alright, I htink
9 Likes
Just received my unpunched copy of Summer Storm - The Battle of Gettysburg (1998). The map for this is really pretty, so I might have it framed for display as well. 
6 Likes
Something like this photo which is posted on the game’s BGG entry. But I would probably go for a frame with a far less obtrusive border.
8 Likes
Seems like frequently between buying and receiving there’s a cooling off period. Something you bought just because it was on sale. Something you’re no longer sure about. Seldom have I been so jazzed about every item in a shipment as this one:
Bohnanza: I’ve been collecting since '95. Bohnanza has come up A LOT. Never played or bought, though. SU&SD’s recent spate of content on it (thanks Tom) nudged me to finally do it. Read the rules, I think this is going to be a good one.
Radlands: Another one that just keeps coming up in discussions of 2p games with a lot of runway, or winners of depth:size rankings. Now that I’m buying less, I sprung for the deluxe and it’s nice to have that tactility in the cards and tokens. It does look really, really good. However, the theme is likely to keep my wife from playing. Just the evocative roughness - things like a “blood donor” event, picturing a run down medic tent, with an effect that allows you to “kill” one of your cards to heal another. It’s Mad Max and the world is not friendly. I don’t prefer it either, but I have more psychic distance and prioritize mechanics. We’ll see when I can find an opponent.
Ginkgopolis: Another one I’ve heard about for a long time. Thanks to @captbnut I finally got to take it for a spin in the BGA alpha and it’s just a great game. There’s a lot going on, in all the good ways.
Spirecrest: OK, this one is maybe the least exciting. There was a sale and I figured I’d want it eventually. So the story goes.
War of the Ring: Got this without any reviews or research. I just knew I’d want it. Now that it’s in my hands I’ve read up on it and it seems like such a winner. Turns out it shines as a 2v2 game but it does have a 1v1 setup. It’s small, deep gameplay, and most importantly evocative. Really feels like you are going through the story, yet plays in such a way that it’s different each time. And it’s by the Quartermaster General guy! SO eager to play this one!
The big complaint though, here is the content in the box:
It’s a 5x4x2 cube (inches) once you put a handful of tokens on top. This would fit in a Radlands or Silver sized box. The manual, in fact, suggests it was designed for a Condottiere sized box. But here we have your typical Dominion 12x12.
I have to assume that publishers like Ares know more about marketing a game than I do and that moderately big boxes will sell more in the long run? But here we are, paying for materials and shipped air, and then spending more time and money on custom storage solutions. Maybe a small BCG trading card box with some trees of Gondor and eyes of Sauron taped on will do it?
10 Likes
Well, you have to leave room in the box for the inevitable expansions!
Heat certainly did.
1 Like
The thing publishers always say is “shelf presence”, both to get shelved with the big games rather than in a pile with the little ones, and to be visible from a distance on the shelf. On MGTT I asked a couple of publishers whether that was really still important in these days of internet sales, and they both said yes, absolutely.
SJGames’ Castellan tries to get the best of both worlds: on the shelf it looks like this
but you throw away the clamshell and cardboard wrapper, and it all fits in the lower box.
7 Likes
Bohnanza is great. I’ve actually just played it async on BGA, which I wouldn’t recommend but it actually worked.
I also have War of the Ring on order. Looking forward to get a chance to play it.
4 Likes
I’m doing it again. Miniature Market is having a sale and they had the Mage Knight Ultimate edition for $78, so it should be headed my way soonish. At least I didn’t try to spend another $21 to get to free shipping to “save” $6.99.
4 Likes
So this bcw 300ct box will hold War of the Ring about perfectly. Problem is the boxes cost a surprising amount unless you buy a bunch at a time. There’s one store that stocks some of these but not all sizes - I’ll see what they have.
Edit: Found 2 for $8 on eBay. Looks like I’m in business.
2 Likes
Yeah, I keep a stock of small boxes a bit like that for sending out 3d prints, but I haven’t yet met a game that feels like the right size to go in one.
1 Like
You can always put it on a white box and label it with a sharpie… 
3 Likes
Have just obtained this fabulous specimen from the local thrift store:
(Included in frame is a standard reference archipelago, to demonstrate how ludicrously massive this thing is XD)
It’s arguably not the best game ever created, but man i miss games that actually tried to be fun. It’s like a game and a dollhouse in one!
17 Likes
Gosh, I remember that being advertised on TV back in the late 80s (or early 90s?)
3 Likes
Bought Tiletum, looks like a good game. I’ve been waiting for it to become available.
2 Likes
I wonder if the guy on the front of the box emblazons this placement on his resume or actively campaigns google to remove all references to his name?
3 Likes