I always find spare bags as a great thing. There is always a use for them, even if it is on another game.
My copy of Raiders of the North Sea had about 6 bags spare, and I was very grateful for them. They came in very handy for Battle for Rokugan which could do with plenty more than the only one supplied for the cards.
I concur, unless you play it to death and really want to change things up
Yeah, Quinns agreed with that ā he took some pains to make them sound like a feature no sane person would want to start out using, really ā so Iām definitely ignoring them unless I end up getting a lot of play out of the game.
I, on the other hand, really enjoy using those cards. They sometimes make it easier to bluff against an opponent who knows one well. 
Iāll be honest, despite having played with them, I have never yet been sure of how to actually use them or the application of the rules for them. And explaining them to those encountering the game for the first time is even worse. And I play GMT games (sometimes even for fun 
).
Only a heathen plays GMT games for fun 
Self-improvement then?
Went to FLGS today and caved for Spicy because itās pretty, I like spicy food and my inlaws are from Hungary. Also nostalgia overcame me, when I saw VtM 5. Then I went to the local branch of a certain Swiss chocolatier and indulged even moreā¦
Based on reviews, I was a bit daunted. But then, when it actually came time to play, it wasnāt that difficult. My family tends to play so that we make an assertion about a card (āThis is a stink bug.ā), and the person who receives it says something like, āYes, this is a stink bug.ā, which makes it easy to evaluate when the card is flipped. Was it the matches all card? Then they got it right. Was it the matches none card? Then they got it wrong. Whoever has to add a card to their tableau now has put down a stink bug (or something else, if they donāt have one?), and they take the special card into their hand. Done, and we move on.
(Itās been since Christmas that I played, so I may be forgetting something, but thatās what I remember. I guess I might find it enjoyable because weāre doing it wrong. 
)
I did not buy a game, but I did just buy a set of game rules. Specifically, a copy of the rules to CrossFire, a miniatures ruleset for simulating WW2 company level combat using what seems to be a very elegant system not dependent on tape measures or seemingly never-ending alternating turns. I am not an enthusiastic miniatures wargame player, I much prefer map & counter/block games, but my perusal of the rules (which have been around since the '90s!) was enough to inform me that I might actually enjoy playing them. All units are assumed to be in range of each other, and the action flows through continuous initiative and response actions, which means there is corresponding continuous player engagement as well. That seems like something I should at least try, so I ordered a copy with the intention of playing a game with some easily repurposed soldiers, vehicles, and additional scenery elements from some other games I own, namely my coffin box copy of Tide of Iron and my Memoir 44 accessory sets. Of course the scales wonāt be correct, but this is an experiment, so it doesnāt really bother me.
One of the things I really like about sets of rules for historical wargaming is that they tend to be miniature agnostic, letting you use whatever you have available. I know a few people that have dug out old plastic toy soldiers for various WWII games (with numbers of figures typically described according to the volume of the ice cream tub they were stored in - 2L of German infantry!).
Just won a copy of FFGās Tigris and euphrates on e-bay.
Iāve been playing the really good app version and decided to make up for my forth holiday break this year being cancelled by splurging on stuff!
Well, I completed my Pledge Manager for Die of the Dead. Thatās technically buying?
Two games, at opposite ends of the spectrum. The first is the third time Iāve bought this game Heckmeck. However this time I discovered the mini tin version is available again, for under Ā£5
Iām a sucker for cute stuff.
At the other end Iāve preordered 18MS. Iām playing a game on 18XX.games and prefer this to the other ābeginnerā games Iāve played on there. The fixed structure really helps me see whatās going to happen.
Root and the Riverfolk expansion reached me on Friday afternoon (Chinese purchase took a while on the post) and we punched all the components that same evening. I am in dire need of bags after this and Rokugan, so we havenāt played it yet, but I think that after going grocery shopping and watching the All Blacks game this afternoon, I might process Rokugan and Root properly.
Forgot to mention, I picked up Black Fleet yesterday from my FLGS, as they were having 50% off their used games. Got it for just $10, and it appears to be in great condition. Quite the bargain, apparently, as used copies seem to be going for $80+ on eBay and such since it is out of print. Looks simple and fun.
Black Fleet has been on my wishlist every since I saw Quinnsā review of it. Being a 3-4 player game (and not 2) has always prevented me from picking it up when I saw a good priceā¦ but I never saw a price as good as $10! Nice find!
I think the metal doubloons alone are worth that price 
I hadnāt seen the review before, it also covers Survive: Escape from Atlantis which it turns out looks quite exciting:
