Yeah love this idea and that the trades can be based on future state. If you let me borrow 2 I’ll repay you 4 at some point in the future, you can then call on this debt at a time and essentially bankrupt a player. Feels very thematic.
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It has launched btw.
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Lol I just finished typing on the KS thread when I saw this.
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I got my ZATU order from a friend of mine, which I ordered last year:
Tajuto by some nobody called Knizia
Northern Pacific - I heard that this is a pretty hot Cube Rail (as far as Cube Rails go)
C&C: Napoleonics - Prussian Army - all that’s missing is the Russian Army
Big City expansion - is this the best city building game ever that it deserves the pricey price tag? A lot of people will say no. But I end up loving this after playing it a few times with a friend’s copy. Now I have the expansion
Venice by David Turczi
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A few new things to cover, including some Kickstarter-brand Excite!
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Ausonia – A Kickstarter project from (quite) a few months back arrived last week. This is a lovely-illustrated deckbuilder set in 17th century alternate-history Italy, a surprising post-apocalyptic post-Renaissance setting. The “key feature” for this deck-builder are multiple-currencies that are used for both purchasing as well as paying activation costs of effects. The Deluxe box is pleasingly small and the perfect form-factor for a “mostly cards” game.
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Ashes Reborn: The Grave King – When Plaid Hat Games announced a big sale shortly after Ashes Reborn was first announced, I was quick to grab up some missing expansions on their website. Shortly after ordering, I was informed that two of them were now backordered and would, actually, be fulfilled as their Ashes Reborn counterparts instead of the original printing (which makes sense, no need to reprint obsolete cards). The Grave King is the first of those backordered products to arrive, which makes it my first Ashes Reborn content. I’m very pleased that they’ve ditched the “way too big cardstock box wrapper around the deck-sized blister pack” in favor of “the deck-sized blister pack”. The other backordered expansion, The Ghost Guardian, will arrive tomorrow (my mail carrier, apparently, made a judgement call on what all could fit on his route and opted to leave Ghost Guardian behind… so same story with that one as The Grave King), but I won’t be posting about it.
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Vast: The Crystal Caverns (Codename: Dark Shiny) – I’m not really counting this against my limit as it was a gimme as part of a community giveaway. It may be moving along just as easily as it arrived as I’m not certain it’ll find a permanent spot in my collection, but it’s hard to argue with the price ($0.00, roughly €0)
End of 2021, 1st Quarter Statement –
I’m basically exactly halfway into my “allowed” acquisitions for the year. I’ll probably overshoot my goal. But maybe I won’t? Time will tell. John Company was definitely on my “2021 Watchlist” (and on my 2020 Watchlist, as well), so I definitely feel good about that.
Still on my 2021 Watchlist of grave interest:
- 1880: China reprint by Lookout Games
- Concordia Solitaria official solo mode for Concordia
- 18SX Saxony (because I doubt I can put this on my Amazon wishlist and expect a family member to find it)
Everything else I’m looking forward to or hoping to get a copy will be done via my wishlist and birthday/Christmas gifting.
pillbox’s 2021 Purchase Tracker as of 2021-03-30: 6.5
Tracker
- Codename: Fifteen (0.1)
- (KS) 1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight
- Anachrony: Infinity Box
- (KS) Bucket of Bolts / Artefact (0.1 each)
- 18OE (Codename: Easterly Alacrity)
- Northern Pacific (Codename: Boreal Pacifism)
- (KS) 18Magyarország
- Vast: Crystal Caverns (Codename: Dark Shiny) (0.1)
- (KS) Root: Marauder’s Expansion (0.1) [NEW]
- (KS) John Company [NEW]
5 Likes
I was almost physically taken aback when I saw Crystallo on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. I didn’t even know this game was being sold at retail, much less at a bookstore chain, so I felt obligated to pick up a copy. I tend not to love these sprawling spatial puzzles (I was not a fan of Sprawlopolis), but it is a solo favorite, so what’s the harm?
I also picked up the next book in the Expanse series, because I am an addict and cannot be stopped.
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I remember how I was worried about buying more games than @pillbox this year…
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I went all in on Vast and haven’t regretted it once. One of my rare games that’s a favorite for both groups and solo. It also kicked off my ongoing “buy everything with Kyle Ferrin’s art on it” phase.
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Interesting. Vast has a bad rep among the people I know.
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I hear that Vast: the Mysterious Manor plays better than the original, but I have not played either.
1 Like
It definitely has a few ragged edges, most of which (as @COMaestro mentions) are smoothed out in Mysterious Manor. You can see some of the early Root DNA in there. It is asymmetrical to an extreme degree. And you can play as a passive aggressive cave if you want, so there’s that.
I like it solo as the Knight because of the replayability. The board state can be super swingy from game to game, but since setup is fairly quick, and the game has such a good graphic design, (especially if you can round up the cave minis for it) it’s fun to just see what happens.
As a group game, if you can round up enough people to cover all roles, it is full of “oh. OH! Ha!” moments as people figure out their strategies. There are also some great suggestions for two and three player matchups in the rulebook.
Beyond that, I just find it to be a scrappy and charming game from a (at the time at least) scrappy and charming design team. I’ve got Oath on the way, and am curious to see the evolution of their design ethos.
4 Likes
Today was a … good day? For my collection … I think. 1 preorder arrived with Cobble and Fog and My City. The Cubitos package also arrived separately and I picked my copy of the new The Crew Deep Sea Missions from FLGS (and my spare copy of Roads and Boats… I mean Spirit Island arrived at my cousins hopefully to find a new permanent home).
We had a quick game Dracula (my partner) vs Invisible Man on the Baskerville map which ended with a throwing down of cards by my partner after I led him on a merry chase while picking off his companions. We should not have had that as the first map.
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So wait…you gave away Spirit Island?? Oh wait, your spare copy of SI. Got it.
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Interestingly enough, this used copy had the ship cards for the Pirates and Bounty Hunters expansion…and nothing else from it. No ship minis, no other cards, no tokens. So random, but ultimately useless bonus content
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Whoever else has got this… I am still waiting for pics…
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Mine should arrive tomorrow! 
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More shuffling of my collection, nixing Trek 12 (too dumb for it, apparently!*) and Maglev Metro already (issues at 2P for my taste). Coming in are Sanctum and Guild Ball, both found for a steal, both kind of surprise adds.
Guild Ball is a weird pickup as it’s a dead game, and had been a competitive one with seasons and spendy rigamarole. But I found the starter set, which comes with two complete teams and everything else needed to play, so I figured it would be a fine addition for the rare occasions I get to bust it out. I picked up some of the plot cards as well, which were suspiciously absent from the starter kit (they’re referenced explicitly and early in the rules). Once I whip up a few simple terrain features I’ll have everything I need for a full match with the advanced ruleset. Nice!
*I have a feeling I’d put forward better performances in Trek 12 if I played in the expedition mode, but I was routinely putting up scores more than 15 points under par on the second easiest mountain playing in its base form. I figured better to sell it on early rather than start busting into the sealed stuff and devaluing it further.
1 Like
What are the maglev issues?
I’m waiting for a copy from a shop I preordered at but they haven’t got any stock yet (despite all the other shops having it). It feels suspicious.
Yeah, maglev looks cool