Thanks both, really enjoyed it. I’ve played it a lot irl since we started that game and it works well on the table. The reduced number of cards (6-Ace), as well as 9 cards being taken out of the game with bidding really does change it from a traditional game of whist. Playing with a declared bid, or even the open hand adds a nice spice to it as well.
4 Likes
On to day 6 of consecutive boardgames, we played Flamecraft again, now with the two children. Ended up being tight between me and my eldest, with the little one having fun just going around gathering stuff, although she had a good couple of turns at the end of 8 points each. Endgame dragons did give me the edge, and I won by 6 points, but we all went over 50 points, so not too bad for our third game (first for the little one).
2 Likes
I did that thing again!
I played a game of Horizons of Spirit Island and recorded myself doing it.
And then I spent, probably, 14 hours editing it! Oddly, after editing, it’s actually shorter in runtime than my Libertalia video (which, really, means I didn’t edit that video well enough).
After playing that session, but before editing it, I played another Horizons of Spirit Island session using the true-solo, 1-spirit mode. But, unfortunately, while watching it back for editing, I realized I missed a very impactful blight placement that completely changed the course of the game. I’ll probably finish editing it and release it anyway, but it was a bit demoralizing when I discovered that, especially since I felt like the game went so smoothly, both gameplay-wise and recording-wise.
While on vacation, we managed a game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza played one night with 3 players, and the following night Mysterium Park (6 players) followed by Skip-bo (6 players), both choices were made by my partner; we had a vast array of games available
The games available
Not shown (because they were in another bag, taking up the balance of available space):
- Belle of the Ball
- Cartographers
- Codenames
- Codenames Pictures
- Great Heartland Hauling Company
- Killer Bunnies
- Railroad Ink
- Star Trek Missions
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
- The Mind
- Yura Yura Penguin
And we took a few kids games, too:
- Click-Clack Lumberjack
- Enchanted Cupcake Party Game
- ICECOOL (to play a simplified game where you just race to get your fish)
- Rhino Hero
(Board and card games were mostly taken as contingency plans for rainy weather; and with 12 people, 7 of them adults with gaming experience ranging from “has played modern games, but not a lot” to “basically only plays traditional card games”, with everything in-between, I tried to take a variety in both complexity and player count)
Fortunately, most of our time spent there was on the beach or out doing interesting site-seeing, touristy things. We had very little time, overall, for fiddling around inside around a table (we can do that at home, after all!)
After getting home from vacation and trying to get back to normal, my partner took the opportunity to shift to a slightly different normal, adding a bit of structure to our family calendar – one of those items was designating Thursday evenings, after kids are in bed, for gaming nights – likely just the two of us for the foreseeable future, but not necessarily so.
So last Thursday, my partner and I got to play a game, just the two of us, for the first time in quite a while. I let her pick, so she went with a favorite of hers: Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. As far as Tickets to Ride go, Nordic Countries is definitely near the top of my list in both interesting things to consider and time and effort required. I think Germany may be my favorite of the ones I’ve played, but it is a pain to setup and a pain to play; so is France, if I recall (which I may never play again, as it gave me some serious AP). She won 91-78, but mostly because I played passively in the south thinking I could work my way around whatever she needed, thus letting me focus my early game on getting the cards I needed and making the North-South connection (that Nordic Countries mandates you make, one way or another) in the way that made my tickets easier. Unfortunately, I then spent the bulk of the game working around her southern play, and then I missed the fact that I never connected up my 2 segments, losing out on some points. She won fair and square though, because she played well.
12 Likes
I remember doing that playing TTR New York - although I actually THOUGHT I’d made the connection, I had however gone to the wrong city…
2 Likes
I am pretty sure this is the first time I played the builder or at least the first time in a very long time.
(I can’t rule out having played that Lord earlier on years ago)
The fact that I built all the buildings that I could possibly build feels like a moral victory? I think it’s really hard to win with the builder due the point system.
I think it would have had more of a shot but I never could get a quest that complemented the resources I had.
4 Likes
Played a game of new Innovation with @mr.ister
The new trashing mechanic seems to be designed to push the game into the later ages more often. Not sure whether that is a good thing? Maybe OK for 2-player, maybe actually worse for the team game. Perhaps with teams it will make an expansion necessary to put the brake on a little. Still the best game ever though, of course.
7 Likes
More Ra - another week of Ra being the hot item in the club
War of the Ring: the Card Game - played 4 player, which I was told was the better mode. Yeah. I can see Ian Brody’s sharp design here. To the point that it feels like Schotten Totten but far more thematic. I’m glad I sold mine, but I will be keen on more plays of this.
Battle of the Five Armies - I read the rules and I thought “Huh? So it’s War of the Ring 2 but with just the area control fight?”. No no no. The armies here are much more manoeuvrable that it becomes a tense game of tactical positioning and manoeuvre. So, knowing some basic “Art of War” shit is enough to know where to fight and where to move your armies. This stands in contrast in WOTR2 where army movements are so slow to move and slow to pivot that WOTR2 movement are strategic plays.
I’m glad to play this, and I really enjoyed it, but I think I’ll let this one go.
Franchise - ah, this is fun, but inferior to Medieval Merchants
Chicago Express - first play of Chex this year with 5 players with all the expansions. It was glorious. Table talk of false promises of alliances. Clever moves were made.
Just One
Poison
8 Likes
So, buckle in good people, because I decided to start a Battletech campaign. A home-brew!
“But Marc,” I hear you say, “you hate home-brews! And you’ve gone on record multiple times talking about how much you hate playtesting anything! Does this mean you’re full of stupid?”
Okay, yes, probably. But miniature wargames often live or die by the scenarios, and the scenarios that are by-default included in the game (“Shoot until everybody stops moving”) are… lacking.
Now, a wise man would play the “Death From Above” Battletech channel’s scenarios. They’ve been doing this a lot longer, after all (although… I kinda hate watching their battle reports? One of the hosts says “Guys” every fourteen seconds and they always mention some product they sell at a rate of twice per turn… but they definitely know their stuff, and I don’t think they’re bad at it, I just don’t like 'em myself). But let it never be said that anyone accused me of being wise.
So I created a campaign. Three missions long, with narrative elements (My Aurigan Reach House Guard against a Draconis Combine “mercenary” unit attempting to cause some havoc during Operation Galahad… I spent far too long making sure I got the backstory correct…).
Eric, his hands firmly on the reins of the Dragon’s Fury lance (Griffin, Thug, Dragon, and Phoenix Hawk) were attempting to blitz past my defenders (Archer, Crusader, Rifleman, and Vindicator). The map was laid out lengthwise (rather than in a square, a long narrow corridor), and basically Eric got points for running his mechs off the opposite board edge and I got extra points for blowing house-sized holes through as many torsos as I could.
Immediately after deployment, the first problem arose: hexes are usually aligned so that the “flat edges” are North-South, and you play North-South. The hexes were still aligned that way, but now we were playing East-West, which meant we were never really looking at each other’s mechs (my guys were always looking Northwest or Southwest). Minor quibble, but an important lesson. Next time I’m going to set the map as a usual square, but then let the attacker pick which half (the left or right) will be used. I think it’s a more elegant solution. Anyway.
Anyway, Eric walks his mechs on, I deploy mine with the Archer near the board edge he needs to escape off of (“Bring your pretty face to my LRMs”), the Crusader and Rifleman at the halfway line, and the Vindicator in between. Eric’s commander has the “Blood Hunter” trait in his Griffin, so he chooses the Vindicator to be the target of his hatred (“Screw that guy in particular”).
First turn, and we run at each other, jockeying for position. Eric chose the terrain-heavy half of the map for his initial deployment, thinking that it would give him cover on the approach, which it does, but it also slows him down a lot.
Second turn and my LRMs start raining down on his mechs. The Crusader and Archer get a few lucky hits on the Phoenix Hawk, and my Vindicator misses the Griffin. In retaliation, Eric’s dice decide to go on vacation, and he misses everything.
Third turn and our lines clash. Eric Jumps his Griffin and Phoenix Hawk past my Crusader and Vindicator, and he runs his Dragon up the opposite flank. His Thug stands on top of a large hill and starts blastin’ away with his two PPCs. A lucky hit from my Archer drops his Dragon (armour blowthrough that hit his ammo, resulting in instant vapourization), but my Vindicator takes a pounding and falls over, crippling the mech.
Fourth turn and my Vindicator runs off the board safely. The Archer starts hammering his Griffin while my Crusader overheats and shuts down while melting off tonnes of Thug armour. My Rifleman blows off the Thug’s left torso (and the arm attached to it), but in return his Phoenix Hawk manages to land two criticals on the Rifleman, crippling it and sending it into retreat as well.
Turn Five and the Thug cleanly slices the head off the Archer (well… “cleanly”… Eric managed to hit it a few times with an SRM earlier, but the PPC shot took it straight off), killing Ayaka “Stabber” Sugiyama and taking my heaviest mech out of the fight. But the return fire salvo inflicts heavy damage on his Griffin and Phoenix Hawk, not enough to kill them but enough to make it very likely to kill them if they stick around.
Last turn, and Eric’s two functional mechs Jump to successfully complete the gauntlet they had to do, while my Crusader rakes his Thug with SRMs, Medium Lasers, and Machinegun fire… all to no avail. The Thug limps off the board and to safety.
After the dust settles, I have taken 282 points of Armour damage, 44 points of Structural damage, and 7 Internal Systems damage… but over half of each of those numbers were my Archer alone. I earned 14VPs, and I spend all 14 to abandon the Archer but fully repair the other three mechs.
Eric, on the other hand, has taken 367 points of Armour damage, 85 points of Structural, and 9 Critical hits, and his Dragon is scrap because of the ammo explosion. But he earned 23VPs… he decides to abandon his Dragon, and spend all the rest of the VPs to repair his other mechs, leaving him with 2VPs that carry over to the next mission.
Next mission is a “Capture the Flag” mission, which Eric choosing to be the Defender. I’m curious how this one will work out!
11 Likes
Last night at Thirsty Meeples in Oxford:
First up, The Taverns of Tiefenthal, one I’ve been curious about for a while. It’s basically a combination of dice worker drafting and placement with deckbuilding. My impression (not helped by the shop copy being very disorganised, though we left it in a better state than we found) was that there were an awful lot of moving parts in service of a fairly straightforward core.
People who are serious about their eurogames claim that this isn’t even worth playing until you’ve set up all the expansion modules. Eh, I guess; even in the base game, the rulebook’s illustration of components doesn’t make it easy to work out what’s what. This was a very head-down game for me, with the only real player interaction being the dice drafting (and very occasionally taking a customer someone else wanted).
Also, it may just be that I was thinking of an engine-builder, but I find it odd that money and beer and dice are completely separate resources. You place a die on a customer or the till to serve them and get money; you spend that money on hiring more staff and upgrading your tavern. You place a die on the cellar to get beer; you spend that beer on bribing customers to come in. Is it unreasonable for me instead to want a game in which, instead, you spend money to get beer, and you spend beer to serve customers and get money?
I’d play again, but I don’t feel enthused to seek it out.
On to the nominally pub-themed Monster Inn, but this is one I’d really have preferred as an abstract (not to mention with a better rulebook). Each round you’re bidding on cards equal to the number of players; you’re trying to build up a row of monsters who are either unopposed by adventurers or tough enough to beat them.
I quite like the resource bidding (once a bid has been placed in gold or gems, you follow in the same resource, or you can change to the other resource at extra expense) but this really didn’t engage me; it felt very random. I did like the art, though, by frequent boardgame illustrator Dennis Lohausen.
Finally, Dice Miner, which I last played on a hot weekend two years ago. My reaction then (with the Kickstarter bonus plastic mountain) was that it was enjoyable, but a bit meh. This time, with a ragged shop-copy cardboard mountain… much the same, really. I did have a good time, but if I owned a copy, would I get it out often enough to justify the space it would take up? Probably not.
Ooh, though people on eBay are selling just the dice, and I bet I could 3d-print a combination mountain/storage box…
5 Likes
Always nice to scroll through the last few weeks and see all the amazing games being played. @Chewy77 , I’m moving to New Zealand to play with your crew! We can dream.
I finished a solo of Rococo. It is, in fact, really good. I mean, this is unlikely to be in anyone’s top 5 or maybe 20, but it is absolutely a “best in niche” game. Niche being slightly soulless, accessible, engaging but relaxing euros. Along with the likes of Gugong, Whistle Mountain, Village, Rajas of the Ganges, etc.
The hand management and hiring/firing mechanic was reminiscent of Viscounts. The collecting resources to complete outfits hearkened to Lords of Waterdeep. The area control game up top is real. And EVERYTHING is a shared market so you are constantly beating out, or losing to, the others at the table (or the bot) which keeps you laser focused on the players around you. It delivers on all fronts. Good stuff.
I do think this would do excellently as a $40 reprint rather than a $100 deluxe.
8 Likes
Games in the pub on Wednesday:
- Crokinole
- Shifting stones
- Cascadia, which it turns out you can play with 5, despite what the box says.
9 Likes
Acacia, you summed up my feelings on Rococo PERFECTLY. It’s a very good game with a ridiculous price point.
We just wrapped up a game of Lost Ruins of Arnak to start the long week-end. I won a razor-tight game 62-61, my exploration and guardian-slaying strategy just beating out Maryse’s research strategy.
9 Likes
Played Frosthaven, and we won. And we all levelled, except for the guy who levelled last game. It was kind of cool that things in the narration of the scenario were actual things in the scenario. We won, fairly easily.
Meeple Circus, a dexterity game. You each get to choose cards with components on them, that you can use to perform tricks for points. Once everyone has picked, you have two minutes to put your components into some sort of structure. I usually like dexterity games, but the last round is a bit silly, you have to perform one at a time (instead of simultaneously), and there are point cards where you might have to bounce in your seat, or run around the table. Not really our thing.
Escape: The Curse of the Temple X 2. We finally won! Hopefully I have lost my label of “the guy who killed us” from a previous game.
Break the Code X 2. Another great little deduction game. Ask each other questions, and deduce what tiles everyone else has, and therefore what the hidden tiles are. We thought we had played it incorrectly before, but there’s a slight change in 3p vs 4p. At 3p, the current player asks the question, and only the other two answer. At 4p, everyone (including the current player) has to answer. Most of our games have been at 3p. Seems harder when everyone gets the information. Anyway, it’s still an excellent deduction game, probably couldn’t play it all night, but one or two quick games are fine. My only complaint is that the sheets with the game are a bit small, hard to mark info for everyone. That’s my excuse anyway.
Finished up with a couple of quick games of Red 7. Not many rules, and really only one rule: be the winner on your turn, or you lose. I’ve always thought it was a clever game.
7 Likes
Played my first Innovation expansion. Cities of Destiny. I had heard it was the least obtrusive.
For the first half, we ignored the cities as neither of us really understood how to use them. Halfway through the game I reread the rules and started leveraging the cities.
I like it, really like it. It is unobtrusive and keeps Innovation Innovation. But it gives you a nice little side hustle, a few cannisters of nitro that you can trigger every now and again when you need to get out of a hole or spurt ahead. Just a hair of mental overhead for a hair of intrigue, which added to the game.
I’m a fan.
7 Likes
Two games today.
First, more Star Wars the Deckbuilding Game. I won as the Empire thanks to a good extra-card-drawing focus (TIE Fighters, Z-95, Jabba, and the base which lets you draw a card after the first neutral card you play). Just obliterated my wife’s last base.
Later, we played Taverns of Tiefenthal, joined by her brother. It was a really close game! As we played, I thought I had no chance to win, but managed to crank out a few nobles on the last turn. At that point, I at least felt competitive. Counting up the scores, my wife had 104, I had 115, but her brother squeaked ahead with 117. So close!
7 Likes
Two games of base Everdell (with Bellfaire, as always) this afternoon. I lost the first one 67-66 in an absolute banger and got obliterated in the second one, 81-60. I was DAMN proud of my 60 points, as I couldn’t draw useful cards to save my life.
We closed out with a quick game of Carcassonne before dinner and going to our niece’s ninth bitrthday. I lost again,130-117.
We also played a pair of games of Pandemic, as Maryse has been going through a bit of a rough patch lately and needed some encouragement. The game delivered in spades, as we were able to cure and eradicate every disease, once, at two players, after only 4 Epidemic cards out of 6 with a single outbreak and the second time, at 3 players, with 5 Epidemic cards out and 2 outbreaks. All outbreaks were swiftly brought back under control.
Mission accomplished.
6 Likes
Some games over the last week:
Cascadia, played a couple of games with mum on mother’s day 
This one is always a joy to get to the table.
Azul: SP, she’s a big fan of this one. I’m starting to have played it enough to have strategies going in, rather than playing it purely tactically.
Hadrian’s Wall, still continuing my solo campaign of this - had a very weird game where I maxed valor, let no picts through and finished the wall guard. Score was decent but I love the campaign for helping me appreciated different aspects of the game that I’ve previously ignored.
Land vs Sea, my gaming partner for the evening loves this game and won by a solid chunk.
Glass Road, I won this one but not by much. Was great to get it to the table again. And it remains excellent at 2 players.
Agricola: ACBS x2, two games with two different friends. Couldn’t have been more different - one completely trounced me in his first game, the other was still pretty close but I managed a win.
Super Big Boggle x3, three games of this with my wife and a friend - my wife and I tied in total points over the three games. No amazing words but enjoyable games regardless.
Jaipur, taught our friend a couple of other games when my wife had to go lie down (she’s had some pretty bad back issues of late, so sitting is sometimes a pain). I do love seeing people grasp the strategies of new games, maybe nearly as much as realising those things myself! By our final round she even managed a win
Three Sisters, I had been hoping to get Archipelago to the table, but one of my friends I’d lined up wasn’t feeling great, and I figured it probably isn’t great at 2p, so we played a few other games instead. He managed a 50 point lead on me, so yeah. Not my game obviously.
Orleans, bit of a reversal on this one, this time I managed to nearly double his score. Also first time with the new beneficial deeds board from Trade and Intrigue (the friendly one obviously). It’s excellent. We didn’t play with the objective cards but we probably could’ve handled it, even though it’d been awhile since our last game. Both of those parts of the expansion make effective but somewhat boring bits of the game more dynamic and interesting, which I appreciate.
Blood Bowl: Team Manager, I played dwarves. Never play dwarves. Though I did okay (despite some awful luck - three double x’s while having the stronger player), but my friend managed some big swings and shenanigans with a huge suite of team and staff upgrades. I love this game - it’s excellent and I’m sad more people can’t play it.
7 Likes
I love Archipelago, at any number of players (well - 1, 2 or three players, I’ve never actually played with more…)!
3 Likes
I’m about to encounter my first Primus (mini-boss) in Hoplomachus Victorum and while it took more than the first few battles to sink its hooks in, hooooooooo-eey they are deep and have barbs.
Firstly I want to highlight the “stadium”:
This is the dealmaker, and it’s as functional on the table as in the box. Victorum is a game that asks you to run 30+ skirmishes across a campaign, and yet all this…:
…takes about two minutes to unbox or put away. I can play this over coffee in the morning. Unbelievable.
As for the “epic campaign”, it’s sportsball. You take a fledgling group of randoms into a long series of arena events, slowly updating (and hopefully improving) your roster until, at the end of the year, you challenge the reigning champ (god of underworld, whatevs 
) and win or lose (die, along with all of humanity, whatevs ). And it’s fantastic! You get tight, 20 minute microbattles featuring wildly varied combinations of challenges/tasks/arenas/opponents with the long term satisfaction of recruiting and retaining (keeping alive) a squad and grooming your star player (hero), all while managing a tight schedule (your ultimate route to Vesuvius).
I’m not a fan of structured campaigns, particularly long ones. But that’s not really at all what this is, and it’s all the better for it.
11 Likes
Huh. I have the solo expansion which I have quite mixed feelings about. I think I’ve only played it with 3 also - was hoping for 3 for that game. I did look at the two player rules and they seem okay (though losing a chance of a separatist is a big change!) But I’ll have to get it to the table soon as it’s been ages!
2 Likes