221B Baker Street
and Trainmaker
Finished up the second mission in the Return to Hoth campaign for Imperial Assault using the app. Man, this was a long mission. Sure, we did an encounter first, but that only too 5 mins or so. We started a little before 9 and only wrapped up just after 11:30. And we werenāt dallying, as if we did, we got perils which damaged us, so we were going as fast as we could. It just kept going and going.
We succeeded, though my character got wounded just before we finished the objective. My brother-in-law rolled for a wampa attack and just hammered me when I was already almost out of health. My wife had partially checked out about halfway through, but did do well when it came to doing her turns.
Hopefully the other missions arenāt quite as long, as it is near impossible for us to start any earlier than 8:30 because of our kids.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that my wife and I played a game of Azul Tuesday evening. We were both rather distracted, me with the forum(s) and her with Animal Crossing.
I was the less distracted, however, as I won, 61 - 29.
I played a game of 1889 (a freely available printable-andable-playable 18xx game that will be getting a retail production run soon). I think through most of the game, my opponents thought I was in the lead but in the end, it was (SUSD forum member) EnterTheWyvern that pulled the, rightfully won, win.
It was the first 18xx game Iāve played and it was a fantastic introduction to the subgenre. 1889 is a 1830-clone and, as such, has a very tight tileset and a good amount of stock-market-manipulation-for-personal-gain. My best efforts to use the stock market to manipulate turn order nearly worked out but ultimately wouldnāt have changed the outcome of the game if it had.
Yesterday, in the name of making progress on my 10 x 10 challenge, I convinced 4 friends to play Tzolkāin with me on boiteajeux.net. Turns out that 5-player Tzolkāin takes a looong time, but it was fun anyway. We played with the Tribes and Prophecies expansion - none of us were too convinced by the prophecies, which add incentives for completing certain actions during different phases of the game, but the extra asymmetry added by the tribes was interesting.
As my copy of Street Masters finally arrived, I decided that I would sort the core box, and give solo a try (using the recommended setup from the rule book).
First attempt was a failure! 2 turns in and I hung up the towel. Nothing against the game, Iām just not really a solo gamer, but thought this might be the one.
Weāll, a few hours passed and I thought I would try againā¦this time to a fair amount of success. I was able to bring down the boss for the win, without too much trouble (though I played a bit reckless and could have gone down too).
I know many people find that if they win a coop on their first go, they loose interest. While I understand that sentiment with most games, given the modular nature of the game, and this being the most basic setup, Iām not too worried. I also think the cards were coming up in my favour (I also may have gotten a rule or two wrong, Iām not sure! Lol).
Overall, Iām excited to dig in more, and extremely hyped for when I finally get to play it with my boy!!!
Earlier today I tried out Utopia Engine, based on Quinnsā latest video on solo print and play games. I lost horribly, getting 60 points on the scoring chart, though I did manage tonget one of the constructs on my very first roll.
I erased everything and tried again, with much better success, managing to get all the constructs (one with a perfect zero, naturally rolled), activated them all and managed to connect them. I did retroactively change one of the connection results because I forgot about the waste basket, so I went back and used it to get a much better result.
Had a final activation cost of 13, which I was able to lower to 7 by using all my HP. Needed to roll that or higher in 2d6. And of course, I rolled a 3. Total of 250 points. If I had succeeded, it would have been 315.
Pretty fun, but almost completely random dice rolling. Not sure I feel the need to play it again, but hey, it was free!
Tonight, we continued our Betrayal Legacy game, playing Chapter 7. Our friends joined via Zoom, but we had surprised them with their family boards, wrapped up in a package with some snacks when one of them had come out to pick up some latex gloves we had, which they were having trouble finding. They also had dice from their copy of Betrayal at Baldurās Gate.
This was an interesting Haunt, but incredibly brutal. I wonāt spoil it with any details, but everyone looked a bit flabbergasted after I read it off. Not due to complexity, but rather how screwed we knew we all were.
My wife finally got the Deed to the House, so we have all had it at least once now, which is cool.
Will try this again some night, but probably a couple of weeks out.
Had an Arboretum game with my daughter last night. The tactics are settling in, and even though I had to help her on the very last move to convince her to place a 1 instead of a 7 on the table, sheās getting it. A one tree difference score (5 of 6 points difference only), and only because she didnāt realise I had the Jacaranda 1 in my hand to annul her 8ā¦ (so lucky I got it on the round before last)ā¦tilted the victory on my side.
Another solo go on Street Masters tonight (same scenario and fighter). Iām getting into now that the flow is āclickingā.
If I can get a storage solution to cut down on setup and teardown, this could actually get me into a bit of solo gaming.
Gotten a lot of plays in over the last 3 week weeks after some great trades and a stress buying spree.
Escape from the aliens in outer space - several games played at 3. Went down very well. Very tense and very engaging. Really want to play this at 4-5.
Oceans - Just gorgeous. I am very taken with this. Just the right amount of interaction and it does fairly well to keep you from running away with it. The variety in the deep cards creating very interesting decisions. I love the balance of reactionary vs proactive tactics and the unique āecosystemā that develops. Itās also generated some very fun stories and lots of laughs as you evolve yourself into a corner.
Survive- Escape from Atlantis - about 8-10 games because my partnerās daughter LOVES this. Still lots of random mean fun.
Flipships - Iām going to punch that mother ship in the face. This one isnāt sticking with me as well as I thought it would. Iāve been looking for a solid dexterity game, but I donāt think this is it.
Lords of Vegas - Best trade Iāve made. This is such a manic blast. Our games inevitably devolve into gamble-happy madness, and hostile takeovers abound. Havenāt played with Up yet. Definitely grab poker chips to replace the money. I have heard lots of praise, but it exceeded expectation. Itās all about trying to manipulate your odds and push your luck, and even when youāre on the pointy end of the stick, it doesnāt necessarily feel like youāre out. Itās simply fun to take those big risks.
Arboretum - So beautiful, so brutal. I managed my highest score ever at 23, but I kept a good chunk of those points by the skin of my teeth. Every turn feels painful, satisfying, and as worrying as building on quicksand. I adore what this game does to my brain.
Downforce - A hit with the group and with my partnerās family. Itās quick. Itās dynamic, though not very prone to AP. Itās fun to look at and manipulate. Itās vastly more fun than the rules lead you to believe. Weāve had some very close games. I love how we can crank a game out in 39 minutes.
Spirit Island - Still just brilliant. Weāve started playing with the more advanced spirits. Loving the discovery of spirit interplay and combo-building. The rapid shift from relative safety to disaster is exhilarating, and I love how the game seems designed to counter alpha-gaming. Considering the expansion but Iāve heard mixed opinions.
Karuba - Played 3 games in an hour. Such a fun little game! Great integration of different mechanics with that āwhy did I do this to myself???ā feeling present in my favorite roll and writes. Iām a sucker for tile-laying, but the race aspect and route-building make it just complex enough to constantly second guess yourself. I also love seeing the routes others have built.
Hoping to get some heavier games to the table soon, but itās been hard to muster up thinkiness near the end of a semester.
My wife and I played a quick game of Splendor today, which has not been on the table for a while. The rubies just did not want to come out, which was unfortunate as one more could have given me the game. As it was, my wife won 15-13.
Played a couple of games of Codenames: Pictures with my daughter. I give all the clues in simple English, she tries to pick our team and gets excited about the āasassassinā, which is really the only lose condition.
Also played two games of Loony Quest, which is too difficult for her, but she enjoys it.
Ongoing online games of Napoleonās Triumph, Twilight Struggle, and Through the Ages, all of which help me get through the days.
Played Brass Birmingham and Lancashire. Both are fun , but still prefer Lancashire. Played some Troyes, Seasons, Libertalia, 6 Nimmt, Sushi Go, and Innovation on Board Game Arena.
Had a quick game of Paris Connection with 3 players on TTS. The setup is as fiddly as in real life. Still a solid quick train game.
Played Pax Pamir 2 last night on TTS. Fun stuff. Went through all 3 factions and won.
After buying over 1000 cardsā worth of Summoner Wars stuff, I decided I should probably give it a play. Well, table space is at a premium lately, so I took advantage of the TTS mod and played a two-handed introduction game. The factions and summoners selected (mostly at random) were:
Guild Dwarves / Oldin versus Mountain Vargath / Sunderved
Mountain Vargath are, apparently, a very offensive, in-your-face kind of faction and they get a lot of advantages to rushing in and smashing faces.
The Guild Dwarves, on the otherhand, are quite the defensive lot; they seem to focus on controlling movement and setting up defensive positions while, at the same time, undermining the defenses of their opponents.
As a result, the match-up looked like I planned it, but the Mountain Vargath (MVs) got out to a commanding lead. I was struggling, as the Guild Dwarves (GDs), to keep up my defenses. I managed to get Gror (GD Champion) into play which helped a lot to improve the GDs damage output and was able to even the odds a bit by grinding through the MVs superior numbers.
The MVs had no choice but to bring their summoner, Sunderved , into the fray to take out Gror or risk losing all of their units. Sunderved was able to easily dispatch Gror, but in doing so, overlooked a lone Spearman that was positioned to rush in and take Sunderved out in a dramatic finish that surprised even myself.
I started by rooting for the Guild Dwarves; about halfway through the game it seemed apparent to me that the Mountain Vargaths were going to take an easy win, but ultimately due to a simple oversight, the GDās rallied for the win.
As it turns out, I make a pretty good two-handed opponent for the same reason I make a pretty poor dueling-opponent: my ability to overlook significant details that, at face value, look minor.
I was thoroughly pleased with my experience and I look forward to playing against a real opponent and exploring more of the factions and, maybe, eventually delving into the deck-construction portion that having a collection allows.
Immediately goes to investigateā¦
Pssstt! If youāre free on Sunday night, my friends and I are having a rematch
Iām glad you see the light that is Summoner Wars @pillbox
I may be slow, but Iāll eventually catch up with the hot releases of 8+ years ago!
Sometimes I feel like Iām experiencing the boardgame-time-continuum backwards; I didnāt really start delving deep in the hobby until probably 2014 or 2015. While Iāve kept up with the ānew hotnessā as time marches on, Iāve found just as much (or probably more, actually) interesting titles looking backwards at the āold hotnessā, or sometimes the āold coldnessā even.
We played my accidentally purchased copy of Stephensonās Rocket this afternoon. The 1999 Rio Grande edition with paper money.
I was sold by the guys talking about it on SVWAG a couple of weeks ago.
I think it falls into the zone of games that can be played at 2 but would be much better at 3 or 4 (apart from gameplay, second place scoring seems shonky).
Iām really keen to try it again (and pinch my sonās poker chips). It seems very tight. Area control disguised as a train game. Rulebook is appalling set out and written, but it seems to be a true Knizia. Simple rules (you do 1 of 3 actions), but a lot hiding under the hood.
Yesterday was Rallyman and Rallyman GT day. When muggins here started the Rallyman GT tournament on BGG, he foolishly ended it on the last day of the month, just like the Rallyman one, so thereās always a flurry of last-minute entries. (Next year Iāll set one of them to end on the 15th.) But itās a new month, so time to do the new set of challenges. In Rallyman that was a sprint series.
In GT, I did the Rallyman GT Spain challenge (I seem to have won their first one, oops), which was three separate runs in separate car classes, and then the BGG challenge which was a reversible track: run it anticlockwise, then clockwise.
Oooā¦ What time on Sunday?
I should post here tooā¦
Trying out yucata and boardgamearena means Iāve finally played Canāt Stop (fun, though rather than buy it I might design and make my own set); VOLT (which I vaguely remember hearing about, but itās a whole heap of fun, perhaps even a programming game for people who donāt like programming games, since unlike Robo Rally thereās no consideration of facing and you only have three steps before you get a chance to change your orders); and Automobiles (which Iāve had for a while, but which is on my ātake this to more conventionsā list for when conventions happen again).