Board Game Purchases

[Doogie2K]

Originally Posted by NotJeff

I've, uh, played it 6 times in the last 3 weeks...

Must be nice to have a board gaming group you can get together more than once every three months.

Originally Posted by NotJeff

This is a common complaint on BGG, but we haven't seen it. It's too easy to see coming and prepare for, as long as you stay on top of it.

True, but then planning for it sort of gimps you against more conventionally-armed space vessels, no? That was how it came out of the wash as we (okay, mostly the game owner, but a little bit us, too) were thinking it through, anyway.

Originally Posted by NotJeff

We've played w/ humans about 3 times (whenever there's a new player), and aliens about 3 times. Well worth it to try out (esp. with the rules for selecting them, which help balance first turn player order issues.

Soon as the game owner is done getting married and shit, we're gonna give that a go. I'm intrigued.

[Blue]

Ghost Stories purchased. Should arrive tomorrow according to the tracker. After I get enough time with it I'll post impressions along with suitable wailing and gnashing of teeth which I'm sure will quickly follow.

[NotJeff]

Originally Posted by Doogie2K

True, but then planning for it sort of gimps you against more conventionally-armed space vessels, no? That was how it came out of the wash as we (okay, mostly the game owner, but a little bit us, too) were thinking it through, anyway.

Not in my experience, but we haven't logged that many plays. Still, you can pin the missile ships to make sure the fighting happens where you want, too.

[Ravenlock]

Played two rounds of Donald X Vaccarino's "Infiltration" tonight.

I love it.

I could go into why, but RockPaperShotgun already summed it up really well. Suffice it to say, they're right, and I can't wait to play it again.

Given the low price point and that it plays 2-6, it was a real easy purchase.

[Doogie2K]

Originally Posted by NotJeff

Not in my experience, but we haven't logged that many plays. Still, you can pin the missile ships to make sure the fighting happens where you want, too.

This is a good point. I've definitely done some creative wormhole breaking to minimize/eliminate encounters with a more powerful enemy.

[Camel]

Originally Posted by Ravenlock

Played two rounds of Donald X Vaccarino's "Infiltration" tonight.

I love it.

I could go into why, but RockPaperShotgun already summed it up really well. Suffice it to say, they're right, and I can't wait to play it again.

Given the low price point and that it plays 2-6, it was a real easy purchase.

Awesome. I read the RPS review and it definitely put the game on my radar.

I've got an order from CoolStuffInc coming in soon that included the 2nd edition of Descent. It was actually Rock Paper Shotgun that got me interested in that game as well, although I never pulled the trigger due to the cost and the fact that it seemed unbelievably hardcore at the time. Some early reports on how the game plays and the changes made to speed it up and streamline it from the first edition were all I needed to hear this time around.

[Ravenlock]

Originally Posted by Camel

Awesome. I read the RPS review and it definitely put the game on my radar.

I've got an order from CoolStuffInc coming in soon that included the 2nd edition of Descent. It was actually Rock Paper Shotgun that got me interested in that game as well, although I never pulled the trigger due to the cost and the fact that it seemed unbelievably hardcore at the time. Some early reports on how the game plays and the changes made to speed it up and streamline it from the first edition were all I needed to hear this time around.

Nice. Descent is one that's been on and off my radar several times as well. You'll have to let me know how it is.

The best thing about Infiltration for me so far is that (much like what the RPS article describes) each playthrough makes a really entertaining story. On our first game, I was clearly not doing well in terms of points collected, but I made it out of the facility with time to spare, and my opponent just barely escaped on the game's final turn. Second game, I was way in the lead, but one of my agents got caught deep in the 2nd floor with no escape route as the guards closed in. Lost both rounds but had a great time losing.

[Blue]

Ghost Stories arrived today.

Camel, you weren't kidding. This game is nasty. I mean, it's fantastic, but it is brutal. The rules leave quite a bit to be desired as most of the rules are told through symbols but they're not terrible well explained in the rules and are spread out over a series of charts making for a good deal of flipping. From BGG, I downloaded Universal Head's rule summary (he did some for Death Angel that was invaluable) and those helped greatly.

So the first game was spent mostly with me trying to figure out what was happening and due to the rules I largely ignored the Villager tiles not really knowing what their benefit was. Same goes for each of the Taoist's individual powers: kept forgetting I had them. The second game wasn't as bad but I had a better grasp of what I was doing despite a lack of strategy and, while a lot of mistakes were still made, there was a quicker flow to everything.

I've played four sessions so far since the game is pretty quick once you're all set up and by the last match I was five cards away from bringing out the Incarnation "boss" card. Still a little unsure of a few things but I've got the symbols down much better now so that's something. The artwork is stellar as is the gameplay once you get into the rhythm of it. I'm really looking forward to trying it with a group, though I fear explaining the rules and the symbols. I might need to print out a few extra cheat-sheets for everyone.

[Wilkz07]

Ghost stories sounds cool. Saw it at the game shop i was at on the weekend. Went with Ascension the godslayer as it was my first choice.

[Camel]

Earlier this year I started playing D&D for the first time, and have been having a good time with it. My group is currently between campaigns, so I suggested we give the 2nd edition of Descent: Journeys in the Dark a try. Some of the stuff we are familiar with from D&D translated over pretty well, and it was also convenient to compare the rules at times or make parallels between the two systems. All in all, we had a really fun time. I was a little worried at first because of how much STUFF comes with the game and how many rules there were, but everything went pretty smoothly (with the exception of one rule we kept messing up that really ended up screwing me over. WHOOPS. If you're curious, it involves the "stun" mechanic, which a lot of other people online have reported misinterpreting as well).

I played as the Overlord, and we played through the introductory mission (really helpful for getting everyone to learn the rules and ironing out the kinks) and the first "real" mission. My minions and I got our asses handed to us for a while, but I managed to take out a bunch of the heroes towards the end. It's a little strange to be the Overlord - on one hand, you want to brutally murder the heroes and act like a huge dick to them every chance you get, but on the other hand you don't want to ruin anyone's fun and keep attacking the same person over and over again or anything like that. I felt that the game was weighted a little heavily in the heroes' favor, however, so it was always a blast when things actually worked out my way.

If you can get a group that is willing to play it, I think Descent is definitely worth the purchase. While there are a lot of rules and components to the game, it's fairly intuitive, helps create memorable moments, and really does a good job of drawing people in to the game. My friends immediately started working out strategies and trying to figure out the best way to steal all of my poor fat goblin's wheat, and I had a great time shooting poison darts at them and attacking them with giant spiders. Everybody got some experience points, the heroes all bought stuff at the store to buff themselves up, and I got access to new Overlord cards to make their lives miserable. EXCELLENT.

On a completely unrelated note, I also played the game Wits and Wagers last weekend. So easy to play, and such a great party game. It's a trivia-based game, but nobody actually needs to know the right answers in order to do well. Super fun for all involved.

[Tayaya]

Descent is a great time, but my friends just never want to play it for some reason. I'm hoping that 2nd edition streamlines things enough to make the game more fun for everyone, and faster to play. Everything I've read seems to suggest that this is the case.

I looked at 2nd ed this weekend, and I still think it's weird seeing Descent in a small box like that, because as-is I can barely fit it all in the GIANT box that my 1st edition copy came in. I'm not going to buy 2nd ed for $80, but they are making a kit to convert my copy to 2nd edition.

I did end up buying Sky Traders over the weekend. Have not played it yet, but I'm hearing a lot of great things about it. For $50 there's not a lot in the box - 3 sheets of die-cut hexes and chits, some player mats, a few dice, and some scoring markers and player pieces. The premise I can dig, though - airships, pirates, trade, market manipulation. Players run trade routes using customizable airships (your ship has 6 holds that you can use for carrying cargo or installing upgrades), ferrying goods from city to city and earning money, which you can spend on outfitting your vessel, buying more cargo (to later sell when it's worth more), and ultimately working to buy more guild influence to control the market. There are multiple ways to earn money, ranging from legit trade to smuggling illegal goods, to disposing of the waste generated by the cities, each with its own risk and reward. Players also meet at the end of every round to adjust market prices to make their own cargo more valuable or de-value the cargo of their competition. A lot of this is random at first but as players gain more influence in the Sky Guild, they can manipulate their dice by hand to better bend prices to their will. There is simple ship to ship combat, and players can attack one another (useful if a player has earned a bounty on their heads by being caught with a load of grog or caught dumping sludge in a populated city). There's a lot going on in the same but each individual element is presented very simply. We should be playing this one soon, and I'll report back on how well it all works. I'm pretty stoked about it, and while the bits are small in number, the art is beautiful, the player sheets are nice, and the world is fleshed out by 6 pages of backstory in the manual, which I like a lot.

[drobvice]

I want to get Descent soooo bad. I just don't know enough people into these board games to play it. Booo!

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by Camel

On a completely unrelated note, I also played the game Wits and Wagers last weekend. So easy to play, and such a great party game. It's a trivia-based game, but nobody actually needs to know the right answers in order to do well. Super fun for all involved.

I played Wits and Wagers. Don't remember exactly how much I liked it, though.


One thing that's been killing me for a while now is player number. We play with two other couples. Problem is, the choices of six player games are very slim in comparison to 4 or 5 players. This last game night, one of the husbands was sick so we had five. This allowed us to play Santiago and Ra which were both a blast.

[Blue]

Cross-posting Board Game purge from the Trade section:

It is time. I have so many that I rarely play that I need to start culling the list to, well, make room for more games that I'm not going to play. Prices are negotiable if anything seems radically unfair.

1. Ghost Stories ($30) - Just bought a few weeks ago.
2. Mage Knight ($50)
3. Defenders of the Realm ($40) - Camel gets a special discount
4. Forgotten Island ($15)
5. Gears of War ($40)
6. Zombies!!! ($15)
7. Runebound 2nd. Ed. ($25)
8. Castle Ravenloft ($35)
9. Legend of Drizzt ($40)

Looking for either Paypal or Amazon credit. Hoping to grab Guild Wars 2 with any spoils.

Thanks for looking.

[NotJeff]

Originally Posted by TheKeck

One thing that's been killing me for a while now is player number. We play with two other couples. Problem is, the choices of six player games are very slim in comparison to 4 or 5 players. This last game night, one of the husbands was sick so we had five. This allowed us to play Santiago and Ra which were both a blast.

When you have 6, play two 3-player games (maybe at the same table if the socialization is key). 5 is the real problem number, IMO, because while many games allow it, few shine there; most would be improved with fewer players, and some people are uncomfortable with 2-player games.

[Tayaya]

Finally got to play Eclipse Last night. I can say I finally understand what all the praise is about. It's just a really great, well-thought-out, streamlined 4X game. It's a LOT of setup, and a long cleanup, but the stuff that happens in between is just awesome.

We REALLY screwed up the combat, though... we thought combat happened immediately after a move action that resulted in conflict, not that it was a whole separate phase. And this was with ALL of us reading the rules prior to playing. No one caught it. I believe a better rulebook would help, but that said the rules that are there are really good considering the complexity of the game. It didn't affect us much for the first 6 rounds, but as the board got crowded and it was obvious there was going to be combat it was inevitable that we'd screw up.

We were really upset that we'd put 2.5 hours in and THEN realized the error. It totally changed the way things went vs how they should have gone. None of us were too upset though. We know now for next time, and everyone loved it enough to agree that there will be a next time.

I totally need to get a copy now.

[PathMaster]

Originally Posted by Tayaya

Finally got to play Eclipse Last night. I can say I finally understand what all the praise is about. It's just a really great, well-thought-out, streamlined 4X game. It's a LOT of setup, and a long cleanup, but the stuff that happens in between is just awesome.

We REALLY screwed up the combat, though... we thought combat happened immediately after a move action that resulted in conflict, not that it was a whole separate phase. And this was with ALL of us reading the rules prior to playing. No one caught it. I believe a better rulebook would help, but that said the rules that are there are really good considering the complexity of the game. It didn't affect us much for the first 6 rounds, but as the board got crowded and it was obvious there was going to be combat it was inevitable that we'd screw up.

We were really upset that we'd put 2.5 hours in and THEN realized the error. It totally changed the way things went vs how they should have gone. None of us were too upset though. We know now for next time, and everyone loved it enough to agree that there will be a next time.

I totally need to get a copy now.

That happened to a friend and I when we were playing Twilight Imperium the first time. We fixed it, but it changed combat drastically.

[Camel]

Next week I'll be going to GenCon, my first convention of any kind. I'm a little weirded out by the whole thing; I am going with a group of friends, but we are pretty casual when it comes to things like Magic, D&D, board games, etc. Hopefully it's not too..."intense" for us, if that makes sense.

Anyone else going? I know Blue will be there for a couple of days. I'd love to say hi or grab a drink or play a game or do whatever! If you're not going, do you want me to check anything out and report back?

[Tayaya]

Originally Posted by Camel

Next week I'll be going to GenCon, my first convention of any kind. I'm a little weirded out by the whole thing; I am going with a group of friends, but we are pretty casual when it comes to things like Magic, D&D, board games, etc. Hopefully it's not too..."intense" for us, if that makes sense.

Anyone else going? I know Blue will be there for a couple of days. I'd love to say hi or grab a drink or play a game or do whatever! If you're not going, do you want me to check anything out and report back?

I want to go, but I have no money to spend on board games at this time. I have a co-worker that's going though, and he's got a couple items on a watch list for me.

[Borthcollective]

I'll be there