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[Keasar]

I got the first box (War of Indines?) as an add-on to the Minigame Library Kickstarter (my first exposure to this vendor). Game blew my mind.

I have no idea what is compatible with what anymore (I thought Devastation was, but I missed that Kickstarter, and now I see there's Remastered stuff?), but I'd like to pick up the other expansions/whatevers down the road. I'll need to do some factfinding going into the Millenium Blades pledge manager add-on bonanza, whenever that happens.

War of Indines was their first Battlecon release, since then they a while ago made a Kickstarter for a remake of that first game to make it up to quality with their Devastation of Indines. All Battlecon games are compatible with all others. You probably have the War of Indines edition they now call "Classic" which wont ever be printed again. It can be used together with any other Battlecon set as normal and intended. The new upcoming remake of War for Indines will have updated art and card text (most likely also some changes to the balance of the fighters).

So, in short, no matter what you get, you only need one of the Battlecon base games (War, Devastation or Fate) to play and can get whatever expansions you like and also combine everything as you like, each base set comes with unique fighters so you are free to get the others to expand your roster.

 

[Karkador]

Played some games last night!


Forge War - "Lords of Waterdeep with more to it" sounded like a good idea, but this is more like "Lords of Waterdeep, but with a game of Hey That's My Fish grafted onto the board for no good reason". It's just another symptom of the Kickstarter game machine's lack of editors and developers who will tell people to cut things from their games. This game was pretty bad.


Barony - I had my eye on this, because of the early comparisons to Deus, and because it's the new game by the guy who designed Splendor (a popular game I don't really care for). This game felt similar - it's a luckless, fast-playing abstract game with nice pieces, minimal rules, and direct conflict. Think Chess for 2-4 players, with a modular board. I liked this a lot more than Splendor, but TBH I think Kingdom Builder is more of an interesting "put pieces on a map" game. The direct conflict will set it apart for some, though.


Noir - FInished the night with this, and I quite liked it. It's very similar to the Mr Jack games, but I like that you can change your 'identity' as the killer and escape what might otherwise look like certain entrapment. The game is meant for 2, but the new box has content to make it go to higher playercounts ....really not sure how that would work.
,

 

[Experien]

Played some games last night!


Forge War - "Lords of Waterdeep with more to it" sounded like a good idea, but this is more like "Lords of Waterdeep, but with a game of Hey That's My Fish grafted onto the board for no good reason". It's just another symptom of the Kickstarter game machine's lack of editors and developers who will tell people to cut things from their games. This game was pretty bad.

Wha?

Only got to play it once so far but we enjoyed it. If you think the "puzzle"/mining section plays in any way like "Hey, That's My Fish" then you played the game wrong and is probably why you thought it was bad. It is a HUGE strategy part about getting resources so you can equip troops to go on quests.

 

[fenners]

Wha?

Only got to play it once so far but we enjoyed it. If you think the "puzzle"/mining section plays in any way like "Hey, That's My Fish" then you played the game wrong and is probably why you thought it was bad. It is a HUGE strategy part about getting resources so you can equip troops to go on quests.

From the first review I clicked on BGG:

As seen above, if Player A moves his Overseer off of the emerald space and onto any other space, he will leave one of his pick token on the emerald space he left from and collect an emerald gem. Now this is where things get interesting. An Overseer can move in a straight line along any number of empty spaces as long as it is not blocked by another Overseer. It will still only collect from the resource space it left from, but this gives players a lot more decisions to use when moving.

That's utterly sounds like Hey! That's My Fish "Hey!" is a brutal game when played with the right people.

 

[Karkador]

Wha?

Only got to play it once so far but we enjoyed it. If you think the "puzzle"/mining section plays in any way like "Hey, That's My Fish" then you played the game wrong and is probably why you thought it was bad. It is a HUGE strategy part about getting resources so you can equip troops to go on quests.

It's not exactly like it, but close enough (or the game Yinsh) - but the point is that those are easily good as standalone games. Throwing that entire game in as Phase 1 of a round is ludicrous.

Usually, when games combine mechanics from different games, it feels like one cohesive game. This game feels like "let's go over to this other part of the board to play a round of this completely different game to decide what rocks we get for the rest of the round, and also decide turn order". It's a really weird part of the game.

 

[Experien]

From the first review I clicked on BGG:



That's utterly sounds like Hey! That's My Fish "Hey!" is a brutal game when played with the right people.

Cool, except that the workers you left behind are changeable and in other parts of the game you can get the chance to remove said workers so the ground is permanently gone. No ground is removed and jumping workers changes allegiances and can create strikes and disappear.

It's not exactly like it, but close enough (or the game Yinsh) - but the point is that those are easily good as standalone games. Throwing that entire game in as Phase 1 of a round is ludicrous.

Usually, when games combine mechanics from different games, it feels like one cohesive game. This game feels like "let's go over to this other part of the board to play a round of this completely different game to decide what rocks we get for the rest of the round, and also decide turn order". It's a really weird part of the game.

Sorry they tried to do something different? You also use the mine to determine player order so that adds yet another layer of depth to it. It is only one move per round so the "completely different game" isn't really that big of a deal. I'd much rather have that mine than just "oh I'm going to put a guy here and collect these resources." Makes it different and unique and fun.

 

[Karkador]

Experien, did you back the game?


I had not heard of this game before playing it yesterday, so I had 0 investment in it; but I understand if someone who has followed the project, backed it, and waited patiently for it is looking at it from a very different perspective.

I can see why people would find the theme of the game interesting, and I myself have wished Waterdeep was a bit more complex....but I don't know, I guess "different" is not necessarily "good", and I think the experiment this game tried (having players work on what is actually two separate games in parallel) just feels awkward and clunky to switch between.

 

[Xater]

Played some games last night!


Forge War - "Lords of Waterdeep with more to it" sounded like a good idea, but this is more like "Lords of Waterdeep, but with a game of Hey That's My Fish grafted onto the board for no good reason". It's just another symptom of the Kickstarter game machine's lack of editors and developers who will tell people to cut things from their games. This game was pretty bad.


Barony - I had my eye on this, because of the early comparisons to Deus, and because it's the new game by the guy who designed Splendor (a popular game I don't really care for). This game felt similar - it's a luckless, fast-playing abstract game with nice pieces, minimal rules, and direct conflict. Think Chess for 2-4 players, with a modular board. I liked this a lot more than Splendor, but TBH I think Kingdom Builder is more of an interesting "put pieces on a map" game. The direct conflict will set it apart for some, though.


Noir - FInished the night with this, and I quite liked it. It's very similar to the Mr Jack games, but I like that you can change your 'identity' as the killer and escape what might otherwise look like certain entrapment. The game is meant for 2, but the new box has content to make it go to higher playercounts ....really not sure how that would work.
,

I am very interested in Barony. Fast playing abstract sounds good to me. Just from the rules I have read it seemed way more interesting than Kingdom Builder. I think you might be underselling it. KB has so much less decision making in the base game.

 

[Karkador]

I am very interested in Barony. Fast playing abstract sounds good to me. Just from the rules I have read it seemed way more interesting than Kingdom Builder. I think you might be underselling it. KB has so much less decision making in the base game.

Yeah, I don't mean to undersell Barony. I also appreciate a fast-playing abstract game, and I think this one was more fun than Splendor. The theme comes together better, and pieces on a board are more interesting than cards with numbers. The purity of putting pieces on a board and moving them around like a chess game is fun. For that, I like Barony.

But I've played a fair amount of Kingdom Builder (just the base game), which does have a few more things going on than Barony (special abilities) - but the main thing it does better, in my opinion, is that the scoring objectives are always different, and the combinations of them can really change how you think about the game.

Barony has the same winning objective in every game, no randomness beyond the board layout, and the things the pieces do is a little bit limited, so I feel like it's going to be "done" after a few plays, if they don't make some kind of expansion.

 

[Polioliolio]

Escape: Curse of the Temple

It's a dexterity dice rolling game, very simplistic, very chaotic, and very fun.

This is SUSD's review, probably explains it best: https://vimeo.com/72980922

I have the base game, and the first and second expansions (the first just for the additional player, and the second for the game changing roles and challenges).

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113294/escape-curse-temple

This was my gateway game.
Expansion 3 is said to be going to print next month!
(But those damned Queenies #5-7 still elude my grasp!)


I barely have anyone to be playing with, but I'm now buying a lot of boardgames that interest me, and can't wait for the opportunity to play, rare though it seems.

Just bought Flash Point, and the new Epic Spell Wars Sequel/Expansion.

 

[espher]

War of Indines was their first Battlecon release, since then they a while ago made a Kickstarter for a remake of that first game to make it up to quality with their Devastation of Indines. All Battlecon games are compatible with all others. You probably have the War of Indines edition they now call "Classic" which wont ever be printed again. It can be used together with any other Battlecon set as normal and intended. The new upcoming remake of War for Indines will have updated art and card text (most likely also some changes to the balance of the fighters).

So, in short, no matter what you get, you only need one of the Battlecon base games (War, Devastation or Fate) to play and can get whatever expansions you like and also combine everything as you like, each base set comes with unique fighters so you are free to get the others to expand your roster.

Cheers - thanks.

 

[pluginbaby121]

Picked up Tsuro:Game of the Path tonight. Was going to get it on amazon but a local shop had it for a few bucks more so I got it there instead. I've gotten quite a few things there for years and they actually expanded and moved so that's good. Decent selection as well which is always good. Looking forward to playing.

 

[Karkador]

Tsuro is pretty nice. Play it with a bunch of people. It's a good game to chat over.

 

[tm24]

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yeah.

So this is the one i want right?

http://level99store.lvl99games.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50

 

[Xater]

Yeah, I don't mean to undersell Barony. I also appreciate a fast-playing abstract game, and I think this one was more fun than Splendor. The theme comes together better, and pieces on a board are more interesting than cards with numbers. The purity of putting pieces on a board and moving them around like a chess game is fun. For that, I like Barony.

But I've played a fair amount of Kingdom Builder (just the base game), which does have a few more things going on than Barony (special abilities) - but the main thing it does better, in my opinion, is that the scoring objectives are always different, and the combinations of them can really change how you think about the game.

Barony has the same winning objective in every game, no randomness beyond the board layout, and the things the pieces do is a little bit limited, so I feel like it's going to be "done" after a few plays, if they don't make some kind of expansion.

That last point you made about lack of variability makes a lot of sense. That could be a drawback.

Had anyone here played Cacao? It looks like a fun tile laying game that could be my thing now that I feel like I have played Carcassonne to death.

 

[Keasar]

So this is the one i want right?

http://level99store.lvl99games.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50

That's the one. If you want a neat expansion I recommend the Strikers box as well, adds Assist characters (Think Marvel vs. Capcom) that you can toss in to help you.

Otherwise you are fine with just that box cause it will contain a ton of stuff in itself.

 

[H1PSTER]

Could anyone explain the differences between Epic Spell Wars 1 and 2 to me?

I've been told to get number one but I can't find it anywhere in the UK for a price I'm happy with but a local store has number two.

 

[Diprosalic]

i want to gift my friend and my Sis a new boardgame for their new appartment. They like Settlers and the usual classics. Is Colt Express a good choice? is it fun 1v1?

 

[Xater]

i want to gift my friend and my Sis a new boardgame for their new appartment. They like Settlers and the usual classics. Is Colt Express a good choice? is it fun 1v1?

Colt Express is a very bad game with just 2 players. It needs at least 3.

Get them a well designed 2 player game instead. Patchwork, Jaipur or Targi come to mind.

 

[Diprosalic]

Colt Express is a very bad game with just 2 players. It needs at least 3.

Get them a well designed 2 player game instead. Patchwork, Jaipur or Targi come to mind.

oh, they almost never play with just 2 players, it would've just been an added bonus. i will get them Colt Express and probably an other one.

 

[Icefire1424]

Just a heads up that Star Wars: Imperial Assault is one of the daily sale games over at CSI for $64.99. Still a bit high for my tastes, but for anyone on the fence...

 

[Xater]

oh, they almost never play with just 2 players, it would've just been an added bonus. i will get them Colt Express and probably an other one.

It sounded like they primarily play together. If that is not the case Colt Express is a really fun time with friends. Totally family level like the classics you mentioned. Nominated for Spiel des Jahres for good reason.

 

[Polioliolio]

Could anyone explain the differences between Epic Spell Wars 1 and 2 to me?

I've been told to get number one but I can't find it anywhere in the UK for a price I'm happy with but a local store has number two.

I'm set to receive Epic Spell Wars 2 today.

From my vague understanding, it's a sequel that's completely compatible for the first game.

One criticism of the first game was the lack of spell variety.. well BAM, it's here. So my assumption is it basically enhances the game with twice as many cards.

Can't wait for the package to arrive!

 

[hort]

I picked up Terra Mystica recently. I have been completely sucked into that game in a way that usually only happens with more hobby-ish games (netrunner, xwing, dicemasters, etc).

I've been reading through the strategy forums on BGG and realized that I was doing a lot of things that I shouldn't be (spending 3 workers to terraform every time I wanted to build in a new spot, instead of upgrading shipping and using power actions and such). I think I have a better understanding of what I should be doing now, which is good.

It took a while for the girlfriend to warm up to the game, but she finally figured it out and has won the last 2 games that we've played.

I've only played it as a 2 player game so far, hoping to get a 3 player game this weekend.

 

[NuffDREW4two]

Just a heads up that Star Wars: Imperial Assault is one of the daily sale games over at CSI for $64.99. Still a bit high for my tastes, but for anyone on the fence...

Canadian online stores have it for $100, and Canadian FLGS' between $125-$150. I wish it was even close to $80 here online. Ah well, got enough dungeon crawlers to tide me over for a while.

 

[platypotamus]

I picked up Terra Mystica recently. I have been completely sucked into that game in a way that usually only happens with more hobby-ish games (netrunner, xwing, dicemasters, etc).

I've been reading through the strategy forums on BGG and realized that I was doing a lot of things that I shouldn't be (spending 3 workers to terraform every time I wanted to build in a new spot, instead of upgrading shipping and using power actions and such). I think I have a better understanding of what I should be doing now, which is good.

It took a while for the girlfriend to warm up to the game, but she finally figured it out and has won the last 2 games that we've played.

I've only played it as a 2 player game so far, hoping to get a 3 player game this weekend.

My first couple of plays we had missed the rule about being able to "sacrifice" some of your power to instantly move power from bowl 2 to bowl 3. So all the power actions were going unused for the first couple of rounds because no one had enough power in bowl 3. It was such a game changer to discover the rule.

 

[hort]

My first couple of plays we had missed the rule about being able to "sacrifice" some of your power to instantly move power from bowl 2 to bowl 3. So all the power actions were going unused for the first couple of rounds because no one had enough power in bowl 3. It was such a game changer to discover the rule.

I noticed the rule when reading through the first time, but it still took 2 or 3 games before I tried it. It definitely makes a difference in those early rounds.

 

[platypotamus]

I noticed the rule when reading through the first time, but it still took 2 or 3 games before I tried it. It definitely makes a difference in those early rounds.

Honestly, losing a few of your power tokens makes a pretty big difference through the whole game, as you can cycle power through your bowls much more quickly. The "cost" of charging some power up more quickly is that you can charge up power more quickly. It's kind of win/win.

 

[Polioliolio]

Could anyone explain the differences between Epic Spell Wars 1 and 2 to me?

I've been told to get number one but I can't find it anywhere in the UK for a price I'm happy with but a local store has number two.

Just received my copy today and glanced at the manual.

There are actually a few new functions.

The included standee 'castle of tentakill' serves not just as a fun cardboard prop, but can be taken from someone holding it after you kill them, and then based on my some dead wizard cards or other cards, the holder of the standee earns some bonus.

There are now creature icons on some cards, which you can do something with, I'm not sure.. seems you can KEEP them and use them somehow.

Also, all the players are trying to acquire the blood of other wizards. Seems you collect the blood, which may be useful in a normal match, but if I'm not mistaken, it may serve as points in the new 'quick variant' mode.

 

[pluginbaby121]

I set Agricola up today to test it out to learn it before I actually play and holy christ. I already opened it and saw the pieces but didn't fully grasp it. I read the instructions and was a little overwhelmed. Then I saw a video and just said "Oh". Game seems very intimidating until it's actually broken down and it doesn't seem hard at all. I know there are more intricacies but seems worse to teach than it really is.

 

[Karkador]

I set Agricola up today to test it out to learn it before I actually play and holy christ. I already opened it and saw the pieces but didn't fully grasp it. I read the instructions and was a little overwhelmed. Then I saw a video and just said "Oh". Game seems very intimidating until it's actually broken down and it doesn't seem hard at all. I know there are more intricacies but seems worse to teach than it really is.

Yup, there are a lot of games like that. Sometimes the rules or the reference material are written like dictionaries instead of something that flows well and talks to you like a human being.

 

[Yeef]

Played Hermagor tonight. Was a very solid game with some interesting mechanics. I think the flavor was a bit odd, but the mechanics were solid.

The game has you bidding with workers on different tiles during a round. Each tile will either have 2 different resources or a single resource. The single-resource tiles allow you to increase the market value of that resource immediately after you win the tile. The way the bidding works is interesting:

You can place a worker directly on a tile for 2 money or on a circle adjacent to the tile for the listed amount. Then when all placement is done, each row and each column awards a bonus (workers on tiles don't give any bonus). For each row and column you get 1 money if you have 1 worker, 3 money for 2 workers, 6 money for 3 workers and 10 money for 4 workers (which is all of them). To determine who gets the tile you count the number of workers surrounding and on the tile. Whoever has the most gets it. In the case of a tie, orthogonal beats diagonal, on the tile beats everything. If there's a tie even after tiebreakers, than no one gets the tile.

After everyone's gotten their tiles for the round, you take turns moving to different locations on the map. Movement costs money, but each town has a resource type that you can sell there (so long as you have a corresponding tile). For each town, you can only sell there once per game, but once you sell there you set up a Trading Station which means anytime anyone else sells there, you get a stipend from the bank.

The game also encourages you to spread out (there are 3 different territories, at the end of the game you get a bonus based on the one you have the fewest trading stations in) and to focus on specific areas of the map (you get bonuses for having trading stations in all possible towns in a given region of the map).

At the end of the game, the player with the most money is the winner. We played with 5 and i got off to a good start, but kind of got screwed on some tiles that lost me a lot of momentum in the last couple of rounds. Still managed to come in third by a fairly slim margin.

 

[Lyng]

I picked up Terra Mystica recently. I have been completely sucked into that game in a way that usually only happens with more hobby-ish games (netrunner, xwing, dicemasters, etc).

I've been reading through the strategy forums on BGG and realized that I was doing a lot of things that I shouldn't be (spending 3 workers to terraform every time I wanted to build in a new spot, instead of upgrading shipping and using power actions and such). I think I have a better understanding of what I should be doing now, which is good.

It took a while for the girlfriend to warm up to the game, but she finally figured it out and has won the last 2 games that we've played.

I've only played it as a 2 player game so far, hoping to get a 3 player game this weekend.

TM is fan-freaking-tastic. In my honest oppinion its a strategic masterpiece. Zero luck yet tons of flavour and diversity through the vastly different races.

 

[TumblingHippo]

TM is fan-freaking-tastic. In my honest oppinion its a strategic masterpiece. Zero luck yet tons of flavour and diversity through the vastly different races.

Got a chance to finally try this game this week as well, and I can echo all the nice things said about it. I really appreciate when a player board clearly outlines all the things you can do and the costs.

It was a lot of rules to jump into, but I think well worth it.

Just one thing I want to make sure though, can you sacrifice a power to move power into bowl 3 at any time, or just when taking a power action? What about when you need magic up some money or workers, can you sacrifice power just to do that?

We played it as yes, you could, which seemed to make sense.

 

[fenners]

Got a chance to finally try this game this week as well, and I can echo all the nice things said about it. I really appreciate when a player board clearly outlines all the things you can do and the costs.

It was a lot of rules to jump into, but I think well worth it.

Just one thing I want to make sure though, can you sacrifice a power to move power into bowl 3 at any time, or just when taking a power action? What about when you need magic up some money or workers, can you sacrifice power just to do that?

We played it as yes, you could, which seemed to make sense.

Any time, I believe. it's certainly how we play it. I really need to play this game more - it's one that we rarely pull out to play, but thoroughly enjoy when we do.


Slowly shrinking the collection down - too many games, too little time, too little shelf space. Fortune & Glory is going to be a /pain/ to ship when it eventually trades.

 

[joelseph]

Tabled Mottainai and Roll with a Sushi Go cooldown last night. Mottainai was a miss for the other 2 players, Roll was a hit across the board. Sushi Go is always a crowd pleaser.

 

[Karkador]

What happened with Mottainai?

 

[joelseph]

What happened with Mottainai?

It was my first time teaching the game. It was beginning to click with one and the other player had the mechanics down but was still struggling with the concepts.

The biggest issue I had was teaching them to ignore the items and item descriptions once a card has hit the floor. It was also not easy to teach the different paths to victory, I believe because clay was being hoarded in hand and there was not a whole lot of opportunities to grab craft bench materials from the floor.

The cover concept is pretty confusing too and helpers not scoring but sales scoring was throwing them off.

I want to try it again as a 2 player game with the other player that was getting the concepts down. I think it would click in another game or two.

 

[Xater]

Bought Cacao because I was able to get it for 16,95€. This is a really nice game. It's fun to think about the possibilities of where to put your worker tiles so you can get a nice combo and make the most gold. Works great with any player count and plays incredibly fast. First game with 3 players was 32 minutes and my second game with 2 players was just 20 minutes.

So for people like me that have played Carcassonne to death but crave a new tile laying game this is great. Also has great expansion potential with new tiles that could be introduced to mix things up.

 

[joelseph]

Carson City is getting a KS reprint on the big box this June I believe. Classic Tile Laying/Area Control/Worker Placement!

 

[Xater]

Carson City is getting a KS reprint on the big box this June I believe. Classic Tile Laying/Area Control/Worker Placement!

Carson City is more worker placement game than anything else and has very little in common with Carc or Cacao in my opinion.

 

[joelseph]

Oh, I see.

Have you played Lanterns: The Harvest Festival?

I have not but keep hearing how awesome it is.

 

[Xater]

Oh, I see.

Have you played Lanterns: The Harvest Festival?

I have not but keep hearing how awesome it is.

That is the first time I have heard of the game.

 

[Experien]

That is the first time I have heard of the game.

It is a unique and can be mean tile placement game. Although it is my copy, only played it once and it was two player but it is pretty sweet and strategic with which way tiles placed.

 

[joelseph]

That is the first time I have heard of the game.

Second highest played game at Geekway behind Mysterium. That stat piqued my interest.

 

[tm24]

I ordered Battlecon. YAY!

 

[The Xtortionist]

The brilliant, but long dead trading card game Vs. System is being rebooted at GenCon under an LCG distribution model - one box, 400 cards (includes playsets of every card), $50. Upper Deck posted an FAQ about the game today. The game is known for its superhero focus (the first release of the reboot will feature Marvel characters), and intricate, skill-intensive mechanics. As a fan of VS since the day my local card shop got their first shipment, trust me when I say that fans of customizable card games will definitely want to keep their eye on this.

 

[Karkador]

Weren't there several series and sets released under VS? What is going into the new box?

 

[The Xtortionist]

Weren't there several series and sets released under VS? What is going into the new box?

It's a reboot - all new cards, apparently. Previous cards are said to be compatible, but not tournament legal. The first release will include four Marvel teams which have yet to be announced. For anyone who isn't familiar with VS, decks are generally constructed around a single team (X-Men, for example), or around teaming up multiple teams (ex. X-Men with Fantastic Four). Certain effect cards (instants, permanents, etc) only work with certain teams, while others are generic.

 

[Karkador]

It's a reboot - all new cards, apparently. Previous cards are said to be compatible, but not tournament legal. The first release will include four Marvel teams which have yet to be announced. For anyone who isn't familiar with VS, decks are generally constructed around a single team (X-Men, for example), or or around teaming up multiple teams (ex. X-Men with Fantastic Four). Certain effect cards (instants, permanents, etc) only work with certain teams, while others are generic.

Since it's Upper Deck I guess we should expect the same characters and artwork that have been in Legendary