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New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic

What are folks playing around here at the moment or planing on?

Myself I have been enjoying Dead men tell no tales with my youngest son. He likes co-ops.

Anyone else care to share there current hotness?

I played Hocus quite a bit two days ago. Once people got past the confusing terminology, it was pretty fun.
 

Karkador

Banned
Played through the TIME Stories Asylum scenario last night.

The story/puzzle/logic stuff was great, but those mechanics.... yikes.

Anyone have an alternative where me and couple buddies can just sit down and suss out a story? Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective maybe?

That would be the one. The only mechanic in that game is "take as few turns as possible"
 

Dryk

Member
I honestly haven't played that much that actually released in 2015, it was a scattering of games from various different times. (Note these aren't counting individual plays on a given day).
mdqNEIz.png

I really want to play more of many of the games I did play though
 
Played some more Codenames today at work. Turns out we've been missing the extra guess you're allowed to get on your turn. Didn't seem to miss it in the games we've played so far. We'll play it properly tomorrow though.
 

Blizzard

Banned
I received the Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport expansion for Christmas. I played it today, and lost, but I think it was close enough not to be a stomp.

One thing that bugs me about Lords of Waterdeep is that virtually EVERY game, I end up realizing when the next player is taking their turn that "Oh, I didn't get a cube / 2 VP / whatever" that I was supposed to because I didn't check every single plot quest in front of me every turn. There gets to be a lot to remember sometimes, at least if you're dumb like me. :p

Finish quest type A? 2 VP. Quest type B? 2 VP. Play any intrigue card or move on any square that gives orange cube(s)? Extra orange cube. Get any money from doing that instead? Extra black cube.

I also finished a powerful quest that would have given me three agents back...only to realize instantly that I only had one agent placed. Whenever this happens, or the thing above happens, I feel like I'm cheating if I try to take anything back or fix the missing stuff, so I just leave it and feel bad.

We only played with the Undermountain module (not the Skullport module which is in the same expansion). Undermountain has some VERY powerful quest rewards -- most normal quests give maybe 5-10 points of reward more than is invested. My girlfriend finished a quest that took 10 cubes and gave 40 VP -- bam, 30 point profit. It took something like 5 white cubes that are hard to get, though.
 

Shengar

Member
We only played with the Undermountain module (not the Skullport module which is in the same expansion). Undermountain has some VERY powerful quest rewards -- most normal quests give maybe 5-10 points of reward more than is invested. My girlfriend finished a quest that took 10 cubes and gave 40 VP -- bam, 30 point profit. It took something like 5 white cubes that are hard to get, though.

You should try Skullport module. It feels more like a true expansion for me than the Undermountain module. The new "corruption" mechanic really add a whole lot of new strategy and gameplay to the table. Even with long game rule, average length of the game that I played feels natural and not dragged out.
 

Blizzard

Banned
You should try Skullport module. It feels more like a true expansion for me than the Undermountain module. The new "corruption" mechanic really add a whole lot of new strategy and gameplay to the table. Even with long game rule, average length of the game that I played feels natural and not dragged out.
We'll probably try that next time -- we just didn't want to do both at once on our first expansion game.
 

Lyng

Member
Played through the TIME Stories Asylum scenario last night.

The story/puzzle/logic stuff was great, but those mechanics.... yikes.

Anyone have an alternative where me and couple buddies can just sit down and suss out a story? Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective maybe?

I love consulting detective. Its not a gamers game though. You are reading and taking notes and guessing. Thats it.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Played some more Codenames today at work. Turns out we've been missing the extra guess you're allowed to get on your turn. Didn't seem to miss it in the games we've played so far. We'll play it properly tomorrow though.

It's pretty important strategically because it means you can pick up leftover items later. Basically if someone tells you [word] [2+], you almost want to leave the last one open because the board will clear up for you, so you pick up the loose ones as you go.
 
It's pretty important strategically because it means you can pick up leftover items later. Basically if someone tells you [word] [2+], you almost want to leave the last one open because the board will clear up for you, so you pick up the loose ones as you go.

Yeah that makes sense, just didn't seem to hurt our games that we've played. Will do it going forward though. :)
 

Mr E.

Member
I received the Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport expansion for Christmas. I played it today, and lost, but I think it was close enough not to be a stomp.

One thing that bugs me about Lords of Waterdeep is that virtually EVERY game, I end up realizing when the next player is taking their turn that "Oh, I didn't get a cube / 2 VP / whatever" that I was supposed to because I didn't check every single plot quest in front of me every turn. There gets to be a lot to remember sometimes, at least if you're dumb like me. :p

Finish quest type A? 2 VP. Quest type B? 2 VP. Play any intrigue card or move on any square that gives orange cube(s)? Extra orange cube. Get any money from doing that instead? Extra black cube.

I also finished a powerful quest that would have given me three agents back...only to realize instantly that I only had one agent placed. Whenever this happens, or the thing above happens, I feel like I'm cheating if I try to take anything back or fix the missing stuff, so I just leave it and feel bad.

We only played with the Undermountain module (not the Skullport module which is in the same expansion). Undermountain has some VERY powerful quest rewards -- most normal quests give maybe 5-10 points of reward more than is invested. My girlfriend finished a quest that took 10 cubes and gave 40 VP -- bam, 30 point profit. It took something like 5 white cubes that are hard to get, though.

I know when adding both modules the rules say to discard x random intrigue cards and x amount of quests (30) I think. This is poorly worded. The deck can be easily skewed in favour of certain lords. There is a list over on BGG which recommends which quests and cards to discard. The intrigue deck especially gets a lot better with the modules added. Not sure on the ruling for only adding one module though.
 

Lyng

Member
Got to play Race for the Galaxy with the Alien Artifacts Exp last night. Really love what the new cards does to the balance.
Military is finally just as viable as a pure produce / consume strat.
 

Shengar

Member
I know when adding both modules the rules say to discard x random intrigue cards and x amount of quests (30) I think. This is poorly worded. The deck can be easily skewed in favour of certain lords. There is a list over on BGG which recommends which quests and cards to discard. The intrigue deck especially gets a lot better with the modules added. Not sure on the ruling for only adding one module though.

Discarding cards are not needed when you play with one module. In my experience with the long game rule, the numbers of cards from the base game and the module are mostly even if you shuffled it good enough.
 

Experien

Member
So what are people doing with their Pandemic Legacy boxes after completing it?

I am thinking of buying it to play with my gf, do we just toss it after beating it?
 

joelseph

Member
Funny Pandemic Legacy spoiler up until September:

I have played Quarantine Specialist since Feb. Named her Michelle O., had her kitted out with Rivals and Coworker perks relationships and Local Pressure and Paramilitary as her upgrades. Loved this character to death. Clutch saves month in and month out. This was the key character of the entire story! Well as the story goes you know where this is headed.. I am left pondering what character to start for the final three months. Thankfully the table agreed to let me keep the player card. I will keep you forever Michelle O.
 

emag

Member
Got to play Race for the Galaxy with the Alien Artifacts Exp last night. Really love what the new cards does to the balance.
Military is finally just as viable as a pure produce / consume strat.

I like Alien Artifacts, too, although I'm not fond of the [optional] exploration mini-game and I miss the goals from the first arc. That said, Military has been very viable in the first arc from The Gathering Storm onward (thanks in no small part to the double-settle Improved Logistics development in TGS and large number of 6 cost military-friendly developments in all three expansions).
 

Experien

Member
I picked up Warhammer Quest from Amazon. I can't wait. I absolutely love Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

I was looking at that to play with my gf. Couldn't decide between Runelords and Wrath base set. Doesn't matter which we play first (if we get them all), right? Is it easy to learn? Easy to set up?
 
Honestly, for Pathfinder ACG, I'd really wait for the digital app if it comes out.

Yes and no.

If you are bothered by tons of cards I could see waiting. However I love the physical nature of the game with my deck of cards and sitting around with friends and playing.

for the poster above I have only played the Runelords and its adventures.
 
Oof. Amazon has Imperial Assault for a good price. But the SO most likely would be overwhelmed. :

Going to abstain but I did pull the trigger on ordering the Android Netrunner core set. Amazon has it for a real good price.
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
Busted out Ravenloft for fun (painting SoB means I don't want to play it right now).

Failed the first Adventure. Game is NUTS, ha. Had to run away from piles and piles of monsters. Adding monsters every single turn CAN get daunting, especially when you're playing a hero without any way to heal outside of dying.
 
Hey maybe you guys can help me. I had my eye on this game awhile back and I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

It's a word game, it's based around publishing novels? You pick words or something?

Does that ring a bell with anyone?
 
Wife and I just got Pandemic Legacy and played the first month. Sort of sucked, we drew an epidemic card on our first turn and had an outbreak, we debated starting over but eventually decided to just go with it.

The
most common disease becoming uncurable
mechanic is from one of the expansions, right? I remember reading something along those lines before. Can't wait to see what's ahead, that was already a pretty big change right off the bat.

We also got Code Names and played a ton with family over Christmas break, it's a great game. Some people got stressed out when doing clues and didn't like it, but I love it. Sort of bummed out I likely won't be able to play in a big group again any time soon.

You can keep playing the game after it's done. It just won't keep evolving.

I was curious about this too. If we already own regular Pandemic it's not even worth keeping to do that is it?

My wife and I both got money from family for Christmas which is why we splurged and got it, but even though it's been really fun so far I can't help but think the whole time we're playing that we could have bought a couple other games for the same price that we'd be able to play forever. Considering Pandemic has an iOS version it'll be a little annoying if there's eventually a $10 version of Legacy that's replayable. The number of games is sort of annoying too, we got unlucky a couple times and lost January but we have played the base game a lot, and knowing that there could be around ten games left if we do well or twenty if we lose is just sort of weird. There's no parallel in video games or anything else where you can only play something once and the better you are the less time you have with it.

Oh well, in the end I don't regret the purchase so far and if there's more interesting twists coming up I'm guessing it'll end up being pretty memorable. And anyone who has heard of the game knows about these concerns anyway. If we end up really liking the game and feel like we'd want to replay we'll likely rebuy and make tokens out of the stickers to make it replayable. Actually we could do that with the one we have now if we could get our hands on new stickers, although ignoring everything on the board would be annoying.
 

mercviper

Member
Hey maybe you guys can help me. I had my eye on this game awhile back and I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

It's a word game, it's based around publishing novels? You pick words or something?

Does that ring a bell with anyone?

Sounds like Paperback. I should play that more.
 

Yeef

Member
Hey maybe you guys can help me. I had my eye on this game awhile back and I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

It's a word game, it's based around publishing novels? You pick words or something?

Does that ring a bell with anyone?
Paperback.
 
What are folks playing around here at the moment or planing on?

Myself I have been enjoying Dead men tell no tales with my youngest son. He likes co-ops.

Anyone else care to share there current hotness?

I just got Eldritch Horror Under the Pyramids from Miniature Market (it was $26.95) before the price hike by Asmodee. I am loving it so far. The new investigators are interesting and I was weary about the negative stat effect they really make the game far more interesting. I also like that you get a lot of artifacts to play with (which compensate for many of the terrible conditions that the game hand out).
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
Busted out Ravenloft for fun (painting SoB means I don't want to play it right now).

Failed the first Adventure. Game is NUTS, ha. Had to run away from piles and piles of monsters. Adding monsters every single turn CAN get daunting, especially when you're playing a hero without any way to heal outside of dying.

Played the second Adventure to try and get a feel for it since I am going to try and teach my wife tomorrow night. Against all odds, I won with the Wizard and the Ranger (I drew random heroes but took suggested powers). No healing abilities is rough, but with some luck and planning, I managed to pull it off.

I'm starting to remember how to approach these DnD boardgames. It's all about playing the scenario for the win condition, knowing when to take damage, and knowing when to cancel events. It's fascinating really. My game should have ended poorly. Monsters that damage you even if they miss are the worst, but you can plan around them with smart exploration and crafty choke points. I had about 18 XP saved up to cancel any upcoming event, but the event I got was to place a dungeon tile from the bottom of the stack on any unexplored edge (and add 2 monsters). That allowed me to move all the way across the dungeon and render the in-play monsters effectively null. The card also let me teleport other heroes...So it let me pull BOTH heroes away from the shit in play. Strategic placement of my heroes meant I could avoid death and clean up on my next turn.

I'm liking the game enough as it is. I would say that I'm not a huge fan of the turn sequence (Monsters will always get an immediate attack), so I may make a house rule where if you roll a 15+ when the monster is brought into play, it doesn't notice you and won't activate this turn...Something like that. I just don't think every monster should always get an ambush in - I don't play DnD, though (so I don't know if that's in line with the world).

All that said, if anyone else has experience with the other 3 games in the series, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how they mix up the formula (if at all). I've read that Ravenloft is considered one of the best of the 4, but I'm not entirely sure why (if also seems to be the hardest?).
 

Dryk

Member
We also got Code Names and played a ton with family over Christmas break, it's a great game. Some people got stressed out when doing clues and didn't like it, but I love it. Sort of bummed out I likely won't be able to play in a big group again any time soon.
To me the way that the different people play off each other is the main experience. Struggling to think of a clue, watching your team talk themselves into fucking up a clue while you can't do anything, trying to make up tenuous connections for the other team to throw them off, then the hail mary clue when your opponents are down to 1 or 2 words and you're still on 4. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea but that stuff is Codenames.
 
To me the way that the different people play off each other is the main experience. Struggling to think of a clue, watching your team talk themselves into fucking up a clue while you can't do anything, trying to make up tenuous connections for the other team to throw them off, then the hail mary clue when your opponents are down to 1 or 2 words and you're still on 4. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea but that stuff is Codenames.

Definitely the reason why the game is so damn fun. The talking each other out of the correct answer or giving a clue for something but you miss an obvious word that isn't yours. Absolutely hilarious fun.

Today's fuck up was a spymaster giving the clue of 'beer 2' in hope his team would guess 'Root' and 'Berlin' but missing the obvious choice of 'light' on the board. It happened to be one of my words as well. Brilliant.
 

joelseph

Member
I feel like there are too many OT Community threads with NEW at the beginning of the title! I vote we ask for a new thread and dump NEW.

Board Gaming [OT3] We rolling

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Hostage Negotiator continues to impress me. Have had it since the 1st printing, back to playing it regularly with the new abductor packs. Super fun and thematic solo game. Give it a look.
 

Mr E.

Member
I feel like there are too many OT Community threads with NEW at the beginning of the title! I vote we ask for a new thread and dump NEW.

Board Gaming [OT3] We rolling

---

Hostage Negotiator continues to impress me. Have had it since the 1st printing, back to playing it regularly with the new abductor packs. Super fun and thematic solo game. Give it a look.

Yes I enjoy that one. I like the way the game builds to that one payoff your banking on. Also the final round where you try to keep the conversation going indefinitely whilst organising your team (cards) for the take down.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Definitely the reason why the game is so damn fun. The talking each other out of the correct answer or giving a clue for something but you miss an obvious word that isn't yours. Absolutely hilarious fun.

Today's fuck up was a spymaster giving the clue of 'beer 2' in hope his team would guess 'Root' and 'Berlin' but missing the obvious choice of 'light' on the board. It happened to be one of my words as well. Brilliant.

It's funny when the spymasters or agents get annoyed with each other. Having played both many times, the frustration is almost never justified! It's especially true for new players. Like Mysterium and people going, "uh wtf am I supposed to do with this clue, it doesn't perfectly match one of the suspects" -- that's why it's a good game!!!!
 
It's funny when the spymasters or agents get annoyed with each other. Having played both many times, the frustration is almost never justified! It's especially true for new players. Like Mysterium and people going, "uh wtf am I supposed to do with this clue, it doesn't perfectly match one of the suspects" -- that's why it's a good game!!!!

Most definitely. It's one game that I've seen in recent times that has the power to draw more players in just from hearing the laughter from another room or seeing the fun being had.
 

ultron87

Member
The only time I got actually annoyed (as opposed to fun annoyed) by Codenames was the session where everyone was for whatever reason locked into the giving 1 word clues. That's not the point, people!
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
The only time I got actually annoyed (as opposed to fun annoyed) by Codenames was the session where everyone was for whatever reason locked into the giving 1 word clues. That's not the point, people!

Haha yep! Pretty much the only things that can make Codenames bad are super-conservative teams on both sides (as long as one team pushes the pace it can usually force the other one to as well) or playing 4p (not nearly as fun when you don't have a team evaluating the clues).
 

Palmer_v1

Member
I played it with an odd group recently who were just entirely unaware of pop culture somehow.

I got down to a point where I needed my team of 3 people to guess Boot and Well. I gave them 300 2, and just got blank stares. I was mad.
 

zulux21

Member
Today's fuck up was a spymaster giving the clue of 'beer 2' in hope his team would guess 'Root' and 'Berlin' but missing the obvious choice of 'light' on the board. It happened to be one of my words as well. Brilliant.
I would have gone for root, but I don't think I would have gone for light, and I know for a fact I wouldn't have gone for Berlin as I have no clue at all what a berlin beer or beer berlin is.
I played it with an odd group recently who were just entirely unaware of pop culture somehow.

I got down to a point where I needed my team of 3 people to guess Boot and Well. I gave them 300 2, and just got blank stares. I was mad.

I also would have given you a blank stare, I don't get how that references boot or well at all. I am assuming the movie 300 had a sequel called 300 2 and involves them somehow :p
 

ultron87

Member
But if you reset how will you pick up your game for Season 2? *has no idea if it ends in such a way that that even makes sense*
 
I would have gone for root, but I don't think I would have gone for light, and I know for a fact I wouldn't have gone for Berlin as I have no clue at all what a berlin beer or beer berlin is.

The funny thing is here in Australia Root Beer isn't really a thing but Light Beer definitely is. I think the logic is that Germany have Oktoberfest.
 

Iced

Member
Looking for advice on a table cover for playing board games on. Located in Toronto, Canada.

I recently bought this 6ft folding table: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/likewise-folding-resin-table-6-ft-0688000p.html

I have a feeling that the gap in the table will become problematic. Right now I’m thinking of buying some felt from Michaels and just seeing if that works, but I’d like for something that won’t slide around on the table. I’ve heard nylon-covered neoprene sheets work great, but I’m having a hard time finding something like that locally (and for less than I actually paid for the table itself).

I’m not terribly crafty but I am willing to put a little DIY effort into this if need be. Any recommendations are appreciated!
 

Neverfade

Member
I think you're shit out of luck if you're not willing to pay about what you paid for the table. I'd just get the felt and secure it with those sticky wall mount things for a cheap solution.
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
My table is similar. I'm looking to replace mine with a 4x4 card table instead because it's not deep enough. But you could get thin foam with a sticky side, secure that to the table, and glue felt to that? That may do what you want?
 

Palmer_v1

Member
I would have gone for root, but I don't think I would have gone for light, and I know for a fact I wouldn't have gone for Berlin as I have no clue at all what a berlin beer or beer berlin is.


I also would have given you a blank stare, I don't get how that references boot or well at all. I am assuming the movie 300 had a sequel called 300 2 and involves them somehow :p

One of the most iconic scenes was a persian getting kicked(boot) into a well.

You really don't remember the "This is Sparta!" bit?
 
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