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[emag]

Something I've learnt over the last year is that nobody's really managed to replace Risk in the way I want. Game of Thrones is definitely the best I've played (especially the combat system) but there's still work to be done in that space. I need to try Rex at some point because it looks like it captures some of the same things Game of Thrones does, but at the same time you're less mobile and it seems like your positions are a lot more fluid. The game I always have an eye out for captures the same feeling of accruing and losing territory that Risk does.

Nexus Ops is definitely worth looking into. It's a dice roller like Risk but with different unit types, varied terrain, and secret objectives for scoring. The small map makes for a quick (60 min) game.

Another option is Antike (II), which has more of a territory control (as opposed to purely conquest) element, but features more Civilization-esque gameplay (tech trees and a simple economy). No dice or other random factors, though, and still short (90 min).

Small World is Risk-like, but largely without dice. Instead the draw are the various factions with interesting combinations of abilities. You'll get to bring in new factions at particular points in the game as well.

None of the above offer alliances or betrayal aspects, though. Eclipse does, but it's a longer (3 hour) game with a 4X focus. There's also Cosmic Encounter, but that loses the board entirely and goes all in on zany powers and table diplomacy.

 

[Iced]

Does anyone here have experience with large HCD playmats?

Bought two of these last night: https://www.meeplemart.com/store/p/52408-HCD-Supplies-Game-Mat-Black-Game-Mat-36-x-36.aspx

Upon close inspection, the cuts to bring the material down to 3x3 appear to be from a pair of scissors. This has me raising an eyebrow because I can't imagine all of these being cut by hand in such a way. They also don't come in a tube; they just sit loose out on their shelves. No branding on them or anything, so I can't really tell if they're an HCD product (even though they are advertised as such).

 

[antiquegamer]

Does anyone here have experience with large HCD playmats?

Bought two of these last night: https://www.meeplemart.com/store/p/52408-HCD-Supplies-Game-Mat-Black-Game-Mat-36-x-36.aspx

Upon close inspection, the cuts to bring the material down to 3x3 appear to be from a pair of scissors. This has me raising an eyebrow because I can't imagine all of these being cut by hand in such a way. They also don't come in a tube; they just sit loose out on their shelves. No branding on them or anything, so I can't really tell if they're an HCD product (even though they are advertised as such).

I have one of their star field mat for X-Wing and it works well for what I am using it for. (Playing X-Wing)

What make you think that the mats were cut by a pair of scissors?

 

[Iced]

I have one of their star field mat for X-Wing and it works well for what I am using it for. (Playing X-Wing)

What make you think that the mats were cut by a pair of scissors?

You can tell just by looking at it. The cuts are all jagged and are the length of, well, a pair of scissors.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

I have the Essential Edition coming to me next week a along with Study in Emerald. I a, glad I found a new boardgame group that like this type of games.

Sweet. I'll probably try and pick it up next month.

 

[Karkador]

I have the Essential Edition coming to me next week a along with Study in Emerald. I a, glad I found a new boardgame group that like this type of games.

ASiE new or old edition?

 

[ClayKavalier]

Viticulture 2nd Edition is currently being phased out for Viticulture Essential Edition, that might be why. EE has a couple of the module from Tuscany integrated so you might be better off waiting for that. I know it's hit Amazon and I think the Kickstarter copies are in the wild, don't know if it's gone any further down the chain yet.

EDIT: If you're in the US CSI has some

Cool, didn't realize, I've been looking up the original game. Can't wait to try it.

 

[emag]

A new edition of the Knizia classic Medici is being Kickstarted. $35 for a version with non-terrible art/components is an easy sell IMO.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1986861668/medici

I used to prefer Knizia's other auction-driven games (Amun Re, Ra, Modern Art) over Medici, but Medici plays well with five or six (unlike the others that hit their sweet spot at three or four) and is much easier to teach/learn.

 

[hunchback]

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in solo play for Imperial Assault but if you are, head over to BGG. One of their forum users came up with a complete rule set for solo play in the campaign part of the game.
I have wanted to play this but didn't have anyone to play with. Apparently it works pretty good.

 

[Experien]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

Ones they own or already on list:
Catan (2x)
Ticket to Ride
Tokaido
Last Night on Earth
Smash Up
Nuns on the Run
7 Wonders
Love Letter
King of Tokyo

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

 

[ClayKavalier]

Can't go wrong with Pandemic, especially at a library. It's really popular, it would be good to let people who can't afford to buy a copy try it out. Codenames seems like a good choice for the same reason, plus it's cheap. A bluffing game like Coup, Resistance, etc. would be good for variety.

Seems like expansions would be good for a library too if people want to try before they buy something. Ticket to Ride is really popular, getting the expansion for that would be cool. The expansions for King of Tokyo are fun and you can just stick everything in the box for the base game.

 

[Palmer_v1]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

Ones they own or already on list:
Catan (2x)
Ticket to Ride
Tokaido
Last Night on Earth
Smash Up
Nuns on the Run
7 Wonders
Love Letter
King of Tokyo

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

Robo Rally.

 

[super-famicom]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

Ones they own or already on list:
Catan (2x)
Ticket to Ride
Tokaido
Last Night on Earth
Smash Up
Nuns on the Run
7 Wonders
Love Letter
King of Tokyo

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

Small World
Carcassonne
Lords of Waterdeep
The Resistance
Splendor
Pandemic

 

[antiquegamer]

ASiE new or old edition?

New, I heard it is not as good but more streamline.

 

[woo and indeed hoo]

A new edition of the Knizia classic Medici is being Kickstarted. $35 for a version with non-terrible art/components is an easy sell IMO.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1986861668/medici

I used to prefer Knizia's other auction-driven games (Amun Re, Ra, Modern Art) over Medici, but Medici plays well with five or six (unlike the others that hit their sweet spot at three or four) and is much easier to teach/learn.

I played Ra for the first time tonight, funnily enough. I really enjoyed it and can easily see why it is so well regarded. I even have a copy of Priests of Ra here which I picked up cheap from the Works a while back so that has encouraged me to dig it out to learn it before taking it in to play with my group. I should have a much easier time of that now that I've played its older brother.

 

[Karkador]

I love Ra

 

[SillyEskimo]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

Ones they own or already on list:
Catan (2x)
Ticket to Ride
Tokaido
Last Night on Earth
Smash Up
Nuns on the Run
7 Wonders
Love Letter
King of Tokyo

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

Survive!: Escape Atlantis

 

[Neverfade]

These Star Wars Rebellion previews have me at full mast. The only thing I'm bummed about is despite being labelled a 2-4 player game I have a sneaking suspicion that the 3 and 4 player game is going to be some shoehorned bullshit similar to War of the Ring's. I already have hard enough time getting WOTR to the table.

 

[antiquegamer]

Dang this thread is rocking!

I think I need to start planning my board-game travel for the year. Realistically, I probably only have time for one convention. Did FFG Worlds this year, BGG.Con the five years prior. Thinking of going back to BGG.Con even though I enjoyed my FFG experience. What are you guys doing? Any going to BGG (or FFG, even)?

I want to go FFG World because I like most of their games but I am not into LCG or Xwing like I used to be. Gen Con is just too expensive. I am thinking Origin.

Have any of you here attend Origin? How is it? I have week off that week and it's closer to me than all the other Cons beside PAX Prime.

 

[EYEL1NER]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

Ones they own or already on list:
Catan (2x)
Ticket to Ride
Tokaido
Last Night on Earth
Smash Up
Nuns on the Run
7 Wonders
Love Letter
King of Tokyo

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

Lords of Waterdeep was already mentioned and I think that would be an excellent one to pick up, but I would add another worker placement game also: Alien Frontiers. It's a fantastic game. I played Waterdeep and Alien Frontiers for the first time on the same day, almost right after each other, and knew I had to own them both.

 

[Zalasta]

I'm building a list of games for a local library to purchase. Any suggestions to add?

This is for adult gamers, not really kids.

Abstract games such as Blokus, Ingenious and Qwirkle should work nicely. Easy to teach and quick to play.

 

[joelseph]

Tsuro is another great one for libraries and cafes. Easy to teach to non gamers, plays quick, not a whole lot of pieces to lose.

 

[ultron87]

I want to go FFG World because I like most of their games but I am not into LCG or Xwing like I used to be. Gen Con is just too expensive. I am thinking Origin.

Have any of you here attend Origin? How is it? I have week off that week and it's closer to me than all the other Cons beside PAX Prime.

I went to Origins last year. It was fun. We spent most of our days just borrowing stuff from the game library and playing it. Was certainly easier to do that there then it is at Gen Con. We didn't do a ton of the other events, but it seemed like there was a decent amount of other stuff to do if you wanted to like schedule game demos or play tournaments, depending on the game.

 

[Corbec]

Abstract games such as Blokus, Ingenious and Qwirkle should work nicely. Easy to teach and quick to play.

Blokus is a great, great game

 

[Phthisis]

Liberty or Death showed up in the mail. Might be the most beautiful production GMT has ever done.

 

[Dryk]

Blokus is a great, great game

I met my one of my exes over a game of Blokus, can recommend

 

[sasimirobot]

I am really in love with Chronicle. The artwork is by far the most beautiful of any game I own atm. Last night one of my gaming group friends said, "I can't wait to get good at this game", meaning that once we get the cards down (memorized) I can see how this game will get really really interesting.

 

[JSR_Cube]

These Star Wars Rebellion previews have me at full mast. The only thing I'm bummed about is despite being labelled a 2-4 player game I have a sneaking suspicion that the 3 and 4 player game is going to be some shoehorned bullshit similar to War of the Ring's. I already have hard enough time getting WOTR to the table.

I have the same fears.

 

[BattleMonkey]

These Star Wars Rebellion previews have me at full mast. The only thing I'm bummed about is despite being labelled a 2-4 player game I have a sneaking suspicion that the 3 and 4 player game is going to be some shoehorned bullshit similar to War of the Ring's. I already have hard enough time getting WOTR to the table.

Yea pretty much, but going in buying it as a 2 player game mainly

 

[AstroLad]

Playing Dead of Winter for the first time tomorrow with wife and a couple casual-gamer friends that I'm teaching it too. Any tips in general or on specific setup/scenario for first game? I was just going to go with the basic recommended scenario and default rules. I've seen some rumblings on BGG that the game is tough to win if you have a traitor but not sure how much credence to give them or whether to account for them (because removing traitors beyond making it less fun also seems to make the game too easy?).

 

[Palmer_v1]

Playing Dead of Winter for the first time tomorrow with wife and a couple casual-gamer friends that I'm teaching it too. Any tips in general or on specific setup/scenario for first game? I was just going to go with the basic recommended scenario and default rules. I've seen some rumblings on BGG that the game is tough to win if you have a traitor but not sure how much credence to give them or whether to account for them (because removing traitors beyond making it less fun also seems to make the game too easy?).

The trick always seems to be making people understand that's it's okay to be a bit selfish when it comes to your own win condition. Keeping the colony alive is only PART of what you need to do.

 

[joelseph]

The trick always seems to be making people understand that's it's okay to be a bit selfish when it comes to your own win condition. Keeping the colony alive is only PART of what you need to do.

Also encourage people to roleplay their characters.

 

[swoon]

Playing Dead of Winter for the first time tomorrow with wife and a couple casual-gamer friends that I'm teaching it too. Any tips in general or on specific setup/scenario for first game? I was just going to go with the basic recommended scenario and default rules. I've seen some rumblings on BGG that the game is tough to win if you have a traitor but not sure how much credence to give them or whether to account for them (because removing traitors beyond making it less fun also seems to make the game too easy?).

i think it recommends too many samples as the first one, which is kinda of a dull scenario - and doesn't really play up the base aspect of the game well. too many mouths might be a better choice?

it's tough to win with a good traitor, because they can often ruin the victory conditions at the last moment, but they've have to be pretty good at hiding up until then to make that work. definitely don't take the traitors out, that's a lot of tension and fun of the game.

 

[Taborcarn]

I sold some items from another hobby and I had some money burning a hole in my paypal account, so I just submitted my first online board game order:

Tiny Epic Galaxies
Roll for the Galaxy
Elysium
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
7 Wonders: Duel
and a bunch of card sleeves.

That should keep me busy for a while (yeah right, just like my Steam backlog). I was also thinking about getting a dice tray or dice tower but decided against it.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Eclipse night tonight. Looking forward to it.

 

[Mr E.]

I sold some items from another hobby and I had some money burning a hole in my paypal account, so I just submitted my first online board game order:

Tiny Epic Galaxies
Roll for the Galaxy
Elysium
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
7 Wonders: Duel
and a bunch of card sleeves.

That should keep me busy for a while (yeah right, just like my Steam backlog). I was also thinking about getting a dice tray or dice tower but decided against it.

Excellent first order if I may say.

 

[Taborcarn]

Excellent first order if I may say.

Thanks! I've gotten a couple of games from local stores but this should really round out the collection.

 

[SumGamer]

I sold some items from another hobby and I had some money burning a hole in my paypal account, so I just submitted my first online board game order:

Tiny Epic Galaxies
Roll for the Galaxy
Elysium
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
7 Wonders: Duel
and a bunch of card sleeves.

That should keep me busy for a while (yeah right, just like my Steam backlog). I was also thinking about getting a dice tray or dice tower but decided against it.

My group love RftG and Elysium so much. I have been wanting to get 7 Wonders: Duel to play with my GF.

Let me know how you find Tiny Epic Galaxy, I dont enjoy playing it like at all. I must have been doing something wrong since lots of people seems to like it.

 

[emag]

TEG was the first board game I Kickstarted. I found it to be okay, though lengthy for the level of decision making involved and very basic/tactical overall. It does have its niche as a physically compact game and as a dice game, both elements that are under-represented in "strategy"/Euro- games. (For the record, I didn't like Roll for the Galaxy either -- Race is a much more elegant and interesting game to me.)

 

[Taborcarn]

I just backed Tiny Epic Western as well, and Galaxies looked pretty interesting as well so I decided to pick it up. It only seemed to be in stock at Miniatures Market so I made my order with them. Same for 7 Wonders Duel.

 

[Kitbash]

Playing Dead of Winter for the first time tomorrow with wife and a couple casual-gamer friends that I'm teaching it too. Any tips in general or on specific setup/scenario for first game? I was just going to go with the basic recommended scenario and default rules.

The recommended scenario ("We Need More Samples") doesn't make for a good introduction to the game for two reasons. First, it requires players to go out and kill zombies. This usually involves rolling the exposure die, which means characters are much more likely to die due to random chance compared to other scenarios. Second, each time you try to collect a sample, your success is determined by the roll of a die. It's frustrating and there's nothing you can do to make it less random.

The scenario just doesn't feel like a typical game of DoW. I really don't know why they decided it would be the recommended starting point -- it's not as though the other scenarios are more complicated! I'd suggest any of the other short scenarios, especially Too Many Mouths.

Also, be aware that the first player marker doesn't move clockwise like you'd expect in most games. It moves to the right, which means the player who goes last in a round will go first in the next round -- effectively getting two turns in a row.

 

[AMUSIX]

We Need More Samples was chosen as an intro scenario, because a lot of people will be coming to the game with the idea of it being about taking out zombies.

That said, your friends being casual gamers might be better suited for something else (as others have suggested, Too Many Mouths works great).
I wouldn't remove the traitor thing too much, just dilute it. Make it more likely that the table is working together, but that there is a possibility of a traitor (for 4 people, my friends and I usually do 5+1...I think 8+1 would be right for your group).

Also, make sure no one says "Why does it say Traitor on my card?"

 

[AstroLad]

Thanks guys -- super helpful. Will definitely do Too Many Mouths.

 

[Gurrry]

played a verrrrry long session of GOT board game on tabletop, finally feel like i sort of understand the rules... and jeeze is it complicated. theres like 5 seperate tracks (turn, supply, raven, sword, throne, wildling), cards in your hand, power tokens, movement tokens, defense tokens, raid tokens... ships, knights, footmen, siege towers...

after grasping most of it.. its really alot of fun to make alliances and plan out tactics like a war game. however, the fact that the game can take anywhere from 3-8 hours is a little crazy.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Great game of Eclipse last night, also a few games of 7 Wonders, one of which we had a tie that couldn't be broke.

 

[nicoga3000]

I tried a net deck for LOTR. Eagles and Ents. Wow...I really want to understand all the cards in a way that I can start really building synergistic decks like this. By the end of the game, I had like 9 allies in play and was had only 34 threat. I couldn't be stopped, and it felt glorious.

 

[Neverfade]

the fact that the game can take anywhere from 3-8 hours is a little crazy.

An 8 hour game of GoT? What in the world? I could play a whole game of TI3 with a dinner break in there with that time.

 

[fenners]

I tried a net deck for LOTR. Eagles and Ents. Wow...I really want to understand all the cards in a way that I can start really building synergistic decks like this. By the end of the game, I had like 9 allies in play and was had only 34 threat. I couldn't be stopped, and it felt glorious.

Link? I'm aiming to play this more this year, but I stink at deck building.

 

[nicoga3000]

Link? I'm aiming to play this more this year, but I stink at deck building.

Enjoy!

https://hallofbeorn.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/deck-eagles-and-ents/

 

[ClayKavalier]

Pandemic Legacy was a hell of a ride, can't wait for either season 2 or whatever the next Legacy branded game is. Really well done, and I was really impressed how much story it has, both on it's own and how much my wife and I contributed. I'm not into role-playing at all and my wife is barely a gamer but we had a lot of fun naming our characters, remembering their contributions, creating backstories to explain their relationships, etc.

I personally don't agree it's necessarily a one-and-done experience and I'm really surprised that I see people say so often that replaying it again would be pointless. Just like people rewatch movies, reread books, replay video games, etc. that they really like even though they already know what happens, I could definitely see us playing through Pandemic Legacy again after awhile. Hell, I've probably seen Fight Club six times and even though a repeat viewing will never compare to the first time I saw it it's still great.

Ending spoilers

Spoiler

They even seemingly encourage a repeat playthrough with the score card at the end. And also with the Epidemic cards, there's space on the infection rate track for a sixth Epidemic card, I was waiting the whole game to open it in a package or find it in the Legacy deck. It would be fun to replay using a sixth epidemic card, trying to beat a score, etc. Ideally you'd have a way to randomize who betrays you but even that isn't a big deal.

I don't really care that they don't make it easy to replay, it would be nice if they sold cheap kits of stickers and stuff but I don't mind too much. But I am surprised like I said that the "You'd only want to play it once anyway, playing it again misses the point" seems so common.

I was pretty surprised too to see how much of the game was borrowed from the expansions. Luckily we'd only played the base game but if we had played the expansions it would have been pretty disappointing to be like "Oh, here's this character. Oh, here's the quarantine markers. Looks like we're making a cure, guess the cure facilities will make an appearance."

Still though, absolutely great game.

Think we're going to get T.I.M.E. Stories next.