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[fenners]

A few of us who couldn't make it to BGG.Con & our usual Black Friday gameday got together for a first play of a nice meaty game this afternoon - The Gallerist.

Somehow I ended up teaching it because i'd watched/read the most... In the end, there's only a handful of actions you can do, but the steps/order is important, especially timing of "executive actions". We made a couple of early mistakes, recovered appropriately/fairly, and in the end all had a damn good time. It's deceptively meaty - you're roughly only taking one spot of five each turn, but the problem space is wide & deep, with lots of approaches to long term scoring.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I lost I'd approach teaching it a little differently next time, and ensure people understand what/when they can take the executive actions, and the impact of the whole auction system....

But everyone involved enjoyed themselves, it was the sort of game that's hard to hit the table, so it was a good afternoon/evening. Next time, as long as it's soon, shouldn't take so long for sure.

 

[EYEL1NER]

I didn't like Dungeon Fighter at all. Junk Art, I've heard good things about, and a buddy just bought it at BGG.Con

Rhino Hero's technically a kids game by Haba, but it's awesome. You're building a floors of a tower by folding cards as two walls & then putting another card as the floor. Each floor card has instructions for the layout of the walls above. There's special icons to change turn order, skip turn etc, and one to place Rhino Hero - a ridiculously cute rhino meeple. When you make the next player do this, they have to delicately pick 'im up, then delicately place him on the icon after putting on the walls & ceiling - this changes the balance of the tower immensely, obviously.

It's a ton of fun, easy to explain, and is an attention grabber when playing. One we regularly take to our local family friendly growler bar... Definitely one of my family's most played games this year.


Another 'lesser known' dexterity game that I love is Riff-Raff. You have a large wooden boat with wooden beams for a sail, and a large weight underneath that causes the boat to constantly tilt around. Aim is to put all of your cargo on the beams & boat. Again, awesome to look at, awesome to play.

Coconuts is also quite fun if you're just looking for a really light aiming game and don't mind monkey poop getting everywhere. I personally like Dungeon Fighter a lot but it's very love/hate. The difficulty is kind of messed up too at least in the base game in that it's just really hard to win.

The one game I've owned since it came out YEARS ago but still haven't played is Catacombs.

Thanks, both of you. I think I might pick up Rhino Heros sometime down the line and Riff-Raff looks pretty fun too. Coconuts is looking good.

I ran through a couple pages worth of the Dexterity/Action category on BGG and saw a lot that I like. One of the things I think I want to buy soon is Caveman Curling. I decided some years ago that I liked watching curling on TV and would love to try it. I don't know that I'll be able to get onto the ice anytime soon, but I could at least play this. I've started looking around and it seems like Eagle-Gryphon Games has it on sale for $25 right now but I need $50 worth of merch total to get free shipping, so I've begun checking different games on BGG to see what look like something I would want. Nika looks like a simple abstract that might be good. For Sale looks like a different game than I am used to playing but the full size version right now is twice the price that it is at Amazon. I could get the Travel version of For Sale for $8 though.

 

[SillyEskimo]

Zombicide painting update:

Knocked out all the undead ravens, 15 normal zombies, first pass on 20 zombie dogs, and completed my very first survivor and his zombivor variant. I am really pleased with how the player character turned out. He is based on my friend who works for the NYPD. Also, I can paint a regular zombie in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Keep in mind I still have hundreds to paint. It's never as easy as it sounds!

I'll post pics later today.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Guys that have played Feast for Odin, what was your score first game? Wine was very low lol. Negatives knocked me down to 38.

 

[-tetsuo-]

The Mythic Battles Kickstarter is over 1 million now. 7k backers.

 

[Blizzard]

Guys that have played Feast for Odin, what was your score first game? Wine was very low lol. Negatives knocked me down to 38.

2-player, I think it was laughable, like 8 to 15. We improved each play though. The learning process is quite enjoyable.

My highest solo score is 122 thus far.

You might take a look at the BGG errata and a few rules threads if you get time. There are some common missed things like the confusing mountain tile wording, the ability to buy ships at any time, and the ability to upgrade sheep or cattle.

 

[-tetsuo-]

2-player, I think it was laughable, like 8 to 15. We improved each play though. The learning process is quite enjoyable.

My highest solo score is 122 thus far.

You might take a look at the BGG errata and a few rules threads if you get time. There are some common missed things like the confusing mountain tile wording, the ability to buy ships at any time, and the ability to upgrade sheep or cattle.

Yea i played a solo game. I did forget about the ability to buy things, though. I was sutting on a lot of money in the later turns.

 

[SillyEskimo]

Unfortunately my water heater went out so I lost the light to take pics of the zombies and how this character was designed to fit in and stand out at the same time. I guess I'll post those pics at a later date. Until then, off to replace my water heater!

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Unfortunately my water heater went out so I lost the light to take pics of the zombies and how this character was designed to fit in and stand out at the same time. I guess I'll post those pics at a later date. Until then, off to replace my water heater!

Damn, those look great! Did you do a wash/shade on the skin?

 

[SillyEskimo]

Damn, those look great! Did you do a wash/shade on the skin?

Thanks! I'm really happy with him. He's NYPD to the best of my ability.

Skin is base + white mixed and applied x3, lighter each time. The only wash is on the shirt. Total paint time was around 30 minutes per mini, so an hourish total for the two.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Thanks! I'm really happy with him. He's NYPD to the best of my ability.

Skin is base + white mixed and applied x3, lighter each time. The only wash is on the shirt. Total paint time was around 30 minutes per mini, so an hourish total for the two.

That would take me 20 hours to do and look 20x worse

 

[SillyEskimo]

That would take me 20 hours to do and look 20x worse

Oh, you. You're making me blush.

As I wait for my brother to show up to help with the water heater, here are 3 pics of my completed zombies and how I am storing them. It is actually a display for a baseball bat. The pics are kind of shitty, but damn does it look fantastic in person! Like I said, I'll post better pics at a later date.

Skinner zombies will be purple monochrome and seekers will be blue monochrome. There are only 16 seekers, so they really have to pop from the other colors/types of zombies.

 

[Eidjinn]

Has anyone ever had trouble teaching Keyflower?

I saw the videos, knew most of the rules, but my teaching session was a complete disaster!

Is the game that complex? My group is less than a year, but we already played Dixit, Resistance, Zombicide, Catan and Pandemic. Maybe the jump is just too much?

Any ideas? Thoughts on how I should teach them?

 

[Lyng]

Has anyone ever had trouble teaching Keyflower?

I saw the videos, knew most of the rules, but my teaching session was a complete disaster!

Is the game that complex? My group is less than a year, but we already played Dixit, Resistance, Zombicide, Catan and Pandemic. Maybe the jump is just too much?

Any ideas? Thoughts on how I should teach them?

Keyflower is quiet a bit heavier than the other games you mention here.
While it seems simple on the surface there are quiet a few rules exceptions and tiny rules to remember, and especially for a Euro game.

Keyflower is fantastic and probably will end up in my top 10 of all time at some point, but I would try some next step games first.

You said you watched the video? was that the Watch It played video? That is quiet excellent. Rahdo's runthrough of keyflower is great aswell. I would recommend watching both. And then read the rules while you have the game set up. Go through each action on the board so you get familiar with them. That will make it alot easier for you to teach it.
But like I said, it is a deceptively deep game and much heavier then the others you have played.

 

[BassForever]

Hey board game GAF Mega Man Pixel Tactics got a major update for it's kickstarter in the final 52ish hours

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1821440755/mega-man-pixel-tactics

They dropped the stretch goal requirements from 200k to 100k to unlock all additional characters which is far more achievable, they also add an $8 add on to get a staroids expansion with 11 more characters. If they get another 200 likes on facebook they'll make a Bass box set which I might be bias in wanting to see it happen.

 

[NuffDREW4two]

The pics are kind of shitty, but damn does it look fantastic in person!

Looks awesome, love that monochrome look. Makes me wish I could paint.

 

[LunarKnite]

Guys that have played Feast for Odin, what was your score first game? Wine was very low lol. Negatives knocked me down to 38.

Yeah, don't feel bad, my first score for solo was 19. I think it doubled to 38 my next game and from then stayed above 70 for the most part.

 

[fenners]

SillyEskimo, those are looking damn good! I've got a similarly ridiculously big Zombicide collection & I envy your skills


This weekend should have been up in Dallas at BGG.Con. Instead a handful of us non-goers spent yesterday afternoon learning The Gallerist. It's heavy, it's got a rule book that must be followed exactly as written, and it's a very good Euro. Tons of neat mechanisms & action timings. There's only four action slots,and if you get "Knocked out" an action slot, you have a chance to take a bonus action. So despite a four hour game, there was little downtime...We had a ton of fun.

And today was filled with light family games - Ticket To Ride, Splendor etc. A good time.

 

[-tetsuo-]

After playing a couple games of Caverna and Feast for Odin, I feel that the latter is just flat out better. Honestly was not too impressed with Caverna. I will give them both some more time.

 

[Ohnonono]

Played 2 games of the AH:LCG this weekend. I replayed the first scenario just because I already had the cards set aside for it. Was a much different game so it was nice to see some variation. Still won this time but it certainly gave me a run for my money. Scenario 2 is really really cool. It is a very cool mission. I set up the last mission for tonight using all the campaign rules and the last mission looks also very rad. So far I find the quest design super varied and the ideas seem to work better in the framework of the rules than the LOTR LCG. Waitress Wizard remains awesome, if troubled. Can't wait to finish the narrative, and try the campaign again on a harder difficulty.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Played 2 games of the AH:LCG this weekend. I replayed the first scenario just because I already had the cards set aside for it. Was a much different game so it was nice to see some variation. Still won this time but it certainly gave me a run for my money. Scenario 2 is really really cool. It is a very cool mission. I set up the last mission for tonight using all the campaign rules and the last mission looks also very rad. So far I find the quest design super varied and the ideas seem to work better in the framework of the rules than the LOTR LCG. Waitress Wizard remains awesome, if troubled. Can't wait to finish the narrative, and try the campaign again on a harder difficulty.

Can't wait for the next expansion already. I need to figure out a decent way to store this game.

 

[Ohnonono]

Can't wait for the next expansion already. I need to figure out a decent way to store this game.

Yeah I am hooked.

 

[XShagrath]

Can't wait for the next expansion already. I need to figure out a decent way to store this game.

I'll be doing the same thing I did with my LOTR stuff. A two-column card "shoebox" with cardboard dividers. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it is the most practical in terms of cost and functionality.

 

[Blizzard]

After playing a couple games of Caverna and Feast for Odin, I feel that the latter is just flat out better. Honestly was not too impressed with Caverna. I will give them both some more time.

I don't know about Caverna, but Odin was in development for several years if I recall correctly. It feels like a lot of thought went into it.

I own Agricola but hardly ever play it. In contrast, even my girlfriend who kind of hated Agricola was up for playing multiple games of Feast for Odin.

 

[Ohnonono]

Can't wait for the new AHLCG expansion just so I can use the Chef character. I want to play with the blue cards but I am all Agnes atm. The chef looks like a really cool character.

 

[Noaloha]

Do give 2-handed solo a shot in AHLCG, the games run longer and it's that much more of a rules juggle, but the interaction between the pair really shines.

 

[Ohnonono]

Do give 2-handed solo a shot in AHLCG, the games run longer and it's that much more of a rules juggle, but the interaction between the pair really shines.

At some point I am sure I will. I could see myself playing a couple solo run through campaigns and then running both of those characters and stuff for fun. Mainly I like to run one deck though, even if it is a harder game that way. It is a fun way to play the game and once we get more cards makes deck building really rewarding. That said I will try out 2 hand solitaire at some point for sure. After I finish the last game of the campaign tonight I think I will try it on a harder difficulty first though. So many ways mechanically to keep this game fresh. I love the options.

 

[Nezumi]

Question for the people owning Junk Art. I recently bought this and while I'm generally in love with the game and the concept and everything, some of my pieces seem not to be worked properly. In most cases it isn't really a problem but there is one of the big flat pieces with the whole in it, that is so crooked that it can't be put onto a flat surface without one corner sticking up. For the most part it isn't too bad but there is a slight disadvantage for example in the scenario where every player has to play with one color.
I'm wondering whether it might be worth contacting Pretzel Games and ask for a replacement piece or not.

Oh and also. Potion Explosion is a big hit with everyone I introduced it to. Really well designed game.

 

[AstroLad]

Speaking of which...solo'd Arkham LCG two-handed just to learn the rules and the wife and I are going to play through the campaign tonight. Have to say the aesthetics of this game are out of this world, even down to the awesome card backs:

And I also played Potion Explosion for the first couple times, with in-laws yesterday and wife and kids today and the game was a huge hit. Excellent gateway game. You guys should consider making a slightly simplified kids version maybe because the toy factor on this one is great, though actually our five-year-old was pretty good with the rules but they're probably too much for her friends.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Speaking of which...solo'd Arkham LCG two-handed just to learn the rules and the wife and I are going to play through the campaign tonight. Have to say the aesthetics of this game are out of this world, even down to the awesome card backs:

.

I pre ordered that play mat at my local store. Looks great! The aesthetics are fantastic.

I'll be doing the same thing I did with my LOTR stuff. A two-column card "shoebox" with cardboard dividers. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it is the most practical in terms of cost and functionality.

Yeah, that's what Ill probably do as well. Makes the most sense.

 

[SapphiCine]

MM needs to get to get a shit ton of stock of Arkham Horror LCG and Robinson Crusoe and not while I am at work. >:|

Already bought Mage Knight and Legends of Andor on sale from Amazon.

 

[pluginbaby121]

Are two core sets of the Arkham LCG needed for just two players? When I got into the Game of Thrones one I bought two cores but we played competitively and I somewhat regretted it when I went down the rabbit hole of getting the house expansions and the little event packs so I don't want to do it again. Especially paying $60 for Arkham as opposed to $50 for two AGoT sets

 

[Affeinvasion]

I'll be doing the same thing I did with my LOTR stuff. A two-column card "shoebox" with cardboard dividers. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it is the most practical in terms of cost and functionality.

This reminds me: I need to buy a card sorter so I can go through the thousands of Star Wars CCG cards I have sitting in like 10 of those boxes.

 

[Bane]

Are two core sets of the Arkham LCG needed for just two players? When I got into the Game of Thrones one I bought two cores but we played competitively and I somewhat regretted it when I went down the rabbit hole of getting the house expansions and the little event packs so I don't want to do it again. Especially paying $60 for Arkham as opposed to $50 for two AGoT sets

Nah, for two players you're good with one set. There may be cards you won't have multiples of but by no means is it required to have two.

 

[Noaloha]

Currently, multiple cores opens up two things, being able to use *any* combination of investigator and being able to indulge in more than the very lightest of deck customisation. Due to each core only containing a single of each class card, you're unable to use investigators that share a class. So, say you'd like to play Wendy (survivor/rogue) and your play partner likes the look of Skids (rogue/guardian). You'd have to own 2 copies in order for them both to be able to include singles of the rogue class. This would also allow you to dabble in a bit of customisation and add doubles of the non-shared class. Even for two player games, this leads to a situation where you might feel like you need four(!) copies of a core if both players want to use a shared-class investigator *and* both players want full customisation over both their classes (you may both want two copies of the rogue card Leo di Luca in your ultra optimal decks). A lot of "if"s there though, coming down to taste and what both players want from the game. The valid combinations of investigator with a single core (wendy/roland, skids/daisy, roland/agnes, daisy/wendy, agnes/skids) are all fine and, if you don't need deck customisation, that single core is still a great theme-ey, manage-the-threats box of fun.

 

[BassForever]

The bass deck was unlocked in the mm pixel tactics kickstarter so for $45 after shipping you get all 3 decks, another $8 adds the staroids. Can highly recommend pixel tactics the more I play the more I love it.

 

[XShagrath]

For those of you who missed it, Arkham Horror: LCG is back in stock at CSI. I ordered mine for in-store pick-up and will grab it after work today.

http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/231085

I never pre-order there anymore because the one time I did (years ago), they charged my card at the time of the order (not dropping it off), and not the time of pick-up. I wasn't a big fan of that since at the time I was living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Spookie]

Even for two player games, this leads to a situation where you might feel like you need four(!) copies of a core if both players want to use a shared-class investigator *and* both players want full customisation over both their classes (you may both want two copies of the rogue card Leo di Luca in your ultra optimal decks). A lot of "if"s there though, coming down to taste and what both players want from the game.

This is what winds me up about FFGs way of running LCGs. If you want to play the game properly you have to buy 2-4 cores (I'm looking at you Game of Thrones you money grubbing piece of shit). I got away with it to some degree on Netrunner with it being asymmetrical but it's a joke on games where the cards are shared. You end up spending as much as a copy of say Zombicide or Imperial Assault to get the proper experience. It amazes me how no one challenges them on their bullshit.

 

[XShagrath]

I personally don't see the need to buy multiple cores if you're going to be continuing on through the "cycle." There will be enough other cards for your characters/classes as the expansions come out that you don't need to mess with buying another core set for a handful of cards.

 

[Ohnonono]

As a solo player 2 copies of the core is plenty. 4 would be pretty extreme. In most cases with LCGs I find that most people have copies of the stuff themselves so you usually just need to cover yourself.

 

[Spookie]

I personally don't see the need to buy multiple cores if you're going to be continuing on through the "cycle." There will be enough other cards for your characters/classes as the expansions come out that you don't need to mess with buying another core set for a handful of cards.

If it's anything like Game of Thrones (literally looking to sell this as you can't create a 2 'legal' decks with one core) you end up with a glorified demo as it's impossible to do any deck building of any sort as they are so tight on the cards they put in the core deck. Why they don't approach things like ashes (full set of cards, multiple core decks) I don't know.

Expansions and boosters should add to your pool not prop it up.

 

[Experien]

Safe to say Munchkin X-Men will just be Munchkin Marvel but with X-Men classes and items?

 

[antiquegamer]

If it's anything like Game of Thrones (literally looking to sell this as you can't create a 2 'legal' decks with one core) you end up with a glorified demo as it's impossible to do any deck building of any sort as they are so tight on the cards they put in the core deck. Why they don't approach things like ashes (full set of cards, multiple core decks) I don't know.

Expansions and boosters should add to your pool not prop it up.

You can make two perfectly good starter decks with just one core. I play through the first scenario and never felt like I was doing so poorly as far as my card draw. I think 30 card deck also help with the problem that you get with LoTR and Game of Thrones (the original core was ridiculous, I don't know how 2nd edition is).

Both of the MeetUp have good turn out. It seems this week theme was terraforming mars and Orleans. Those were the two games often get request for play at our MeetUp. I did get in a learning game of Inis. I like it a lot but the people I play with doesn't seem all that excited, they felt that the cards were hard to understand. I have a quick question for those who play the game, one of the rule I am not sure I understand is that during the Assembly phase when you determined the winner, if there is a person with "winning" conditions, but he or she did not declared as "pretender" last turn do they win or do the win only factor if you declare yourself as the "pretender". We might have to play it couple more times, I think we were all just try to wrap our head around the way "clash" work and the win conditions.

 

[Mr E.]

Been waiting for ages for Seas of glory, the Merchants & Marauders expansion. Finally it's getting reprinted and will be in stock 2-3 days in Blighty. This game is amazing.

Sod the Scalpers.

 

[Spookie]

You can make two perfectly good starter decks with just one core. I play through the first scenario and never felt like I was doing so poorly as far as my card draw. I think 30 card deck also help with the problem that you get with LoTR and Game of Thrones (the original core was ridiculous, I don't know how 2nd edition is).

"Order Complete! Congratulations, your order has been placed."

I got the last of the stock. If you're wrong there will be hell to pay.

Edit: Shit, just got my The Orders order dispatch e-mail as well. I need to stop buying games, I think I've spent next £500 this month. :/

 

[Megalosaro]

My dad has been getting into game of thrones lately. He likes risk.

Do you guys think he'd like the got risk.

 

[Neverfade]

My dad has been getting into game of thrones lately. He likes risk.

Do you guys think he'd like the got risk.

How about just the Game of Thrones Board game? Much better than Risk.

 

[Megalosaro]

How about just the Game of Thrones Board game? Much better than Risk.

I only know of the card game. He has trouble with those

 

[AstroLad]

My dad has been getting into game of thrones lately. He likes risk.

Do you guys think he'd like the got risk.

Usually I would say stay away from Risk rethemes but they've actually been doing a pretty good job on some of them, and it looks like GoT might be one of those: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1423230/when-playing-game-thrones (even has a Nexus-Ops-like 2p version it seems, which I consider high praise b/c Nexus Ops is awesome).

GoT Board Game, if you are a fan, and have 3-5 other people who don't mind playing a relatively meaty game that can last 3+ hours can be an absolutely amazing thematic experience (not my cup of tea by a longshot, but I can recognize a good game still). But it's on a whole 'nother level from Risk for many reasons.

 

[-tetsuo-]

My dad has been getting into game of thrones lately. He likes risk.

Do you guys think he'd like the got risk.

Yea just get the GoT game. If he already likes Risk he will probably be up to try it out. The only thing is that GoT needs at least 5 players, I would say.