The expansions are exactly the same size box and play area, and can be played standalone. I definitely liked the expansion I tried since it made the game less vindictive.
They also have gorgeous colors.
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New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic
- Thread starter Karkador
- Start date
They also have gorgeous colors.
ThLunarian
Member
We managed to get a five player game going. I was the PoliTurtles (Xxcha Kingdom), playing against the L1Z1X Mindnet, the Embers of Muatt, the Arborec, and the Creuss Gate.
Everyone had access to War Suns starting on Turn 2 thanks to an early Publish Weapon Schematics policy that was unanimously voted into effect. From there we had about two turns of military buildup, which culminated in multiple turns of large-scale slug fests between giant fleets.
I was able to use the Turtles' diplomatic abilities to stall things out enough to make the other armies fight each other, while I steadily gained victory points and fortified my home turf. I ended up winning on Turn 7.
It was really fun! This might be my favorite game ever (counting board games, card games, and video games). I am really happy whenever I'm able to organize one.
The expansions aren't really like traditional deckbuilder expansions. They're basically made to be played standalone and actually suboptimal mixed so it just kind of comes down to which mechanics you find the most fun then pick one.
I can't speak about whether mixing is suboptimal, but it's worth pointing out that the second expansion provides completely new cards that replace the starter deck. That alone should make for a different experience.
At game night tonight, we played several games with mixed results.
1. Zombie Dice. This was my first time playing, and it's a super simple group game where everyone takes turns rolling dice that have brains, feet, or explosions. You try to get as many brains as possible without rolling 3 explosions, and you randomly get dice that have higher or lower chances of rolling explosions.
2. Grizzled. This is an odd French (maybe?) card game about World War 1. You're a bunch of soldiers and you have to play cards or pass. If you play cards you run the chance of people having 3 matching symbols or 3 matching weathers on the table simultaneously and everyone loses. If you pass (or even if you don't), a bunch of cards get flipped from a good pile into a bad pile. You're trying to somehow play and trash enough cards that you clear the bad pile faster than cards are added into it, and if you reach the bottom you win. It seems almost mathematically impossible to play more than 4 cards without one of the symbols reaching 3, particularly since some of the cards are wildcards and some are permanent ones you have to put in front of yourself (those can also make you lose if you collect 4). Apparently there are even harder rules we didn't use. Oh, and every round ends with people secretly picking an arrow to help one player, and if there's a tie NO ONE gets helped. And if someone is helped the help is just removing one or two negative personal cards. And apparently despite being a cooperative game, you're not really allowed to talk or hint about what's in your hands or coordinate. Oh and there's a "speech" power but you don't get it until you're first player and THEN get your turn on the next round where you're last player. Since I started out as last player, the game was literally completely lost before I ever had a chance to even earn the speech power. Overall with 5 players this was EXTREMELY frustrating to me.
3. Clue. Yes, the classic one where you roll 1 die and creep slowly around a building guessing about a murder, while teleporting almost totally pointless weapons around the map. I went first as Ms. Scarlet and won!
4. Liverpool. This is probably some sort of classic normal deck of cards family game. You use 2+ decks of cards, and everyone gets 10, and kind of like Phase 10 you do one phase at a time. However, even if you fail to complete your set, you still move on to the next phase. This sounds better than Phase 10, BUT we got stuck for like 45 minutes on a "two runs of 4" phase because I had 20+ cards in my hand and only 1 wild card, and no one else could finish until I put cards down.
5. Millennium Blades co-op with 4 players against "They Game From Space" boss. People were good sports and patient about this, but sadly it still took a long time with explanation. Despite the group I played with last week, I had 3 new players this time. At least two players misunderstood the "Flip" effect as "You can choose to Flip" instead of "this happens when it's flipped". We sort of muddled around, lost by 60 and THEN when putting the game up I remembered that I'd forgotten to give everyone characters powers which would have massively helped. I felt so dumb.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Turn 2 War Suns? I'm sure the Embers of Muaat were super stoked about that.
Sounds like you guys had a good time. I really need to get TI3 to the table. I ended up with an amazing copy (all expansions, all cards sleeved, dice in all player colors) in a trade a couple years ago but haven't had the chance to play it yet.
Polioliolio
Member
Well.
Played Dark Souls last night.
We played to the miniboss and beat him. It took us 5 hours. We only died once.
I don't know if we were playing it wrong or what but god damn it took forever. An encounter could take 20 minutes for what would take 7 seconds in the videogame. It's a real problem. We probably went through a third or more of the treasure deck, and could only equip maybe 4 or 5 treasures we found, and we were even leveled up a few times.
So you fight guys. Get a pittance of souls. Go back to the bonfire and use them to either level up or buy a random treasure, but none of the treasure can be equipped until you're almost maxed out in a couple stats. The treasure also isn't thematically accurate to the game. Why does armor require dexterity to wear? More specifically, why does 'master's attire' require 30 dexterity? Jesus. Master's attire is supposed to be a rag of a thing that gives you nothing if I recall. It has very little weight in the game but also little protection, but in the board game it's some kind of high level armor.
Not crazy about the stamina and damage system, even the boss fight didn't blow me away, which is supposed to be the board game's best feature. Regular encounters are repetitive and take way too long.. There is NO exploration in this game. You are basically fighting in an identical square arena with refreshed mob placement. It's boring and lacking anything exciting about the video game. One popular opinion is that it sucks as a board game because "it copies the video game's formula too well", which is bullshit.
I don't think I'm going to open my copy until the stretch goals arrive in October and until the community builds a better game out of it.
Played Dark Souls last night.
We played to the miniboss and beat him. It took us 5 hours. We only died once.
I don't know if we were playing it wrong or what but god damn it took forever. An encounter could take 20 minutes for what would take 7 seconds in the videogame. It's a real problem. We probably went through a third or more of the treasure deck, and could only equip maybe 4 or 5 treasures we found, and we were even leveled up a few times.
So you fight guys. Get a pittance of souls. Go back to the bonfire and use them to either level up or buy a random treasure, but none of the treasure can be equipped until you're almost maxed out in a couple stats. The treasure also isn't thematically accurate to the game. Why does armor require dexterity to wear? More specifically, why does 'master's attire' require 30 dexterity? Jesus. Master's attire is supposed to be a rag of a thing that gives you nothing if I recall. It has very little weight in the game but also little protection, but in the board game it's some kind of high level armor.
Not crazy about the stamina and damage system, even the boss fight didn't blow me away, which is supposed to be the board game's best feature. Regular encounters are repetitive and take way too long.. There is NO exploration in this game. You are basically fighting in an identical square arena with refreshed mob placement. It's boring and lacking anything exciting about the video game. One popular opinion is that it sucks as a board game because "it copies the video game's formula too well", which is bullshit.
I don't think I'm going to open my copy until the stretch goals arrive in October and until the community builds a better game out of it.
A lot of players are implementing house rules to reduce the grind (separating treasure cards for later encounters, double rewards, etc.). I guess you'll have to figure that out with your group of players to see what is best. Though I don't know if that will make you enjoy the game more.
I'm waiting for my copy to arrive and I'm probably going to do a solo run and see how the game really plays before I introduce it to my friends and family. I'm almost certain I'm going to introduce some house rules right off the bat.
ThLunarian
Member
Turn 2 War Suns? I'm sure the Embers of Muaat were super stoked about that.
Sounds like you guys had a good time. I really need to get TI3 to the table. I ended up with an amazing copy (all expansions, all cards sleeved, dice in all player colors) in a trade a couple years ago but haven't had the chance to play it yet.
He was actually fine with it because he wanted the extra movement, and he already had a War Sun on the board so he still had a military advantage. But yeah, I think in the long run it probably hurt him
PS - the Diplomats racial tech for the Xxcha is incredible. You basically can't lose in a one-on-one war if you have that. They HAVE to double-team you to take you out.
OK...long post incoming, because I meant to make a post last week, but just haven't gotten around to it.
First, a week ago was the San Diego board game convention Kingdom-Con. I spent three days there, mostly in the unpub section trying to hit as many games as possible. Really was a great time, and hit a few games that I really enjoyed. The three standouts:
-Thug Life - ok, so this one has gotten a lot of flak because of the name and theme, but the game was really good. When I asked how long it played, and he said 30 minutes, I was skeptical, but even with the instruction, it ended up being just under 40, so, yeah, already a plus for me. The game is a little bit of worker placement, and a little bit of resource management. Essentially, you either send your gang members out to do things (crimes for rep, attack other gangs, hit the streets for cash, etc) or you hold them back at your hideout for defense. It was clean, had clear decisions, and a bit of the push/pull score system in Cosmic Encounter (first gang to 13 rep wins, so the leader gets a target on their back).
As for the theme, I really didn't see anything wrong with it. Talking with the designer, this was absolutely the world he grew up in (and it's one I, personally, am not unfamiliar with). Hell, the game could have been Italian mobs in the 20's and nothing would change, except the number of complaints.
-Boom - this was an incredibly light, simple, fast card game with zero interaction between players. Didn't think I was going to like it, but our entire group loved it. You have a deck of cards, when the game starts, you flip three, put TNT to the side, get a single number to collect, and then repeat as fast as possible. It's like speed, solo war in a way. At the end, 10 TNT or more gets you a point, the first person to build three sets gets a point, and the person with the most TNT gets a point. Shuffle the cards, do it again 5 times. Not sure if I'd pay for it, but, as a 5 minute filler game, I'd be up to play.
-Spellbound Books - the big loss of the con. The game was so good, definitely the one game I would have paid right on the spot for, and it was still very much in development stage (paper cards, little plastic placeholder blocks, etc). Essentially, you have a 4x4 stack of colored blocks, representing books, each color being a different subject. Customers would come in, looking for a specific set (eg. 2 red, 1 white, 1 green). As long as you had the set either in a single column, or along your top row, you could 'sell' it, getting the points for the customer. On your turn, you could perform actions to move the blocks around, flipping stacks, or swapping with other players. Really was an awesome translation of a matching sets puzzle game.
The bad news is that the designer got hired at a company, his contract starting in 10 days. If he couldn't find a publisher by then, he woudln't be able to put it out (unless his new employer decided to publish it). So, yeah, awesome, great game, but will never be seen.
Of course, there were a number of misses, too...but you can't win them all. Sometimes you just have to sit there struggling through a terrible game while the most uninteresting guy tries to explain rules that supposedly he created....for an hour....
Other than that, we had fantastic games of Red Dragon Inn and Two Rooms and a Boom, so, yeah, great convention. Oh, and I got Tales of Arabian Night in a great trade...which brings us to this weekend...
Well, this past week, really. We've played Arabian Nights three times so far, and every time has been incredible. Yeah, I understand people who say it's not really a game, and, ultimately, it is a giant choose your own adventure, but the resulting stories are just fantastic. If you like story-based games (and are fine giving up a lot of control of your fate) definitely play this. I think Quin's review on SUSD is really dead on.
Yesterday we also pulled out Ember, a game I just got from a kickstarter. There are 24 hours left on the final Ember kickstarter, so if you're interested, this would be the time to hit it. If you don't have anything Ember, the pledge level you want is "Kitchen Sink" (as this KS is just for an expansion).
It's a card game where you collect sets (the deck is a standard deck of cards, 4 suits, 13 in each suit, plus a few wilds) then use those sets to buy creatures. The creatures are worth VP, and also have triggerable abilities (tap to draw a card, increase the VP of another creature, steal a card, etc). There was a lot of MTG feel to it, with phases of turns and the tapping mechanic, and there was a bit of fiddliness, but everyone in our group (two of whom aren't big MTG fans) loved it. Below is part of a play report of a 50 point game I posted in the KS comments:
First, a week ago was the San Diego board game convention Kingdom-Con. I spent three days there, mostly in the unpub section trying to hit as many games as possible. Really was a great time, and hit a few games that I really enjoyed. The three standouts:
-Thug Life - ok, so this one has gotten a lot of flak because of the name and theme, but the game was really good. When I asked how long it played, and he said 30 minutes, I was skeptical, but even with the instruction, it ended up being just under 40, so, yeah, already a plus for me. The game is a little bit of worker placement, and a little bit of resource management. Essentially, you either send your gang members out to do things (crimes for rep, attack other gangs, hit the streets for cash, etc) or you hold them back at your hideout for defense. It was clean, had clear decisions, and a bit of the push/pull score system in Cosmic Encounter (first gang to 13 rep wins, so the leader gets a target on their back).
As for the theme, I really didn't see anything wrong with it. Talking with the designer, this was absolutely the world he grew up in (and it's one I, personally, am not unfamiliar with). Hell, the game could have been Italian mobs in the 20's and nothing would change, except the number of complaints.
-Boom - this was an incredibly light, simple, fast card game with zero interaction between players. Didn't think I was going to like it, but our entire group loved it. You have a deck of cards, when the game starts, you flip three, put TNT to the side, get a single number to collect, and then repeat as fast as possible. It's like speed, solo war in a way. At the end, 10 TNT or more gets you a point, the first person to build three sets gets a point, and the person with the most TNT gets a point. Shuffle the cards, do it again 5 times. Not sure if I'd pay for it, but, as a 5 minute filler game, I'd be up to play.
-Spellbound Books - the big loss of the con. The game was so good, definitely the one game I would have paid right on the spot for, and it was still very much in development stage (paper cards, little plastic placeholder blocks, etc). Essentially, you have a 4x4 stack of colored blocks, representing books, each color being a different subject. Customers would come in, looking for a specific set (eg. 2 red, 1 white, 1 green). As long as you had the set either in a single column, or along your top row, you could 'sell' it, getting the points for the customer. On your turn, you could perform actions to move the blocks around, flipping stacks, or swapping with other players. Really was an awesome translation of a matching sets puzzle game.
The bad news is that the designer got hired at a company, his contract starting in 10 days. If he couldn't find a publisher by then, he woudln't be able to put it out (unless his new employer decided to publish it). So, yeah, awesome, great game, but will never be seen.
Of course, there were a number of misses, too...but you can't win them all. Sometimes you just have to sit there struggling through a terrible game while the most uninteresting guy tries to explain rules that supposedly he created....for an hour....
Other than that, we had fantastic games of Red Dragon Inn and Two Rooms and a Boom, so, yeah, great convention. Oh, and I got Tales of Arabian Night in a great trade...which brings us to this weekend...
Well, this past week, really. We've played Arabian Nights three times so far, and every time has been incredible. Yeah, I understand people who say it's not really a game, and, ultimately, it is a giant choose your own adventure, but the resulting stories are just fantastic. If you like story-based games (and are fine giving up a lot of control of your fate) definitely play this. I think Quin's review on SUSD is really dead on.
Yesterday we also pulled out Ember, a game I just got from a kickstarter. There are 24 hours left on the final Ember kickstarter, so if you're interested, this would be the time to hit it. If you don't have anything Ember, the pledge level you want is "Kitchen Sink" (as this KS is just for an expansion).
It's a card game where you collect sets (the deck is a standard deck of cards, 4 suits, 13 in each suit, plus a few wilds) then use those sets to buy creatures. The creatures are worth VP, and also have triggerable abilities (tap to draw a card, increase the VP of another creature, steal a card, etc). There was a lot of MTG feel to it, with phases of turns and the tapping mechanic, and there was a bit of fiddliness, but everyone in our group (two of whom aren't big MTG fans) loved it. Below is part of a play report of a 50 point game I posted in the KS comments:
Our Descent group did the tutorial campaign of the Road to Legend app yesterday and it was great, probably the most fun we've had with Descent.
Any advice on which campaign to do next? (Note: we don't have the original Nerekhall box)? Also thinking on getting a mini-expansion for more heroes and monster variety, suggestions welcome.
Any advice on which campaign to do next? (Note: we don't have the original Nerekhall box)? Also thinking on getting a mini-expansion for more heroes and monster variety, suggestions welcome.
Well, you just forced me to spend like $60 on the kitchen sink version. This had better be the best card game ever or it's YOUR FAULT.
isaacnukem
Member
Hello there. Are there any fun games like Avalon?
Went to a tournament for Destiny and I had a little bit of a maddening experience.
I went against someone who took nearly 5-6 minutes per TURN. They werent a new player either, so it frustrated me a little bit. Not really sure what was going on, but I didnt want to say anything and be rude. But it really did have a factor on the game since it went to time and if I would have had maybe 1-2 more turns, I would have won.
On top of that, the person I was playing against kind of got help from another player while we were getting through the last round. Really not cool imo, but its what ever.
I went against someone who took nearly 5-6 minutes per TURN. They werent a new player either, so it frustrated me a little bit. Not really sure what was going on, but I didnt want to say anything and be rude. But it really did have a factor on the game since it went to time and if I would have had maybe 1-2 more turns, I would have won.
On top of that, the person I was playing against kind of got help from another player while we were getting through the last round. Really not cool imo, but its what ever.
toddhunter
Member
Hi, Yes. Popular games like Avalon include variants of werewolf, spyfall, two rooms and a boom, a fake artist goes to new york, mysterium ... it really branches out into hundreds of more games depending on why you exactly liked Avalon.
Just don't buy Quadropolis, it sucks.
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
yeah you gotta speak up there a bit.
"Hey man, not meaning to rush you, but we are on a timer here, and I'd really like to complete the game if we can." If it continues to take a while, call over the TO.
lol wtf!? Was this a real tournament with entry fee and prizes and everything? Because that sounds sort of whatever for a no-stakes environment but for a tournament that's kinda messed up.
Actually had a great time at a Destiny tournament myself today. Finished 2/16 on tiebreakers. My Han/Rey is in so-so shape for SoR and was able to handle the new stuff pretty well but Vader/whatever and Vibroknife is NASTY. To me that is the biggest puzzle to solve rn in Destiny, by far, since the most powerful deck got even stronger. I wish there was at least like a melee Deflect or something but I've wanted that since Awakenings.
I just had one game go to time (and not b/c slow-play or anything, just lots of heath on the board) where I got to use Rey to poke Han's Second Chance away to regen five health and really lock in the win. Turns out I would have won regardless but I've always wanted to do that. lol wtf!? Was this a real tournament with entry fee and prizes and everything? Because that sounds sort of whatever for a no-stakes environment but for a tournament that's kinda messed up.
Actually had a great time at a Destiny tournament myself today. Finished 2/16 on tiebreakers. My Han/Rey is in so-so shape for SoR and was able to handle the new stuff pretty well but Vader/whatever and Vibroknife is NASTY. To me that is the biggest puzzle to solve rn in Destiny, by far, since the most powerful deck got even stronger. I wish there was at least like a melee Deflect or something but I've wanted that since Awakenings.
Yeah it was for prizes. That person ended up going 3-1 too. Very fishy if you ask me. I see this person all the time at our LGS playing. Really dont understand how someone could take that long per turn. I promise you im not over exaggerating.
I get that we were using new cards... but if youre really having that much trouble making a decision, please just choose something and go. And having your friend come up from behind and kind of coach you is a whole new level of bullshit.
I really should have done that considering the judge is one of the guys im closest with at the LGS. I just didnt want to be rude. Plus nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I really didnt know how to handle it. I tried to hide my frustration, but after the friend came up to help a tiny bit, thats really what got me. It wasnt a huge amount of coaching or anything, but in a game that close, after having to deal with someone stalling, any little tiny bit of help is total bullshit.
Well, you just forced me to spend like $60 on the kitchen sink version. This had better be the best card game ever or it's YOUR FAULT.
well, now is when I tell you that the game is sort of mediocre....
but not really.
I honestly wasn't expecting much when I first backed it, but I liked the art and was willing to give it a shot. My wife and I played a 1 on 1 with the old rules, and it seemed fun enough, rather light, collect a set, buy a creature, activate the creature's power to help you get the next set and buy the next creature. Fun enough, we played a game to 15, which was labeled as the short goal, and it went quickly.
Then we did a four player game, mixed in the creatures from the "From the Ashes" set, played by the new rules, and set the score to 40. It instantly got so much more fun (for us) with trying to chain abilities, to go for major card draw, to build a field of hand disruption.
I wouldn't call it the best card game ever, but it really surprised all of us, definitely a KS win for me.
Yeah it's total bullshit and honestly half the challenge of the game is just finding every little advantage and combo you can while under pressure. I mean look at some of the finalists at Worlds even making mistakes just after being so burned out mentally. The advantage of having third-party coaching is enormous. But I could also see just being like ugh w/e not worth the drama. Maybe if you didn't feel comfortable calling the guy out right there you could mention it to the TO so that he's more vigilant about it or at least knows what's up if someone else complains later rather than having it be just whose side do you believe.
Yeah im gonna keep that in mind next time it happens. I didnt want to cause a scene, and it was so close that I thought I couldve still won despite it.
What makes me mad is that its the same person that always wins and the two of them both got into the prize pool. Ive never gotten prizes at this LGS. It really bums me out that the people who dont need any packs end up getting them all, especially when your first win was a stall.
So, my little brother is playing dark souls for the first time and since he likes it so much he now wants to get the board game as well. I haven't followed that particular kickstarter so I'm not sure if it even should be out already, but it doesn't appear to be available in Germany (yet?).
Anyone here can tell me when or if it can be bought officially? Quick Google search did nothing for me...
Anyone here can tell me when or if it can be bought officially? Quick Google search did nothing for me...
Picking up Hive Pocket to take on my honeymoon at the end of the month. We already own (and love) the regular-sized version but I'm getting Pocket for the expansion pieces as well as to have more real estate available to us in our luggage.
Would anyone care to recommend some other 2-player games that are small in size?
Would anyone care to recommend some other 2-player games that are small in size?
One Foul Note
Member
I can't help with the German market, but in the UK at least it launched the 21st of April. Although I had a chat with a Steamforged rep at a tradeshow a few weeks back and he had the impression it would be available mid to late May for the general public (the 21st date is for KS backers mainly).
We took Tide of Madness with us last vacation, I also heard lot of good things about Jaipur
destiny worlds was an incredible experience. went 3-3.
I was running Jabba Dooku that was a bit more aggro than normal, but not the melee variant you've seen around.
game 1 v Vader Raider - this was like a stream-worthy game. He had Vader rolled out with like 3-2-+2-3/1.. either jabba or dooku was going down.. except vader had 5 damage on him.. and I was rolled out with Force Throw special, mind probe (blank) dooku's dice and +3 showing on Kylo's saber. ooh... and two focus on jabba with All In in hand (that I kept from opening hand for three turns). I KNEW against vader I would need an all in blowout to stay in the game and I got it. 9 damage on vader (he had a shield) and 2 on Raider with my all in.
game 2 v bala trooper trooper nightsister - so here is my weakness. I am HORRIBLE at dealing with 4 player decks.. and this was no different.. I did kill bala.. but that was it.. he burned me down within 4 rounds.
game 3 v eBala Jango Trooper - this is kind of a sore match for me. I made some mistakes that I should have known better on. First, he played the damn "deal 1 unblockable damage" BF.. which I am not used to.. so I split damage up very minor (2 damage on dooku) to make his job harder. I also killed jango early and started on bala. Mistake.. he kept bala well shielded.. and with the trooper alive and guns rolled in, it allowed him to unpredictable into tactical mastery into tactical mastery.. giving him 3 rerolls (well, one die and two rerolls) which put 9 damage on the board. Had I NOT split damage with the BF.. he would have had to kill jabba (which he almost did to start). But then he caught it and killed dooku.. this game got to me mentally.. which I shouldn't have let it.. I just don't handle making mistakes well..
game 4 v ePoe eRey so nicest guy in the world from Spain on this one. And it was a straight up guns deck.. so I got this one, right??!? Well, I don't think it was from my mental drain from the other game... but either way... my die rolls were awful.. and I ended up with 8 damage on Poe at the end. That was all of my damage. Well 10 total including field medic.. but yeah, I just didn't have upgrades and couldn't roll out damage.
supper.. I really cleared my head. helped that I am now in the loser bracket
game 5 v mirror match we were both pretty much hitting everything. both had holocrons, both got out our mind probes and force throws.. it was basically a game of chicken that I managed to win. fun game overall.
game 6 v Vader Raider omg.. ok.. so they start the round and I have no opponent.. I call a judge over and he says he still has 3 mins before being disqualified.. the guy comes kind of stumbling over with a drink in hand. I also recognized him from before lunch because he was going into this tirade then about how shit this game was.. it was all luck.. any idiot can reroll dice til they get what they need, etc. So again, everything is coming up great for me. I have the control in my hand when I need it.. he actually rolled fine, but I just always had answers, while still being able to get dooku built up with kylo's, mind probe and force throw, and then a mind probe on jabba for good measure. so by the end I had a round where he rolled out and caught the Force Throw ranged, and I deflected it. So he rerolled and caught the Mind Probe ranged, and I deflected it.. then he says "go ahead. I can fucking do this alllllll day long.." and it was basically "ok, keep my head down, play the game, and don't give him fuel". I won, he cleaned up his stuff going on a second tirade now about how his collection is instantly going up on ebay.. there is no skill to this game and FFG fucked it up with power creep and no playtesting.. etc..
so an interesting day. Still loved it, and absolutely going to try and go back next year (i.e. I am planning to go.. just hope I get tickets again).. But a pretty poor game by me and a bad final match put a bit of a cloud over what started out as an amazing day. So still great.
played the multiplayer matches on Wednesday. There is a LOT of room needed to fix that format. Well, the free for all format. First, if you end up on a 3 player table.. it's just shit. Instantly it turns into 2 on 1.. and there isn't much to do about it. It's not like the two are colluding.. you just can only spread the damage around so much before it start hurting you. even in the four player matches... too much wheeling and dealing for first and second. I mean it's fine if that's what the format is.. but to go into a game that's entirely solo and then "oh btw you HAVE TO make deals here to get through" is jolting. I've seen a number of alternatives offered to free for all which sound really great.. hopefully we see some of those come out officially, or at least take off unofficially.
ended up with 30 prize tickets and used them on a store champ mat, vader and boba film cards for X-Wing (lol that I had no idea were worth $100 and $150 respectively) and Rey's film card for X-Wing.. also got an Imperial Assault threat dial with the plan of using it for Destiny health.. but then realized only one wouldn't do me much good.. sigh..
so yeah.. great time. totally going back. hoping if I go 3-3 next year that I go WLLW to stay in the middle of the pack.. would seem to hopefully fend of the people who are just pissed and not having fun anymore.
hoping we have a tournament tonight.. I know the store still had a couple of boxes.. and the scene there has been dead for weeks now. Would love to see some life come back.
My SoR pulls were good news and bad news. 3 boxes and I had a near perfect distribution of LGs. The only two I didn't get were Obi-Wan and Chewie, both of whom I already pulled in packs from Worlds and pre-release!! I ended up missing 3 rares, 2 uncommons, and only missing 1 other uncommon for a full playset (sadly Fast Hands) So I grabbed a fourth box and... continued perfect distribution on rares. I now have a playset of 9 LGs (and enough credit to have ordered the rest from CSI except U-Wing which they were out of and Force Speed which I am going to try to trade for)
So that's the good.. the bad is my rares.. I am missing a lot of key play sets for rares. Vibroknife and Ventress are definitely the most painful. Beyond that C-3PO, Lone Operative, Con Artist, FN-2199, Death Trooper and Rebel Commando all hurt (those last two I only have one copy of each)
so yeah.. it's like.. yay for having a complete playset of LGs when my CSI order arrives (except for Force Speed and U-Wing.. the latter which I am probably trading for on Wednesday).. but man.. I am missing 20 something rares for a full playset.. including some key ones I really need for the decks I want to make.
I was running Jabba Dooku that was a bit more aggro than normal, but not the melee variant you've seen around.
game 1 v Vader Raider - this was like a stream-worthy game. He had Vader rolled out with like 3-2-+2-3/1.. either jabba or dooku was going down.. except vader had 5 damage on him.. and I was rolled out with Force Throw special, mind probe (blank) dooku's dice and +3 showing on Kylo's saber. ooh... and two focus on jabba with All In in hand (that I kept from opening hand for three turns). I KNEW against vader I would need an all in blowout to stay in the game and I got it. 9 damage on vader (he had a shield) and 2 on Raider with my all in.
game 2 v bala trooper trooper nightsister - so here is my weakness. I am HORRIBLE at dealing with 4 player decks.. and this was no different.. I did kill bala.. but that was it.. he burned me down within 4 rounds.
game 3 v eBala Jango Trooper - this is kind of a sore match for me. I made some mistakes that I should have known better on. First, he played the damn "deal 1 unblockable damage" BF.. which I am not used to.. so I split damage up very minor (2 damage on dooku) to make his job harder. I also killed jango early and started on bala. Mistake.. he kept bala well shielded.. and with the trooper alive and guns rolled in, it allowed him to unpredictable into tactical mastery into tactical mastery.. giving him 3 rerolls (well, one die and two rerolls) which put 9 damage on the board. Had I NOT split damage with the BF.. he would have had to kill jabba (which he almost did to start). But then he caught it and killed dooku.. this game got to me mentally.. which I shouldn't have let it.. I just don't handle making mistakes well..
game 4 v ePoe eRey so nicest guy in the world from Spain on this one. And it was a straight up guns deck.. so I got this one, right??!? Well, I don't think it was from my mental drain from the other game... but either way... my die rolls were awful.. and I ended up with 8 damage on Poe at the end. That was all of my damage. Well 10 total including field medic.. but yeah, I just didn't have upgrades and couldn't roll out damage.
supper.. I really cleared my head. helped that I am now in the loser bracket
game 5 v mirror match we were both pretty much hitting everything. both had holocrons, both got out our mind probes and force throws.. it was basically a game of chicken that I managed to win. fun game overall.
game 6 v Vader Raider omg.. ok.. so they start the round and I have no opponent.. I call a judge over and he says he still has 3 mins before being disqualified.. the guy comes kind of stumbling over with a drink in hand. I also recognized him from before lunch because he was going into this tirade then about how shit this game was.. it was all luck.. any idiot can reroll dice til they get what they need, etc. So again, everything is coming up great for me. I have the control in my hand when I need it.. he actually rolled fine, but I just always had answers, while still being able to get dooku built up with kylo's, mind probe and force throw, and then a mind probe on jabba for good measure. so by the end I had a round where he rolled out and caught the Force Throw ranged, and I deflected it. So he rerolled and caught the Mind Probe ranged, and I deflected it.. then he says "go ahead. I can fucking do this alllllll day long.." and it was basically "ok, keep my head down, play the game, and don't give him fuel". I won, he cleaned up his stuff going on a second tirade now about how his collection is instantly going up on ebay.. there is no skill to this game and FFG fucked it up with power creep and no playtesting.. etc..
so an interesting day. Still loved it, and absolutely going to try and go back next year (i.e. I am planning to go.. just hope I get tickets again).. But a pretty poor game by me and a bad final match put a bit of a cloud over what started out as an amazing day. So still great.
played the multiplayer matches on Wednesday. There is a LOT of room needed to fix that format. Well, the free for all format. First, if you end up on a 3 player table.. it's just shit. Instantly it turns into 2 on 1.. and there isn't much to do about it. It's not like the two are colluding.. you just can only spread the damage around so much before it start hurting you. even in the four player matches... too much wheeling and dealing for first and second. I mean it's fine if that's what the format is.. but to go into a game that's entirely solo and then "oh btw you HAVE TO make deals here to get through" is jolting. I've seen a number of alternatives offered to free for all which sound really great.. hopefully we see some of those come out officially, or at least take off unofficially.
ended up with 30 prize tickets and used them on a store champ mat, vader and boba film cards for X-Wing (lol that I had no idea were worth $100 and $150 respectively) and Rey's film card for X-Wing.. also got an Imperial Assault threat dial with the plan of using it for Destiny health.. but then realized only one wouldn't do me much good.. sigh..
so yeah.. great time. totally going back. hoping if I go 3-3 next year that I go WLLW to stay in the middle of the pack.. would seem to hopefully fend of the people who are just pissed and not having fun anymore.
hoping we have a tournament tonight.. I know the store still had a couple of boxes.. and the scene there has been dead for weeks now. Would love to see some life come back.
My SoR pulls were good news and bad news. 3 boxes and I had a near perfect distribution of LGs. The only two I didn't get were Obi-Wan and Chewie, both of whom I already pulled in packs from Worlds and pre-release!! I ended up missing 3 rares, 2 uncommons, and only missing 1 other uncommon for a full playset (sadly Fast Hands) So I grabbed a fourth box and... continued perfect distribution on rares. I now have a playset of 9 LGs (and enough credit to have ordered the rest from CSI except U-Wing which they were out of and Force Speed which I am going to try to trade for)
So that's the good.. the bad is my rares.. I am missing a lot of key play sets for rares. Vibroknife and Ventress are definitely the most painful. Beyond that C-3PO, Lone Operative, Con Artist, FN-2199, Death Trooper and Rebel Commando all hurt (those last two I only have one copy of each)
so yeah.. it's like.. yay for having a complete playset of LGs when my CSI order arrives (except for Force Speed and U-Wing.. the latter which I am probably trading for on Wednesday).. but man.. I am missing 20 something rares for a full playset.. including some key ones I really need for the decks I want to make.
I prefer 7 Wonders Duel to Jaipur, but both games involve screwing your opponent, and not the fun honeymoon kind.
I'd say the second or third Valley of Kings expansion are even smaller, less mean than the base game, and work well with 2. Deck building.
Tiny Epic Galaxies can work with 2 and you can choose not to be super mean. Tableau building.
Biblios is slightly bigger than these, like 5"x8", but still small and works with 2, it's a point collecting and bidding game.
If you want something co-op, Burgle Bros is maybe 4"x7", bank heist puzzle.
Dungeon Roll is a lightweight push your luck dice game and doesn't involve attacking your opponent that I remember.
Have fun, start safe, and I hope this helps!
Hahaha that last bit reminds me of the worst parts of the Destiny community (not really locally thankfully -- just played four great opponents in a tournament yesterday -- though the KoR guy who whinges about randomness and has never lost a game fairly is up north so not totally clean). The other games sound great but that's kind of messed up you had to go out like that. I think part of it is also just flying down for only six games potentially makes people tilt even harder. By the end of Netrunner it was like ten hours and no one even had the energy to tilt at all hahah, but six games is like a medium-size tournament length here. I could even see whinging lightly during a match about bad rolls or good rolls for your opponent or whatever, but at the end if you plan on playing competitively you just gotta have an off switch for that stuff or you will constantly be tilting hard instead of playing your best. The funny thing is you know he won't give it up like he promised and instead just go back to local tourneys, and probably not winning those, and still blaming it on the dice and cards when in reality it's probably a mix of that and a lack of skill/deck quality for the top levels.
yeah I was talking to this girl while we were waiting for standings to go up after game 4, and we hear this tirade going on and kind of uncomfortably look back at this guy and then both look at each other like "ummmmmmmmmm......"
I think in this particular case, I mean he even said he did the side events.. but if you played on Day 1A the only side event you had was multiplayer free for all on Wednesday which for many wasn't a really great experience. The people who took the most away from that were ones who actually designed multiplayer decks (talking to one guy on facebook were he intentionally made the least threatening deck possible to then work out deals to get second place in his matches.. brilliant heh..) So if, in this case, the guy didn't have a great multiplayer experience (mine was just so so), and then went on to like 2-4 or 1-5 on Thursday.. I get being salty.. but kind of like you're saying.. all the time, energy and money you've put in to making this happen.. is this how you want to end it?
Day 1B players fared WAY better. They opened up 8 person pods on Thursday like right at the start of Day 1A (really?!?!?!?????) so any 1B players had that going all day. Then they told us "so run over after Day 1 finishes and get in on a pod" and it's like "umm... that's literally a 5-8 minute run.. or getting in the car to drive around the block.. fuck that" and apparently some DID go over to the Raddison only to be told that the pods were finished up... So yeah, us Day 1A players sort of got screwed on side events.. whereas Day 1B players had a pretty solid day of Destiny before their Worlds.
The staff challenges were also a little annoying, only because the staff were playing full on SoR decks.. heh.. and all of us there on Wednesday had very little SoR (I only had the three pre-release packs and my 6 packs from worlds) And man.... Much of Awakenings is NOT competitive against SoR. Call it power creep or whatever you want.. but Maz, FN-2199, Emperor (resolve plus damage).. I'd go so far to say that Awakenings was an incomplete set I mean the game at this point is AW and SOR. If you have just SOR you should be able to make due. But if you only have AW, you are going to have an uphill battle.
I think in this particular case, I mean he even said he did the side events.. but if you played on Day 1A the only side event you had was multiplayer free for all on Wednesday which for many wasn't a really great experience. The people who took the most away from that were ones who actually designed multiplayer decks (talking to one guy on facebook were he intentionally made the least threatening deck possible to then work out deals to get second place in his matches.. brilliant heh..) So if, in this case, the guy didn't have a great multiplayer experience (mine was just so so), and then went on to like 2-4 or 1-5 on Thursday.. I get being salty.. but kind of like you're saying.. all the time, energy and money you've put in to making this happen.. is this how you want to end it?
Day 1B players fared WAY better. They opened up 8 person pods on Thursday like right at the start of Day 1A (really?!?!?!?????) so any 1B players had that going all day. Then they told us "so run over after Day 1 finishes and get in on a pod" and it's like "umm... that's literally a 5-8 minute run.. or getting in the car to drive around the block.. fuck that" and apparently some DID go over to the Raddison only to be told that the pods were finished up... So yeah, us Day 1A players sort of got screwed on side events.. whereas Day 1B players had a pretty solid day of Destiny before their Worlds.
The staff challenges were also a little annoying, only because the staff were playing full on SoR decks.. heh.. and all of us there on Wednesday had very little SoR (I only had the three pre-release packs and my 6 packs from worlds) And man.... Much of Awakenings is NOT competitive against SoR. Call it power creep or whatever you want.. but Maz, FN-2199, Emperor (resolve plus damage).. I'd go so far to say that Awakenings was an incomplete set
I mean the game at this point is AW and SOR. If you have just SOR you should be able to make due. But if you only have AW, you are going to have an uphill battle.I kept looking for reasons to ignore Arkham Horror LCG, checking reviews, people complaining, and all the bad I could find meant nothing to me. It was just stock issues or too little deck building compared to LOTR, which is honestly a positive to me since it sounds like Arkham is way more story focused. Everyone seems to be glowing over this here so...
I went to a local shop and bought everything they had left
of course they had to be out of the base game
edit: ordered one from cool stuff just now
I went to a local shop and bought everything they had left
of course they had to be out of the base game
edit: ordered one from cool stuff just now
Deception, Good Cop Bad Cop, and Secret Hitler all fit the bill.
if you plan to play with more than 2 players don't forget to stand a second core set.I kept looking for reasons to ignore Arkham Horror LCG, checking reviews, people complaining, and all the bad I could find meant nothing to me. It was just stock issues or too little deck building compared to LOTR, which is honestly a positive to me since it sounds like Arkham is way more story focused. Everyone seems to be glowing over this here so...
I went to a local shop and bought everything they had left
of course they had to be out of the base game
edit: ordered one from cool stuff just now
cooltrainer
Member
Hanamikoji is a pretty neat game in a small box. It's very simple and has room for clever interesting plays. It's a little bit like Battle Line or Lost Cities but plays faster and is a lot less cutthroat.
Got my 2nd box of destiny sor today. Pulled a palp. Problem is I need another one lol. I have a krennic for trade, but palp is like 20 dollars more than krennic for some stupid reason.
Also got a 2nd force lightning, so I guess the game is telling me to play palp?
I also got a second ig88 so i might run him and fn this friday at the tournament. Im also in love with aurra sing but she has less health than ig88
Also got a 2nd force lightning, so I guess the game is telling me to play palp?
I also got a second ig88 so i might run him and fn this friday at the tournament. Im also in love with aurra sing but she has less health than ig88
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
Ammo Belt + second chance is stupid broken
I've not personally tried 2-player Citadels, but I've never heard Citadels recommended strongly for 2 players. It's a game that revolves around everyone selecting a role each round, and I imagine the 2-player version involves something odd like a dummy player. It would also feel weird because some character abilities are things like "make another player skip their entire turn".
2 player Citadels plays well IMO - no dummy player, instead each player takes two role cards, with random role discarded between each pick, so you have nothing close to perfect information. It turns it into a more tactical game, with a different play pattern/thought pattern. With the right person, it's a lot of fun.
Yeah definitely get a second core set of Arkham Horror LCG. The decks you can build with only one are mediocre as hell. Basically there's no options and you just throw everything into there just like the starter decks (w/ a few variations like more neutral skill cards) and it sucks.
RelentlessRolento
Member
Where's the best place to go buy the LotR LCG? I'm having a hard time finding the core set locally :-/
I can order online, but if possible I'd like to pick it up in person.
I can order online, but if possible I'd like to pick it up in person.
looks like both cardhaus.com and coolstuffinc.com have it in stock
Ha.. I would almost say the same thing about Maz Poe. Went 4-0 last night with it. A poor Jango Bala Trooper player who hadn't integrated his SoR yet (the store told us at the last minute it was a tourney. Everyone had casual decks built) looked like he got ran over by a bus after. Fast Hands x2 and Maz's Goggles on Maz turn 1 means for the rest of the game I can roll out Poe on action 1 and resolve both of his dice as soon as I roll out Maz on action 2. If I draw Hit and Run it means I can do ALL of that action 1. I hit the poor guy with Thermal Detonator and Falcon turn 1 to kill his Trooper and leave Bala with 5. And the one game I didn't get Graveyard I got New Orders AFTER my opponent claimed.
I agree with Tiny. I don't think this stuff is broken.. I think we only got ~half the game with Awakenings. Maybe even only 1/3 depending on Empire at War. And I am fine with that, the only problem I see being that someone with just Awakenings right now is pretty screwed.
I also did my good deed for the night. A guy came with only two starters and a box and a half of SoR. He put together an Aurra Deathtrooper deck but was missing ALL of the staple control. Unfortunately we didn't talk until after the tourney started but I still gave him all of the staple yellow cards. Infamous, He Doesn't Like You, Backup Muscle, Armed to the Teeth, etc. sadly I only EVER pulled 3 Electroshocks so I didn't have extras for that (I like to have enough for two decks) but it felt good to give him solid yellow cards from Awakenings. I told him if he was back next week I'd give him a playset of commons and any extra uncommons I could spare which is probably almost a full set with a good part of the way to a play set. I think the only thing he'll be missing are the UCs I could sell to CSI back when for like $.50-2.00 each. So all in and stuff.
RelentlessRolento
Member
sweet thx ^_^
AbsolutBro
Member
This is very, very true. In LotR I often feel like you have to build your deck to suit the scenario you are playing. One scenario may be full of enemies that require chump blocking or need to be dragged down really quickly lest your threat skyrocket to 50 and you lose. Another scenario will have next to no enemies and require the ability to rapidly remove locations from the staging area, where your allies for chump blocking are suddenly not so great. It is more problem/solution oriented deck building.
The XP system for Arkham means that as you tailor your deck, you do so to deal with all kinds of situations. Cards generally have to be considered not just for their actual play effect, but also for the skill icons they provide. There is a much greater focus on the narrative in Arkham, as the game feels more like a city or town rather than a series of places like LotR does.
I've had this on my wanted list for a long time but it's impossible to find locally. Is it out of print?
LoTR to me creates a weird meta situation that is almost like playing magic or something. I spent a lot of time building decks and hitting my head against certain quests and stuff. It was really fun for that.
Arkham is way more about characters and story. I do deckbuild and as more stuff comes out you can deck build more, but a lot of it is more about making a character and playing the game.
Arkham is way more about characters and story. I do deckbuild and as more stuff comes out you can deck build more, but a lot of it is more about making a character and playing the game.
BattleMonkey
Member
Deckbuilding is a big part of LOTR. Lot of scenarios are trial and error and especially with difficulty levels adjusting, you will need to fine tune decks for scenarios. You really can't just make a deck and play through all the scenarios. Also it's not just about building your deck, big part of LOTR is building your decks as a group with the other players to create synergy. Like a RPG group, where players are assigned roles, you want to build decks to work well with each, cover each others weaknesses, and even at times to follow RPG tropes of tanking, ranged damage, healing, etc.
I would say this applies to AHLCG completely as well. I think the "make a character and play through the story" is perfectly acceptable on Easy. but standard or higher, deckbuilding absolutely comes into play. Pretty sure Hard wasn't even doable until a few packs into Dunwich at best
It was between print runs for a while, but it just recently (in the past week or so) came back in stock on CoolStuff
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/234173