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[Brashnir]

Yea local store had Death Angel Space Hulk, seems sold out in most online shops and knowing FFG, restocks will take a while.

I finally got my pre-order, only there was a problem.

They shipped me a case of the game. Six copies. So now I and all my gaming friends are proud owners of Space Hulkeath Angel.

Since the box literally arrived on my doorstep as I was preparing to head out for some gaming, I didn't have time to review the rules beforehand so we didn't play it. I did try it out solo a bit when I got home, and managed to lose several times. On two out of 5 plays I managed to get to the final room and get a die roll to win the game, but both times I failed to get a good enough roll to win it, and was promptly swarmed and killed on my next turn.

It seems that I always have horrible luck on turn 2 for some reason. Every single play so far, I've had at least one (and as many as 4) Marines killed on turn 2 - except one time, when I survived turn 2 unscathed, made it to the second location with my squad fully intact, activated the teleportarium, and rolled 0 on 4 out of 5 dice. I only had one support token, but the room was relatively clear and my last event had me add cards to the blip piles so I went for it. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the final location on that playthrough.

Just to make sure I'm playing correctly, the rules say you travel when either blip pile is empty at the end of any phase. I take this to mean that you travel at the end of whatever phase and then after traveling, you resume with whichever phase was next, and don't start the whole turn order over again.

Example - I clear a blip pile during my Action phase, so I complete all my actions, the phase ends, and I travel. After traveling, I resume play with the Genestealer Attack Phase, correct? (As opposed to beginning a new round with the Choose Action Phase.)

 

[MichaelBD]

I had some friends over last night to play a few games. We played:

Battlestar Galactica: I would love this game a whole lot more if it only took two hours to play. Every game has been 3+. Maybe it has to do with our inexperience (every game played has had at least one new player, if not three or four) but the turns flow pretty quickly. It's just that 3rd jump that proves to be the killer.

Anyway, my friend sitting next to me (early on in the game) lifted his arm and his Loyalty card was stuck to it. It fell on his lap and he grabbed it quickly but I saw he was a Cylon (this was before the Sleeper Phase). This was his second time playing and I wasn't sure how to deal with this found information. I felt because I discovered it outside of the norm of the game I should try and "ignore" it until there was some other form of compelling evidence I could use to start pointing the finger of accusation at him. I suppose it's all fair game, but knowing my friend I was afraid if I said, "Dude I just saw your card stuck to your arm and know you are the cylon," he wouldn't have tried to spin it into me blindly accusing him.

Cylons won with only two spaces on the FTL drive to achieve so we could do the high-risk jump. We had the population to spare, but everything else was hovering in the red and around 2.

We also played Dice Town, which is a great and quick filler.

We ended on Pirate's Cove (a Days of Wonder game). It was interesting but not that deep.

I also got my copy of Death Angel yesterday. What a horrible mess of a rule book. They made it so much more complicated than it needed to be. I played 1.5 solo games and was trounced pretty quickly in both. Seems cool.

 

[MichaelBD]

Example - I clear a blip pile during my Action phase, so I complete all my actions, the phase ends, and I travel. After traveling, I resume play with the Genestealer Attack Phase, correct? (As opposed to beginning a new round with the Choose Action Phase.)

That's how I interpreted the rule.

 

[Zaptruder]

I finally got my pre-order, only there was a problem.

They shipped me a case of the game. Six copies. So now I and all my gaming friends are proud owners of Space Hulkeath Angel.

Since the box literally arrived on my doorstep as I was preparing to head out for some gaming, I didn't have time to review the rules beforehand so we didn't play it. I did try it out solo a bit when I got home, and managed to lose several times. On two out of 5 plays I managed to get to the final room and get a die roll to win the game, but both times I failed to get a good enough roll to win it, and was promptly swarmed and killed on my next turn.

It seems that I always have horrible luck on turn 2 for some reason. Every single play so far, I've had at least one (and as many as 4) Marines killed on turn 2 - except one time, when I survived turn 2 unscathed, made it to the second location with my squad fully intact, activated the teleportarium, and rolled 0 on 4 out of 5 dice. I only had one support token, but the room was relatively clear and my last event had me add cards to the blip piles so I went for it. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the final location on that playthrough.

Just to make sure I'm playing correctly, the rules say you travel when either blip pile is empty at the end of any phase. I take this to mean that you travel at the end of whatever phase and then after traveling, you resume with whichever phase was next, and don't start the whole turn order over again.

Example - I clear a blip pile during my Action phase, so I complete all my actions, the phase ends, and I travel. After traveling, I resume play with the Genestealer Attack Phase, correct? (As opposed to beginning a new round with the Choose Action Phase.)

Space Hulk games are balanced hard against the marines to help create the palpable horror and paranoia atmosphere.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

The math trade finished this morning. I got Incan Gold and Forbidden Island for Power Grid and Mission: Planet. This is actually a pretty decent trade because I got both games in other trades and they really don't get played. If I play either one of these games more than twice it would already be worth it.

Besides those two games I bought these should be getting them next week.
Ave Caesar (BGG Auction)
Hive (BGG Auction)
Lords of Vegas
Back to the Future: The Card Game

I should be busy for a little while.

 

[Xater]

So I would like to know what are some easy war games? It seems like Memoir 44 fits the bill, but it really sucks that there is no German manual. Well it's not really a problem for me, but better for my father who does not understand English. He is totally into WW2 so I bet he could get into a game like that. I will check out Duel of the Giants at Essen, that does not seem to be too complicated, but I would still like to know what you guys think?

 

[platypotamus]

So the trade went through at BGG and according to the shipping info, my copy of Ascension should be here Thursday. Hopefully the review I read on BGG that said "It's like Thunderstone, but good" is accurate, since that's the trade I made

 

[Big B]

Went to a board game night at my university and it was all guys. surprise! Played some great games though.

 

[dogbert]

Went to a board game night at my university and it was all guys. surprise! Played some great games though.

Ha. My regular game group has a couple of women that appear pretty often, and I was surprised by just how many women are at BGG.Con - it's definitely predominantly guys, but there's a good strong number of couples there.

 

[Neverfade]

So the trade went through at BGG and according to the shipping info, my copy of Ascension should be here Thursday. Hopefully the review I read on BGG that said "It's like Thunderstone, but good" is accurate, since that's the trade I made

That might be true, but so is "It's like Dominion, but worse." :lol

 

[BattleMonkey]

So I would like to know what are some easy war games? It seems like Memoir 44 fits the bill, but it really sucks that there is no German manual. Well it's not really a problem for me, but better for my father who does not understand English. He is totally into WW2 so I bet he could get into a game like that. I will check out Duel of the Giants at Essen, that does not seem to be too complicated, but I would still like to know what you guys think?

Memoir is very simple though some will say it's not a wargame. Axis and Allies and even Risk kind of are simple war games, though depends on what you are looking for. To many war games are generally much more in depth 2 player affairs with the simplest of them being something like 'Tide of Iron'. 'Conflict of Heroes' is a popular one that is supposedly simpler than many, while the hardcore stuff you probably want to stay away from is ASL

 

[StoOgE]

The math trade finished this morning. I got Incan Gold and Forbidden Island for Power Grid and Mission: Planet. This is actually a pretty decent trade because I got both games in other trades and they really don't get played. If I play either one of these games more than twice it would already be worth it.

Besides those two games I bought these should be getting them next week.
Ave Caesar (BGG Auction)
Hive (BGG Auction)
Lords of Vegas
Back to the Future: The Card Game

I should be busy for a little while.

getting rid of power grid for anything is a terrible trade.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

getting rid of power grid for anything is a terrible trade.

I thought Power Grid was good but I was the only one. Everyone I play with hated it, so away it went.

 

[Neverfade]

Power Grid has a nice set of mechanics. And its so boring.

I know that's very surprising coming from me. :lol

The whole math trade thing blows my fucking mind, even after reading the...uh... "FAQ". Christ, what kind of sadist wrote that thing. I understand LESS now.

Edit: To be clear, I get HOW it works, its just the implementation that's absurdly complex. There's like 5 geeklists and threads and the list generator. Too much shit going on.

 

[platypotamus]

I thought Power Grid was good but I was the only one. Everyone I play with hated it, so away it went.

I'm in kind of the same boat but refuse to part with it. I'll find a Solo variant if I have to!

Edit: To be clear, I get HOW it works, its just the implementation that's absurdly complex. There's like 5 geeklists and threads and the list generator. Too much shit going on.

This is so true. As soon as there's a regular old Math Trade with shipping and stuff I'm going to try to get in on that, but I'm almost certainly going to be bugging you guys with questions. I think I'd have an easier time programming a math trade creation program than I would actually interacting with one on there.

 

[dogbert]

Power Grid has a nice set of mechanics. And its so boring.

I know that's very surprising coming from me. :lol

The whole math trade thing blows my fucking mind, even after reading the...uh... "FAQ". Christ, what kind of sadist wrote that thing. I understand LESS now.

Edit: To be clear, I get HOW it works, its just the implementation that's absurdly complex. There's like 5 geeklists and threads and the list generator. Too much shit going on.

There's usually two geeklists + one thread for discussion.

One geeklist is a "request"' list where people post games they'd be keen to trade for. It's usually a pointless geeklist & completely ignorable. Same with the discussion thread - most people will never post in it, but it's worth reading for any rare drama & just to remember dates etc.

The second geeklist is the real tradelist. When you want to enter an item, this is the geeklist you put your item in, making sure to note the condition of the game, your shipping restrictions (where you'll ship, how much you'll kick in etc).

That's all nice & straightforward. The tricky part is definitely the OLWLG, it's confusing looking but not as difficult as it appears. Basically, the math trade geeklist is mirrored in the tool & any you like you should click on the "add" button. That pops up a list of your own entries so you can choose which you want to offer for it.

Once the math trade is closed for new entries, you get a more complicated chart of items you've picked as wants vs what you've got for trade, so you can limit some offers, widen others etc.

The math behind the tool is relatively simple in the grand scheme of things - it builds up chains, with the tool weighing trades that will generate the most trades overall. It has no clue about value or quality of trades - it's really just down to what will build up trades.

There's other features of the tool that you can use like duplicate protection etc, but that's another more complicated step...

At its core, I don't think math trades are that complicated; the tool is just intimidating looking... Before, people used numbered textfiles which was hard & fiddly.

 

[Volodja]

Man, just came home from an afternoon/evening of boardgames and we only managed to play one game of Dominion, one of Agricola (where I messed up my gameplan royally) and one of Descent.

It was the first time for me playing Descent (and first expansion), same for the other 2 heroes, while the Dungeon Lord had a bit of experience. We ended up losing after 3 or 4 hours, reaching only half of the dungeon.
I have to say that most of this is because of the fact that the scenario started with all the heroes scattered and this hurt us a lot, especially the one guy that had a ranged character.
I've liked the game but the starting situation we faced and the slaughter it resulted into made it kinda hard to get a full grasp on the possibilities.

For the second time I've brought Arkham Horror with me and it was left in its bag, I've yet to try it. Next time, maybe.
We also didn't manage to try Stone Age that a friend of mine just bought, also tomorrow he'll probably buy Race For The Galaxy. I was planning on buying it myself, but this way I can try it before deciding.

Next week will be full of decisions.

 

[AstroLad]

So I would like to know what are some easy war games? It seems like Memoir 44 fits the bill, but it really sucks that there is no German manual. Well it's not really a problem for me, but better for my father who does not understand English. He is totally into WW2 so I bet he could get into a game like that. I will check out Duel of the Giants at Essen, that does not seem to be too complicated, but I would still like to know what you guys think?

Yeah M44 is probably one of the less-liked games here because of its simplicity, but personally I like it a good deal. It's a great game (imo) for playing 2P with someone who's not really a gamer and not looking to play some hours-long epic. One of the only ones out there with those characteristics really. Quick Hitz re M44:
-It is very simple. Your units don't lose attack or defensive power for getting hit and there isn't stuff like cover and the like. That said, there still are several different units, line of sight, etc. do there is basic wargame stuff in there, just not next-level complexity.
-The flavor and theming in the game is excellent imo. Documentation comes with 20 or so scenarios that describe the historical background to each one, and the bits and board are all really nice. Typical Days of Wonder quality.

So it really depends on what you're looking for. A simple board-game with wargame elements and great theming, or a real wargame.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Played BTTF four player. Didn't improve the game.

The playing field is just too dense. You've got maybe 8-10 lynchpins in total, and everyone is trying to flip two of them. With four players, there's guaranteed overlap, so the game will degenerate to do->undo->do->undo->do->undo.

One good change in four player is that you burn through the draw deck fast enough that Rewind cards are a little nerfed. In two player BTTF, it's guaranteed that you'll finish the game before burning through the draw deck, so the optimum strategy is to play one good card and then use the very common Rewind card to continually replay that card out of the discard deck. In four player this is less powerful, because the discard deck is being shuffled into the new draw deck at least a few times in the run of one game. So, that's good.

But in the end I just don't think it's as enjoyable as Chrononauts and the barrier of entry to both is low enough that even non-gamers can jump in with Chrononauts instead of working up to it.

 

[StoOgE]

I really don't get the appeal of BTTF over Chrononauts either from a theme standpoint.

Chrononauts is the kind of thing I could see casual friends really getting behind with it's goofiness.

BTTF is only really going to appeal to hardcore fans of the movies.

I actually have it and Saboteur high on my list for future casual games for parties. I really want to get Bang! now as well.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Many more are going to jump into Back to the Future just because of the name over a generic card game, most will never have tried both games.

 

[platypotamus]

Man, just came home from an afternoon/evening of boardgames and we only managed to play one game of Dominion, one of Agricola (where I messed up my gameplan royally) and one of Descent.

That doesn't sound like an only to me. That's a lot of gaming right there.

 

[AstroLad]

:lol seriously. we got in one game of gric and three of rftg and i consider that a nice full gaming day

 

[StoOgE]

Have to agree.

One "big" game and a couple of shorter games is about all you can hope for in an evening.

You got one big game, one monster of a game and one shorter one.

 

[platypotamus]

Since my primary gaming partners are parents, I'm usually looking at just one game. Maybe 2 rounds if it's a quickie like Dominion or even RftG. Still haven't got them to agree to try Through the Ages.

 

[SapientWolf]

What would be the board game equivalent of Greed Corp? I was surprised to find that it was an original video game and not a board game adaption. It's basically a last man standing, hex based strategy game where you capture tiles in order to mine resources. Those resources can be spent on units, transports, weapons, and mining equipment. The hook is that mining resources destroys tiles, and if you set it up correctly, you can take out a large number of tiles (and possibly knock out a player) in one turn.

It seems like those type of mechanics would make for a fast paced, cut throat game. Are there any beginner-friendly board games that fit that description?

 

[tomjenkins]

Don't know if it's already been mentioned, but I played Therapy: The Game tonight and it was hilarious fun.

 

[platypotamus]

Not really worth it; gets old real fast.

While I kind of agree, there's something about Bang that makes certain casuals really happy. I know some folks who will play Bang pretty much at the drop of a hat, but won't play any other board games :\

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Not really worth it; gets old real fast.

It's fine to play as long as you don't break it out too often. Our group saves it for birthday get-togethers mainly. Banging someone in jail for their birthday is a running joke with us.

On another note, probably the most entertaining review I've read on BGG in quite a while:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/568198/this-game-is-freaking-awesome

If there was an icecream equivalent for board/card games, that game would have an OT thread created by him.

 

[Flynn]

I thought Power Grid was good but I was the only one. Everyone I play with hated it, so away it went.

 

[Daigoro]

good to hear impressions of Death Angel. looks like its turning out to be a pretty popular game. i think im going to pick up a copy this week.

SH is such a brutal game. so hard for Marines. glad the card game seems to have kept things in perspective.

It's a wargame really in a way than a board game, but it works well. Yea combat is diceless, you have combat values on cards that you play while some cards have special abilities and bonuses attached to specific type of units (like a card that you can use on a Titan to breach a wall). The game comes with various scenarios which basically change the set up of the board at the start for some variation. Game has various win conditions and is essentially timed so things can play out in quite a few different ways. Production values are top notch and if your a fan of 40K the game is a real treat. Ton of figures with the game.

thanks. i looked it up and did some reading around. doesnt sound like my cup of tea honestly. id like to try it before i decided to buy it, but that isnt very likely. thanks for the heads up though.

 

[Brashnir]

Space Hulk games are balanced hard against the marines to help create the palpable horror and paranoia atmosphere.

Oh, I'm aware of that and I'm not complaining about the difficulty. I knew it would be brutal going in, and was actually pretty happy that I had a die roll to win 2 out of 5 tries based on what I had heard.

I'm looking forward to playing it with others.

 

[Volodja]

That doesn't sound like an only to me. That's a lot of gaming right there.

Indeed it was. The only was there more to underline how long Descent ended up taking us, eating the whole afternoon between setting it up, explaining, playing and putting it back into the box.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The lack of 'War of Rings' reprint is really tempting me to get the Conan board game, reading the old novels is not helping. I'm jonesing for lamentations.

 

[StoOgE]

So, Carcassonne for Iphone scared the living bejezus out of me last night.

If you haven't played it there is a really deep brittish voice that says "It is now your turn" or something like that.

I had just finished reading At the Mountains of Madness for the evening and was nodding off to sleep when the damned phone screamed at me from my living room. I sprang up and about crapped myself.

In short, screw you Carca for iphone.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Going to be doing Pandemic and Death Angel this Wed night. Holy crap the Death Angel book is stupid confusing in how it's written.

 

[Neverfade]

The lack of 'War of Rings' reprint is really tempting me to get the Conan board game, reading the old novels is not helping. I'm jonesing for lamentations.

Wait for WotR, TRUST ME.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Wait for WotR, TRUST ME.

It's been listed as reprinting forever now, they lie!

 

[Fixed1979]

Thanks for putting this thread together Astro, great OP. Not a board game player by any stretch, I picked up Ticket to Ride and played the first game over the weekend with a few people that were over at the house. It went over really well, so well in fact that one of the people planned on getting their own copy when they flew back home and my bud borrowed my copy the following night for his family game night.

I'll definately be grabbing a couple more off your list for 2 player and another 2-5 player.

Also I wanted to ask where the Candians are ordering there games from. Comparing pricing on Amazon.com vs. Amazon.ca we are getting hosed.

Pandemic
USA - $25.61
CA - $59.99

Arkham Horror
USA - $47.96
CAD - $119.99

Ticket to Ride
USA - $37.74
CAD - $89.99

 

[StoOgE]

It's been listed as reprinting forever now, they lie!

FFG takes forever to do reprints.

My guess is also those little mini's take a while to produce.

 

[StoOgE]

My copy of Making of a President came in today.

The previous owner left all the chits loose in the box so I'm going to have to do an inventory when I get home. The board is also bigger than I expected. It may not fit on my kitchen table :lol

Been going through the book and it looks pretty good. I'm going to the board game thing at the bar tommorow with the girlfriend. I'm going to take Power Grid and see if we can get a game of that going, otherwise I'll bust this out and we'll go 2P on this.

I think if this goes over well I am going to order some denser 2P games for the girlfriend and I. My two player games at this point are either not very good as 2P games or a little on the simple side.

 

[StoOgE]

Also I wanted to ask where the Candians are ordering there games from. Comparing pricing on Amazon.com vs. Amazon.ca we are getting hosed.

Cool Stuff Inc seems to charge about 11 dollars (US) for shipping to Toronto for a single game. Don't know what the costs would be like to other parts of Canada.

But looking at those Amazon Canada prices it would be cheaper to order off of CSI (normally cheaper than Amazon in the US) and pay for shipping to the great white north.

Arkham Horror for example would cost about 53 USD to ship to Canda from their website, much better than 120 CAD. :lol

There are also some "stores" on Boardgamegeek if you go to their marketplace. It looks like small shops that run like ebay storefronts. Some of these are in Canada, though the prices aren't as good and shipping is similar to the coolstuffinc prices.

 

[Evlar]

Don't recall whether you have Agricola, Stooge. I consider it a pretty damn good two-player experience, and it's certainly dense enough.

 

[StoOgE]

Don't recall whether you have Agricola, Stooge. I consider it a pretty damn good two-player experience, and it's certainly dense enough.

I don't. It is one of the (30 or so) games on my want list right now though.

I'm hoping to try it at the girlfriends brothers place soon or failing that at BGG-con.

 

[Xater]

Today I went out trying to buy Battlelore. I decided to get it because Memoir in with English cards might be a dealbreaker for the people I might play with. Sadly I had to learn that the German edition of Battlelore is out of print. don't know if Battle for Westeros will be to my liking. I hope I can try that out at Essen...

 

[BattleMonkey]

Today I went out trying to buy Battlelore. I decided to get it because Memoir in with English cards might be a dealbreaker for the people I might play with. Sadly I had to learn that the German edition of Battlelore is out of print. don't know if Battle for Westeros will be to my liking. I hope I can try that out at Essen...

They are all essentially the same game with a few optional rules. Basic Battlelore is just Memoir, while Memoir is basically just Battlecry. Battlelore just has the fantasy version of the game which adds in a few extra rules for magical things and othe fantasy elements. Battle of Westeros uses same core gameplay as all of them.

 

[StoOgE]

Today I went out trying to buy Battlelore. I decided to get it because Memoir in with English cards might be a dealbreaker for the people I might play with. Sadly I had to learn that the German edition of Battlelore is out of print. don't know if Battle for Westeros will be to my liking. I hope I can try that out at Essen...

There is another game out there called Command and Colors that is also the exact same game with an ancient battle theme. It uses little wooden bits instead of minitures though.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14105/commands-colors-ancients

 

[Bigfoot]

Also I wanted to ask where the Candians are ordering there games from. Comparing pricing on Amazon.com vs. Amazon.ca we are getting hosed.

Pandemic
USA - $25.61
CA - $59.99

Arkham Horror
USA - $47.96
CAD - $119.99

Ticket to Ride
USA - $37.74
CAD - $89.99

I'm new to board gaming but I did my first order from www.germangames.com and plan to do another order soon (posted a thread a few pages back asking for puchase advice but haven't put in the order yet). I looked around and found German Games has the best online prices, they are a Canadian company, and the shipping is a resonable flat rate no matter how much you buy.

For the games you listed above, here are their prices:

Pandemic
$26.95 CAD

Arkham Horror
$48.95 CAD

Ticket to Ride
$42.95 CAD

 

[Xater]

They are all essentially the same game with a few optional rules. Basic Battlelore is just Memoir, while Memoir is basically just Battlecry. Battlelore just has the fantasy version of the game which adds in a few extra rules for magical things and othe fantasy elements. Battle of Westeros uses same core gameplay as all of them.

I know that basic Battlelore is just Memoir that's why I thought it would be nice to have, because there actually exists a German edition. Battles of Westeros doesn't seems to have a "basic" ruleset, which would make it way more complex right from the start. That's why I am kind of on the fence.

@Stooge: Oh wow C&C has a German edition and I can still find it. Now I will have to take a look at the rules. Wooden bits instead of miniatures is not such a big deal for me. Miniatures are nice but I can see block being easier to handle.

 

[StoOgE]

I know that basic Battlelore is just Memoir that's why I thought it would be nice to have, because there actually exists a German edition. Battles of Westeros doesn't seems to have a "basic" ruleset, which would make it way more complex right from the start. That's why I am kind of on the fence.

@Stooge: Oh wow C&C has a German edition and I can still find it. Now I will have to take a look at the rules. Wooden bits instead of miniatures is not such a big deal for me. Miniatures are nice but I can see block being easier to handle.

C&C is the highest rated of that system of games on BGG. That may have a lot to do with it being the originator of the game system.

The same guy designed C&C, then Memoir 44, then Battlelore and now Westeros.

I think C&C is the simplest version of the game as well.