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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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Buy faction decks, don't buy reinforcements. Keeps the game simple and makes it easy to get players into the game. When you add customization to the game, you immediatly put up a wall for any new players, so unless you have a group that all buy decks and customize them, stay away from it. Faction decks are stand alone and need to editing, each player just randomly takes one or chooses what deck to play and you go at it.

Oh def, I subscribe to that mentality 100%, it's just on iOS there was an "everything" bundle that included not only the factions but the reinforcements as well. So since I have them, I feel obligated to at least check them out
 
So, what's everyone's favorite factions to use in Summoner Wars? I've had a chance to try all of the ones available in the iOS version, but have been hesitant to try the reinforcement cards and mercenaries. I am nervous with deck customization, too many flashbacks to MtG :(

So far I am digging the Cloaks, Tundra Orcs, and possibly Fallen Kingdom. Need to play with FK a little more. The Cloaks can be cheap. I abuse the ability of 1 of the common units, if this unit successfully hits but does not kill an enemy, you can teleport other cards of the same unit adjacent to that enemy. Give this to your summoner as well and it can result in the enemy getting surrounded out of nowhere.
I haven't played them all but I've gravitating towards the Fallen Kingdom. I love the Zombie Warrior's ability and the Soul Reaver's ability can be useful.

Is it easy to teach/learn for non-gamers? Pretty much my main criterium for buying good boardgames these days since noone in my group of friends is as much of a boardgamer as me :(

EDIT: I also bought the PC version of Blood Bowl (not team manager) during the steam sale, and.. GODDAMN that game is hard. Not sure if it's the game or my stupidity, but I'm really struggling with it so far lol.
The basics of the game are simple, play a card on a side of the field and if you have more points in a given match up you win that match up. Of course there is more to the game than just that, the players have to deal with upgrades, player abilities, and team building. That can be a bit much for non-gamers but it isn't impossible to teach and learn. You just will need to have players that are willing to give it a try.

Blood Bowl on steam is a digital version of the miniatures game. The rules are a bit difficult to wrap your brain around and even I have trouble with it at certain points. If you were wondering, BB:TM is not as hard as the regular Blood Bowl.
 

mercviper

Member
So, what's everyone's favorite factions to use in Summoner Wars? I've had a chance to try all of the ones available in the iOS version, but have been hesitant to try the reinforcement cards and mercenaries. I am nervous with deck customization, too many flashbacks to MtG :(

So far I am digging the Cloaks, Tundra Orcs, and possibly Fallen Kingdom. Need to play with FK a little more. The Cloaks can be cheap. I abuse the ability of 1 of the common units, if this unit successfully hits but does not kill an enemy, you can teleport other cards of the same unit adjacent to that enemy. Give this to your summoner as well and it can result in the enemy getting surrounded out of nowhere.

Aside from Elves and Orcs, I've only played each faction once or twice, and so far I like the theme/mechanics that the Cloaks, Goblins, and FK use most. Orcs have a strong base deck. Dwarves are OP. Vanguard has a weak base deck. Elves are pretty strong, and look to have strong deck options with the firehounds and precise. I'm somewhat miffed that I can't change the # of events I have in a deck, or replace them with others, but mainly because with goblins I find myself taking out zero cost creatures which reduces effectiveness of the events that only affect zero cost creatures. Would rather replace a couple with more 'gang-up' events. :<

edit: All this talk about Summoner Wars made me think it was the iOS thread. Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space is back in stock @ CSI and I'm looking to fill $15 more in my order. Right now I have that, Innovation + Echoes, plus an Android:Netrunner pre-order. Any suggestions for what I should grab last? Looking @ Carcassonne or Leaders expansion for 7 Wonders, but Carc I'd rather play on iPad and 7 Wonders doesn't hit the table too often where I am. Has anybody played Vaccarino's Nefarious game yet? That's in stock now too and I've been eyeing it for the theme alone.

Link to my gamelist.
 
I haven't played them all but I've gravitating towards the Fallen Kingdom. I love the Zombie Warrior's ability and the Soul Reaver's ability can be useful.
Soul Reavers are the +1 atk for every enemy they kill? I love these guys and will try to base the 1st half of my game to buffing them up

Aside from Elves and Orcs, I've only played each faction once or twice, and so far I like the theme/mechanics that the Cloaks, Goblins, and FK use most. Orcs have a strong base deck. Dwarves are OP. Vanguard has a weak base deck. Elves are pretty strong, and look to have strong deck options with the firehounds and precise. I'm somewhat miffed that I can't change the # of events I have in a deck, or replace them with others, but mainly because with goblins I find myself taking out zero cost creatures which reduces effectiveness of the events that only affect zero cost creatures. Would rather replace a couple with more 'gang-up' events. :<
I'll summon my zero cost guys but it often screws me because my opponent ends up having high mana due to all the easy kills
 
edit: All this talk about Summoner Wars made me think it was the iOS thread. Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space is back in stock @ CSI and I'm looking to fill $15 more in my order. Right now I have that, Innovation + Echoes, plus an Android:Netrunner pre-order. Any suggestions for what I should grab last? Looking @ Carcassonne or Leaders expansion for 7 Wonders, but Carc I'd rather play on iPad and 7 Wonders doesn't hit the table too often where I am. Has anybody played Vaccarino's Nefarious game yet? That's in stock now too and I've been eyeing it for the theme alone.

Link to my gamelist.
If you like 7 Wonders, the Leaders expansion is a no brainer. Easy to implement and adds to the strategy of the game.

Soul Reavers are the +1 atk for every enemy they kill? I love these guys and will try to base the 1st half of my game to buffing them up
That's them. The only downside is they prevent you from acquiring magic which is actually a good way to balance them.
 
Myself and a bunch of friends recently got into Small World (fantastic game btw). Are there any "must have" expansions for it that you guys know of?
 
Myself and a bunch of friends recently got into Small World (fantastic game btw). Are there any "must have" expansions for it that you guys know of?
I would say any of the race expansions are good. Small World Realms also looks neat. It's basically a bunch of map tiles that will allow you to randomize the map. I would stay away from the Legends deck. It does nothing but muck up a perfectly simple game.
 

mercviper

Member
I'll summon my zero cost guys but it often screws me because my opponent ends up having high mana due to all the easy kills

Right, which is why I'm replacing some of them when I customize the deck, which in turn reduces effectiveness of the events that affect zero cost goblins. You also have a limited amount of army size that you can maintain and use, 3 non-fighter goblins + 2 fighter goblins, and can only position 3 of those at any time, so I find that playing 3 more creatures to get an army of 6-7 to be worse than discarding the 3 for magic and saving for a champ or something with a little more weight on the field.

Soul Reavers are the +1 atk for every enemy they kill? I love these guys and will try to base the 1st half of my game to buffing them up

That's them. The only downside is they prevent you from acquiring magic which is actually a good way to balance them.

You'll also want to try to kill your own reavers when they're close to dying, else you might end up giving your opponent magic equal to the amount of attack listed on the reaver.
 

Draxal

Member
So, what's everyone's favorite factions to use in Summoner Wars? I've had a chance to try all of the ones available in the iOS version, but have been hesitant to try the reinforcement cards and mercenaries. I am nervous with deck customization, too many flashbacks to MtG :(

So far I am digging the Cloaks, Tundra Orcs, and possibly Fallen Kingdom. Need to play with FK a little more. The Cloaks can be cheap. I abuse the ability of 1 of the common units, if this unit successfully hits but does not kill an enemy, you can teleport other cards of the same unit adjacent to that enemy. Give this to your summoner as well and it can result in the enemy getting surrounded out of nowhere.

Honestly, I think the later factions they get pretty more inventive, Benders and the Filth are going to be fun to play with on IOS. Of the base set, I like Cloaks, their toolbox is too fun, even though I'm quite poor at playing with it so far.

Also, I do think some faction decks are pretty bad, Vanguards definetely need some champion twinking before they come on to their own. Plaid Hat Games had made a list with recommended deck with reifnorcements that I posted in the IOS thread.
 
So looking at Zombicide rules, it looks alright. I think it will be on par with something like LNOE in quality and it's going ot have lot of little finicky rules that bug certain players, but it should be fun. Looking forward to getting mine.
 
So looking at Zombicide rules, it looks alright. I think it will be on par with something like LNOE in quality and it's going ot have lot of little finicky rules that bug certain players, but it should be fun. Looking forward to getting mine.
I think the rules are fairly straight forward. The only rule that really doesn't make sense is the ranged combat where survivors in the zone take the first damage. I'll play it as written first but I may house rule it later to maybe hit survivors after zombies or reroll misses and see if those hit survivors.
 
I think the rules are fairly straight forward. The only rule that really doesn't make sense is the ranged combat where survivors in the zone take the first damage. I'll play it as written first but I may house rule it later to maybe hit survivors after zombies or reroll misses and see if those hit survivors.

Eh, I don't mind it. Similar rule used in miniature wargames as it's meant to discourage shooting guns into a melee. Players have to plan their positioning better as a team to maximize effectiveness
 

Keasar

Member
Got Descent in the mail today. :D
These figures are really high quality. The rules seem pretty short (for a Fantasy Flight Game) and easy to teach and despite the box size, it still holds pretty nice amount of content.

Speaking of awesome stuff: Have been reading some about Mage Wars recently and it seems like a pretty cool game.
 
Played King of Tokyo three times last night, shit's awesome. We just played it with three players and I won two of the games by being the last monster standing. The third game came down to points. Really fun game I can't wait to play it with more people.
 

MichaelBD

Member
Hmm, Descent, Claustrophobia, or Mage Knight. I dont know which i want
Can't speak to Descent or Claustrophobia, but I can tell you Mage Knight is a brain-burner and an investment of time.

I played a 2 player game this past weekend, both of us having played over a dozen times, and it still took a solid 3 hours to play.

The good news is that it plays solo about as well as multi-player (assuming you play MP without PvP, which is the only way I've played it so far).

With all that said, MK is a current favorite and after 17 plays (all but 4 being solo), I still like it a lot.
 

tm24

Member
Yeah, Mage knight appeals to me due to being a brain burner. I think i will go Descent though, since i want to take it to my group and claustrophobia is only 2 player
 

Risible

Member
Just got an order in for Quarriors (will be fun with my kids), Blood Bowl Team Manager, and a pre-order for the new printing of Mage Knight. Can't wait to try them out.

As for the talk of Sedition Wars and Zombicide, someone hit it on the head. It's a ridiculously good deal for minis if you're the kind that likes to paint them, game be damned. There's a lot of us :).
 

Pepboy

Member
Sorry, I just saw your replies. I sent Astrolad an invite (I think), but after that I'd be happy to play you, platypotamus.

Edit: Just realized Yucata is async, so I will send an invite to Platy as well. Looking forward to playing you both! I'm PepboyGAF on yucata, if anyone else would like to play this or other games.
 
Got D-Day Dice in yesterday and Alien Frontiers Factions in today. Both came out really good. The Factions expansion looks neat it also came with colony upgrades that look awesome. D-Day Dice is really high quality, I'm glad I backed that one. I'm only upset I didn't spring for the Atlantikwall expansion.
 

fenners

Member
Got D-Day Dice in yesterday and Alien Frontiers Factions in today. Both came out really good. The Factions expansion looks neat it also came with colony upgrades that look awesome. D-Day Dice is really high quality, I'm glad I backed that one. I'm only upset I didn't spring for the Atlantikwall expansion.

The designer of D-Day Dice is launching his kickstarter for the pro version of Airborne In My Pocket soon... Anyone tried that one? It looks interesting.
 

sneaky77

Member
I liked a few acre of snow, I just get confused on the combinations after reading the rules I thought I had it better but I played Astro and I felt like I wasn't doing well or much at all, I think I am missing something but I am always up for it and learning it better.

I really hate I don't get emails from Yucata when someone invites you to a new game.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
I liked a few acre of snow, I just get confused on the combinations after reading the rules I thought I had it better but I played Astro and I felt like I wasn't doing well or much at all, I think I am missing something but I am always up for it and learning it better.

I really hate I don't get emails from Yucata when someone invites you to a new game.

Yeah it can be pretty rough. I think the site would have a lot better pickup with just a bit more spamminess. I mean I play board games on tablet constantly, but Yucata/desktop/laptop is arguably much better for most board games actually.
 

Pepboy

Member
Forgot to mention earlier but I am reasonably good at Go and am happy to teach GAFers. Go is an incredibly simple game to learn with astounding depth. I don't enjoy chess much at all; having to memorize and project all the different possible lines of movement always seemed cumbersome and tiring. In Go, players take turns placing stones on a board. These stones do not move, though they may be killed and taken off the board. Therefore, it's more about pattern recognition, though one does benefit from thinking ahead. I've been playing off and on for 8 years now and I find it therapeutic and still strategically interesting. No two games ever feel quite the same and there's always something new to learn.

If anyone is curious, I recommend playing here: KGS Go Server. No account is necessary (just type in some name and leave password blank). If you do register, games and rank are automatically recorded, and you gain the ability to chat. Overall, players are kind and willing to teach newcomers, but you can also play "Bots" on this server if you feel uncomfortable. I play under the alias PepboyGo, but please feel free to PM me on GAF/KGS if you like to schedule something.


Also, really enjoying A Few Acres of Snow. I feel so many possible options are open, at least at first glance. Though I'm sure Astrolad will soon teach me the error of my ways.
 

mercviper

Member
Oooh Go. I like that game. But I suck early game because when you give me a sandbox of choices I have no idea what to do and can never set up my territories properly. Once that's been established though, I do a decent job of defending areas, but end up screwed over because I couldn't establish enough early.

Got in a 6 player game of Eclipse tonight. Really really enjoying that game and can't wait for it to come out in iOS. The game took around 6 hours, but we had 4 new people and there was plenty of times we got caught up chatting and forgetting whose turn it was.

Everyone felt screwed over by tile distribution, and tides turned around round 5-6 when I managed to take the galactic center in a gamble. With that, I got a huge economic and research advantage from the planets there as well as a nice boost from the 2 new diplomatic relations I created from being connected centrally. I managed to tech up 2 rows completely and figured I had an overwhelming lead since I could research, upgrade, build and retaliate with an advanced fleet to any invasions. Turns out I wasn't as far ahead as I thought. I still won, but with 32 points and the runner up had 31, even though I thought he wasn't doing nearly as well. I guess I really had 36 since I broke relations last to defend a previous ally (green) on a whim. Blue, who had invaded green, also ended up with around 25 points, but that was after I had counter invaded and taken his home system plus a couple other choice ones. If I hadn't, I probably would've gotten second place instead of first.

I guess I just felt like saying that in Eclipse, even if you feel like the clear winner, the point totals are probably closer than you think they are and you should really not let your guard down. I think I was pretty lucky to win that one because I didn't attack a lot or try to bring any empires down until the very last turn to avenge green. Either way, having way too much fun with this game and planning to get another long play in in a couple weeks or so.
 
Anyone else jump on The Lost Dutchman Kickstarter? It's the project's last day and is super close to being funded!

overview2.jpg
 

Pepboy

Member
Oooh Go. I like that game. But I suck early game because when you give me a sandbox of choices I have no idea what to do and can never set up my territories properly. Once that's been established though, I do a decent job of defending areas, but end up screwed over because I couldn't establish enough early.

Players often start off by playing in the corners, extending to the sides of the board, and then finally competing over the middle. Roughly this has to do with how efficient it is to build territory in the corners/sides. That being said, some of the most entertaining games are when one player does not follow this traditional pattern. Anyways, I'd be happy to help you with your openings, feel free to PM me!
 
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