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[platypotamus]

is the Kingdom Builder Expansion worth it?
obviously if we want to play with 5 people, but also for just two?

I think so. The new special move abilities are pretty neat. The caravan in particular is one I really enjoy. You slide a settlement in a straight line until it hits something (another settlement, location, water, or mountain).

The scoring cards in it are really powerful too, and major game changes. They all involve scoring things as you go, so combined with the settlement moving powers, you can sometimes set up little point engines for yourself. I had a game where you got 2 points for placing a settlement with no empty spaces around it. I had the oasis and the move-a-settlement-to-your-current-card ability. I often would move a settlement from my tiny desert to wherever, and then just use the oasis to fill in that hole for 2 points.

I love Kingdom Builder.

Personally I think Leaders is a must, the drafting mechanic at the start gets you thinking re your overall strategy.

Agreed. Knowing that you have a bonus VP for each red card or whatever can really shape the focus of your game. Especially when they have nice synergy with your wonder.

I also really liked the Cities expansion more than expected. The diplomat token and the various black cards--particularly the way they shake up the otherwise fairly uniform distribution of cards--really can force you to make some tough decisions

 

[AstroLad]

Love Leaders & Cities. Have to add on 15-30m to the playtime if you're playing both though, especially if people don't know all the new symbols.

 

[Neverfade]

Stuff

About time you stopped lurking!

 

[Bonethug]

About time you stopped lurking!

New Year's resolutions.

How does this look for a focal point of a flyer; minus the Tagxedo border? Need to try to get a group.

 

[Neverfade]

I can dig it.

 

[kickpuncher]

How does this look for a focal point of a flyer; minus the Tagxedo border? Need to try to get a group.

I like it. Maybe a different color but that's just me.

Ticket to Ride's on there twice btw. Not sure if you care. Once in the mid and once on the bottom left foot.

Edit: Now I see 7 wonders and Settlers of Catan. I'm guessing you're aware.

 

[octobot]

Needs more Dominant Species!

 

[Bonethug]

I like it. Maybe a different color but that's just me.

Ticket to Ride's on there twice btw. Not sure if you care. Once in the mid and once on the bottom left foot.

Edit: Now I see 7 wonders and Settlers of Catan. I'm guessing you're aware.

Yeah, its a tag cloud so it reuses words over to fill in the shape. I need to do a little research to play with the emphasis on a few of the titles. That may cut down on the duplicates. All of my games should be in the cloud though.

I am thinking about a stroke around the entire shape to really highlight the meeple.
I was considering a bright blue, green, yellow, red theme, but have been too lazy to create it. I just went with a prebuilt red theme.

 

[SillyEskimo]

I just played Death Angel for several hours by myself.

I think I'm becoming a board game geek.

The card expansions are worth the pick up. I got them all on Ebay for 20$ last summer. They mix things up in a variety of ways, but just a warning that it does make the game even harder to win!

 

[LaserBuddha]

The card expansions are worth the pick up. I got them all on Ebay for 20$ last summer. They mix things up in a variety of ways, but just a warning that it does make the game even harder to win!

Thanks, I was thinking about getting those. i had to get pretty crafty to make everything fit in the box with card sleeves, so I guess I will have to give up on that.

Speaking of which, I picked up Super Dungeon Explore today, and the foam insert for the box. I was tearing/bending the lid to get the damn trays to fit, so the foam was a waste of money. Since I'll be painting this set i will need to come up with something else to protect it. I'm thinking about putting a sheet magnet down on the bottom of the plastic tray and have all the models standing up, held down by rare earth magnets on their bases. I will have to see how everything fits when I assemble them.

 

[mercviper]

Needs more Dominant Species!

That game. It is so long. :x

 

[ParityBit]

Needs less Settlers of Catan ...... A lot less.

 

[blurrygil]

Speaking of which, I picked up Super Dungeon Explore today...

Great game. Love the classic-dungeon-crawler-video-game theme. Wish it was a better at integrating a campaign system, as there's little variation; even with the expansions.

 

[octobot]

That game. It is so long. :x

But it's so good. Definitely a big chunk of a day when it hits the table, but ultimately worth it in my opinion.(at least there is an app for solo play on the quick)

 

[mercviper]

But it's so good. Definitely a big chunk of a day when it hits the table, but ultimately worth it in my opinion.(at least there is an app for solo play on the quick)

Oh there's an app?? I might play it some more then. The setup took forever when I played at bggcon, and AP prone players made it quite a chore w/o a light game to play at the same time.

 

[octobot]

Oh there's an app?? I might play it some more then. The setup took forever when I played at bggcon, and AP prone players made it quite a chore w/o a light game to play at the same time.

Yeah it's pretty bare bones but they have made a few improvements since launch (and promise of more) its single person vs ai or pass and play but is a good way to play a quick game

 

[AstroLad]

Needs less Settlers of Catan ...... A lot less.

I like Settlers, but I only play it once a year. We sort of avoided the whole Settlers thing because RoboRally was our intro to board gaming and then Ticket to Ride always our gateway.

 

[Xater]

So my new games arrived today. First one is Pentago, an abstract which is fun and easy. The other game is the 2 player Agricola. I have to say that I enjoy the 2 player Agricola version way more than the original game. It doesn't bog down as much and to be honest I like not having the cards. Even for me the cards make me get into way too much AP and I am normally not prone to that. So yeah I think I'll just keep that and sell the normal game. I also like the quicker setup time because there is way less material to handle. Another thing I hate about games.

And what the hell is going on with BGG? Looks like all the ratings are gone.

 

[platypotamus]

Looks like still exist. All my ratings are in tact. I just don't think they are being aggregated/sorted.

Looks like they have a thread already: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/910832/we-are-aware-of-the-ratings-problem-and-are-workin

 

[besada]

Over the holidays I managed to get Cargo Noir, Stone Age, Miskatonic for Girls, and Quarriors. I'll get to bring some of them to the table tonight. I'm excited!

 

[AstroLad]

So Netrunner Data Pack 2 is out now. Quite excited about the variety of strategies the data packs seem to have made viable (without having -- imo -- any real power creep) and looking forward to the local tournament in a couple of weeks.

 

[blurrygil]

We're talking about Android: Netrunner, yes? The FF published game?

Because every time I see a post about Netrunner, I immediately imagine this:

 

[piratepwnsninja]

We're talking about Android: Netrunner, yes? The FF published game?

Because every time I see a post about Netrunner, I immediately imagine this:

They're basically the same game. The FF published one is a LCG version of the CCG.

 

[daevv]

Our Magic: The Gathering group has slowing turned into a board game group. It's good too as we get our non MTG friends showing up for the boardgame sessions. Currently we cycle through:

HeroQuest - Got it as a kid with one expansion. Whole thing is still mint!
Ascension - Cause we love MTG.
Settlers of Catan with the Seafarers and Cities and Knights addons.
I've picked up the Catan 2 player card game and Axis and Allies 1941 but we haven't played them yet.

The store where I got Axis and Allies for cheap ($30) is having a closing sale. They have a few copies of Carcassonne for $26 plus tax. Worth a blind buy? I may download the XBLA demo to give it a try.

 

[narcosis219]

Our Magic: The Gathering group has slowing turned into a board game group. It's good too as we get our non MTG friends showing up for the boardgame sessions. Currently we cycle through:

HeroQuest - Got it as a kid with one expansion. Whole thing is still mint!
Ascension - Cause we love MTG.
Settlers of Catan with the Seafarers and Cities and Knights addons.
I've picked up the Catan 2 player card game and Axis and Allies 1941 but we haven't played them yet.

The store where I got Axis and Allies for cheap ($30) is having a closing sale. They have a few copies of Carcassonne for $26 plus tax. Worth a blind buy? I may download the XBLA demo to give it a try.

Carcassonne is a no brainer since it's so easy to teach. If you don't already have some "intro games" then definitely pick it up

 

[Owlowiscious]

Carc for $26 doesn't sound like a sale, does it? Unless it's one of those big boxes that include expansions, then it's a no brainer, buy it.

 

[BattleMonkey]

So we tried Escape finally, what a fun bit a chaos. Only issue we had, was some of the soundtracks are not clear enough so with all the rolling and talking going on in a game, you miss the gong and door slamming noises.

I see on their site they added 2 new soundtrack options though and one is a music less version that only plays the gong and door sounds.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

So we tried Escape finally, what a fun bit a chaos. Only issue we had, was some of the soundtracks are not clear enough so with all the rolling and talking going on in a game, you miss the gong and door slamming noises.

I see on their site they added 2 new soundtrack options though and one is a music less version that only plays the gong and door sounds.

Yah, we totally missed the middle gong/door in our first game. I think I might mix my own tracks.

 

[teiresias]

So my friends are having a game night on Saturday - which basically translates to "Cards Against Humanity" night, which is fun (I suppose) in the way any game is fun that doesn't actually have any real quantifiable rules to it for picking a winner.

I'm thinking of picking up Ticket To Ride and bringing it along. I've never tried it, but I failed to get anyone into Carcassone (and frankly it's not my favorite either - my copy has been languishing on my shelf for at least two years since the first attempt).

 

[mercviper]

So Netrunner Data Pack 2 is out now. Quite excited about the variety of strategies the data packs seem to have made viable (without having -- imo -- any real power creep) and looking forward to the local tournament in a couple of weeks.

Oh shit already? After the delay it took for 1 to come out I was expecting another couple months.

So we tried Escape finally, what a fun bit a chaos. Only issue we had, was some of the soundtracks are not clear enough so with all the rolling and talking going on in a game, you miss the gong and door slamming noises.

I see on their site they added 2 new soundtrack options though and one is a music less version that only plays the gong and door sounds.

I found you really need just a single room for escape with really really really loud speaker like you're in a movie theater to play it proper. Playing it with less just seems lacking.

 

[Neverfade]

Oh shit already? After the delay it took for 1 to come out I was expecting another couple months.

There's generally a delay between LCG cores and the first packs. After that they're monthly.

 

[Beefwheat]

So my friends and I have been playing Descent (2nd Ed.) for the past few weeks. We completed Act I and the Interlude quest yesterday night, and so far the heroes have lost every single encounter. I like the game but it's getting a bit depressing. Sometimes I've just sat back and laughed at how hopeless the encounters get after only a few turns.

I guess what I've been wondering about is whether this game is really difficult or we're just...dumb? Like, tactically speaking? The Overlord's even admitted to taking pity on us and pulling his punches, and yet we've watched so many encounters just totally get away from us. We've all played plenty of other strategy games and D&D sessions in the past, so it's not as though we're new to this.

Do we have any hope for Act II? Are there better strategies or overlooked rules? Are there common mistakes that make the game a lot more difficult than it needs to be?

 

[AstroLad]

Netrunner:

Trace Amount is forcing me into some really tough decisions with my Criminal deck.

Specifically:

Notoriety: Play only if you made a successful run on R&D, HQ, and Archives this turn.
Add Notoriety to your score area as an agenda worth 1 agenda point.

Compromised Employee: 1 [Recurring Credits]
Use this credit during traces.
Gain 1 [Credits] whenever the Corp rezzes a piece of ice.

Notoriety would be awesome if just for the fun of hitting a jackpot hand (I love jackpots, which is why I play an HB Beta Test/PriReq deck), but I just don't have the influence to spare given all the OOF Ice criminals STILL need to run. I'm already running a single Gordian Blade as my sole code-gate breaker. Only options would be to go down to a single corroder or drop either maker's eye or diesel from 2 to 1, which just doesn't seem like a good tradeoff. When people on BGG say "oh hey this would be cool in a Crim deck" they always forget that almost any decent Crim deck has really minimal flexibility until Crim gets at least mediocre Code Gate and Barrier breakers (I tried Peacock for a little while -- it's horrible and nonsensical for a traditional run-heavy Crim deck).

Also a lot of tough decisions for my HB deck. A fairly easy decision though was dropping down to only 8 agenda cards mixing the new exec retreat in. Make more room for my all my Ice.

Sometimes it's hard to let go of a deck you feel you've optimized so much. (And probably make it worse for a little while until you get some games under your belt.)

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Notoriety: Play only if you made a successful run on R&D, HQ, and Archives this turn.
Add Notoriety to your score area as an agenda worth 1 agenda point.

This card is pretty big, right? I mean this is the only way a hacker can score an agenda point without grabbing it from the corp. Seems like a nice card to have.

 

[AstroLad]

This card is pretty big, right? I mean this is the only way a hacker can score an agenda point without grabbing it from the corp. Seems like a nice card to have.

Yes, it's pretty neat if you can pull it off. Criminal is best equipped to do it with cards like Sneakdoor and Inside Job, but the problem is Corps know that and by midgame all three of those servers will be fairly well iced. If you have it and Inside Job in a starting hand though, that could be great. It might even make Data Dealer -- one of the worst cards in the game -- viable. For now I've kept it out just because I can't spare the influence. I have tweaked my Crim deck a fair amount though. Definitely going to give Compromised Employee a shot even though it's not really a "wow" card (nor should it be at 1c cost).

Here is my newest Crim deck fwiw. Totally forgot about Crypsis so went bold and dropped Corroder to 1 with Crypsis as a backstop for both Corroder and Gordian Blade (this entire strategy relies heavily on Special Order of course). I'll almost certainly tweak it some more but it's nice to be thinking about it again.

Total Cards (45)

Event (24)
Infiltration x2
The Maker's Eye x2
Diesel x3
Sure Gamble x3
Special Order x3
Inside Job x3
Forged Activation Orders x3
Easy Mark x3
Account Siphon x2

Hardware (3)
Desperado x3

Program (7)
Crypsis x1
Gordian Blade x1
Corroder x1
Sneakdoor Beta x2
Ninja x2

Resource (11)
Compromised Employee x2
Armitage Codebusting x3
Bank Job x2
Decoy x2
Crash Space x2

 

[TheGrue]

Notoriety: Play only if you made a successful run on R&D, HQ, and Archives this turn.
Add Notoriety to your score area as an agenda worth 1 agenda point.

So you have to make a successful run on all three to get the point? Seems like a nifty card, especially if you can draw it early before the corp has a chance to adequately protect all three.

 

[AstroLad]

So you have to make a successful run on all three to get the point? Seems like a nifty card, especially if you can draw it early before the corp has a chance to adequately protect all three.

-run hq
-run archives (sneakdoor run doesn't qualify)
-run r&d
-play card

It really is a jackpot/early-game kind of card. A crim deck with Inside Job and some other stuff like Stimhack could pull it off even mid/late though. I don't think many others could.

 

[platypotamus]

-run hq
-run archives (sneakdoor run doesn't qualify)
-run r&d
-play card

It really is a jackpot/early-game kind of card. A crim deck with Inside Job and some other stuff like Stimhack could pull it off even mid/late though. I don't think many others could.

I don't know if I believe in that card. I think the times where you can get value out of it are few enough and the times where it will be worthless are great enough that it doesn't really matter. Besides, I think if you can successfully pull off a run on all 3 central servers in a single turn, the one point probably isn't going to do much for you.

 

[AstroLad]

One agenda point can mean a lot if you don't need to actually access it traditionally. But yeah I'm not burning the influence on it for now.

 

[XShagrath]

Just picked up Suburbia. Man, that's a lot of punch boards!

 

[LProtag]

I'll post my deck lists once I get Trace Amount and fiddle around with what I include. I play Shaper and HB.

 

[Neverfade]

Miniature Market somehow picked up a sneak shipment of Ginkgopolis and Ladies of Troyes almost a week early from Z-man projected release. Just nabbed both along with Suburbia. All three are almost out of stock though.

(CSI got a Suburbia restock today, though)

 

[blurrygil]

Just picked up Suburbia. Man, that's a lot of punch boards!

Took a peek on BGG. Looks like fun for a builder game! What's it like? Ease of play? Pacing? Complexities?

 

[RayStorm]

Took a peek on BGG. Looks like fun for a builder game! What's it like? Ease of play? Pacing? Complexities?

It's quite fun and fairly swift, once you actually understand how the rules work. Apparently it's not completely uncommon to think that built buildings affect other buildings much longer than they actually do (or the other way round, I can't quite remember how it was, when I played last November).

And now that I think more about it, I realize I have little memory except that.

 

[Rayven]

The other game is the 2 player Agricola. I have to say that I enjoy the 2 player Agricola version way more than the original game.

I really dig it too, put in about 5 plays with the wife this month. For some strategic variety, this is coming out soon in the US: expansion

 

[Omikron]

I actually played 2 player Agricola before the full version and I prefer the big brother for sure, but the 2 player is still pretty fun and can be wrapped up in 30 mins easily which is nice.

 

[BomberMouse]

I want to get Agricola:ACB&S so bad. I can't wait for the restock.

 

[Neverfade]

Battlestar night! Human win by the skin of our teeth. Personal Goals are awesome in a 6 player game to balance out the extra human player (because FUCK sympathizing).

 

[PushingButtons]

I need to expand our group's gaming options. We're currently playing a lot of Pandemic and Cosmic Encounter. Ticket to Ride doesn't get a whole lot of play in the group because the others enjoy the player interaction in Pandemic and CE.

So, can anyone suggest some games to look into that feature a lot of player interaction similar to Pandemic/CE?

 

[zulux21]

I need to expand our group's gaming options. We're currently playing a lot of Pandemic and Cosmic Encounter. Ticket to Ride doesn't get a whole lot of play in the group because the others enjoy the player interaction in Pandemic and CE.

So, can anyone suggest some games to look into that feature a lot of player interaction similar to Pandemic/CE?

forbidden island is like the short simple version of pandemic and defenders of the realm is like the long fantasy version of pandemic lol

haven't a clue on CE as I have never played that one.