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[timetokill]

there are crazy crazy posts on bgg about how to handle multiple expansions and the like (creating tons of separate decks and making rolls, etc.) and even the rules try to (very roughly) address the issue. but i much prefer playing with one at a time otherwise you really miss out on the theme of the expansion as there's just shit popping all over the place. the nice thing is though that the expansions have non-expansion specific encounters and items and such that you can just mix into the decks which is great.

Cool, that sounds good. I was worried about using too many expansions at once since the board is already huge enough as it is! On that note, however, is it typical to play with a big box expansion and a small box expansion, as that would usually be mostly cards and stuff, or is it best to really just focus on one?

Thanks for all your help by the way, it was your posts that tipped me over the edge to get the game in the first place (I'm not really hugely into the Cthulhu mythos, but the game has turned out to be really fun regardless!)

 

[BattleMonkey]

OMG an expansion for Chaos in the Old World: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2081

Soooo good

 

[Neverfade]

Cue backlash from BGG about 'expanding an unexpandable game'!

Spoiler

awesome news

 

[StoOgE]

LOL I just sold my GoT. Literally two hours ago. Made 100% profit as it happens. Sold off a bunch of games at work that I hadn't played or didn't look likely to play again soon (or my friends have plenty of copies...). Raked in about $180, so I'll be ordering some replacements Likely order from CSI is:

7 Wonders, Ghost Stories, Death Angel, Glen More, 51st State, Wars of the Roses...

And /maybe/ Claustraphobia or something else.

You bastard.. I let you have that one for 15 bucks in the virtual marketplace!

I actually read up on the rules and think it's too much for my group of friends as far as complexity. I may go with Battles of Westeros just because I'm more likely to talk 1 person into playing super nerdy game than 4.

 

[StoOgE]

Also, I bought the Resident Evil Deck Building game.

It was 20 bucks at my FLGS..

An expansion is coming out that actually sounds pretty interesting and lets you use a 2nd character as your "partner". You give them any weapon in your hand so you always have a 100% chance of that weapon being available. Assuming you stock enough ammo to use it, it's always there.

Don't know all of the details of the expansion, but when you enter the mansion you can choose if you or your partner go in first, and that person takes the damage on a failed monster attack. You can heal your partner, but if they die they are out of the game for good and the weapon they had is lost.

I'm not sure how leveling works, I think whoever enters the mansion first gets the VP, but all of the commendation (VP) goes towards you at game end even if they die at some point.

The main thing is it really ups the number (and difficulty) of the infected in the mansion deck and fleshes out the action cards to keep the game feeling fresh. Since you use about 80% of the cards every game there have been complaints that it can feel very samey after just a few plays. Hopefully a 2nd deck of cards will solve this issue.

Could be a nifty wrinkle for the game.

That and I'm a RE whore and the back of the mansion deck is the pixelated PS1 loading screen door.

 

[UpperCaseN]

Just placed an Amazon order for Ticket to Ride + 1910 expansion, hoping to play it this Sat! My boardgame backlog is becoming as bad as my video game one, no joke.

 

[Neverfade]

You bastard.. I let you have that one for 15 bucks in the virtual marketplace!

I actually read up on the rules and think it's too much for my group of friends as far as complexity.

Once you have a game under your belt, you'll probably feel really silly about that. The game is actually simple to have so many pages of rules.

Draw 3 cards, resolve. Put tokens down. Resolve tokens (of which only 2 are complicated in any sense of the word). Repeat.

 

[fenners]

You bastard.. I let you have that one for 15 bucks in the virtual marketplace!

Thanks!

Used the proceeds to order some games from GMT as part of their 50% off thing - Dominant Species (which rocks!), Washington's War (90 minute card driven war game for 2 players, yum), and Battle Line. The shipping kills the deal slightly, but it's still a good $10 less than ordering from CSI (even with free shipping).

And I'll be ordering some other non-GMT games from CSI later today/tomorrow once I've had a chance to try out Claustrophobia at lunch today. I fancy a nice wee 2 player dungeon crawler and this will likely get more play than Descent would.

 

[fenners]

Claustraphobia is a winner. 2 player dungeon crawler, one player the goodies, one the dungeon keeper type deal. Simple to learn, simple to play, fast moving & some nice interactions. We played the intro scenario in 40 minutes, though I got /very/ lucky with how the dungeon played out.

Gorgeous prepainted minis too.

I think this will be getting bought.

 

[platypotamus]

FYI yucata peeps: Going out of town tomorrow through Tuesday. Will be on a beach with drinks with little umbrellas in them and unable to take my turns, so any ongoing games I'm involved in by the end of today will be stalled. Apologies!

 

[Flynn]

FYI yucata peeps: Going out of town tomorrow through Tuesday. Will be on a beach with drinks with little umbrellas in them and unable to take my turns, so any ongoing games I'm involved in by the end of today will be stalled. Apologies!

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

FYI yucata peeps: Going out of town tomorrow through Tuesday. Will be on a beach with drinks with little umbrellas in them and unable to take my turns, so any ongoing games I'm involved in by the end of today will be stalled. Apologies!

Unacceptable!

Spoiler

I want to be on vacation

 

[Gorgon]

Why is Twilight Struggle in the OP rated with a difficulty level of "very hard"? The game is actually on the medium-low range of difficulty. Is it for comparison purposes with the regular Euro stuff?

 

[BattleMonkey]

Why is Twilight Struggle in the OP rated with a difficulty level of "very hard"? The game is actually on the medium-low range of difficulty. Is it for comparison purposes with the regular Euro stuff?

Has lot of rules, I don't know if I would called it "very hard", but it's a "hard" one to learn right away.

 

[Gorgon]

Has lot of rules, I don't know if I would called it "very hard", but it's a "hard" one to learn right away.

Well, it certanly isn't something that you can play without reading the rules before, and it will take some time to get the hang of it. But if you go that way how would you classify something like Republic of Rome? "Off the scale"?

 

[StoOgE]

Why is Twilight Struggle in the OP rated with a difficulty level of "very hard"? The game is actually on the medium-low range of difficulty. Is it for comparison purposes with the regular Euro stuff?

The OP was written for people new to board games.

The scale wasn't really created for people already into board games. I consider Wallace games to be medium heavy.. but if I were to describe Brass to someone knew to the hobby I would tell them it is extremely hard to steer them away from it.

 

[Gorgon]

The OP was written for people new to board games.

The scale wasn't really created for people already into board games. I consider Wallace games to be medium heavy.. but if I were to describe Brass to someone knew to the hobby I would tell them it is extremely hard to steer them away from it.

Ah, ok, so my first assumption was correct. Yes, it does a good job of describing the game for a new comer.

 

[Neverfade]

Brought out Lords of Vegas for the first time in a while.

Still great. No one can resist the call of chucking gobs of dice.

 

[StoOgE]

Brought out Lords of Vegas for the first time in a while.

Still great. No one can resist the call of chucking gobs of dice.

worst box insert ever.

 

[Staccat0]

amazingly fun game. The 'mission' cards are an absolute must and make the game just a blast.

They basically fixed every problem I had with werewolf.

I need to try this sometime

 

[Neverfade]

worst box insert ever.

Its no worse than anything FFG put in their boxes.

 

[fenners]

Nice number of people at game night last night - some people played Fresko, we played a 4 player game of Rise of Empires, another civilization style game by Martin Wallace. We had played it as a group not so long ago, though 1 player hadn't, which bogged the game down a little causing us to re-read the rules etc.

Four & a half hours later (after some disruptions & a distracted player), we end up like this:

I was red, winning because of a 46 point gain in the last VP round. Woohoo.

 

[JayDubya]

After playing a bit more, I have to wonder if the designers of Castle Panic intend for the players to be more hyper-competitive over the "Master Slayer" title.

I.E. players deliberately not trading cards so that they could be the Master Slayer and kill the most things, thus leading to more harm to the castle and bringing everyone closer to death for the sake of being, more or less, the team MVP.

The problem is I consider myself as hyper-competitive as they come, and the game as designed would make even me feel like a dick for doing that.

But the more I look at, the more I think that may be one of the reasons the game is too easy... All you need to do is look ahead and trade the right cards to people and it's very hard for the monsters to win.

 

[UpperCaseN]

goddamn, I am itching to play games. a fellow gaffer is having a few people over tomorrow for what I'm hoping to be 12+ hours of gaming, lol. I'm headed there at 2pm

He got Carcassonne at PAX East, so I'm hoping we break that out, haven't played it yet.

He got Dominion: Intrigue. We've played Dominion and the Seaside expansion before

I got Ticket to Ride + 1910 expansion yesterday, playtested it once with my fiance. Good stuff! He's excited to try it out too and I want to see how different it is with more than just 2 players

I'd like to show off my freshly painted Talisman minis and I like that game a lot, but it is a long game. I'm bringing it but don't expect it to be pulled out

a buddy is meeting us at 5pm and he's bringing Castle Ravenloft; I played Wrath of Ashardalon once and loved it. more reason why I don't expect Talisman play; we'll get our fantasy on with this

I brought a d20 for my desk at work and have been rolling it to help get me to tomorrow. I just rolled an 11

 

[Steve Youngblood]

a buddy is meeting us at 5pm and he's bringing Castle Ravenloft; I played Wrath of Ashardalon once and loved it. more reason why I don't expect Talisman play; we'll get our fantasy on with this

I would be interested on what your opinions are of Ashardalon after playing Ravenloft. I liked Ravenloft in spite of some misgivings, and have been curious as to whether or not Ashardalon is a worthy supplement, or just more of the same.

 

[UpperCaseN]

I would be interested on what your opinions are of Ashardalon after playing Ravenloft. I liked Ravenloft in spite of some misgivings, and have been curious as to whether or not Ashardalon is a worthy supplement, or just more of the same.

I dunno if I'm a good person to ask; that one time was the "learn how to play" game, so not only was everyone being familiarized but we also played the "kill 12 monsters" scenario, which is meant for beginners. We actually weren't even able to finish the game; we were playing in the hotel lobby at PAX East, it was like 4 or 5am and the hotel made us pack it up so the cleaners could vacuum. I'm still bitter because we had 9 monsters dead and I was about to unleash hell with my wizard. I'm very certain I would've killed 3+ monsters in 1 turn to end the game.

2 of my friends have Ravenloft and 1 has Ashardalon, so I'm sure I'll be able to provide feedback but not for a few weeks

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I got Mansions of Madness and Roll Through the Ages for my birthday yesterday. That MoM box is fucking huge.

 

[arotator]

When we lived in Vancouver we had a nice pool of people to play euro games. We'd play Settlers of Catan with another couple at least once a week. Now that we're back in the midwest it,,'s usually just my wife and I. We got Agricola, had to watch a Youtube "how to play" video but eventually figured it out and enjoy it quite a bit, despite it being just the two of us playing it.

We had a couple over last night and introduced them to Carcassone, hard to say how much they enjoyed it or whether they would play it regularly with us. A few months ago we had some friends over and they actually bought the game afterwards, unfortunately they live too far away to play on a regular basis. We're going to get Settlers again (our friends owned it in Vancouver) to try to get some of these other people hooked.

Does anyone play Memoirs 44 here? I've had my eye on it for practically a year, but my wife is the only person I play with on a regular basis, and she doesn't express much enthusiasm at the thought of playing a WWII themed strategy game. Are there any other WWII board games I should get instead of Memoirs 44?

 

[StoOgE]

Where in the midwest do you live? There is very likely a gaming group if you really want to get back into it.

Memoir 44 is ok. It's a pretty simle strategy game. I traded it pretty quickly after getting it (too much luck, asymetric battles where one side has an obvious advantage). But some on here (Astrolad) swear by it.

You might also look into 1960 for a decent 2 player strategy game. It's about the JFK/Nixon presidential campaign and is a lite-war game with a theme that may be better for your wife.

 

[UpperCaseN]

that is a sad tale, arotator. Catan is excellent for converting non-gaming friends. being a GAF member, do you have any friends that are video gamers? I bet they could easily be converted, too.

If you're truly out of luck, are there any comic/game stores in your area? Are you against the idea of playing there to meet new people?

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

When we lived in Vancouver we had a nice pool of people to play euro games. We'd play Settlers of Catan with another couple at least once a week. Now that we're back in the midwest it,,'s usually just my wife and I. We got Agricola, had to watch a Youtube "how to play" video but eventually figured it out and enjoy it quite a bit, despite it being just the two of us playing it.

We had a couple over last night and introduced them to Carcassone, hard to say how much they enjoyed it or whether they would play it regularly with us. A few months ago we had some friends over and they actually bought the game afterwards, unfortunately they live too far away to play on a regular basis. We're going to get Settlers again (our friends owned it in Vancouver) to try to get some of these other people hooked.

Does anyone play Memoirs 44 here? I've had my eye on it for practically a year, but my wife is the only person I play with on a regular basis, and she doesn't express much enthusiasm at the thought of playing a WWII themed strategy game. Are there any other WWII board games I should get instead of Memoirs 44?

Take a look here:
http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/83/boardgamegeek/midwest

It's BGG's boards for the Midwest. The regional boards are used for finding groups or other people to play with in your area. That's how I found my Boardgame group. Another good place to go is find a game shop or a comic book shop that has an area for games. Most game shops will run a game night where you might have to pay a nominal cover and get to play games at the store. Either way that board is a great place to start.

When I first started the hobby it was pretty much just my girlfriend, our roommate, and I but we were able to get other couples into gaming. We generally play infrequently with the other couples so that's why I went looking for a weekly game group. Other than that it was kind of easy to bring others into the hobby. Granted, they aren't as fanatical as I am but they are more receptive to hobby gaming than I thought they would be.

 

[TheFightingFish]

My wife and I happened to be at a mall here on Seattle Eastside right as an Uncles Games was having a going out of business liquidation sale. Picked up a Fluxx game for the family, Thurn and Taxis, Phase 10 for the kids, and Jambo a two player Kosmos game for like $35.

So far I've only hit Jambo, and it is quite excellent. The play seems pretty flexible so far (different tactics all seem quite viable) and it fits a nice slot in time and complexity for my wife and I somewhere between Catan: Card Game and Lost Cities. Good stuff. Looking forward to actually trying Thurn and Taxis sometime soon as well.

 

[BomberMouse]

Does anyone play Memoirs 44 here? I've had my eye on it for practically a year, but my wife is the only person I play with on a regular basis, and she doesn't express much enthusiasm at the thought of playing a WWII themed strategy game. Are there any other WWII board games I should get instead of Memoirs 44?

I was in a similar situation. Then I saw there's an online beta going on http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44-online/en/. Downloaded it, played a few games and loved the game. I bought the physical game after a while but it still has to hit the table. All of my plays are from the online version, so you might want to try that first.

 

[arotator]

I was in a similar situation. Then I saw there's an online beta going on http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44-online/en/. Downloaded it, played a few games and loved the game. I bought the physical game after a while but it still has to hit the table. All of my plays are from the online version, so you might want to try that first.

Thanks a lot, downloading now!

Also thanks for the link joe, I'm checking that out and already found one prolific bgg contributor from my town (Springfield, MO).

I've considered going to comic/video game shops in town and inquiring about playing with strangers, but my wife and are still fairly new and have only played 3 different games. I don't think we're looking for very intense competition, especially with strangers. We'd much rather play in an intimate setting with alcohol etc...

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I was in a similar situation. Then I saw there's an online beta going on http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44-online/en/. Downloaded it, played a few games and loved the game. I bought the physical game after a while but it still has to hit the table. All of my plays are from the online version, so you might want to try that first.

I ended up trading my copy away (to Rich Sommer from Mad Men of all people) because I just couldn't get it to the table. I like the game but I was the only one.

Also thanks for the link joe, I'm checking that out and already found one prolific bgg contributor from my town (Springfield, MO).

Excellent.

 

[StoOgE]

I've considered going to comic/video game shops in town and inquiring about playing with strangers, but my wife and are still fairly new and have only played 3 different games. I don't think we're looking for very intense competition, especially with strangers. We'd much rather play in an intimate setting with alcohol etc...

Check and see what groups you have in town. The group I found meets at a local pub every Tuesday and for the most part is pretty easy going and is extremely nice to new players. 99% of the time, at least half the people playing a game are learning it.

 

[fenners]

Just put in my first big order of new games in the past year. Between the GMT sale & CoolStuffInc, I'll be getting this in the mail next week hopefully:

Dominant Species
Battle Line
Washington's War
Claustraphobia
51st State
Wars of the Roses: Lancaster vs York
Ghost Stories
Conflict of Heroes Storms of Steel.

Funded by selling a bunch of games here at work (> $180 worth!). I really only do a 'big' order once a year or so, the rest of the time I'm trading or picking up the odd expansion or whatnot, so this will last me a *good* long while There's a lot of gaming in these boxes.

 

[StoOgE]

You should have gotten Richard III. It's the superior block wargame of the roses.

 

[fenners]

You should have gotten Richard III. It's the superior block wargame of the roses.

I don't want a block game version of it. Lancaster vs York's a fantastic game of bluffing, alliances where you still want to beat your team mate & conquest. Love it.

 

[StoOgE]

I don't want a block game version of it. Lancaster vs York's a fantastic game of bluffing, alliances where you still want to beat your team mate & conquest. Love it.

but what about the fog of war? Boo!

Look at that fog of war. What to the Lanncasters have? I surely don't know.

I'm actually trying to trade a guy pitchcar for Richard III on the geek right now.

 

[fenners]

but what about the fog of war? Boo!

Look at that fog of war. What to the Lanncasters have? I surely don't know.

Fog of War? All your orders are made behind one of these big screens with simultaneous reveals of what everyone's selected. People have been killed by the sheer weight of these screens.

 

[StoOgE]

Fog of War? All your orders are made behind one of these big screens with simultaneous reveals of what everyone's selected. People have been killed by the sheer weight of these screens.

yeah, well to win Richard III you need to lock your opponents real life children in a tower and have them murdered and then mary his cousin to secure peace between the families.

Spoiler

this is a lie

 

[fenners]

yeah, well to win Richard III you need to lock your opponents real life children in a tower and have them murdered.

Spoiler

this is a lie

Ha!

 

[Neverfade]

Twilight Imperium wasn't epic enough. It wasn't long enough.

Enter Shards of the Throne.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

Twilight Imperium wasn't epic enough. It wasn't long enough.

Enter Shards of the Throne.

Wow, it has been like 5 years since Shattered Empire came out. I was not expecting this at all, but I can't wait for it.

 

[FreeChicken]

7 Wonders is a new card game that plays up to 7 players very well with extremely simple mechanics.

It's the card drafting game to Dominions Deck Building game.

It's also only 4-5 months old and already number 14 on the Board game geek list of best games... and has been out of print since the initial printing last fall so it's also very hard to get.

Good game + hottest game + can't buy it right now = lots of buzz.

Well I have went and picked myself up a copy of 7 Wonders today, pretty excited to get my gaming group together for a shot of it. We usually have 7 folk in the group and that has had us repeating games quite a lot, while leaving a lot of the games I have picked up of late practically unplayed. Will be pleased to add another into the mix.

 

[StoOgE]

Well I have went and picked myself up a copy of 7 Wonders today, pretty excited to get my gaming group together for a shot of it. We usually have 7 folk in the group and that has had us repeating games quite a lot, while leaving a lot of the games I have picked up of late practically unplayed. Will be pleased to add another into the mix.

split the group in two. One of my semi regular nights has 6-10 people and we almost always wind up playing at least 2 games at once.

 

[timetokill]

Awesome, played another round of Arkham Horror, against Cthulhu this time. We got pretty lucky and won relatively easily (Cthulhu was only on Doom Track 6 or so). There were three of us, and one of us got lucky and drew a "get one stamina/sanity back every turn" thing at the start, so we were rolling pretty well. No Mandy either.

It was me and two new players but it went off well, though it went late into the night. I'm seriously considering getting Innsmouth to add some new real estate and bump up the difficulty though. I know I've been lucky but I haven't had too much trouble with either of the two Ancient Ones I've played thus far (Cthulhu and Ithaqua).

 

[XiaNaphryz]

split the group in two. One of my semi regular nights has 6-10 people and we almost always wind up playing at least 2 games at once.

What we also do besides splitting up the group is have people play in pairs, particularly for a new game that may have come in. This speeds up the learning process so that more people can pick up the rules at once.

 

[Cathcart]

Hola, board game GAF. Thanks to this thread and a similar one on another forum I read I've been on a board game kick recently. I bought Carcassonne maybe five years ago and have played quite a bit of it since but that was about as adventurous as I got until this year. While I was on vacation a friend of mine introduced me to Puerto Rico and Endeavor. I thought about getting Endeavor when I got home but instead started doing some research and ended up with BSG and Arkham Horror, both of which I'm loving so far. I also picked up Ra and Citadels so I could have a few games to play with my family so I'll be testing those out tomorrow. Pretty psyched about that.

Anyway, just wanted to thank you guys for all of the cool info in this thread. Of course, I think I might be getting out of control too fast. I just got a nice little bonus check from work (yay work) and, uh...ordered Space Hulk.

Save me, Jeebus.