I bought Game fo Thrones board game 2nd edition. I played it at the Geekway to the West con. Fun game.
Im waiting to get some guys together to really dig into it. I really like the game. A real fun time.

Im looking forward to the re-release of Kings of Tokyo. This is a pretty simple, quick game. You can play it easily with children. The best part, is both Children and Adults will love it.

I bought Game fo Thrones board game 2nd edition. I played it at the Geekway to the West con. Fun game.
Im waiting to get some guys together to really dig into it. I really like the game. A real fun time.

This, Lords of Waterdeep, and BSG are three games I want to play, but not enough to buy them yet.

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Nice interaction going on and it was fun to have Wil's wife playing. Hilarious random moment as well.

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Indepth(37 minute) review of Tammany Hall

Saw this mentioned as part of another topic in the Steam thread, but Steam is now offering Ticket to Ride on their service for $10. Can be played "offline" solo or online with friends.

Ticket to Ride pocket was free for your phone. May still be. i got a couple days ago.

The one downside to the Kindle Fire, an absolute lack of decent games.

Saw this mentioned as part of another topic in the Steam thread, but Steam is now offering Ticket to Ride on their service for $10. Can be played "offline" solo or online with friends.

From looking at the Steam page of the game think it's part of the same network for online play as people who play online and on the app, so there is a good sized player base and you'll be able play with friends on other platforms.

EDIT: Looks like this is the case from the Days of Wonder website.

http://blog.daysofwonder.com/2012/05/24/ticket-to-ride-steams-onto-pcs-worldwide-today/

Integration with the Steam platform is seamless with an installer-less setup and a zero-click signup at first launch. Ticket to Ride players on Steam will find plenty of online competition as they’ll join the same network that hosts tens of thousands of games from Mac, iPad and other Ticket to Ride Online players.

Next time somebody is selling a hardly played complete set of Summoner Wars on eBay I need to not get cute with my bidding and just bid with what I'm willing to pay. Kind of depressing to think about how that kind of deal won't come around for awhile.

Next time somebody is selling a hardly played complete set of Summoner Wars on eBay I need to not get cute with my bidding and just bid with what I'm willing to pay. Kind of depressing to think about how that kind of deal won't come around for awhile.

One of my top 5 favorite games in my collection (out of about 200). Awesome game and each faction is unique and well, awesome!

One of my top 5 favorite games in my collection (out of about 200). Awesome game and each faction is unique and well, awesome!

The only thing holding me back is my OCD "catch them all" mentality. Actually, my quick guesstimate was off so I don't feel so bad about missing out on the eBay deal. It still would have been better to get it there, but I guess the older edition stuff has different quality and sizes for cards and those are getting reprinted in roughly a July time frame. Everything new via Amazon is still roughly $180. That's...a lot even if it is awesome. With Mice and Mystics also coming from Plaid Hat games, I'm kind of hoping they are switching focus more towards that game now. The sheer number of factions is astounding for SW already.

The only thing holding me back is my OCD "catch them all" mentality. Actually, my quick guesstimate was off so I don't feel so bad about missing out on the eBay deal. It still would have been better to get it there, but I guess the older edition stuff has different quality and sizes for cards and those are getting reprinted in roughly a July time frame. Everything new via Amazon is still roughly $180. That's...a lot even if it is awesome. With Mice and Mystics also coming from Plaid Hat games, I'm kind of hoping they are switching focus more towards that game now. The sheer number of factions is astounding for SW already.

Give in to the OCD! I have all factions, all reinforcements and even all the faction dice available lol.

Also, I believe the plan is that there will be no new factions for summoner wars. I do believe that plan to release alternate summoners at some point though

Also, I got them just because I didnt want to regret it in case they went out of print, but you dont need the reinforcements for a long while.

Since I decided to see what the total cost was and they were in my shopping cart anyway.... :lol: I got just the newer edition ones, and I'll wait for the reprints of the others. The sad thing is, my CCG days still cost me way more than the eventual complete set of Summoner Wars. We played Magic mostly, but once we got into L5R, that was our preferred crack of choice. It was standard for us to buy a starter for each edition, split "x" number of cases of boosters, and then buy singles as needed. Why now must LCGs be out years after the fact? (shakes fist) :lol:

Since I decided to see what the total cost was and they were in my shopping cart anyway.... :lol: I got just the newer edition ones, and I'll wait for the reprints of the others. The sad thing is, my CCG days still cost me way more than the eventual complete set of Summoner Wars. We played Magic mostly, but once we got into L5R, that was our preferred crack of choice. It was standard for us to buy a starter for each edition, split "x" number of cases of boosters, and then buy singles as needed. Why now must LCGs be out years after the fact? (shakes fist) :lol:

I would hate to total up how much money I put into L5R. Although I don't regret it at all, I loved that game.

So my buddies and I have finally sat down for a few rounds of Risk: Legacy. I'm absolutely loving the game. We've gotten four games finished through two sessions of a few hours each, with a different winner each game.

The idea behind the game is that you are playing a campaign of 15 different games. While you play, you change the board, adding stickers and writing things on the board as you go. These change different territories to give them bonuses or penalties.

One of the major changes is the addition of cities, both major and minor. A city adds population to the faction that controls it, so it's as if you control an extra country in terms of determining reinforcements at the beginning of your turn. There are major and minor cities, major adding 2 population and minor adding 1. At the end of each game, all the players are given a list of options that they can take to change the game board: the winner gets a major change, factions that weren't completely eliminated get a minor change, and factions who were eliminated get nothing.

The single biggest change to the base game of Risk is that not all the countries begin occupied. At the start of the game, each faction takes turns picking their starting location, and that is all. On your turn, you may expand freely, as long as you leave one troop in each of your territories. Taking an unoccupied territory is free. Taking a territory with a city costs you the same number of troops as the population of the city. This might not seem like all that big a change, but the balance of expansion and consolidating your borders is huge. Once a few games have finished and the board has numerous changes on it, initial placement and expansion strategies are completely different.

There are a number of different pockets and packages in the game box that are labeled "Open when XXX". We've only managed to open one of them so far, and it has changed the game pretty drastically. We're really looking forward to opening more of them.

I would hate to total up how much money I put into L5R. Although I don't regret it at all, I loved that game.

It's one of those times when you see a game and you wonder why more people don't play it instead. Our group pretty much said there was zero reason to play Magic after we got into L5R.

The beginning horde of Summoner Wars cards came in. I'm kind of bummed the ice based race isn't more fleshed out in that direction and got a decent amount of stuff dealing with dice rolls instead. Outside of that, there's a lot to like. I'm a fan of being able to go under, over, and through other characters.

Engineer SMASH! I did a test run of Summoner Wars. I somewhat randomly grabbed two races and did a play-through. I initially thought it was interesting that both sides didn't have the same number of characters to start, but the Phoenix Elves had 4 range on their archers and went first. Later, I found out how the whole wall aspect plays out. Eight points of damage in a turn via event cards and an Engineer. The elves had a second wall, but both were nailed from an event card and soon they were without any walls. No walls = no more summoning. It was merely clean up after that. I actually think the elves would have won if a wall came out, but they weren't getting one for a number of rounds.

Overall I liked it. You can seriously learn the fundamentals within a game. I would put it around Ticket to Ride in terms of ease in picking it up.

carcassonne is 20 bucks on amazon right now.. i've been wanting to get into something more in depth board game wise since my wife loves... monopoly and i wanna get her away from that cursed game....

Yes summoner wars is simple but highly tactical. It also becomes strategic of you are more familiar with your faction amd the faction you are against.

Guys, if you want good deals on games got to minaturemarket.com

They have great deals. The store is about 35 minutes from my house. They have a ding and dent section. Great deals on games.

But at the site, they prices are great. I went to B&N and priced Dominion for $45. It is $27 on minature market.

carcassonne is 20 bucks on amazon right now.. i've been wanting to get into something more in depth board game wise since my wife loves... monopoly and i wanna get her away from that cursed game....

If you want a similar themed game to Monopoly, you might want to look at Acquire. Some games come with a 2-player variant as it normally plays 3-6. If you are looking for a 2-player trading game, Jaipur would also work. A bit up in price, but Finca might work as well since it has fruit meeples.

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic493676_md.jpg

I'm not sure I would recommend Carcassonne as your starter game. It's a good game and I own it, but it's really just a dry, boring looking tile laying game. I think something along the lines of Ticket to Ride would be better. It's much more colorful, interactive and a better gateway game in my opinion.

I'm not sure I would recommend Carcassonne as your starter game. It's a good game and I own it, but it's really just a dry, boring looking tile laying game. I think something along the lines of Ticket to Ride would be better. It's much more colorful, interactive and a better gateway game in my opinion.

I can't agree more. This is the game that was the gateway into getting my wife away from traditional American games.

I can't agree more. This is the game that was the gateway into getting my wife away from traditional American games.

Further on my recommendation, but if you are playing with only two players, I can't recommend the India / Switzerland map expansion enough, both fantastic with 2 or 3. USA, other than for beginning purposes really needs 4 or 5.

Personally I own the base USA game and that map expansion, gives me a good map to play with anywhere from 2-5.

Setting up a game night. Playing Game of Thrones 2nd ed.
I have 5 lined up. Waiting on a 6th. Hoping to get the 6th. I have 3 seasoned board gamers. 1 risk guy. and 1 American style board gamer. He will get his intro into real board gaming. Hoping the 6th comes through.
Pretty excited. I am really looking forward to playing this game. The first taste wasnt enough.

If my 6th falls through and there are any St louis gamers in this thread, I will be looking for a 6th. PM me now if interested. I should know by this afternoon. Game night is Tuesday the 5th.

So my buddies and I have finally sat down for a few rounds of Risk: Legacy. I'm absolutely loving the game. We've gotten four games finished through two sessions of a few hours each, with a different winner each game.

The idea behind the game is that you are playing a campaign of 15 different games. While you play, you change the board, adding stickers and writing things on the board as you go. These change different territories to give them bonuses or penalties.

One of the major changes is the addition of cities, both major and minor. A city adds population to the faction that controls it, so it's as if you control an extra country in terms of determining reinforcements at the beginning of your turn. There are major and minor cities, major adding 2 population and minor adding 1. At the end of each game, all the players are given a list of options that they can take to change the game board: the winner gets a major change, factions that weren't completely eliminated get a minor change, and factions who were eliminated get nothing.

The single biggest change to the base game of Risk is that not all the countries begin occupied. At the start of the game, each faction takes turns picking their starting location, and that is all. On your turn, you may expand freely, as long as you leave one troop in each of your territories. Taking an unoccupied territory is free. Taking a territory with a city costs you the same number of troops as the population of the city. This might not seem like all that big a change, but the balance of expansion and consolidating your borders is huge. Once a few games have finished and the board has numerous changes on it, initial placement and expansion strategies are completely different.

There are a number of different pockets and packages in the game box that are labeled "Open when XXX". We've only managed to open one of them so far, and it has changed the game pretty drastically. We're really looking forward to opening more of them.

My group played two games so far. We were hoping to play it with 5, but after waiting on the 5th person we went ahead with just 4. We haven't opened anything yet, but are really looking forward to finally being able to. Neither of our games have been very long, our first the winner was on his second turn (I backstabbed another player in hopes of putting myself in good position but it turned out very poorly) and in the second I won it on my fifth turn (thank you faction ability that lets you get cards without conquering a territory).

We did do one change from the rules, we decided that we would always play the same faction rather than picking a new one each game for our first 15, thinking it would be more fun to go with one throughout.

Couple of things today:

My superintendent was visiting our building on the last day of school. We were having our end of the year party and I was playing Conquest of the Empire with some kids. Our super actually recognized the game and remembered enough details about the original that made him sound like a player. Guessing I got some geek brownie points today.

Second, on my trip to England, can anyone recommend a good travel, solitaire game to play? Anything with strategy. Dug out my old Statis Pro Basketball game and want something else. Figured I'd go this route rather than spend $300+ on a Vita and games.

Played Pandemic with my family tonight. Wow. We got squashed by the plague. The outbreraks we faced killed us. The epidemics were cruel.
We may take on eof the epidemic cards out for the next game.

Quick question as I type. And I will look it up in the rules. But does it count as one outbreak if you get the 4 diseases on one city. then it spreads to another with 3 diseases which makes that spread again? Or is that 2 outbreaks?

We played pandemic tonight as well however it was an abject failure as my partner's wife was totally disinterested (which is usual with any 'smart' games) and about halfway through we just simply couldnt wait for it to be over.

Played Pandemic with my family tonight. Wow. We got squashed by the plague. The outbreraks we faced killed us. The epidemics were cruel.
We may take on eof the epidemic cards out for the next game.

Quick question as I type. And I will look it up in the rules. But does it count as one outbreak if you get the 4 diseases on one city. then it spreads to another with 3 diseases which makes that spread again? Or is that 2 outbreaks?

I believe that is counted as 2 outbreaks.

Second, on my trip to England, can anyone recommend a good travel, solitaire game to play? Anything with strategy. Dug out my old Statis Pro Basketball game and want something else. Figured I'd go this route rather than spend $300+ on a Vita and games.

Friday can be had for cheap, $19.99 Amazon Prime. It's a deck builder that you have to not only build your deck, but eliminate the bad cards at a cost as well. I caved in getting it based on numerous people talking about it on BGG.

Friday | Board Game | BoardGameGeek (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43570/friday)

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Played my second game of Summoner Wars. I'm all in in terms of fanboyism. I wasn't excited about how I thought the ice race played so I played it against the desert race and it was the complete opposite of the first game. It was slow, tactical, and both sides ran out of draw cards and were left with what they had on the board and in their hands. I looked at the board and saw the desert race had twice as many guys, and yet I swore the ice race was going to win. Not only did they, it was a virtual slaughter. All of the little tiny aspects of ice that don't come off as big played a part in the deck winning in the end.

I'm not sure I would recommend Carcassonne as your starter game. It's a good game and I own it, but it's really just a dry, boring looking tile laying game. I think something along the lines of Ticket to Ride would be better. It's much more colorful, interactive and a better gateway game in my opinion.



hmm, where could i get that game on the cheap.. amazon is 37 right now and i'm assuming thats probably the lowest possible price based on quick search..

hmm, where could i get that game on the cheap.. amazon is 37 right now and i'm assuming thats probably the lowest possible price based on quick search..

Unless you want to spend 100$ to get free shipping somewhere then Amazon will be the cheapest. I love $100 free shipping, gives me an excuse to get more games ;).

Coolstuffinc does it have for $30 http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_boardGame.php?viewType=view%20board%20games&fp=Acc-TicketToRide if you decide to go that route

Unless you want to spend 100$ to get free shipping somewhere then Amazon will be the cheapest. I love $100 free shipping, gives me an excuse to get more games ;).

Coolstuffinc does it have for $30 http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_boardGame.php?viewType=view%20board%20games&fp=Acc-TicketToRide if you decide to go that route

One thing to note is Amazon's price is getting it via Prime so it's free shipping as where CSI you need to add it in there. TtR shouldn't be too bad for shipping though. I went with the Europe edition as it adds some complexity to the game but not much.

Quick question as I type. And I will look it up in the rules. But does it count as one outbreak if you get the 4 diseases on one city. then it spreads to another with 3 diseases which makes that spread again? Or is that 2 outbreaks?

If your outbreak triggers an outbreak in another city that counts as two outbreaks, yes. I believe a single city can't outbreak twice in one turn, but you can definitely have a chain reaction like that which kills you.

Yeah, those chain reactions killed us in both games. It wwas brutal.

Yeah, those chain reactions killed us in both games. It wwas brutal.

Third on chain reactions! Freaking outbreaks on outbreaks on outbreaks!

hmm, where could i get that game on the cheap.. amazon is 37 right now and i'm assuming thats probably the lowest possible price based on quick search..

Ticket to Ride is at Target as well, but I'm guessing it's $40-50.

Ticket to Ride $32.50 at minaturemarket.com

Please support my local game store. minature market is based out of St louis. I went up there and they have a dent and ding wall. Boxes damaged when received. Great deals there.

Please support my local game store. minature market is based out of St louis. I went up there and they have a dent and ding wall. Boxes damaged when received. Great deals there.

They get mentioned on BGG quite often.

Sleeving a game reminds me why I'm in no hurry to add on to Dominion. It was only Mage Knight, which has 240 cards, but still.

New Tabletop episode is out. This time its Munchkin, and one of the guests is GURPS (and Munchkin) creator Steve Jackson!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6oMBSiL7Zs&list=PL4F80C7D2DC8D9B6C&index=1&feature=plpp_video

New Tabletop episode is out. This time its Munchkin, and one of the guests is GURPS (and Munchkin) creator Steve Jackson!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6oMBSiL7Zs&list=PL4F80C7D2DC8D9B6C&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Fun but flawed game supported by a really good cast. It would have helped if the one guy didn't get so completely screwed. It seems like Wil was actually trying to play harder this time as well.

Has anyone here finished Risk: Legacy and/or opened the packet underneath everything that is labeled "Do not open. Ever."?

Looking at playing Formula D tonight with my daughters. Looks like a fun racing game. Will report back if we get to it.

Update:
My wife and i played carcassonne.. (minus the farmer scoring, really didn't want to introduce that just yet)

At first my wife kinda was accomidating me i think, just playing.. But something happened.. and she really started enjoying the strategy of the game, not to mention she was legitly kicking my ass.

I think i'm going to add the builders expansion to the game.. and maybe inn's/cathedrals.

I then told her about ticket to ride and had her watch 5 minutes of wil wheaton's youtube video "hey! thats the guy from toy soldiers who had the stupidest death ever!" and she was hooked on that too..


Thanks guys

Playing Game of Thrones 2nd ed. Tonight with 3 other guys. Pretty excited. Im reading that game is unbalanced with 4 players. If anyone has any set up ideas to balance it out, it would be appreciated.
This is my 2nd game and their 1st. So unbalanced play may not matter.

"Play the Game" podcast from Origins for a couple unique games. Morels is out now. Mice and Mystics is still in preorder phase.

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Colby(Summoner Wars) isn't the actual designer for this one, but he helped out since it's a Plaid Hat game. I have it preordered and it's by far the game I'm most looking forward to for the rest of the year.

Z-Man Games got the license for Hans im Glück games and are looking to reprint some of the games that are OOP. Maybe the most elusive for me has been Taluva, and Z-Man on their Facebook page are taking suggestions for which games to do. Taluva is doing really well, so this might be finally a chance to own it after officially considering it dead after contacting the publisher and being told there were no plans of a reprint.

Fun but flawed game supported by a really good cast. It would have helped if the one guy didn't get so completely screwed. It seems like Wil was actually trying to play harder this time as well.

The biggest flaw I've seen with Munchkin is when you decide to use the expansions, there are just too many damn cards.

Im looking for the original

Im looking for the original

Original what?

I'm guessing the original Munchkin, but that's rather easy to pick up.

I stumbled upon American Rails which only had roughly 300 copies printed and people were giving it rather good reviews even saying it was a Chicago Express killer. The website for it said to preorder for the next printing of it. I tried to do so only for it to say it was sold out. Long story short, the fourth and last printing was done last year. A poster on BGG mentioned he contacted the game maker and got a copy, so I decided to try as well. Looks like he his doing one final printing from the extras he has laying around so it's only going to be 10-20 copies made and he said he would let me know when they are ready in a couple of weeks. Sweet.

Review (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/530261/american-rails-detailed-review)

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic717590_md.jpg

Wife loved ticket to ride, as i expected she would after loving carcassonne...

Munchkin might really be pushing it for me, but i absolutely loved watching it being played, and its probably a 3 person minimum game.

Gotta say after we got over the 45 minutes it took figuring out how to play it, 7 Wonders is a pretty awesome game!

So we're 8 games into the 15 game Risk: Legacy Campaign, and it's still a blast. Games are starting to get longer, our last one was about 2 hours. Through 8 games we've got one guy who has won 3 times, two who have won twice, one who has won once and another who still has yet to win (which is almost impressive at this point, because he starts every game with a 25% advantage toward winning over everyone else).

I have to say though, that manufacturing mishaps are really a bummer. A lot of the joy of this game is in the opening of the several packages inside the box that you aren't supposed to open until certain conditions are met. Each adds things to the game, changes the rules or in some other way usually has a huge impact on the game. One of our packages was improperly filled, and we had to open another package to get the proper parts that fit what was supposed to be in that specific package. Rather disappointing that we now know what is in the other package.

Seriously, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read this. One of the packages reads "Open when three missiles are used on one combat roll." When you open the package...It talks about how the war has escalated to nuclear status, and the country that was being attacked was now a fallout zone, etc etc. The main thrust of the package, however, is that it introduces a new faction to the game, the Mutants. They have tons of special rules that are associated with them, a whole new set of pieces. Then when we get to the bottom, the faction card reads "Aliens." Which are a whole different faction which belongs in the "Open this package when someone is about to place 30 troops on the board and has at least one missile." We ended up opening that package, sliding out the faction card underneath it and replacing it with the Aliens card so that we had the right Mutant Card to play with....it was very frustrating, to say the least.

If you like Risk at all, I'd highly recommend picking this up. I could easily see myself picking up the game again and going through it a second time with a new group of players. Every time we sit down, for the next two or three days I'm plotting in my head new strategies for the next time we play.

Edit: If the game continues as it seems to be, it looks like we'll end up putting about 20 hours into our campaign. We've had four sessions so far, playing two games per session. The early games were only a half hour or so long, but we've already gotten to an hour and a half easily, with some going two hours long.

Gotta say after we got over the 45 minutes it took figuring out how to play it, 7 Wonders is a pretty awesome game!

I really enjoy 7 Wonders. I wish I had enough gamer friends to get a full game going...three player games have a weird dynamic because everyone has access to everyone else's resources, which nerfs a lot of the strategy involved.

I might have to put 7 Wonders on a Christmas list since it would be the only way I would get it. For my church group I'm starting up, I already have larger group games covered, but I know it would be fun to have a full seven player game going. I'm sure it's a small hope, but I was kind of hoping somebody else would have it. :lol:

If you are wondering, I got The Resistance, Citadels, and Time's Up: Total Recall for games dealing with a larger amount of players. King of Tokyo and Survive: Escape from Atlantis with 5-6 player expansion as well so those cover up to 6.

Today is the kick off for the church gamer's group. Facebook group for it is up to 16 and this is the slowest period of the year for the church since attendance goes down so much with colleges being out. Mentioning of it in announcements has only happened once so far and then it will get mentioned again today. There's always those additional people who don't deal with Facebook either that show up. I'm already planning out themed meetings for things like Halloween. I got a steal of a deal on a copy of Mansions of Madness. I can get to the church early so I get past the massive setup time.

7 Wonders is great the first 5-10 times you play it, not so much afterwards.

7 Wonders is great the first 5-10 times you play it, not so much afterwards.

This is what I have been hearing. I think with my group not being static it would get more life, but still. I'm doing a rotation of games so it might be a good one to do once in a while.

For future plays of 7 Wonders you can determine a winner by coin flip between the two people sitting next to the least experienced player.

Taking:

Hey, That's My Fish
No Thanks!
The Resistance
King of Tokyo
Ticket to Ride: Europe
Survive: Escape from Atlantis w/5-6 player expansion.

I know there will be at least Pandemic there as well. I would rather have too many games so people have a selection. I've currently got six other games to rotate in over time as well: Citadels, Lords of Waterdeep, Takenoko, Small World, Time's Up: Total Recall, and Dominion. I figure that's a rather solid starting point. Anything else tends to push the limits of depth and playtime for a wide range of people playing, but that's why I'll host smaller get togethers in between the once a month meetings.

General question for those out there - have limited bucks, but would like to get a version of Ticket to Ride. Unlikely to ever be able to pick up an expansion. What version would you recommend?

How many people do you plan to play with? Are they gamers or non gamers?

And do the pe

And do the people who will play like any confrontation or would prefer to play a more friendly games where they can kind of play their own game and not get blocked?

We play a lot of lost cities, pandemic, fluxx and games like that. We've played the original one and enjoyed but wanted to make sure that was the best one to get. Usually 2-4 players, and blocking each other is fun to us.

Especially since you already know you enjoy it, probably stick with US then. Europe would be ok too, though I like US better overall. I do recommend the inexpensive 1910 expansion for the larger cards and extra tickets.

We play a lot of lost cities, pandemic, fluxx and games like that. We've played the original one and enjoyed but wanted to make sure that was the best one to get. Usually 2-4 players, and blocking each other is fun to us.

Nordic Countries plays 2-3 and it's the most cut throat of the series. You can use the 1912 expansion to play up to 5.

Especially since you already know you enjoy it, probably stick with US then. Europe would be ok too, though I like US better overall. I do recommend the inexpensive 1910 expansion for the larger cards and extra tickets.

I'll give a double +1 for this option. US followed by the 1910 expansion.

7 Wonders is great the first 5-10 times you play it, not so much afterwards.

For future plays of 7 Wonders you can determine a winner by coin flip between the two people sitting next to the least experienced player.

I certainly know folks who have formed these opinions, or similar, after a requisite number of plays. One of these guys will simply not play when it is broken out. Other very experienced gamers I know will play any time it is available. I'm much closer to this second group. I really enjoy the game, and do not find it getting stale or suffering too much from the king maker syndrome that mckerney mentions. Puerto Rico is much more prone to that scenario, and I'll never pass up an opportunity to play that one.

So while I certainly respect this opinion of 7 Wonders, know that there are a lot of folks who enjoy repeated plays.

We play a lot of lost cities, pandemic, fluxx and games like that. We've played the original one and enjoyed but wanted to make sure that was the best one to get. Usually 2-4 players, and blocking each other is fun to us.

I know it's not the "board game" but if you have a Xbox 360 and the controllers Ticket To Ride is great on it. The wife and I usually play that way because you don't have to set up and put away the board then... And it is less expensive.

I just dropped $100 on the Sedition Wars kickstarter. Looks interesting, developed by Mike McVey:

Sedition Wars: Battle for Alabaster by CoolMiniOrNot &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coolminiornot/sedition-wars-battle-for-alabaster)

I know it's not the "board game" but if you have a Xbox 360 and the controllers Ticket To Ride is great on it. The wife and I usually play that way because you don't have to set up and put away the board then... And it is less expensive.


That would greatly improve the efficiency with which my wife would kick my butt.

I have 3 games on my wish. I picked up reffing basketball this Summer. That will feed my board game collection.
On my wish list:
King of Tokyo- What a fun little game. Should be great for my family. I am going to start a board game club at school next year. This will be in the rotation.

Dominion- Heard tons of great reviews. Should work for my family. Also, in the rotation for the club.

Fortress America- I love this game. Played it when I was in college. Will introduce to my friends that play games.

There are others, such as a Victory Points game for solo play. I have been checking ebay for a copy of Turf Master.

Cant wait to start collecting checks.

Hey guys, I picked up Pandemic and the expansion to play with my folks and wife over vacation. I'm the biggest gamer of the group and am probably only taking Pandemic (saving the expansion for a later date). Any tips of breaking in a group of new players?

I've read the rules six or seven times already just to be sure that I have them down. Thanks in advance.

Play the introductory level. Remember the rules. esp. the special orders and the roles of the people you are.
Its a fun game. A good co-op. My daughters really enjoy it.

I have 3 games on my wish. I picked up reffing basketball this Summer. That will feed my board game collection.
On my wish list:
King of Tokyo- What a fun little game. Should be great for my family. I am going to start a board game club at school next year. This will be in the rotation.

Dominion- Heard tons of great reviews. Should work for my family. Also, in the rotation for the club.

Fortress America- I love this game. Played it when I was in college. Will introduce to my friends that play games.

There are others, such as a Victory Points game for solo play. I have been checking ebay for a copy of Turf Master.

Cant wait to start collecting checks.

Not sure if you know or not, but there is a new version of Fortress American coming out.

Dominion got played at my gamer group and it did take some players time to adjust to what feels like a rather open format since there is no obvious strategy, but the person who brought the game went straight into a game using the base game with Intrigue and Seaside. Keep it simple with the recommended starter cards, and go from there.

Yeah on Fortress America. Its at my local board game shop right now. $51.97.
Dominion and KoT are around $25.
I make $22 a game reffing.
Doing a shootout later this week. $15 a game. Reffing 9 games.

I may have all of these soon.

Steam Barons - Martin Wallaces Expansion (http://www.realrecreationusa.com/p/Steam-Barons-Martin-Wallaces-Expansion-1678253.html)

Um...

Hey guys, I picked up Pandemic and the expansion to play with my folks and wife over vacation. I'm the biggest gamer of the group and am probably only taking Pandemic (saving the expansion for a later date). Any tips of breaking in a group of new players?

I've read the rules six or seven times already just to be sure that I have them down. Thanks in advance.


Do use the meeples, player pieces, from the expansion. They are just a better size for use on the board. Also grab the petri dishes out of the expansion to store the cubes for each disease. I just thought that was a nice touch, and people enjoy it.

Hey guys, I picked up Pandemic and the expansion to play with my folks and wife over vacation. I'm the biggest gamer of the group and am probably only taking Pandemic (saving the expansion for a later date). Any tips of breaking in a group of new players?

I've read the rules six or seven times already just to be sure that I have them down. Thanks in advance.

I really love the idea of Pandemic, but I'm starting to get extremely frustrated with it. We've yet to win in 5-6 plays (except for the 1 time we cheated). Even playing at the introduction level we still seem to be getting our asses kicked. We keep getting all the cures but run out of player cards before we are able to eradicate everything.

Not sure if you know or not, but there is a new version of Fortress American coming out.

Dominion got played at my gamer group and it did take some players time to adjust to what feels like a rather open format since there is no obvious strategy, but the person who brought the game went straight into a game using the base game with Intrigue and Seaside. Keep it simple with the recommended starter cards, and go from there.

Completely agree, stay with the initial set for a first couple plays. Once someone figures out how to game the system with gold farming flip them the bird by changing up the cards. :)

I really love the idea of Pandemic, but I'm starting to get extremely frustrated with it. We've yet to win in 5-6 plays (except for the 1 time we cheated). Even playing at the introduction level we still seem to be getting our asses kicked. We keep getting all the cures but run out of player cards before we are able to eradicate everything.

I feel your pain. I love the game and have only played it about 3-4 times, but I have never won it.

"Defenders of The Realm" is essentially Pandemic, but instead of trying to stop different diseases you're trying to stop different fantasy armies - orcs, demons, undead and dragonmen. Instead of CDC people, you're various fantasy heroes - barbarian, paladin, cleric, wizard, assassin, rogue, etc.

It's a pretty fun co-op game as well. We don't seem to win that one all too often either.

I really love the idea of Pandemic, but I'm starting to get extremely frustrated with it. We've yet to win in 5-6 plays (except for the 1 time we cheated). Even playing at the introduction level we still seem to be getting our asses kicked. We keep getting all the cures but run out of player cards before we are able to eradicate everything.

I think going through the cards will be the biggest issue. We won our game, but we did a rather easy version of it. I would prefer the starter one to be rather friendly and let the game ramp up from there.

I really need to get Defenders of the Realm at some point, I think it, Mage Knight, and Summoner Wars are the easiest no brainer pick games for me based on playing D&D, and I have the other two. I'll be wait and see on Descent 2nd edition to see if that gets more friendly in terms of play time. It sounds awesome, but its length limits how much it can get played.

Completely agree, stay with the initial set for a first couple plays. Once someone figures out how to game the system with gold farming flip them the bird by changing up the cards. :)

The guy who owns the games played with some new players and I don't know if he truly picked random cards or not, but there was a Treasure Map and I was like, "Hey, wait a minute."

I really love the idea of Pandemic, but I'm starting to get extremely frustrated with it. We've yet to win in 5-6 plays (except for the 1 time we cheated). Even playing at the introduction level we still seem to be getting our asses kicked. We keep getting all the cures but run out of player cards before we are able to eradicate everything.

I was going to sympathize, but then I took a closer look at what you wrote.

"We keep getting all the cures"...
That is all you have to do to "win".

You don't have to eradicate everything. Just get the cures. There are folks who debate that taking the actions to eradicate even one disease along the way is a waste of time.

So if I read that correctly, you are winning and don't even know it. You and Charlie Sheen...well I guess he knows it.

Yes, my friends were doing that same thing. If you get four cures, game over.

Wait, you only have to find the cures and not eradicate them? Well, that makes for a much easier game. We were having the same problem as DG. Kept running out of cards. Getting frustrated.
Cool. Thats good news.

I was going to sympathize, but then I took a closer look at what you wrote.

"We keep getting all the cures"...
That is all you have to do to "win".

You don't have to eradicate everything. Just get the cures. There are folks who debate that taking the actions to eradicate even one disease along the way is a waste of time.

So if I read that correctly, you are winning and don't even know it. You and Charlie Sheen...well I guess he knows it.

Oh shit. Well color me surprised! I guess we have been winning. Interesting. That doesn't seem so hard then.

Oh shit. Well color me surprised! I guess we have been winning. Interesting. That doesn't seem so hard then.

That's the problem my friends and I ran into with Pandemic. Once you figured out what you were doing, the game is too easy unless you play on the insane difficulty level. At that point (I'm stealing from Jim here) it almost feels like clock solitaire - if you get a good draw you win, if not, you can't win.

The four cures aspect did trip up some of the other newer players when we did our game was well. Thankfully a number of people there had already played the game and knew it well enough to explain it. I've only played it the one time, but due to the mechanics of the game, I can see where bad things can go to worse when you reshuffle the discard deck and put it back on top of the draw deck. Usually you shuffle them both together to create a new one versus intentionally putting the just played stuff back on top.

Oh shit. Well color me surprised! I guess we have been winning. Interesting. That doesn't seem so hard then.

Well, you are playing at the introductory level.

I've had Eclipse preordered for some time. Now that people are getting e-mails about their copies being mailed out Cardhaus, were I preordered mine, suddenly list it as having it by June 30th. The date change had to be more recent since I checked it not long ago, and it was the same as it always had been, June 15th. They had a date that was well behind others for Mage Knight as well, but this is more of a out of the blue kind of change. This was going to be the game I played during our down time between our monthly gamer events and now it's like, "Oh sorry guys. We might have to wait until July."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5cR-WiGKZtg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've had Eclipse preordered for some time. Now that people are getting e-mails about their copies being mailed out Cardhaus, were I preordered mine, suddenly list it as having it by June 30th. The date change had to be more recent since I checked it not long ago, and it was the same as it always had been, June 15th. They had a date that was well behind others for Mage Knight as well, but this is more of a out of the blue kind of change. This was going to be the game I played during our down time between our monthly gamer events and now it's like, "Oh sorry guys. We might have to wait until July."

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5cR-WiGKZtg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>


I think it is crazy that I'm already seeing people talking about the second printing selling out while it was still in "pre-order". That said, you've been notified you won't have yours in hand until the 30th...I think I read that people, at least one guy, received their copies today. The guy on BGG said that one of the characters on the box front was slightly changed.

Outside the box, the only difference I see, the Blue guy in the bottom right hand corner of the top of the box is now a red clothed dude.

Eclipse is the big new game to get. It's the only game since 2009 that's in BGG's top ten although Mage Knight will likely change that. Mage Knight was considered sold out in 8 days for it's 2nd printing. Lords of Waterdeep is the most likely picked game for best so far this year and it's at #49.

Note, selling out doesn't mean you can't find it in stores. You can. It's just once those copies are gone, they're gone.

The delay is made more annoying when Amazon shipped something to me today a day ahead of schedule and it was two day shipping to start. :lol:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D5cOSFOwa6g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Indepth(37 minute) review of Tammany Hall

Tammany Hall has about 12 hours left on it's Kickstarter. It's at 400% funding and has beat all of it's stretch goals.

Tammany Hall by Pandasaurus Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/tammany-hall?ref=card)

My only issue is how often would it get played.

I really shouldn't watch Jeremy's videos for games that are so close to being shipped to me. :lol: Some people who ordered Eclipse from Cardhuas are now getting e-mails about it. I still haven't gotten one. :rant: I did e-mail them about it.

EDIT: And I just got my confirmation e-mail.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H4LevjuhYqc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tabletop plays Castle Panic

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MpuTGWFkBYs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Eclipse is the big new game to get. It's the only game since 2009 that's in BGG's top ten although Mage Knight will likely change that. Mage Knight was considered sold out in 8 days for it's 2nd printing. Lords of Waterdeep is the most likely picked game for best so far this year and it's at #49.
...

I grabbed my copy back in December. I wanted it for Christmas...I told my wife to check with the FLGS, and if they didn't hand her a physical copy to go straight to Amazon. The FLGS assured her that they would have a copy from their next order. She came clean while driving to my Mother's house on Christmas day. I ended up ordering it from Amazon on the iPad right then. I don't think I physically saw a real copy available after that that wasn't asking $170.

Tammany Hall has about 12 hours left on it's Kickstarter. It's at 400% funding and has beat all of it's stretch goals.

Tammany Hall by Pandasaurus Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/tammany-hall?ref=card)

I went ahead and backed Tammany Hall, looks interesting. Thanks for posting it! Right after I bought it a friend that follows me on KS bought it as well.

Eclipse is $67 at my FLGS. It is out of stock. But it is in my wish list right now.

So many games, so little money.

Eclipse is $67 at my FLGS. It is out of stock. But it is in my wish list right now.

So many games, so little money.

Hence they only covered their preorders. If Mage Knight is getting reprinted this year, I would expect Eclipse to get reprinted as well, or soon after Christmas. The expansion pack is coming out around that time as well, so might as well have both being out. People who have play tested the expansion pack consider it one of the better ones you will find and you can mix and match whatever from it. You also can do teams.

Did another Summoner Wars fight and I'm slowly getting better at playing the game. I still need two more matches before I get through my initial list of factions and then matchups after that should get a lot better. I was impressed with The Filth(mutations), but the Benders(mind control) denial aspect won out in the end.

Eclipse is a fantastic game, but much better with 5 or 6 instead of 2 or 3.

GameSurplus (https://www.gamesurplus.com/product_info.php?products_id=1960)

One online place that still seems to have copies. $63.50 is a solid price.

Another place if that doesn't work

http://boardgameguy.com/products/Eclipse-%28Pre%252dOrder%29.html

Thanks to everyone who suggested Dominion. Got it today as a Fathers Day gift and played with the family. Everyone had a great time, and it only took one game to get the flow down. Can't wait to play more tomorrow!!

GameSurplus (https://www.gamesurplus.com/product_info.php?products_id=1960)

One online place that still seems to have copies. $63.50 is a solid price.

Another place if that doesn't work

Eclipse (Pre-Order) - Board Game Guy (http://boardgameguy.com/products/Eclipse-%28Pre%252dOrder%29.html)

Down to GameSurplus. :lol:

Board game inspired Woot t-shirts.

Shirt.Woot (http://shirt.woot.com/offers/settler-cats)
Shirt.Woot (http://shirt.woot.com/offers/a-most-civilized-game)
Shirt.Woot (http://shirt.woot.com/offers/we-be-rollin)

Not sure if any one has played this, but played it tonight for the first time, Space Alert.

This is a co-op game that is a combination of Robo-Rally, Galaxy Trucker, and Pandemic all rolled into one. The cool mechanic is that it has a sound track. You are on a exploration ship. Your mission is to last 10 minutes to allow the computer to scan the system. The computer calls out the threats, and you have to work out how to defend against them. You plot out your moves, and then after the sound track is over, you resolve your actions and the actions of the threats.

I am typically not a fan of co-op games, but this one challenged us, and was quite a bit of fun.

It's been on and off my list. I probably should pick it up at some point since I'm lacking in co-ops although that starts to change once Mice and Mystics comes out.

My list is officially done outside of reprints for Letters from Whitechapel, Taluva since Z-Man got the rights to it, Drum Roll if/when it gets US distribution and 2nd edition of Sentinels of the Multiverse. Everything else is expansion packs if I feel like getting them, and I generally don't. I went through and looked at BGG's top 500, or so games and nothing stands out. I went and looked at games on my wishlist and looked at some borderline cases, and I ended up taking them off in the end based on reviews that go beyond "this game is awesome."

I have been watching Eclipse at minaturemarket.com. It started at $67 a week ago. It is now selling for $90. There was a stop at $75.

Standard price increase once preorder pricing is gone. Regular price is $99.

The UPS guy dropped my copy of eclipse on my front porch yesterday. Its already punched and in planos. Probably gonna play a solitare game this weekend to get the rules down.

Eclipse reprint is slated for October.

Le Havre is out for IOS.

Le Havre is out for IOS.

Yes, my daily app store search for the game was just rewarded. It is installed and awaiting play.

This is my most favorite of board games, and the only game that has rivaled Eclipse in number of plays this year.

On the topic of Eclipse.

We experienced our first ever completely unbalanced game of Eclipse this weekend. One of the players took the "Descendants" race, and while everyone had played before, no one had ever chosen this race before. Before this player's first turn, a couple of people placed inner ring hexes with aliens. He ended up occupying the galactic center and the two inner ring hexes across the board on the first turn. He used ALL of his actions in the first turn and completely uncovered ALL of his economic production boxes the first turn. It was over almost before we started playing.

So the descendants power was disrespected, but no more. They will also no longer the get free pass from other players that they got this game.

Dola,

I just wandered out to BGG, and read that the galactic center IS NOT an ancient hex, so the Draco or Descendants cannot occupy it as the other Alien occupied hexes.

So now I get to rescind the Draco player's victory and call him a cheater.

First let me say I am not affiliated with VPG or any other gaming company want to give a strong recomemndation for this sereis of games. I have recently bought a bunch of the Victory Point State of Siege Solitaire board games. They are mostly wargames/historical games and are a blast. But a few are not war games like the below Swing Staes game that let's you battle out in the 2012 election or Nemo's war from the Jules Verna novel 20000 leagues under teh sea to name a few. They usually play in a hour or two sometimes less than an hour for some.

I have played:

" We Must Tell the Emperor"- The Pacific Theater of WWII: 1941 to 1945

We Must Tell the Emperor brings Victory Point Games' unique States of Siege(TM) game series (first introduced in Darin Leviloff's groundbreaking Israeli Independence design) to the grand scope of the Pacific Theater during WWII. As the Military and Political leader of Japan, you must drive the enemy "Fronts” far away from the Home Islands while also securing enough precious resources to maintain your Empire. If the war cannot be brought to a successful conclusion early on, then the burgeoning Allied strength will unleash a hailstorm of steel upon the player that will require the utmost test of skill, nerve, and luck in order to survive.

As the various headline cards are revealed, you must deal with enemy offensives and constant resource crises. A new addition to the series is the inclusion of a Battle Table where the player has the option try and change the course of history at locations such as The Coral Sea, Midway, Santa Cruz, and Iwo Jima!

The Guadalcanal Campaign is probable - but not assured - and China will play a pivotal role in the conduct of the war. Will you have sufficient Oil to fuel your Army-Navy while propaganda boosts your government's Prestige? Launch Kamikazes, endure marauding Allied submarines, and hope that your Island fortifications can stem the Allied tide.

"Malta Besieged: 1940-1942"-

That Scorpion of the Sea: Malta Besieged is a solitaire game covering the pivotal World War II years of the mid-1940 through 1942 period in the often overlooked Battle for the Mediterranean. You are placed in the role of the Commonwealth Commander in the theatre, and must utilize every resource at your disposal to fend off unrelenting Axis attacks in order to ensure the survival of the island of Malta.

Built upon the same States of Siege engine as the designer's previous 2010 Charles S. Roberts award-winning release (We Must Tell the Emperor), Malta Besieged features both familiar and innovative game play. Supply was the key element in the Mediterranean Campaign, and so it is here as well. Players will have to safely shepherd vulnerable convoys - and their valuable cargoes - in order to effectively wage war. With the ability to trade Supply for extra Actions at the most crucial moments, this places an additional emphasis on that precious resource and also creates extremely tense convoy battles which will resolve as the game progresses.

ULTRA is a crucial asset in the game, but beware of Axis counterintelligence! Spitfires can rule the skies, Gibraltar can block U-Boat advances, Operation Herkules is a constant threat, and Admiral Cunningham himself can intervene on occasion.

North Africa is not treated as a mere sideshow; indeed, the struggle with Rommel, the "Desert Fox", holds the ultimate key to victory... if Malta can hold out against the constant pressure. If a fortified Tobruk manages to stubbornly delay the vaunted Afrika Korps long enough, then General Montgomery and his battle-tested 8th Army can possibly make a final dash from El Alamein to capture Tripoli and secure a glorious triumph.

Raiding Axis supply lines to weaken Rommel's Situation, scrambling Hurricanes to provide Air Support for inbound shipping, attacking the Italians early before the dreaded Luftwaffe arrives, requesting British Fleet escort for your individually named convoys, and maintaining the morale of a battered Malta are just some of the important decisions to be made throughout the game. Numerous theater-wide events such as The Fall of France, O'Connor's desert offensive, the daring raid on the Italian Fleet at Taranto, the Air Assault on Crete, the evacuation from Greece, the sinking of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, and the Torch landings are all abstracted via card play, and can have a significant impact on the overall conduct of the war.

"The Lost Cause:
The American Civil War: 1861 - 1865"-

Empires in America is a States of Siege(TM) series game on the French and Indian War (1754-62) created by veteran designer, Joe Miranda. With riveting solitaire gameplay action, you must command the beleaguered colony of New France, from Halifax to the Ohio Valley, while Britain and her American colonies press in from all sides with war raging from the fortress of Quebec to the Monongahela.

Employing Leaders to command the opposing Armies, Empires in America presents a new focus on the important historical personages of this era like Montcalm, Wolfe and even a young George Washington. These Leaders establish their reputations as their fortunes wax and wane on campaign across the far-flung frontiers of colonial North America.

Can the Montreal Militia and Algonquin Indians defeat General Braddock’s redcoats before they reach Fort Duquesne? Can your Troupes de la Marine stop Rogers’ Rangers at Fort Ticonderoga? Will the Royal Navy sail up the St. Lawrence River to support operations against Quebec? Can court intrigue at Versailles undermine the machinations of William Pitt (the Elder)? Find out as you defend Montreal in Empires in America."

"The Lost Cause"-
The American Civil War: 1861 - 1865

After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, State after State in America’s “Deep South” seceded from the Union that the North felt must be preserved. In the ensuing war, brother fought brother as the Confederacy resisted with all its might for over four years in The Lost Cause.

This States of Siege solitaire game puts you in the shoes of Jefferson Davis and the Confederate High Command as the Union armies close in from five different directions. With famous Generals like Lee and Johnston leading armies for their new nation, much of the conflict also takes place on the waterways and in the halls of power of foreign governments.

Told through the use of Headline and Broadsheet Event cards, history unfolds before your eyes as you direct the Southern war effort on land, sea, the diplomatic and home fronts, in an effort to secure independence and survive as a nation. Can you organize the Confederacy and devise the plans necessary to secure victory? Can you make the best use of scarce Southern resources, allocating them at the right place and time to preserve the Confederacy? Or will relentless Union pressure make it all a Lost Cause?

"Ottoman Sunset"-Ottoman Sunset
The Great War in the East, 1914 - 1918

VPG brings you WW 1 action in The Great War in a Near Eastern adventure in Ottoman Sunset. The Turkish Empire, long the “Sick Man of Europe,” is surrounded by enemies and in a fight for survival as French, Russian, British and Commonwealth forces converge, joined by the Arab Revolt. The ancient capital of Constantinople is under threat from all directions, and only a cunning leader can help the Ottoman Empire endure and survive.

As the headlines unfold, you draw upon military resources and rely on your German and Austro-Hungarian allies to help you. Threats by land and sea are faced, and international politics is often at the forefront of events.

Can you save the Ottoman Empire? Can you secure the Dardanelles from Allied invasion? Will the Arab Revolt and Lawrence of Arabia prove your undoing, or can German aid and distant victories help you prevail?

"Swing States 2012"

-Swing States is a solitaire game simulating a U.S. presidential election in a given year (2012). You are a political strategist hired by the nominee to win the Presidential Election for either the Democratic Party (symbolized by a donkey) or the Republican Party (symbolized by an elephant).

You must make strategic decisions regarding fund-raising and expenditures, where to campaign and where to advertise, when and where to send the nominees and vital surrogates, how much time they should spend fund-raising, preparing for debates, conducting opposition research, and dealing with scandals that appear out of nowhere.

"Nemo's War"-

Jules Verne’s classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea tells the story of Captain Nemo and his astounding ship, the Nautilus.
Set in year 1866, this amazing electric-powered submarine travels across the seas tacitly on missions of research and exploration, but it isn’t long before two captive crew members, rescued from the wreck of a Nautilus attack, Professor Aronnax and Canadian whaler Ned Land, suspect Captain Nemo’s motives are more complex and perhaps sinister.

Can you command the Nautilus on its year-long cruise to destiny? Can you fend off giant squids, discover the South Pole, the Arabian Tunnel or the lost city of Atlantis? Can you scourge the high seas and create enough fear in the great maritime powers to free the oppressed colonial peoples of the world? There really is a whole new world to of adventure to explore and master when you are fighting Nemo’s War.

"Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies"-

This is it, Boys, we're going in...

The “Go Code” has been received and the war plan decoded; it is time to turn your B-52 into Soviet air space, and head for your primary target. You’ve got 50,000 lbs. of fuel, two H-bombs, a crew looking to you for leadership, and a mission that your country needs you to fulfill.
Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies is a fast-playing solitaire game. You decide the payload, pick your targets and must then challenge the Soviet Union's defenses.
SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) and Soviet Air Defense fighter/ interceptors will find you as you cross “The Big Board.” Events will relentlessly dog you and your crew as the fate of America, even the world, rests on your shoulders. A single mission can be accomplished in about 15 minutes, or take an hour for the whole campaign game. Take a darkly humorous trip in a less-than-serious game exploding with atomic fun.
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The games are fairly inexpensive running from $15 to $30. I also recommend buying them from NWSONLINE.COM Search (http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/nsearch.html?section=&query=state+of+siege&searchsubmit=SEARCH&vwcatalog=yhst-12000246778232) as he gets a great discount of around 20-25%
VPG WEBSITE:Victory Point Games (http://victorypointgames.com/results.php?category=19)
Board Game Geeks page:The Lost Cause | Board Game | BoardGameGeek (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/66080/the-lost-cause)

Victory point games gets snug thumbs up from me! I have l
Purchased way too many of their games lol

Not sure if any one has played this, but played it tonight for the first time, Space Alert.

Fun game. Hectic, chaotic, ... needs the right group, but can be a blast.

FWIW - There's audio files online and I believe available for the phone, so you don't have to mess with a CD player.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Eclipse.

Eclipse? Woo hoo!

There's like eleven board that needs to have stuff punched out from it. This is going to take some time to weed through.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Eclipse.

Eclipse? Woo hoo!

There's like eleven board that needs to have stuff punched out from it. This is going to take some time to weed through.

All well worth it. Congrats.

All well worth it. Congrats.

Life would be easier if one potential job wasn't asking me to have half of my certs done already and me needing to take another math placement for a grant after I thought I passed the right one before. Studying for four technical test in an asap kind of why isn't fun nor does it lead to lots of time to learn new games.

Glory to Rome:Black Box edition (http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_searchResults.php?form_search_number=25&search_text=Glory%20to%20Rome:%20Black%20Box%20Edition)

Expected release: Find a calendar and a dartboard. I ended up with July or August. Your results may vary.

:lol:

King of Tokyo available at gamekeeper.com

$39.99 is a solid price for it as well. You can get the promo character and cards via the BGG geekstore. The extra guy likely isn't worth $5 unless you have to have everything, but the promo cards are nice. I got the guy since I was ordering a bunch of the promos anyway.

King of Tokyo Promo Cards (IELLO) (http://store.boardgamegeek.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=274&category_id=13)

King of Tokyo: Brockenbär Character (Heidelberger Spielverlager) (http://store.boardgamegeek.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=381&category_id=13)

Its priced at minature market for $25.99
Im going to wait that out for a few days to see if they get it. If not Im ordering off game keeper.

Its priced at minature market for $25.99
Im going to wait that out for a few days to see if they get it. If not Im ordering off game keeper.

EDIT: Says out of stock.

Original replay had one retailer saying it will hit stores on the 25th.

This is likely old news, but I forgot to mention Memoir '44 is F2P on Steam.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Eclipse.

Eclipse? Woo hoo!

There's like eleven board that needs to have stuff punched out from it. This is going to take some time to weed through.

Being delivered next week for me. Can't wait.

Picked up Small World, Killer Bunnies and Eclipse yesterday at my FLGS as retail therapy for not getting a job I was excited about. Played a 3-player game of Small World and enjoyed it. Merchant Warlocks are silly powerful if the other players leave you alone.

Eclipse looks absolutely amazing and I can't wait to try it out.

Im going Tuesday to my FLGS. Looking at picking up king of Tokyo (They better have it) and Eclipse.
Somehow I have to get a $125 purchase by my wife.

Eclipse at $90 is giving me pause. But it does look amazing.

At some point I need to get Dominion. Also, Fortress America.

I wish I was rich. :)

Ok, what is FLGS? Friendly Local Game Store?

Once this s/c is done, I'm going to have to try to find one near me and see if people want to play games. I'm getting jealous reading here.

/tk

Ok, what is FLGS? Friendly Local Game Store?

Yep.

I kind of wish Chris Kluwe had opened his board game store (http://www.mercenary-market.com/) in Minneapolis, though the Fantasy Flight Event Center will do for a local gaming shop.

Cardboard Children: Fortress America | Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/24/cardboard-children-fortress-america/)

This really made me want to get Fortress America.

And this is what I love about the game. The “feel”. There are better dudes on a map games than Fortress America. But none of them tell this story. You can almost imagine the flow of the game as newspaper headlines.

AMERICA INVADED!
AMERICAN FORCES IN DISARRAY
EASTERN SEABOARD FALLS!
AMERICA: NO SURRENDER
LASER TECH HITS BACK
INVADERS LOSE GROUND IN SOUTH
THE PEOPLE RISE UP!
LASER WARFARE SHIFTS TIDE
ENGLISHMAN’S BAD TEETH SHOT OUT!

Man, this is a fun, old-school game. When you play it, you can almost picture yourself in an American college dorm room, with Red Dawn playing on the TV and Born In The USA on the radio. And Sally knocks on the door and asks you to go to the diner with her, and you’re all like “Sorry, Sally, I’m playing Fortress America with the guys!” And you don’t lose your virginity for another six years and you’re a fucking idiot.

This game would probably not be designed in 2012. Publishers would turn up their nose at it and say there aren’t enough rules, or that luck plays too big a part in the battles. Or that the story of the game is just too silly and you might have mental health issues for even thinking of it. But fuck those guys, because Fortress America already exists, it rules, and it’s about an America that we all secretly love.

See, when I was young, America was this big scary glamorous place that would fuck you up if you looked at it the wrong way. America existed in my head as a creature with Stallone’s muscles, an eagle’s head, Ronald Reagan’s voice and a rocket launcher. In the 1980s, American culture fed me the idea that the USA was built on solid foundations of kissing beautiful girls, driving shit hot cars, shooting anyone who wasn’t American, putting lasers in space and playing some pretty sweet rawk guitar. Now all of this is BAD, sure, and it was a LIE too. But for an 8 year old boy in Glasgow it was certainly cool. Every kid wanted to be an American in the 80s. Fact. These days America is just a confused skinny dude with horn-rimmed glasses trying to decide what to do with a bible.

Fortress America is that good old 1980s fictional America in a box. This is the ultimate guilty pleasure. Pick it up, open some beers, and enjoy some Old Glory.

Ok, what is FLGS? Friendly Local Game Store?

Once this s/c is done, I'm going to have to try to find one near me and see if people want to play games. I'm getting jealous reading here.

/tk

Go to boardgamegeek.com and search there for gaming meet ups. Or search the interwebz.

I did this and found several groups within a 30 minute drive. I signed up on one of the web sites and receive emails of upcoming meetings. I have yet to make it to one. So busy. But there is a Thursday night group that meets weekly. Im working on getting to that one.

Yep.

Cardboard Children: Fortress America | Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/24/cardboard-children-fortress-america/)

This really made me want to get Fortress America.

I had the old FA when I was a kid, complete with Saddam on the box. One regret I have is that (because storage and maintenance wasn't something pre-teen/early teen children bother with) I basically lost the game over time. Hard to do with a box that size, but I somehow did it. The only thing to survive to now is the map board. All this is a long-winded way to say that at some point I'm going to get a piece of my childhood back. :D

(Of course, had I kept it, I'd have probably sold it out for cash once it became a collector's item....)

We had a lot of those big box games. Shogun, FA, A&A. We ate them up. By we I mean the guy who hosted all the time. His wife made him get rid of all his games about 2 years ago. And by get rid of, I mean to the trash.
I found out because I called him (We live in different states now), and asked if he still had Supremacy. And he told me of the disposal. Sad day.

Wow, what a marriage that sounds like

We had a lot of those big box games. Shogun, FA, A&A. We ate them up. By we I mean the guy who hosted all the time. His wife made him get rid of all his games about 2 years ago. And by get rid of, I mean to the trash.
I found out because I called him (We live in different states now), and asked if he still had Supremacy. And he told me of the disposal. Sad day.

DTB.

This video made me smile.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7Xy6Z7RDLSg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Funny to watch all of the people coming in on BGG asking about Eclipse, asking if the price is correct, and if they can get it for cheaper.

Funny to watch all of the people coming in on BGG asking about Eclipse, asking if the price is correct, and if they can get it for cheaper.


I'm a bit worried about getting a copy of the expansion. I snapped up a copy online of the first print run, cause I suspected it was going to be hard to come by. Now with the publisher making the follow up print run SO small I'm thinking that the expansion, with presumably close to double the people (two print runs) looking to buy the expansion which I'm guessing will have yet another modestly sized print run, is going to be very hard to come by.

My FLGS thinks they got burned by their distributor on Eclipse. They pre-ordered 8 copies, and got the order reduced to 4, none of which they have received.

I understand a small publisher with a limited budget not fronting large print runs, but this seems extreme.

Unfortunately, the publisher is small and they don't have anything that really has a similar mad rush for it. I'm preordering the expansion like a month early likely from Cool Stuff Inc. since I get a discount there anyway.

Not to be a stinker, but the game is amazing. We played a three player and a four player game yesterday. It's super intimidating when you unwrap it, but the game play is quite intuitive, and it seems to be balanced quite well. In both games the Hydran Progress won, with the Descendants and Plant guys being runner up both times. In game one, none of us really knew what we were doing and the Progress player won by virtue of having a lot of territory. In game two, the Plant guy did a great job of using exploration to make himself very inaccessible, but the Progress' research won the day in the end.

I can't wait to mess around with it some more.

Go to boardgamegeek.com and search there for gaming meet ups. Or search the interwebz.

I did this and found several groups within a 30 minute drive. I signed up on one of the web sites and receive emails of upcoming meetings. I have yet to make it to one. So busy. But there is a Thursday night group that meets weekly. Im working on getting to that one.

Yeah I will once my schedule normalizes a little. I'm a little bummed nobody I work with plays games...they are the ones who would normally fit that stereotype. But most of the ones I'm friends with are either movie buffs or video gamers, not into board games.

I'm honestly a little intimidated about going out and seeking random people. Never thought I'd miss my old roommate, he would have been a good partner in this type of crime. Alas he now lives in Pittsburgh and is finishing up med school...speaking of no time...

/tk

TK, maybe it would help to try to meet one gamer, connect with someone who is interested in trying board games. If you can find someone, through Meetup or bgg or whatever else, then get to know them first, then the two of you can go to some of these group settings together. I'm with you, I basically would be anxious about just going to play with a bunch of strangers. But I have a friend who is also into games and we've gone to some of these things together. I actually met him through a different gaming venue, so that might be a path for you to try rather than jumping straight in.

RE: Eclipse

Why is this practice important? Because game retailers – both brick-and-mortar stores and online sellers – have traditionally been terrible at placing preorders, leaving publishers in the dark as to how many games to produce.

Asmodee's Stefan Brunell mentioned this during our talk. In late 2011 Asmodee brought it roughly two thousand copies of Eclipse, despite not having preorders to justify that amount, and blew through all the copies immediately. Now Asmodee has an Eclipse reprint of 5,000 copies scheduled for release in the U.S. in May 2012. Brunell says that his bosses balked initially because retailers and distributors still weren't placing reserve orders to justify a print run that large, but he convinced them to do it anyway. What's changed in the intervening weeks between the time that reprint order was placed and today? Eclipse has hit large, everyone wants it, retailers and distributors have finally placed preorders – and now those 5,000 copies are already sold out at the publisher level, with another reprint in the works. If retailers and distributors had done their homework when the game debuted at Spiel 2011 in October and placed orders accordingly, both the initial shipment and the reprint would be larger, and everyone would have a better chance of getting the game. (That said, gamers also tend to be negligent when it comes to placing preorders, and their preorders drive those of retailers and others down the line.)

NY Toy Fair 2012: Hobby Becomes Mainstream, and Vice Versa | BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek (http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/8017/ny-toy-fair-2012-hobby-becomes-mainstream-and-vice)

TK, you may want to look and find a board gaming event near you - when I started in the hobby I knew a few people, but going to a four day gaming event here locally was really what tied me into a whole bunch more people - and really those gaming events are crazy fun if you just want to game and hang out with gamers for days.

Many, but not all work on an invitiational system but once you know a few people you can usually get an invite, especially if you are looking to meet gamers in the area.

Minor preview of the new Summoner Wars reinforcement pack.

Bellor's Retribution | News | Plaid Hat Games (http://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/75)

No Eclipse at my FLGS #1, now to try FLGS #2.

2 more three player games last night. In the first, my Descendents absolutely crushed the field such that both opponents ceded the game by turn 5. Got some lucky rolls with a Cruiser to keep the Machenema from breaking my front, which in turn crippled their production. Coupled with a few lucky ancients pulls, I was never looking back.

Game two saw a much more even game, as my Planta were barely edged out by the Hegemony taking one tile from me on the last turn. The third player as the Hydran Progress would have been right in the hunt, but they put a decent investment into an early fleet that was completely unlucky against some ancients.

This game is awesome.

Sadly, I probably won't be able to play again for a few weeks as we move.

Just finished game night. 4 of us. 2 games each of Munchkin and Pandemic. Great time. Very enjoyable.
The guys liked Pandemic. 1st time they had played. This was my 1st time playing Munchkin. I really enjoyed it as well.

I have some awesome news. My wife decided to buy an ipad. Of course, I was very supportive of this decision.
And you know why dont you? Yes, Im going game shopping tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Im chomping at the bit.
King of Tokyo is in stock- Buying that.
Then it comes down to a decision. I will be buying Fortress America and Dominion OR Eclipse.

Oh what to do. Im hoping one of these games is on the dent and ding shelf. Lots of great deal there.

I have some awesome news. My wife decided to buy an ipad. Of course, I was very supportive of this decision.
And you know why dont you? Yes, Im going game shopping tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Im chomping at the bit.
King of Tokyo is in stock- Buying that.
Then it comes down to a decision. I will be buying Fortress America and Dominion OR Eclipse.

Oh what to do. Im hoping one of these games is on the dent and ding shelf. Lots of great deal there.

I don't have an iPad so I will secretly hate you for doing this, but get Summoner Wars when it's out for the iPad.

Forgot to add, I got Lords of Waterdeep down to a teachable level. The game really needs the mentioned in the base game expansion. The options for lords are: do the two types of quests stated the lords gets additional victory points for, or build buildings. Yay? It would be nice to see doing more types of quests for lesser points, one quest type for like 10 victory points, or extra victory points for Intrigue cards. Right now it comes across as rather bland in terms of what you need to do.

I have some awesome news. My wife decided to buy an ipad. Of course, I was very supportive of this decision.
And you know why dont you? Yes, Im going game shopping tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Im chomping at the bit.
King of Tokyo is in stock- Buying that.
Then it comes down to a decision. I will be buying Fortress America and Dominion OR Eclipse.

Oh what to do. Im hoping one of these games is on the dent and ding shelf. Lots of great deal there.

Eclipse is fantastic, but it's a lot less accessible than Dominion. What's your game group look like? The game is also better with more players (5-6), although I've thoroughly enjoyed my 3 and 4 player games.

Dominion is much easier to bring casual gamers into and is much less time-intensive for learning curve and setup, and is also a fantastic game.

Ok, I made my way to my FLGS this morning. I sat there looking at 3 boxes. I knew I was buying King of Tokyo. So it was down to Eclipse vs. Dominion and Fortress America.
I finally decided on Dominion and Fortress America. It took a good 30 minutes.

I think my group would really enjoy Eclipse, but we have Game of Thrones board game in the rotation. And we have only played it once. So that needs more play time. And my daughters will be able to play Dominion with me. And I doubt they would grasp Eclipse.

So I bought King of Tokyo, Fortress America and Dominion. KoT and Dominion will get play time at school when I strart the board game club.

When the next run of Eclipse comes out, I will order early so i can get in on a cheaper price. I just couldnt justify $90. $67, yeah. So in October I will pre-order.

Next up is Munchkin Deluxe.

Great call on Dominion. I just got it a couple of months back and am loving the base game and I'm looking forward to introducing my daughter to it as she gets older. I'm about ready to look into some of the Expansions

Great call on Dominion. I just got it a couple of months back and am loving the base game and I'm looking forward to introducing my daughter to it as she gets older. I'm about ready to look into some of the Expansions

Intrigue is awesome. I don't have experience playing any of the others, but reading card details none of the other ones really grab me at all.

I just nabbed a copy of Claustrophobia, one I've had on my waiting list for a long time. A two player in the mold of Space Hulk with some variety from turn to turn. The variability comes in that the player's actions are limited by dice rolls. Also as players are wounded their options become further limited. The dice mechanic isn't as restrictive as it probably sounds. In any case, this game looks great, and should be appealing to my son and daughter.

Intrigue is awesome. I don't have experience playing any of the others, but reading card details none of the other ones really grab me at all.


I've probably posted no less than three times in this thread, but my take on Dominion expansions is this.
Intrigue gives you a lot of opportunity to make decisions from turn to turn. This has a big impact on game play. If you are seeking complexity in the game Intrigue is a must. If you favor lighter game play, go for other expansions first.

When introducing the game to new or newish players, I avoid most of the Intrigue cards.

I really like Prosperity, and would consider it my favorite expansion. Seaside and Intrigue would be considered "tied" for the next spot.

I just one of the games "The Peloponnesian War" I have looking to nab for a few years but has always been well over $100 on ebay for a new unused copy but I found a new copy for 55 boxes on ebay;)

A game I'm keeping an eye on is Title Chase Basketball. It's a gateway type of basketball season sim where 2-7 players build a team and then play a season in an hour. The preorder price is at $33, but I'm still wanting more info. Minorly interesting note is that it's being put out by GMT Games who are much more known for war games.

GMT Games - Title Chase Basketball (http://www.gmtgames.com/p-399-title-chase-basketball.aspx)

Title Chase Basketball is a fast-paced game nominally about professional basketball. The game focuses on team building, getting into the playoffs and winning it all. Title Chase Basketball should not be confused with a simulation. It is a game meant to pit players against each other and as such can be completed from the start of the season to game seven of the finals in about an hour.

The first half of the game is a card-driven game where you build up your team by improving positions, winning key games and gain ground in the standings. You will need to decide what teams surge ahead and which ones will fall by the wayside. Do you build a team of all-stars quickly and have a giant bulls-eye placed on their back for the other players to shoot at. Do you turn your team of journeymen into a solid-all around squad. Or maybe you want those one or two superstars that can guarantee you a deep run into the playoffs. The way that you build your team is up to you.

At the end of the regular season, the game switches to a full-on dice game using the teams you created during the regular season. Teams match up in best of 7 series where your dice are the ones you labored to improve earlier. As your dice are expended in each series, the games get closer and closer and often it comes down to one final toss of the die.

Although the game does not use hard and fast statistics and has no built in way to produce them, I find that it really scratches that sports itch that I used to spend hours on back in the day with Statis-Pro Basketball. With Title Chase Basketball Carla & I can play it together even though she has only a passing knowledge of the sport. The game is meant to be played by players of all levels of sporting knowledge and still be fun. You don’t have to understand the triangle offense or why you take out your 44% free-throw shooter when you have the ball with 30 seconds left and are up by 3.

Are you familiar with the p500 system? The game likely won't see a release at a minimum of 3-4 more years.

Are you familiar with the p500 system? The game likely won't see a release at a minimum of 3-4 more years.

To explain Danny's point - the P500 system is a way for publishers to guarantee they break even on a game by requiring 500 pre-orders before they will commit to publishing a game.

It was unclear (at a quick glance) from GMT's site how many pre-orders they had already and without that info, it is difficult to tell when (if?) the game will actually be published.

If you are looking for a basketball game, I found this game. It is more of a game simulation, though. And I have no idea how euros turn into dollars, so I cant give a price.

nestorgames - fun to take away (http://www.nestorgames.com/#basketmind_detail)

We had a 3 person gaming session last night. Started around 5 pm and finished at midnight.

We played a couple games of King of Tokyo. Then a game of Ticket to Ride. Then Castle Panic. Finished with Fortress America.

Really enjoyed the games. I watched TableTop games about Castle Panic and wasnt real impressed. I liked it when we played though. It was a good time.
Ticket to Ride is ok. I wouldnt buy it.
King of Tokyo is fun. My girls will enjoy it.
Fortress America is a good olf fashioned, line em up and shoot em down. Thebalance of the game is very good. The USA gets beat up early, but the tide turns. The invaders won by turn 8. But had the USE done a couple things differently, they would have won.

Now to learn Dominion.

Are you familiar with the p500 system? The game likely won't see a release at a minimum of 3-4 more years.

I just checked BGG before it went down. Under 100 preorders, but on the higher side. Still, it looks to be some time before it gets released.

If you are looking for a basketball game, I found this game. It is more of a game simulation, though. And I have no idea how euros turn into dollars, so I cant give a price.

nestorgames - fun to take away (http://www.nestorgames.com/#basketmind_detail)

About $47 shipped. $59 if the expansion is included.

Well.. times come. Gotta wade through my collection and really pare down to those things I want and play. Defintely have too much stuff just sitting around.

Well.. times come. Gotta wade through my collection and really pare down to those things I want and play. Defintely have too much stuff just sitting around.

You can ship the ones you don't want to me... ;)

Already sent a PM. Get in line. ;)

Put me in the back of that line :)

Intrigued, at least...

Well.. times come. Gotta wade through my collection and really pare down to those things I want and play. Defintely have too much stuff just sitting around.

My wife has started relegating a number of games to the upstairs utility room as I have overflowed the office book cases and downstairs closet. I can't really complain as her litmus test for moving the first wave of games upstairs was..."Is it still in shrink wrap?".

Has anyone played Chrononauts? If so, a general review would be much appreciated.

Has anyone played Chrononauts? If so, a general review would be much appreciated.

I have it, it's been a couple years since I played but it was pretty fun. That's all I can remember right now. :)

Don't try playing a new game you haven't really read through the manual when your brain feels done for the day. All the more so when the manual says you will lose a lot to start out. I at least got set up and the initial mechanics for Friday down, but I need to go back and give it another go when I'm willing to deal with it. I actually looked through the one deck I use to see if I could actually beat the first challenge with it, and I couldn't.

Just picked up Small World the base game and played it with my my 5 and 9 year olds and had a blast. Quite surprising a little game.

I watched the Smallworld episode on Tabletop. But could you give me a little more on the game. I have looked at it, for play with my daughters.

It really is alot of fun in my opinion. You have 15 races and about 20 special abilities/attributes that you can combine to make all sorts of races with cool abilities. The map is broken up into different types of terrain and there maps for each number of players in a game. So, one map each for 2,3 4, and 5 players. The object is to conquer territories and with that you receive coins (victory points). Their are ten rounds and I think once we know the game better rules wise it should take about an hour per game. Their is minimal dice rolling and no event cards (with the base version) to use. Based on the race you choose and the special ability with it you are given a certain number of race tokens(armies) to place on the board. So, for example if a territory has another players army their just one you would have to place three of your armies there to conquer it and remove that one army from the game. Each territory requires at least two armies to conquer and one more army for each defensive fort, Troll Lair etc plus any rival armies. The makers of this game are the same that does ticket to ride and in an odd sort of way it is a variant of that game with Risk mixed in. Their are half a dozen different expansions that add different things like more races, abilities and event cards. I recommend you check out the Boardgame Geeks website page for this one as someone is selling a new base game with a couple of expansions for $55 plus shipping that I was looking at before my kids corned me into buying in store for $50 dollars;) Hope that all helps.

What Galaril said. Small World is basically Risk light with fantasy elements thrown in. You don't roll dice to conquer, you just make sure you bring enough troops. In the beginning, you pick a race/ability combo from five sets of them that are randomly generated, for example Flying Humans. You get a certain number of "Armies" based upon the race and class, and you start conquering. Each race has benefits - the humans mentioned get extra coins for controlling farms, dwarves get bonuses for controlling mines, giants require less troops to conquer a territory when coming off mountains, etc. The real twist to the game is that you are pretty limited in terms of forces. After your first turn, on each subsequent turn you have the option to put your current race "into decline.". When you do that, you take every tile of that race off the board, leaving only one in each concurred territory. They still earn you coins, but they can't move or expand, and their bonuses no longer count. On the next turn, you pick a new race and start conquering again.

The decision on when to put a race into decline and pick a new race is a pretty cool mechanic, and it definitely spices up the game.

Concurred = conquered. Hooray auto-correct.

This got me through several days of no power (just during daylight hours). Bought it when I was a kid and it has survived for about 30 years. Found it again when we moved recently.

Sher-co Baseball | Image | BoardGameGeek (http://boardgamegeek.com/image/45163/sher-co-baseball)

Awesome.
I still have my Statis Pro Baseball game from 1980. Back then I made 8 teams. Put 4 teams in 2 divisions and started playing. I decided I would play a 162 game season. I was about 13 when I started this. I kept 8 categories of stats for the offensive players and 8 for the pitchers.
I never made it to the end. Or at least not yet. I am on game 158 I believe. I pulled it out last summer and played a little. But put it away. In the back of my mind, I dont want to finish it. I guess Im holding onto a great memory and am afraid it will go away if I finish the season. Or something like that.

The expansion Small World Realms looks kind of cool since it brings in a modular board into play.

Hey Matthean. Im downloading Summoner Wars right now on my wifes ipad. It costs 8 bucks to unlock all the stuff. It is a free download otherwise.

Ive never played before, so Im curios as how it plays.

Hey Matthean. Im downloading Summoner Wars right now on my wifes ipad. It costs 8 bucks to unlock all the stuff. It is a free download otherwise.

Ive never played before, so Im curios as how it plays.

I've been checking daily for a week. This was an Instabuy for the $8 bundle.

I've been checking daily for a week. This was an Instabuy for the $8 bundle.

I've been waiting impatiently as well, downloaded an hour ago, can't wait to try playing later.

To explain Danny's point - the P500 system is a way for publishers to guarantee they break even on a game by requiring 500 pre-orders before they will commit to publishing a game.

It was unclear (at a quick glance) from GMT's site how many pre-orders they had already and without that info, it is difficult to tell when (if?) the game will actually be published.

Also keep in mind that p500 is now like p700 these days. Usually a game will actually need 700 preorders before going to print. The 500 will usually just mean that eventually it will go to print for sure, but again likely won't until it hits around 700

Hey Matthean. Im downloading Summoner Wars right now on my wifes ipad. It costs 8 bucks to unlock all the stuff. It is a free download otherwise.

Ive never played before, so Im curios as how it plays.

I'm trying to download but there's an error where t says unavailable, happening to a lot of people

I watched the Smallworld episode on Tabletop. But could you give me a little more on the game. I have looked at it, for play with my daughters.

It really is alot of fun in my opinion. You have 15 races and about 20 special abilities/attributes that you can combine to make all sorts of races with cool abilities. The map is broken up into different types of terrain and there maps for each number of players in a game. So, one map each for 2,3 4, and 5 players. The object is to conquer territories and with that you receive coins (victory points). Their are ten rounds and I think once we know the game better rules wise it should take about an hour per game. Their is minimal dice rolling and no event cards (with the base version) to use. Based on the race you choose and the special ability with it you are given a certain number of race tokens(armies) to place on the board. So, for example if a territory has another players army their just one you would have to place three of your armies there to conquer it and remove that one army from the game. Each territory requires at least two armies to conquer and one more army for each defensive fort, Troll Lair etc plus any rival armies. The makers of this game are the same that does ticket to ride and in an odd sort of way it is a variant of that game with Risk mixed in. Their are half a dozen different expansions that add different things like more races, abilities and event cards. I recommend you check out the Boardgame Geeks website page for this one as someone is selling a new base game with a couple of expansions for $55 plus shipping that I was looking at before my kids corned me into buying in store for $50 dollars;) Hope that all helps.

What Galaril said. Small World is basically Risk light with fantasy elements thrown in. You don't roll dice to conquer, you just make sure you bring enough troops. In the beginning, you pick a race/ability combo from five sets of them that are randomly generated, for example Flying Humans. You get a certain number of "Armies" based upon the race and class, and you start conquering. Each race has benefits - the humans mentioned get extra coins for controlling farms, dwarves get bonuses for controlling mines, giants require less troops to conquer a territory when coming off mountains, etc. The real twist to the game is that you are pretty limited in terms of forces. After your first turn, on each subsequent turn you have the option to put your current race "into decline.". When you do that, you take every tile of that race off the board, leaving only one in each concurred territory. They still earn you coins, but they can't move or expand, and their bonuses no longer count. On the next turn, you pick a new race and start conquering again.

The decision on when to put a race into decline and pick a new race is a pretty cool mechanic, and it definitely spices up the game.

Tarcone,

Your welcome:)

Played Race for the Galaxy last night for the first time. I really enjoyed it, though I think the balance might be a little out-of-whack for those lucky enough to have a strong military presence early. In our first game, the early military victory points outweighed a great production machine late. And in the second game, early military enabled one player to grind out 12 cards before anyone could put together a production machine. But maybe there's a way to get production running sooner.

One thing I'd add with Race for the Galaxy: the rules and the cards look quite overwhelming at first glance. But it comes together very quickly once you grasp the turn mechanism and stare at the the icon key a lot during your first game. I think there's good reason for it being rated so highly.

We also tried Dominion with just the base set last night. One friend is a little burned out on it (so am I, really), and was trying to combat the Witch with anything else. Very unsuccessfully. The Witch is so powerful I'd almost recommend banning it from base-set-only games.

I taught my son (9 now) Dominion (also base-set-only) last week. He loves it, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that accumulating five Thieves isn't a great strategy. I'm not sure I'd ever even get one, unless my opponent was both Moneylending and Chapeling.

I'm trying to download but there's an error where t says unavailable, happening to a lot of people

Known issue that's been posted a number of times on BGG.

Galril and Vince,
Thanks for the excellent reviews. It helped. Sorry I didn't respond. 
:)

Played Race for the Galaxy last night for the first time. I really enjoyed it, though I think the balance might be a little out-of-whack for those lucky enough to have a strong military presence early. In our first game, the early military victory points outweighed a great production machine late. And in the second game, early military enabled one player to grind out 12 cards before anyone could put together a production machine. But maybe there's a way to get production running sooner.

One thing I'd add with Race for the Galaxy: the rules and the cards look quite overwhelming at first glance. But it comes together very quickly once you grasp the turn mechanism and stare at the the icon key a lot during your first game. I think there's good reason for it being rated so highly.

We also tried Dominion with just the base set last night. One friend is a little burned out on it (so am I, really), and was trying to combat the Witch with anything else. Very unsuccessfully. The Witch is so powerful I'd almost recommend banning it from base-set-only games.

I taught my son (9 now) Dominion (also base-set-only) last week. He loves it, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that accumulating five Thieves isn't a great strategy. I'm not sure I'd ever even get one, unless my opponent was both Moneylending and Chapeling.

Yes, we basically sepnt our first game of Race for the Galaxy just trying to figure out all the icons and have any clue how to run the game. It was kind of a bear to figure out on our own. But once we got through that first game we were excited to get right back to it and have played quite a bit since then. Definitely not a "one time" game to trot out.

My 9 year old loves Dominion too. Seven Wonders is another one that worked well for him, he was able to jump rihgt into it.

RftG is probably my favorite game right now (although with a few more playings Eclipse will probably surpase it.)

My group haven't found that military is faster than production. I think the key is you have to play to your initial homeworld's strength. Also, early on I use a lot of explore actions to find the right cards.

I think the strength of military was mentioned on BGG, but it's something that goes away after more plays.

I tried Memoir '44 Online and it's interesting, but I need to get some more plays before I get a better feel. While maybe not too restrictive, moving based on cards certainly limits what I felt like I wanted to do.

RftG is probably my favorite game right now (although with a few more playings Eclipse will probably surpase it.)

My group haven't found that military is faster than production. I think the key is you have to play to your initial homeworld's strength. Also, early on I use a lot of explore actions to find the right cards.

Yes, if you play the base game, it definitely skews towards production. The first expansion makes it swing towards military, and the 2nd expansion makes it balanced. Stay away from the 3rd expansion. It really ruins the game for me. Prestige is too unbalancing IMO. You can also tell that the 3rd expansion wasn't part of the original game (the first two expansions were designed together with the base game, they split it up to make the game easier to learn).

Yes, if you play the base game, it definitely skews towards production. The first expansion makes it swing towards military, and the 2nd expansion makes it balanced. Stay away from the 3rd expansion. It really ruins the game for me. Prestige is too unbalancing IMO. You can also tell that the 3rd expansion wasn't part of the original game (the first two expansions were designed together with the base game, they split it up to make the game easier to learn).

That's the key, we are playing with the first two expansions.

After getting my butt beat on the 2nd mission for Memoir '44, I decided to try and look up some tutorial videos so I could just understand the game better. Apparently I just suck at the game. :lol: I have yet to beat the 2nd mission online and a number of times it's not even close. I think the average win rate for my side is in the 60% range and yet...

After a halfway walkthrough and seeing I was making a boneheaded assumption about a rule, I went back and replayed San Juan. Much better the second time around. Mechanics are nice, but I have a feeling it suffers from what a number of card games do. The person who can draw the most cards on average wins. At least I can add two more games to the list of games I can teach for my gamers' group on Sunday.

I like San Juan, but since I love race for te galaxy, I would never play San Juan over it, so I sold it away. It's defintely more noob friendly though

So we've played a bunch more Eclipse...tonight's game was my favorite yet (and I finished 4th out of 4). I finally got the Eridani into a good position, and about halfway through looked to be the powerful force on the map as I had pushed into Orion territory with some ridiculously souped up Dreadnoughts, the Planta as my allies at my back and the Hydran Progress off to the side with no military to speak of.

Sadly, I didn't have much of a production line, and when I moved in on Orion for the kill, got some bad dice rolls. I lost my last dreadnought in my push, and my entire system was undefended. The plant stayed put, content to have their choke point defended like crazy. The Hydrans, played by my roommate who has NEVER EVER DONE AN OFFENSIVE MILITARY STRATEGY IN HER LIFE, quickly put together a few cruisers and took complete advantage of my weakness. Forced to fight on two fronts now, I was pushed back...although I managed to create some speedy interceptors for a Neutron bomb rush strategy, the Orion Hegemony was able to recover and take the galactic center before I could press him, and I was never able to push the Hydrans out of my system (damn Axon Computers). Orion ended up winning comfortably, with the Planta second, Hydrans third and little old me last. Apparently being the strength in mid-game leads to everyone gunning for you :)

We also played our 12th game of Risk: Legacy this evening. Before the game started, we had the leader out in front with 4 victories, three of us tied at 2 victories apiece and the poor cellar dweller in the back with one win. With four games remaining, the guy with 4 wins was in a pretty good position, he just needed to either win a game, or to ensure that one of us doesn't sweep. I played my way to a hair-on-my-chinny-chin-chin victory while one of the other 2-win players tangled with the leader in Australia and Southeast Asia by sweeping through Africa and Europe from South America. The game has been a blast, but with only three games remaining, it's basically a two man race between myself (3 wins) and the leader (4 wins). If either of the other two win players sweeps three in a row, they win...but that's extremely unlikely. It's led to some interesting strategies in the games thus far - the guy in the lead with 4 wins has had nearly everyone gunning for him for multiple games in a row now. It's to be expected, but I'm surprised that some of my compatriots have been "sacrificing" themselves to weaken him. And I'm not going to lie; I've been using it to my advantage. Tonight, I had a chance to cripple the leader (at the expense of my own position), and I decided not to do it. Some of the other players felt they needed to attack the lead guy to keep him from winning...and of course, the very next turn, I swept through the exact point that I had left alone on the previous turn en route to a victory the same turn. My hesitation directly led to the victory.

Tactics like this are awesome when they work out in your favor, as they did for me tonight. On other nights when they don't work out, it's easy to get frustrated and blame the game for introducing "non-traditional" mechanics - one of our players would have never played the way he did tonight if he didn't feel like he had to stop the leader from getting another win. I can't control that, people are going to play how they want to. But it's an interesting twist on the board game. The overall standings are making a huge impression on tactics and logistics. And honestly, tonight I was only a few bad dice rolls away from giving the game away to the guy in the lead, icing the whole game.

I'm undefeated in Eclipse ;)

Man. I need to quit reading these eclipse debriefings. Im really jonesing to but this game.

Man. I need to quit reading these eclipse debriefings. Im really jonesing to but this game.

Just at least wait for the next wave of preorders to happen. You will not be getting it for cheap right now.

One of the guys in my gamer group who I talked about playing Eclipse with wasn't there during our last meetup, but I told him whenever he wants to get together to play games let me know. Getting people to play outside of the usual group is hard since one person can do Friday, another can't, etc. I fear trying to teach the game to any sort of decent sized group and trying to do so in the time frame we have for the normal gaming group meetup. If I can get 3-4 players who know the game, then there's a chance of it being used in the normal meetup.

Leaving in a bit to go to my FLGS, Gamenite, to participate in an open board gaming event. Im taking GoT 2nd ed. with me.
There are 13 people signed up. Should make a good time.

30 people showed up for the game night at the store. I got into a 5 player game of Game of Thrones. We started at about 6 and we finished the game at 10.
I was Baratheon. Early in the game I set my sights on Kings Landing. I made an alliance with Stark to keep himn off my island.
I took the 2 territories around Kings Landing. Got lucky with early mustering. And went after it in round 3. I took it, but Tyrell followed me in and took it from me. I took it back the next round and was able to hold it and start spread south. Greyjoy went after Lannister a bit. But was pretty unsuccessful. He left Stark alone as well. Lannister and Tyrell also were pretty friendly. Tyrell was moving East and snapping up castles, but ran out of steam.
At the beginning of round 10, we had to bid on the 3 tracks. Stark took the iron throne. I was 2nd.
I won the Vaylarian sword.
The crow wasnt that important at that point.
Going into round 10 Tyrell was in the lead with me right behind with Stark. I took one of Tyrells castles, but Stark managed to get 2 to win the game.

There wasnt a lot of back stabbing. That may have changed things. But I was worried about Tyrell and Lannister was on my border as well. And had a siege engine sitting on the border of one of my castles. So I had to deal with that. If there was more back stabbing it would have been a different game, Im sure.
It was a great time. I really enjoyed it. I cvant wait to play a 6 player game sometime.

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Really engaging episode, but it's driven by the talent.

Dice Towers 2011 Awards.

The Dice Tower - 2011 Awards (http://www.dicetower.com/dice_tower_awards/2011-awards.html)

Part 2

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Found a new game store but it's heavily geared towards Warhammer. Half of the store has tables for it and I have a bigger collection of board games than they do. They want to expand out, but I think they are going to have some major issues doing so. I don't see them being a top store unless you are specifically talking about Warhammer. It's way back from the road in a strip mall where nearly every other store has closed. The sign for the store looks like a cheap paint job type of deal. There's at least three stores in the Lansing area I would personally rather go into. The thing is, my cousin and some former coworkers play there and one former coworker co-owns it so some of the gang gets together after they get done in retail and open up the shop and play games until whenever.

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I've got a shitload of old AH and SPI games in my garage that are sadly going to waste. EBay seems like a hassle. Is boardgamegeek a good place to try and sell off old games?

I'd kinda like to keep them but it's been like six years now and I can't help but feel that someone could be getting more use out of them.

Should be easy with a Paypal account although Amazon has their own pay service as well.

Depending on the game BGG is possible - some people really like particular games of that kind. I recommend checking them out on the Geek and see if there are any for sale, and if the prices are good - could be your guide.

I've got a shitload of old AH and SPI games in my garage that are sadly going to waste. EBay seems like a hassle. Is boardgamegeek a good place to try and sell off old games?

I'd kinda like to keep them but it's been like six years now and I can't help but feel that someone could be getting more use out of them.

Dean's Fine Games link (http://www.finegames.com/) will buy them from you as well, assuming good condition. Obviously you won't get as much if you sold them yourself, but you will save yourself a lot of time too.

I've got a shitload of old AH and SPI games in my garage that are sadly going to waste. EBay seems like a hassle. Is boardgamegeek a good place to try and sell off old games?

I'd kinda like to keep them but it's been like six years now and I can't help but feel that someone could be getting more use out of them.

Which games?

Found a new game store but it's heavily geared towards Warhammer. Half of the store has tables for it and I have a bigger collection of board games than they do. They want to expand out, but I think they are going to have some major issues doing so. I don't see them being a top store unless you are specifically talking about Warhammer. It's way back from the road in a strip mall where nearly every other store has closed. The sign for the store looks like a cheap paint job type of deal. There's at least three stores in the Lansing area I would personally rather go into. The thing is, my cousin and some former coworkers play there and one former coworker co-owns it so some of the gang gets together after they get done in retail and open up the shop and play games until whenever.

Its actually not a bad deal for them to start out this way. As much as I hate to say it, Warhammer and CCGs like Magic are a great way to bring cash into the store, since the players of those games are constantly buying new cards and minis. They need to be slow, I've seen way to many stores try to do too much too soon and go under.

Which games?

I've got a list somewhere I'll find.

Basically, one of my hobbies in the early 80's was buying games. I didn't have people around me who were into that sort of thing so it mainly ended up that I would figure out the rules and maybe do a solitaire play or two but many are only partially punched even and other than box/shelf wear and whatever has happened from being stored in my garage for most of the last decade they should be in decent to good shape.

Some titles that come to mind: Gunslinger, Down with the King, Anzio, Russian Campaign, Panzer Armee Afrika, Patton's Best, B12 Queen of Skies, some of the Statis Pro games, old 3M sports games plus Acquire, that sort of thing. For SSI games I remember World War 3 and Conquest of the Middle Ages for sure (I know that used to go for quite a bit on Ebay, my copy is almost completely unpunched).

Anyway I don't want to hijack the thread too much with this. I will put a list together and if anyone might be interested PM me (one person already has) and I'll get you more details.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I've also got a bunch of the old AH General magazines, probably about 20-30 of those as well.

Path,

Sounds like you have alot of decent games there. Generally box quality doesn't matter too much as it is all in the contents. If you need help in valuation let me know.

If you aren't Ebay savvy, then Board Game Geek would be the way to go. You can offer games for a little less than what you would sell on Ebay just given that you don't have Ebay's cut. (Or.. vice versa.. you'll make more).

I'd avoid Craigslist. Mainly just re-sellers on there that will try to undercut you.

Ideally though, with those titles, would have been nice to get those bundled up and sold at Gencon's auction or store.

As for those still interested in my stuff.. sorry, I've been extremely busy with other items and just haven't really started pulling stuff out. (Well.. a couple things, but way more expensive stuff where I thought it was better to throw it in my Ebay store like my Barbarian Quest Pack, Sealed Dogfight game, etc...)

(my Ebay store is tkgameshobbies. If anyone is interested in anything posted, I can do better than the price in the store)

Mustang and Path, if either of you come across the game Turfmaster, let me know. This is my grail game.
Or Supremacy. I would love to get my hands on a copy of that. I know I can find it on ebay. But If either of you have it and expansions, I would prefer to deal with you guys.

Mustang and Path, if either of you come across the game Turfmaster, let me know. This is my grail game.
Or Supremacy. I would love to get my hands on a copy of that. I know I can find it on ebay. But If either of you have it and expansions, I would prefer to deal with you guys.

I've never had Turfmaster. I've had Supremacy from time to time, but don't believe I have a copy right now.

We're always accepting donations to our convention game library down here! Seriously though, with that group of games, you can probably get a good deal on the Geek from someone.

Give us details about your convention, Warhammer. Im about 3 hours from Memphis. And I have been wanting to take my wife to Memphis. This could work out really well.

Give us details about your convention, Warhammer. Im about 3 hours from Memphis. And I have been wanting to take my wife to Memphis. This could work out really well.

Search for gameconmemphis, or gameconmemphis.com.

I run the boardgaming portion of the convention, including tournaments. We typically have a turnout between 250 and 275 people. We have LARPs, RPGs, boardgames, and CCGs, as well as a LAN room and a console room. Lou Zocchi is a frequent con attendee. This year we are having a couple of Artemis Starship Simulators set up (think of a the bridge from Star Trek).

Tournaments include Blood Bowl (1st yr), Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and one for Magic as well.

The Game Library has approx. 300 games in it (used to have close to 500, but one of our organizers left recently for Nashville, so his games will not be present this year). We will have some hard to find games like Roborally with Armed and Dangerous, Antiquity, Die Macher, and Republic of Rome. We also have many of the other staples such as Puerto Rico, El Grande, Age of Steam, Railroad Tycoon, Ticket to Ride, Smallworld, etc.

Turfmaster - An aspiring gardener dreams of beconing the head grounds keeper for the local professional baseball team. Work your way up through the circuit; start maintaining the lawns of the middle class, soon enough you catch the eye of a local businessman/millionaire and you begin maintaining the lawns of the rich and famous. That is not your real dream, however, so you leave that life to become a grounds keeper for a minor league team. Keep that infield cut right and you may get your shot at the big time!

;)

Why the hell did I think Lou Zocchi was dead.

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1379291_md.jpg

CSI has the Eclipse expansion pack for preorder.

http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board%20Games/Eclipse:+Rise+of+the+Ancients+Expansion/Acc-ASMEclipseRiseoftheAncients/

I got some good boardgames in this weekend. Had a friend come over and he brought his new games.


Ninjato: A worker placement game where you place shuriken stars on various board positions to take those actions. You can steal from "houses" either by sneaking or fighting, supplement your martial skills by training skills in a dojo, or trade stolen artifacts for either "family" influence(think Yakuza) or for various scoring multipliers. A pretty decent light worker placement game, and one that I find more enjoyable than most others I place in that category...Carson City and Lords of Waterdeep. There is a strong Press your luck component to play as you fight/sneak through houses. You need to choose to press on or stop before the next guard is revealed. In any case. I enjoyed this game, and will probably add it to my short list.

Kingdom Builder: This from the designer of Dominion, another light euro game that I really enjoyed and will be looking to add to my collection. I'm not sure how to describe the mechanics other than area control, but that doesn't really describe it. In essence you have to place houses down on the board in groups of three, adjacent to other houses you have placed. Each turn you draw a card to determine what terrain you need to place your houses on. There are Powers you can obtain by placing adjacent to locations on the board, and a set of three scoring cards that randomly define the different methods of scoring for each game. The boards, powers, and scoring cards differ each game, so there is a lot of replayability. In short, this one was a blast. I was instantly wanting to play again, and I think future sessions will be closer to how we play Dominion. As in there will be multiple games played in succession.

The Village: Also a worker placement type mechanic...with a twist though. I'd classify this one as a medium weight Euro. More complex than I can describe here in this forum, but typical in that you have multiple paths to victory and are probably best suited to focus on those scoring actions that you can perform without competition while dabbling in others. I liked this one as well, and look forward to playing again. Unfortunately another game that I'll be looking to add to my collection.

Other stuff we played.
Homesteaders: Medium to Heavy Euro with Auctions and an economic engine building....A game I really enjoy, but rarely succeed at. I initially thought I had won...but then realized that I didn't deduct my debt from my score...Doh!

Snow Tails: My favorite racing game, and I have several of them.

LeHavre: Heavy Euro greatness. I think this is our favorite...nothing save Eclipse hits the table more often. I actually think my play of the iPad app has made me a worse player. My early play left me struggling to advance, and my opponents frequently questioning my plays. I eventually came around and only narrowly lost. Not bad considering that I miscounted the number of turns I had remaining, and missed out on my third shipping opportunity.

All in all, a great day of boardgaming.

Village is on sale here Welcome &mdash; Tasty Minstrel Games (http://playtmg.com/) :devil:

Watched multiple reviews of Kingdom Builder and decided I didn't like how they deal with cards at all.

I have Ninjato, but it's in the rotation to be played. I'm sure by the end of the year it will get a spin, or two.

On the KB cards...I can see the issue...essentially a "hand of one card" doesn't give you many choices. That said, I like that you draw immediately after playing so you can evaluate your options while the other players take their turns. Far better than simply drawing at the beginning of your turn.

As for the random nature limiting options, I look at it like backgammon. Your job is to play so that you manage the randomness. Make decisions that give you options, and make the best out of less than optimal draws.

I'm only two games into it, but I'm liking the pace and the even the handful of strategic options I've stumbled upon so far have me looking forward to another round.

Do have fun with Ninjato when you get it to the table. Oh and the multiplier cards come in big.

Had the guys over tonight. We got several games in. We played Munchkin, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Dominion.

Munchkin was a good time. I was at level 9 and couldnt make it in. I got dumped on. Had a level 6 monster fight into something I couldnt win.

Ticket to Ride is ok. I will play it, but it is not one of my favorites. I had the Montreal to Vancouver ticket get blocked. And that killed me. I got dominated.

Pandemic was fun. We won just in time. After we got the cure, we decided to try and eradicate the diseases. Two turns into that we got hit by a chain of outbreaks. We were happy we won when we did.

Dominion. 1st time any of us had played. I really like it. Wasnt sure how much I would like a deck building game. But this had a nice level of strategy. And the replayability of it is insane. Just the base set has 25 different card selections. Then you have the add-ons. Im goign to teach my family this one.

A good time. Our next get together is August 12th. Game of Thrones the board game with 6 people is on tap. Cant wait.

I've been following this thread off and on, and I don't remember if Quarriors has been mentioned before. Its a "dice building" game (not DECK building), and its pretty fun. My oldest son and I are really digging it, and my youngest son is tagging along with it because he sees the other two of us having fun with it.

Anyone tried it?

Oh and I just got Days of Steam, very much like a Carcassone for trains, but fun in its own right.

I think most times you play pandemic, it comes right down to the wire. that is win or lose.

Dominion is great. I've got almost all of the sets, but we don't play as often as I would like. If you are interested in expansions just look through this thread, and there is plenty of advice.

I like TTR, but my wife whoops me every time.

On quariors. I like it a lot more than I expected to in my one play, I'm just not sure it would hit the table enought for me.

I've been intrigued by Quarriors since I first became aware of it, but I have the same concerns as Glengoyne, that I just wouldn't get to play it enough.

Since Quarriors is built around dice, I have heard complaints about it the randomness factor in it so you kind of have to like that aspect as well. The new expansion for it is suppose to be rather good though.

I went to the gaming night at my FLGS last night.
I got to play Eclipse. It was a 6 player game and 4 of us had never played it before.
Im not sure what I think of it yet. I dh idnt get a very good exploration. My tiles were pretty thin. It handicapped me, I think. No discovery tiles. No pirates or ancients.
I made an alliance with each person next to me. So i played the game with no conflict. Kind of getting the feel for it.
We had 2 younger guys playing and they were next to each other. They had an arms race and had a blood bath.
I finished tied for 4th. I got the monolith technology. That was a big help. One guy who had played several times took an alien race that wax a science race. He won. Having his tech trees filled helped a lot.

It is an interesting game. Worth $100? Dont know about that. I have to play it again. But I had fun.

But, one of the guys playing with us plays Twitlight Imperium. I got invited to play one Saturday. So when my schedule frees up, I am going to learn that game.
If you dont know Twilight Imperium, it is a heavier version of Eclipse.
Cost of both games is similar.

And a heads up.
Target and Target.com are featuring games from Geek and Sundry and Tabletop. They will also feature a game of the month.

Im looking at Target.com right now and the selection is pretty good. Settlers, some Dominion expansions, Lost Cities. And I have just started looking.

If you dont have a game store in your area, but have a Target. Things are looking up.

Geek & Sundry - Geek & Sundry + Target = <3 (http://geekandsundry.geekandsundry.com/geek-sundry-target/)

I went to the gaming night at my FLGS last night.
I got to play Eclipse. It was a 6 player game and 4 of us had never played it before.
Im not sure what I think of it yet. I dh idnt get a very good exploration. My tiles were pretty thin. It handicapped me, I think. No discovery tiles. No pirates or ancients.
I made an alliance with each person next to me. So i played the game with no conflict. Kind of getting the feel for it.
We had 2 younger guys playing and they were next to each other. They had an arms race and had a blood bath.
I finished tied for 4th. I got the monolith technology. That was a big help. One guy who had played several times took an alien race that wax a science race. He won. Having his tech trees filled helped a lot.

It is an interesting game. Worth $100? Dont know about that. I have to play it again. But I had fun.

But, one of the guys playing with us plays Twitlight Imperium. I got invited to play one Saturday. So when my schedule frees up, I am going to learn that game.
If you dont know Twilight Imperium, it is a heavier version of Eclipse.
Cost of both games is similar.

Just a heads up, TI3 is very much a love it or hate it game. I hate it and know a lot of people that hate it, but I know a good number of people that love it.

Eclipse has a larger fan base, but I think much of it is due to the fact it is a warish Euro. I personally abhor these designs (if I'm playing a war game, I'll play a war game, if I want a Euro, I'll play a Euro).

Just a heads up, TI3 is very much a love it or hate it game. I hate it and know a lot of people that hate it, but I know a good number of people that love it.

Eclipse has a larger fan base, but I think much of it is due to the fact it is a warish Euro. I personally abhor these designs (if I'm playing a war game, I'll play a war game, if I want a Euro, I'll play a Euro).

The biggest problem with Twlight Imperium is that it takes waaaaay too long to play.

The biggest problem with Twlight Imperium is that it takes waaaaay too long to play.

Lots of downtime as well. I found Starcraft to be a little quicker, but it was harder for me to pick up the rules quickly.

I would like to play IT3, but there's no way I would own it. The play time of it simply means there's no way it hits the table even if in a maybe once a year type of fashion.


I found Starcraft to be a little quicker, but it was harder for me to pick up the rules quickly.

The game could really use some player aids. Even during a second playthrough I felt like I was playing half the game because it's what I knew best.

The biggest problem with Twlight Imperium is that it takes waaaaay too long to play.

I played older versions of TI way back in the day, and loved it.
I played one game of TI3, well half of a game two years ago, and loved it even more. I went out and ordered it from my FLGS that week. I paid full MSRP...$80, I believe.

I would like to play IT3, but there's no way I would own it. The play time of it simply means there's no way it hits the table even if in a maybe once a year type of fashion.



It has hit the table once.

I took it to a con figuring that I'd get it in, because it should be easy to find the time when you've set aside entire days to dedicate to gaming. Eight to ten hour blocks are tough to come by even at a con. I think I'll be bringing it to the flea market at the con next year.

I love it, but with Eclipse scratching that particular itch, I just can't see this game getting played.

CSI is doing a Summer Sale and they have Fortress America on sale for $39.99. Retail is $79.95.

Fortress America Board Game - Fantasy Flight Games - Board Games at CoolStuffInc.com (http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board%20Games/Fortress+America+Board+Game#Fortress) America Board Game

The rest of the sale listing. They add daily to it.

Summer Board Game Sale 2012 at CoolStuffInc.com (http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_summerSale2012.php)

I've got 12 plays in with Summoner's Wars doing a tourney with the 12 factions I have. Time to switch to a new game for a bit at least until some of the packs get reprinted with the higher quality stuff. Love the game, but I need a break from it.

DaveCon is next week so it will be fun to see what new games I get to play.

I just watched a play through video of Twilight Imperium. I really like the game mechanism. And the variety of troops. And the fact that you know the universe. The cards look like they add a lot to the game. And I love that aspect.
Im looking forward to playing it. It looks like a much better game then Eclipse. At least for me. But Ive only played Eclipse once and never played Twilight.

I just watched a play through video of Twilight Imperium. I really like the game mechanism. And the variety of troops. And the fact that you know the universe. The cards look like they add a lot to the game. And I love that aspect.
Im looking forward to playing it. It looks like a much better game then Eclipse. At least for me. But Ive only played Eclipse once and never played Twilight.

You definitely won't be alone in liking it more. If it had the play time of Eclipse, the hype for Eclipse would be way down. Again, I just don't see it getting played on my end. I have Eclipse; my friend has Starcraft. We play casually enough to where due to certain circumstances a game of Starcraft took 11 hours to play the last time. TI3 would be a weekend type of game in that situation. I even proposed rule changes to help speed things along. I had hopes of playing three games that day, and we played one.

Am I the only one who sees those names and can't separate it from a horrible sparkly-vampire series?

/tk

Mathean,
Tell me about Starcraft. Ive only played the video game, which I loved.
I see battle is resolved by cards and not dice.
What other cool things are in this game?

I've played it twice on like a once a year type basis, so I know I will miss some stuff. Oddly enough someone posted on BGG that it feels like Eclipse-lite even though it has euro mechanics but feels more like a AT type game. I have yet to play Eclipse, but there is definite conflict in Starcraft.

You have worker placement for creating buildings, producing more types of units, and upgrades. You have some deck building that comes from a research phase and those cards can be used for fighting or permanents placed on your side, ie a cloaking device. There is action selection, ie research, where each player places actions on the board upside down and they are revealed in reverse order, so while the first player places their stuff first, their actions go last. There is move, research, build, and fight for actions. When you research, you need to pay for the cost of the card that you research. Resources are found on the planets. Planets also give victory points. Oh, there are gold actions you can take, but you need to unlock them(easy to do). A gold build would be being able to build, but at a reduced cost on something.

Fights are done to the side and I can't recall if the defender, or attacker gets to sort how the fights are split up. The initial units are the ones fighting and anything behind them are there for support, ie typically adding +1 to overall damage. You can play a single card for the main unit and a support card if you have one. Cards will have specific units on it. If the unit on the card matches with the unit, it has one set of numbers for damage and defense. If the card doesn't, it uses the lower set numbers on the card. Fights can be far more dynamic than line up and add numbers together as units bring certain special abilities into play like splash damage which hits adjacent units as well.

Victory conditions can be the standard VP total. There are other ways to win though. I'm not 100% fun of the instant win conditions regardless if they can come later. You don't have to play with them though.

Planets can ground and air spots so in order to land on an air spot, you have to have an air unit. You can tap your starting planets for extra resources beyond your normal amount you get per turn, but you need to watch out for them to not get stripped either. As you add planets, you obviously get to tap those as well. Starting player places his planet and then other players attach theirs where they want to. After that players place their gateways.

There are event cards that happen and the cards are grouped into three groups. You reveal one per turn and once when I think somebody researches, but can't or something. Again, bad memory here. The events get more and more dynamic as you play along. Leaders I think are part of the expansion, but they add another element to the game as, IIRC, they give you different starting bonuses.

Issues, previously mentioned instant win conditions. Planets are picked randomly. This adds to replay, but it can give a player an unfair advantage. Race balance. There are two versions of each race. I think it's the alternate version of the all-around race that gets to pick their starting planets and get some nice benefits later on. Unsurprisingly, the Zerg start out well, but I'm not sure about long term with them. It's not a true 4X due to the planets all being laid out so there's no real exploring.

I would definitely feel more comfortable giving a solid opinion until I got about 3 or so more plays in. I would give it a weak 7-8 rating right now. 8 sounds about right if nobody grabs their instant win condition as a benefit. For those who have played the PC and board game, they have mentioned the board game does a really good job of representing the PC version. One aspect I really do like is how the action selection is handled so when I saw something similar to it in Strike of the Eagle, I put that on my order with the Eclipse expansion pack. I think I could have won my first game if I had done the action sequence better. I think my next game I'll feel like nearly a legitimate threat. :lol: So yeah, seems like there's a lot going on, and there is, but enough of it makes logical sense that it's not that bad to pick up despite the manual being like 40+ pages. It also has an obvious coffin box sized box as there's just a ton of stuff that comes with it.

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1188990_md.jpg
Via: BGG

Note, Starcraft was the first game to have deck building in it. Dominion wasn't out since it was in playtesting phase. Dominion still is the first official deck building game as it's primary mechanic though.

EDIT: Of course I missed something. Cards during fights are played face down and then revealed at the same time.

Thanks. Great explanation.
I really want a sci-fi wargame.
So now I have 3 that have piqued my interest.
Im going to be looking at picking one of these up soon. But Im not sure what route to go.

I just bought Mission Red Planet on Geekbay. I watched a video about it. The reveiwers said it was Citadels with a game built around it. They both really liked it.
So I picked it up. Looks like a great family game.
Next is Munchkin add-ons decks.
And a sci-fi wargame. :)