Boardgaming 2021: minis are back, baby!

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. It’s gone out of stock and been snapped up very quickly in local FLGS and discussed with excitement in the FB boardgame group I joined.

The first hurdle for those who got it was all the assembly required. Also, be prepared to use hot water to reshape some of the xenomorphs, or they can’t stand side by side on the board.

The second hurdle is the gameplay which might either be exactly your tactical cup of tea or not. I’ve seen several copies come up for second hand sale in the past week in that group. But that one is obviously subjective. So might be worth giving the game a chance.

This might also be of interest:

Which FB group are you a member of?
I think my issue is most of the bits look really crappy to me for the price.
I already have a ton of battlesystem terrain and avp painted models so I will most likely use those over the stuff in the box.

Which ones did you get?

In addition to really digging Architects of the West Kingdom, I’m also sold on Raiders of Scythia now. Soooo much better than Raiders of the North Sea. I honestly can’t imagine why anyone would ever play North Sea again, especially as a solitaire game. It just looks so, well, amateurish in comparison.

I’m moving on to Viscounts of the West Kingdom next, but only after a few more rounds of Scythia while it’s set up.

-Tom

I picked up Architects of the West Kingdom, along with the expansion. But I’m intrigued by the other two games in the “trilogy”, and also kind of interested in the “Tomesaga” expansion that apparently creates a sort of campaign game with all three.

The only real worker placement game I’m super familiar with – at least as far as owning and trying to play a couple of times per year – is Robinson Crusoe. So I suspect that some of this is going to be a little afield of my frame of reference…but I’m also firmly of the 50 million Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong school. So if so many people enjoy worker placement games generally, and seem to speak highly of these games specifically…gimme. :)

Oh, and if this clicks for me, definitely will give Raiders of Scythia a shot!

It’s called “Board Game Trading and Chat UK”. It’s obviously UK centric. Pretty good bunch and old and new games come up for trade and sale constantly.

That’s where I got my Space Hulk copy for £25. Now I just need to do the purchase justice and play it. Though I wonder if I can convince my wife to paint the minis first. That would be awesome.

Going back to A Glorious Day, I believe the consensus is that the quality of the models is Ok. If you already have your own painted models, these ones likely won’t blow you away. That said, your own models might improve it. Would be cool to see the game on the table with your fully painted models. Share pictures if they fit.

New games:










Captain Silver and Cantaloop are the 2 that I’m curious about this week. We’ve enjoyed our plays of Treasure Island, but it’s been a while since it bit the table (partly because Covid). Curious to see what the expansion brings.

As for Cantaloop, the theme is intriguing.

Gwar vs. Time, eh?

Tragically time won :(

(I know they kept going, but damn, RIP Dave)

It usually does, alas.

Yeah, baby, yeah!

I just printed the print and play prequel/tutorial for cantaloop! Haven’t played it yet, but now that I see how it works, I suspect it might take less time to play than it did to print and assemble :). But maybe it will be cool.

I ordered Dune Imperium as I have read it makes for a good solitaire experience plus I am interested in trying it with my son two player with the AI I have seen mentioned in various articles on the game.

Sadly, Dune Imperium is a terrible solitaire game. This applies to the two-player game as well, since the minimum player counter is three, so you have to use the AI deck. The AI deck is just a collection of arbitrary moves that have no regard for the game’s deck-building and economy. And there’s no provision to cycle the cards on offer, which makes me think whoever designed the solitaire mode didn’t even know he was making it for a deck-builder. :(

That said, I’m super stoked to play it with other people. I think it’s a nifty design with really slick Dune theming.

-Tom

@tomchick

I read somewhere that there is an app that can be used in addition to whatever they had in the instructions?

Oh, well - I was going to get the game no matter what as I love Dune and wanted to try the new game. Maybe there will be a way to play it online. I am signed up for the Dice Tower Con in Orlando but not sure if it will be safe to go in July.

There are currently multiple Tabletop Simulator mods. I don’t know what the odds of it turning up on other online platforms or getting a proper digital version are. I think a possible issue is the license - which obviously is owned by Frank Herbert’s estate, not anyone making Dune games.

If it was UK, where we vaccinate fast, I’d still think it would be very unlikely to be allowed. You need the type of population that attends those cons to all have gotten their 2 does of vaccine, plus another 3 weeks and you need infection levels to be well under control. Neither of those will be true for months. What’s the chance that large scale events are a safe thing in 5-6 months? Not very high, IMO.

Of course, I have no idea how permissive the state will be and whether anyone will care in the US. The attitude over there has been a tad more lackadaisical…

But I know I’ll not be happy to attend a con in 5-6 months.

I think Florida is among the least likely parts of the US to be COVID-safe by July.

And yet sadly, one of the most likely places to possibly set safety protocols aside in service of potential tourism dollars.

Sorry you had a terrible experience with it. I designed it. My design priorities were ease of play and the opponents providing a challenge. I dislike solo modes that use complex methods to make an opponent’s move to simulate smart moves. So I chose a quick/easy process to determine an opponent’s moves that aren’t individually smart but the sum of its parts puts up a challenge.

As for no deck cycling, again that goes to my preference for simplicity. The game is already complex enough, adding deck cycling rules did not feel critical (and would have added fiddliness). But we did choose to put some cycling into the companion app.

To be clear, I’m not in any way saying that the solo mode is perfect. It was quite a challenge to make for the game structure that I’d designed for multiplayer (and I think deckbuilding games are generally difficult to design for solo, because one of the nuances of good competitive deck builders is, imo, reacting to what your opponents have drafted, and nobody wants to manage actual deck drafting and shuffling for bot opponents). But a lot of people do seem to enjoy it solo from what I have read and watched.