Read through all the rules for Heroes of LAS but haven’t played it yet. I like the look of it. Looks like a solid resource engine builder by means of conquest. The solo mode is random card driven plus priority of what the AI might do based on available resources. Going to try it out solo tomorrow and hopefully multiplayer Sunday.
Special note: the plastic stands for air units in my copy were shattered. From BGG seems to be a common issue. They made a really silly decision to have a circle base, the “leg” and a rectangular support for the unit all as one brittle plastic piece. Normally these types of things would be on sprues and you’d assemble them. 3D brittle plastic next to boards moving aroubs the box is not smart. In any case, it doesn’t affect gameplay and Gamelynn is sending replacements to people. I requested extras to have at the store for customers.
Vesper,
I realize I came off overly negative towards HoLAS. It’s not bad game, just one that I had much higher hopes for and for the amount of time spent playing I just feel there games that do 4x better. l did not try it solo only competitive with 3 and 4 player games.
As for FFG’s new LOTR.
It’s a co-op game in the vein of Mansions of Madness. You use the app to build and populate the board. You pick a character and a class and you can change those class roles through out the game. The class gives you your deck of cards that you use to do actions. No dice.
The map is a macro view of the world and then you have combat maps for inns, castles, caves, etc. The game is either going to amazing or very mediocre. I can’t tell. Similar to my thoughts on the Outer Rim game coming later this year. I’m sure it will sell like hot cakes and I’m looking forward to trying it, but it will be a hard pass for me buying. The FFG logo means expansions galore and I’ve already invested in X-wing, Armada, Mansions, and Netrunner.
I get the criticism of apps in boardgames when you’re playing with other players, but man do they enrich my solitaire gaming experience. Love them for solo play.
To me an app is just a more elegant implementation of a solid (but slightly clunky) game mechanic like that used in Ambush or something from back in the day.
I never thought of it that way! Interesting take. I still think that — for me — it detracts from the tactile experience I want from the game. Ambush’s mechanism was clunky but cool.
But yeah- for m/p games, an app is just a phone distraction that everybody has to look at.
I mean, I can remember when Ambush first showed up on the store shelves at FBN in St. Chucksborough. And I loved it, since it was a way to (kinda) scratch that Squad Leader itch without having to artificially “play” both sides when I couldn’t find an opponent for a wargame (my gaming buddies were more fantasy/sci-fi games exclusive).
And an app for my solo gaming now feels like that, only better. I don’t have to flick through multiple pages to find the right paragraph/sentence, or worry (too much) about doing the wrong paragraph.
I have played Mansions of Madness both solitaire and with others, and while the game was enjoyable with multiple players, I do think it took away from things a bit. Though having an iPad around for that game and just one person reading and everyone helping with setting the tiles and minis in place was fine there, too.
High five! I love that game for its unique player interaction. I got to play with a bunch of jokers from this forum. Our Federalist player claimed, however, that it’s pretty much impossible for the Federalist to win.
The more relevant question in New Angeles is how many of you lost.
Wait, you made other people play Mage Knight? You monster! Did they stop being your friends after? Seriously, though, how did the Mage Knight game go? How many of you were there? Were you guys playing a co-op or competitive scenario?
All of them. That is three. Great final round usurping; I was way below everyone else before the final round, then I managed to force my Emergency Action with an asset, landing us at 24 threat. I suspect it is better with more, but it flows great with four. The consensus is that there is too much stuff that just doesn’t build up around the deals, though.
We were three, and we weren’t expecting to play it as we were discussing playing 1846 or Pendragon before we started. We all enjoy Mage Knight, so no coercion needed. We don’t have much downtime, and we all feel that the rounds that take some planning are ok. We played the Full Conquest scenario; it was close. One played had to leave before the last round, but the final score was 120, 118 (me) and forfeit (somewhere around 90-100).
Played some Res Arcana last night, my second game. I’m undefeated! I quite like this (still haven’t listened to the Qt3 boardgame podcast about it…) My friend says “it’s lighter than it looks”, but I disagree, I think it looks pretty light! It’s a fun little engine-building game, and it’s fairly short. I think once you know what you’re doing and are familiar with the cards you could play it in an hour.
Also played the Rivalry expansion for Roll Through the Galaxy. This is actually two different expansions in one, we did the “Orb” version, where you get a customizable die (yeah, you pop off the faces and pop on new ones, like Dice Forge). You roll this die each turn along with whatever other dice you have and get some little bonus (or, later, possibly a big bonus). I enjoyed it! Goofy, wacky, yes, but fun. There’s also a “Deal” version, which looks complicated. (It probably isn’t that complicated, but it looks complicated).
So in two weeks I am heading off for a short vacation on a chartered sail boat. It’ll be two couples, and our luggage is sparse. Basically my wife and I need to fit all our clothes for 5 days, and everything we are packing, into a single duffel bag.
But we were going to bring some games. What is the best small size, pocket size even, game you suggest? Love Letter is the ideal form here, good amount of game in a tiny package. What other games fit the compact form factor that you recommend?
