3201

Way too predictable, Gus. You don’t get any points for that one.

3202

It’s not that great. It’s a kind of dungeon crawler, with you moving/shooting every turn, and then when you need to do anything else, like pick something up, you have to consult the rule book because the rules aren’t as obvious as they should be for such a simple concept.

It’s also usually most fun to play the zombie master.

3203

Last Night on Earth is good with the right (read: drunk) people. I kind of hate the term Ameritrash, but it fits this. There’s not much to it, and we always end up grabbing something else off the shelf.

3204

I’ll go against the grain and argue in favor of this one. Because a lot of the theme and tension comes out during play (with the cards and ever-advancing horde), that may be why it hasn’t grabbed you already.

It’s true that veteran hero players with good dice rolls can run rampant, but I’ve usually found that with average rolls (or good rolls on the part of the zombie player!) the tension in the game can actually be pretty high. This is meant to be a B-movie zombie experience (as shown by the hero archetypes and overall design) and I think it hold up very well.

Additionally, the game is relatively short (60-90 minutes) and can accommodate 2-6 people (though it’s really best with 2-5). It’s a great, dice-heavy game that really evokes the theme. The variety in the scenarios make it easy to change the game up even in back-to-back sessions. The expansions also add quite a bit to the base game, so it has longevity as well.

The rulebook isn’t the easiest reference, but by now there are plenty of high-quality easy rules summaries on Boardgamegeek if you really feel like you need something more concise.

If you’re a big fan of the zombie genre, this is definitely one of the better zombie board games out there.

3205

Last Night On Earth is, as people have said, a fun Ameritrash game. It’s very theme-y, and it’s light enough that you can trick people ambivalent about games into playing it.

It really seems to invite customization, too. There are a couple of Left 4 Dead “special infected” (Hero Zombie) rulesets on BGG, and it even comes with a couple un-used pieces (Necronomicon, Tractor) to make your own zombocalypse.

The Zombie Master can really change the game, as well, just by how aggressive he decides to be. Making sure all your cards are used up, and heaping bad luck on a particular player each turn help keep it a little more interesting.

3206

That’s a good point, actually. You get lots of extra tokens for you to make up your own scenarios.

Does anyone else find that the ‘intro’ scenario, where you just have to shoot zombies, is much harder to win than the other ones? (As the Heroes)

3207

Thanks for your opinions on Last Night on Earth, guys.

Anyway, I think the time has come for an Arkham Horror expansion soon. Preferably one of the small boxes, since I’m already running out of table space with only the base set. We seriously need to fatten up those tiny Arkham Encounter piles. It feels like we run through at least one of them each game.

One additional rule I will force after our next session is to make every player select an investigator at random. I think we’ve nailed the different aspects of the game pretty well, but people are getting a little too comfortable with their default choice of character. I’m hoping it will spice things up a bit.

3208

One more thing to be said in its defense: If you absolutely, positively must play a zombie game, this is by far the best out there right now. Any gameplay flaws can be forgiven if you’re having a theme night or whatever.

3209

I haven’t gotten a chance to play FTF yet, but even solo I can tell that Combat Commander is a fantastic game. The rules are thick but not overwhelming, and the card driven system really makes this a tense, dynamic affair. Now I want to blow all my money on expansions, especially the Stalingrad one.

3210

I hated Zombies!!! It was such as slooooow game. This, on the other hand, fits the theme perfectly and plays quickly and easily.

3211

Wow, it’s been a long time since I got a prick response to making a simple joke, particularly one that reinforces the original poster’s opinion.

3212

No tanks, too random.

3213

I see it as: “NO TANKS! SO RANDOM!”

3214

So I was in my FLGS and saw three nice hardcover books sitting on the shelf from Catalyst Games: Battletech: TechManual, Tactical Operations, Strategic OPerations. Anyone used these yet? I assume Total War is the one book they didn’t have and it has the basic Battletech rules in it. I’m so tempted to pick them up, as they look to be nice hardcovers. I’d just love a good reason to get back into Battletech, especially a revised RPG for it even!

3215

I think I picked up the second to last copy of Quarriors in the country yesterday at PAX. It looks pretty neat. Hoping to try it with my kids this weekend.

3216

Poor attempt at humor. Sorry.

Anyway, we played our second game of Citadels today. I like the game quite a lot. It’s a very casual and relaxed game, even with the amount of back stabbing and stuff going on.

I’m having trouble understanding the Warlord though. In a game where every investment, coin and turn counts, throwing money away to destroy another player’s building seems a bit counter productive. He works as a deterrent against single cost buildings, but that’s about it. I think we’ll try to spice things up with some of the other character cards next time.

I really wish there were so more scoring options as well. I’d love to see some more card combos other than “get one of each color” and “be the first guy to reach eight buildings”.

3217

Warlord is important in the endgame, to prevent someone else from winning. Other than that, yeah, it’s rare to use him for anything other than single-coin buildings except in the endgame.

3218

Has anybody played Z-Man’s “Ideology”? Would it work with a group of teenagers? Is it any good?

3219

I’m considering getting either Mission: Red Planet ( http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18258/mission-red-planet ) or Small World ( http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world ) to play with my teenage sons. The theme and mechanics of the former are tempting. But I’m not sure how well it plays. The second is a better known game, but I’m wondering if it has staying power. Any recommendations?

Wendelius

3220

I like both M:RP and SW, though they’re very different games. I don’t think you’d be unhappy with either, though of course I’m sure there are people who fail to like one or both of those games…