Recommend me a board game?

Lizard_King · 2011-09-14T19:10:33.000Z

Mysterio · 2011-09-14T19:14:07.000Z

It looks like I’m going to have to sweet talk my girlfriend into “allowing” me to pre-order/purchase Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Hopefully, this won’t be too difficult, since, like me, she’s a Star Trek fan. Tom Vasel and his buddy rave about the game in their Miami Dice video. According to CSI, it drops in 1 week.

Tracy_Baker · 2011-09-14T19:17:28.000Z

Tom Vasel has cost me so much money with his raves. That Scottish guy, too. I’d be retired and living in paradise right now if it wasn’t for those two.

Jasper_Phillips · 2011-09-14T19:34:05.000Z

Would it really be paradise without your boardgames?

Lizard_King · 2011-09-14T19:48:33.000Z

Mysterio:

It looks like I’m going to have to sweet talk my girlfriend into “allowing” me to pre-order/purchase Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Hopefully, this won’t be too difficult, since, like me, she’s a Star Trek fan. Tom Vasel and his buddy rave about the game in their Miami Dice video. According to CSI, it drops in 1 week.

I’m not a Trek fan, but that doesn’t seem very thematically convincing. I guess I never really thought of it as territory control fodder.

Tracy_Baker · 2011-09-14T20:12:41.000Z

Jasper Phillips:

Would it really be paradise without your boardgames?

Ignorance is bliss, and inexpensive.

Mysterio · 2011-09-14T21:01:01.000Z

Lizard_King:

I’m not a Trek fan, but that doesn’t seem very thematically convincing. I guess I never really thought of it as territory control fodder.

What makes you say it’s a territory control game, if that’s what you’re saying?

Lizard_King · 2011-09-15T06:41:48.000Z

Mysterio:

What makes you say it’s a territory control game, if that’s what you’re saying?

Each player begins play with a fleet of ships and starts at opposite ends of an unexplored sector of space. This sector of space is represented by hexegonal cards (which are shuffled before play and placed face-down in a pre-determined pattern). As each ship progresses through the sector, you turn the tiles face up, revealing what is in that part of the sector (a Class-M planet, a Class-J Nebula, empty space, etc…). Hopefully you will discover and acquire resources while simultaneously denying them to your opponent(s).

When conflict inevitably breaks out, you and your opponent(s) will battle it out for sector supremacy. Last fleet standing wins the sector for their respective faction.

I meant it in terms of it being a light wargame with an emphasis on territory control with associated resources, rather than one with attrition or other victory conditions at the heart of it (not that those would have been more suitable, just that they would have been comparable subcategories). Still seems an accurate description based on the blurb, and I was asking in the context of a show I always associated (from a distance) with exploration, cultural engagement metaphors, and the avoidance of war rather than straightforward conflict with different teams. The exploration aspect here seems more on the fog of war side of the spectrum rather than an end in itself, for instance.

I didn’t mean it as a criticism, I was just curious.

Nephrinn · 2011-09-15T11:02:21.000Z

OMG, you’re killing me here Fantasy Flight, enough already! Fame and Fortune expansion for Civilization: TBG announced.

Contains four new civs (Arabs, Greeks, Spanish, Indians) and a bunch of new mechanics such as a great person deck, trade caravans, relics, and metropolises. It also adds support for a 5th player. Damn it all to hell.

Mike_Cathcart · 2011-09-15T11:44:01.000Z

Four civs for what will likely be at least a 40 dollar box? Horse armor! This downloadable content is killing the industry! Plus the AI stinks! Blah blah blah other boring stuff!

Oh wait, this is about the board game. Ooh, five player support is nice. But no more multiplayer (as in more than 2) games for me right now. I just got down to 2 unplayed games and I plan on cutting that number in half tonight.

Mysterio · 2011-09-15T12:03:24.000Z

Nephrinn:

OMG, you’re killing me here Fantasy Flight, enough already! Fame and Fortune expansion for Civilization: TBG announced.

Contains four new civs (Arabs, Greeks, Spanish, Indians) and a bunch of new mechanics such as a great person deck, trade caravans, relics, and metropolises. It also adds support for a 5th player. Damn it all to hell.

Yeah, well…damn–it’s a must buy for me. Crap.

Dean · 2011-09-15T12:41:01.000Z

I’ve had the original game still in the shrink wrap since last February. 4 players is hard, because if we have that, we’ll play Starcraft.

So no real rush on this one.

Tracy_Baker · 2011-09-15T13:05:22.000Z

I can’t even get four people together to play Chaos in the Old World or Merchants and Marauders, so there’s no way in hell I’m getting Civ.

That said, are Chaos and Merchants advisable for three? A few guys are coming over tonight to game and I can’t decide if we should try those, or Cyclades, or just play Alien Frontiers again.

Jasper_Phillips · 2011-09-15T13:25:20.000Z

Tracy Baker:

I can’t even get four people together to play Chaos in the Old World or Merchants and Marauders, so there’s no way in hell I’m getting Civ.

That said, are Chaos and Merchants advisable for three? A few guys are coming over tonight to game and I can’t decide if we should try those, or Cyclades, or just play Alien Frontiers again.

Can’t comment on the others, but Merchants and Maruaders is fine with three. More players is more interesting, but also takes longer.

Mike_Cathcart · 2011-09-15T13:28:17.000Z

3 seems to be the worst number of players for Cyclades, but I still like the game with any number. 2 and 4 player works best, 5 has a little too much downtime and only having 2 gods per round with 3 players is sort of lame.

There’s no real consensus as far as I can tell about Chaos with 3. People either love or hate it. There seems to be an equal number of opinions that any given combination of 3 powers is better or worse than the others. My limited experience with it has been good but Khorne had a hard time finding targets. Then again, plenty of others include him in their best mix of 3. So, um, maybe?

Tracy_Baker · 2011-09-15T13:31:02.000Z

Thanks for the feedback! I think I’ll try to get them to play M&M because they’re cutthroat bastards and I don’t want to play that with a bunch of softies.

Also good to know that Cyclades works OK for two, as I usually game with just one guy and am always looking for great two-player games.

Shieldwolf · 2011-09-15T14:18:14.000Z

Tracy Baker:

Thanks for the feedback! I think I’ll try to get them to play M&M because they’re cutthroat bastards and I don’t want to play that with a bunch of softies.

Also good to know that Cyclades works OK for two, as I usually game with just one guy and am always looking for great two-player games.

Chaos is great with Three better with four and five.

M&M I feel is best with 3 as it will have some down time, but you’re usually watching what your opponents are doing.

ckessel · 2011-09-15T16:58:20.000Z

Nephrinn:

OMG, you’re killing me here Fantasy Flight, enough already! Fame and Fortune expansion for Civilization: TBG announced.

It’d have to be an awfully good expansion because the base game isn’t particularly great.

Lorini · 2011-09-15T17:30:09.000Z

Yeah way too much chrome and nothing to hang it on. I sold it awhile ago and haven’t missed it.

Tracy_Baker · 2011-09-15T18:30:13.000Z

Lizard_King:

I meant it in terms of it being a light wargame with an emphasis on territory control with associated resources, rather than one with attrition or other victory conditions at the heart of it (not that those would have been more suitable, just that they would have been comparable subcategories). Still seems an accurate description based on the blurb, and I was asking in the context of a show I always associated (from a distance) with exploration, cultural engagement metaphors, and the avoidance of war rather than straightforward conflict with different teams. The exploration aspect here seems more on the fog of war side of the spectrum rather than an end in itself, for instance.

I didn’t mean it as a criticism, I was just curious.

I looks like the cards and missions help make this more than just a wargame and add a lot of flavor, which is good because we already have Star Fleet Battles if we want a pure wargame.

One of the examples I read was a Federation ship getting caught in a temporal loop and a Klingon ship getting victory points for rescuing it. A lot of the examples I’m reading make it sound more like creating on-the-fly episodes of the show instead of a land grab followed by pew-pew.