Alrighty, thanks to BGG and the Hot Deals forum I was able to grab Gears of War for just under $38. Hopefully I can get it set up for some solo test runs over the weekend :)
That poll is about damaged components and component quality, not gameplay.
I haven’t had a chance to try my copy yet, but from reading the rules, setting it up and messing with it a bit I have no regrets. It looks like the Star Trek game I’ve always wanted to play, simulating everything that’s great about the franchise without getting bogged down by crunchiness.
SlyFrog
3783
Exactly.
Honestly, I’m really trying to hold off on this. If it hadn’t received such exuberant reviews from people like Tom Vasel, I’d have no problem passing it up or holding off on it.
I think I may be at the point where I’ve really reached game saturation on the board game front. I have a really good (and fairly large, at this point) blend of games that scratch a lot of itches. It is reaching the point where I find new games are effectively just getting in the way of good enough old games that I don’t play enough anyway. I have a large number of great games like Dominant Species, Le Havre, Agricola, Space Hulk, Rune Wars, Arkham Horror, Duel of Ages, Through the Ages a full Advanced Squad Leader set, etc. I have to ask myself, am I realistically playing those games over and over, given that I have fun each time I play them? Or am I playing them 2-3 times because I’m getting something new that frankly, isn’t any better, it’s just new?
It’s not as though the purchase of new games is only the cost outlay for the new game. There’s only so much time to play, and it’s starting to seem stupid to buy something new when I still haven’t finished my Descent campaign, still haven’t played through all of the Space Hulk scenarios, still have only played Through the Ages a couple of times, etc.
So I’m sure Star Trek Fleet Captain is cool, but I’m afraid it will be another one of those things where the notion of having it then turns into the notion of playing it once or twice. Anticipation is often much greater a thing than actual possession turns out to be.
Boardgame purchasing is like drugs - all consuming when you’re chasing them down, but after the first few hits, you want the next shiny thing. :)
I’ve gotten a few negative vibes about Star Trek Fleet Captains as a 4 player game.
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It uses teams. This killed Battleship Galaxies for me. The 3-4 player scenarios just didn’t work as well as the two player ones.
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There is a lot of downtime between turns, especially with 4 players. This killed D&D Conquest of Nerath. We didn’t even manage to finish the shortest game of that before everyone wanted to play something else.
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Games can take a very long time. Since I run with a bunch of drunken smokers, we are lucky to get 2 real hours of gaming in an evening.
#1 can be remedied with expansions, but #2 may be a show stopper for me. I can work with #3, but its not typically worth the effort.
The tales of broken components don’t bother me one bit. I have glue and at least 10 minutes of patience. :P
I thought the last poll question asked about recommending the game in general, not just with regards to its components. My bad for misreading it.
Reldan
3786
I don’t think your thought process was incorrect there. You were strongly favored to win that fight, which carries with it a +1 gold for you and a -1 gold for your opponent, plus the loss of his pieces. It was likely that it would be 0 for 10 or at worst a 5 for 10 trade for you - who wouldn’t take that opportunity?
I enjoy playing Blood Bowl on the PC. I understand the odds and accept that the game contains a tremendous amount of dice rolling, to the extent that literally any plan in the game can potentially lose to sheer luck. I don’t think I could stand to play the tabletop version though, as it plays substantially slower than the computer version as all the rolling and bookkeeping have to be done by hand. There’s simply a finite amount of time I’m willing to devote to a game that has that much variance. So far I’ve determined that time to be about 90 minutes.
serling
3787
How’s Merchant & Marauders? I adore Sid Meier’s Pirates, and this looks like some sort of analog equivalent. It also looks like an intimate, fun and somewhat complex game to play with a couple of other dedicated players. I’m considering throwing it on my next order. Consensus?
Other than that I’m awaiting King of Tokyo and Panic Station. Both look like easy going and cool games. King of Tokyo sounds like it could be another “Cosmic Encounter”-style of game for us, while Panic Station a sort of amalgamation between Battlestar Galactica and Escape from Aliens in Outer Space. Can’t wait!
I’ve now played Star Trek Fleet Captains several times and I’m a bit fed up with it. It’s certainly very thematic and scratches a certain Star Trek itch. It’s great putting Will Riker on the Excelsior and sending him at some Klingons.
However, I’ve been frustrated by the imbalances between the sides. Most of the Starfleet ships are smaller and geared towards science and influence where the Klingons have several larger ships which can do science or influence missions but are also quite good at shootin’. There’s also a lot of randomness, which is appropriate for a game like this, but it still irritates me. The location tiles are random, encounters are random, the missions you get are random and can either be super-easy, super-hard or somewhere between.
Overall, I do like the game but I need to think of it as more loose and chance-y.
I own M&M and love it, as does my girlfriend. It’s dripping with theme and the production value’s amazing. And since you adore SMP, I can’t see how you wouldn’t take to M&M in a heartbeat. The rules make it appear complex, but it’s not. Your first play or two will be slow going as you wrap your head around the rules and each Sea Zone’s ability, but future games will move at a much faster pace.
KoT’s on my wishlist. But based on reports and photos on BGG, the quality of the dice is horrendous. I know my gaming group would love the game, but the publishers need to provide better quality dice before I’m willing to buy it.
PS is also on my wishlist, and looks like a lot of fun. I’m anxious to read the reviews.
serling
3790
I cannot for the life of me imagine what a low quality die would look like. I mean, do they fall apart when they hit the table? Are the sides peeling off? Are they biased to specific sides?
Thanks for the warning anyway. I’ll keep a close eye on King of Tokyo.
Do you play it with two players? I’ve already got Mansions of Madness on my wishlist. If I were to get that I can’t imagine that my four person group would have enough time for much more. But if it plays well with two people I might add it for my wife and I to play, since I doubt she’ll be as into some of the other things on my wishlist (Claustrophobia, Earth Reborn) as I might like.
Agreed. It’s the best pirate boardgame out there, and I daresay the best pirate boardgame possible if Pirates! is your gold standard. The learning curve can be a bit off-putting at first, but once you’re on the other side of it the game plays quickly. The only caveat is that the pendulum of fate can swing wide, and it’s not uncommon to get beaten down by the dice with little chance of recovery.
That’s the only way I’ve ever played it, since I still need to teach the 4th member of my group how to play it (she’s a tad reluctant to learn, even though her husband enjoys it (played it with him 2P once)). I think your wife would enjoy playing it 2P with you. Just make sure you tell her about what I said regarding the rules and Sea Zone abilities. Otherwise, she might get frustrated during the first game and not want to play again.
Another vote that M&M kicks ass. Hands tied the best Pirate boardgame to date, and it very much has the feel of Pirates!. Not sure why others are talking about a learning curve, as it’s a pretty straight forward game that I’ve seen have good success with novice boardgamers, yet without being simplistic.
It’s better with 3 or 4, but works alright with 2 as well.
You made me go buy Dreadfleet.
Now I need to go find my tools… and buy new paints. And explain to my six year old, that no she can’t paint any of daddy’s little ships. And when I’m done in about a years time, I’ll need to get friends that’ll play with me.
But hey, there’s a freakin’ 5’ cloth playing mat!
There is a learning curve. The things you can do each turn are straightforward, but there are tons of options, special abilities, and rules to track until you get everything down. It’s not a game you can bust out and have everyone learn well in one session.
It’s also a great game. I bought Pirates Cove way back when and instantly regretted it, but will likely always look forward to a game of M&M.
Speaking of which, I’m considering picking up some giant sheets of plexiglass because the thought of dealing with a giant rayon scarf as a play surface is a bit daunting. Frank suggested that I lightly spray each side in a different primer in order to make it look less like ass, what’s the consensus on such idiot proof painting processes?
Case
3798
Really disappointed with the quality control for Star Trek Fleet Captains. The copy I got had both Klingon and Federation command decks without shrink wrap. There were a bunch of duplicate and missing cards, too. Plus, two of the minis were broken.
Looking at the box, it looks like a great design for displaying the game, but not so great for protecting the parts during shipping. But if the factory isn’t even packing the game correctly, that can be a real problem.
A giant sheet of plexiglass is a generally useful thing to have handy for boardgaming, at least if you’ve got any games with non-mounted paper maps. Somehow it feels wrong to me for a miniatures game, though I’m sure it’d work.
No idea about playing on rayon. The various photos of the game have made the giant seascape seem pretty cool to me, so I’m a bit surprised it looks bad.
If it sucks, I’d recommend just ditching it entirely and picking up a 6’x4’ (or whatever fits your table) sheet of blue felt from a fabric store; that’s what I did for Man O’ War and it worked great.
Oh, sorry, I meant the pieces needed a bit of paint, not the cloth. The cloth looks fine, I just don’t feel confident with it as a durable play space so I thought I might lay plexiglass on top of it the way I do for my paper maps. Except this is much bigger than paper, and it needs to be in use as a whole rather than in bits so my small plexi pieces won’t cut.
