4041

King of Tokyo definitely seems to simple to be any good at first, and I only picked it up to get my youngest son to play more boardgames. I’ve been enjoying it to my surprise, at least in short bursts.

It’s simple enough to play fast and by taught immediately, deep enough that you have to consider your alternatives when you pick dice to reroll or choose cards to buy, and balanced enough that it’s usually pretty close. It does suffer a bit due to a lack of “terrain” and more varied positions, but it’s so quick it doesn’t suffer much from it.

Plus, giant monsters are always fun!

4042

Tom Vassal said it is a bear putting the minis together,if that’s a factor.

4043

Generally in any game where there is no cost or restriction on playing cards other than that of having them in hand, and you can immediately play cards to draw more cards off of playing other cards to draw more cards, such cards are the building block upon which any successful strategy must be built. Now whether the game remains interesting in a scenario where every player realizes this and such cards get taken up immediately - that’s the real question we’ll have to answer next time we play.

4044

So I see that Mayfair has reprinted 1830, which is one of those classic train games. How does it compare to Age of Steam/Chicago Express/Railroad Tycoon/Ticket to Ride?

4045

TOTALLY different, particularly different from Ticket to Ride. It’s the first 18xx to become popular, a development of the original 1829 game. It will normally take 4-6 hours with four people as well. It has perfect information and no random factors. It’s a stock market game with some track laying and train buying/operating. Unlike the Age of Steam family, there are no goods to pick up and deliver, just trains running routes. 1830 is one of the more vicious 18xx games in that if you aren’t careful, you’ll go bankrupt and lose the game. Knowing what trains to buy when is critical to effective play in 1830, as well as really understanding how much the privates should go for.

The new version has a nicely re-done map, as well as a variant map with a bunch of variant rules. I haven’t had a chance to play it but it certainly looks better than the original one. My original game is worn out anyway, so I was looking forward to the new edition.

4046

Back from boardgaming heaven!

Fantastic few days of gaming, and easily the most slickly run BGG.Con I’ve been to (past 3). They’ve got this down to a well oiled machine at the Westin, so next year’s change of venue, and likely some growth, is going to be interesting. They’re definitely over capacity in the current mix of large conference space & smaller rooms, and tickets sold out in record time (though there was quite a churn of resales late on), but it still feels small & relatively intimate, generally. Lots of familiar faces, a familiar structure/rhythm to the Con routine, and lots of games :) I’m lucky to have a bunch of my regular gaming group go up to the Con, so most of my gaming time (and social time) was spent with them, with some random ‘pickup’ games thrown into the mix in-between.

Here’s a random run down of what I played:

Eclipse - Game of the show. It’s a civ-lite set in space, featuring a bunch of large hexes for locations, abstracted resource mechanics, semi-random techs available each turn, tight economy, ship upgrading (fantastically well done) and easy to resolve dice based combat. It looks intimidating in photos & from a rules description, but it’s /real/ easy to play & quick too. 2 hours for 4 players. We played it twice in a row, switching players, that’s how much we enjoyed it, and all 4 of us will likely end up owning it despite the pointlessness of that ;) It’s dang perfect for the group I played with. I would have played it a third time if I could have.

Ore et Labora - new Uwe Rosenburg game (Agricola etc). Think Le Havre without the fiddly resource management, with added spatial management for bonuses/end game scores. Uses a rondel for managing good availability that works /fantastically/ well. Stroke of genius. The theme of making whiskey helps ;) Despite the cards being in German, I really liked this, more than Le Have. Just the right level of complexity & engine building for me.

Vanatu - the third big hit for our group. Manage a Polynesian island by fishing, selling fish for goods, converting goods into VP etc. Throw in role selection with a nice variety of important bonuses. Nothing /new/ but exceptionally well executed. What makes it stand out is the turn order importance. There’s 8 different actions you can bid for each turn with your five actions markers. When it’s your turn, you can choose to execute any of those actions your highest bidder in… Ties are broken by turn order from the start player this round. Which is brutal as other players ahead of you can block you really easily, making start player /really/ important. A little long, but I want to play it again.

Nefarios - new card game by the Dominion designer. Fun, ‘evil super villian’ theme combined with nice artwork & simple mechanics, but nothing /fantastic/… We played it twice to get a better feel of it because of the two changing ‘game tweaks’ that are random (our first made it /very/ simple). Fun, but at $60 from Essen, and $45 US RRP, it feels expensive.

Lancaster - a Queen game that’s been out for a few months but new to my group. Area control, kind of, mixed with economic engine, kind of, a dash of voting, and a good old “Medieval English Kingdom” theme. Great production quality from Queen, as usual. Liked it enough to teach it and play it later in the weekend.

Pax - Roman themed card game that’s real simple to teach, real simple to play. twenty minutes or so, and would play again.

Core Worlds - deck building game in the vein of Ascenion/Thunderstone etc, but with a sci-fi theme. Massive dud. Got a three player demo with two random gamers & we all were “meh” almost immediately. Just nothing compelling about it, nothing interesting about the theme, fiddly energy/action management, and heavily weighted to the first player each round because of how the card drafting works. Meh.

Dungeon Runners - new dungeon crawler by the Summoner Wars guys (which I love). Semi-cooperative dungeon crawler - once you beat the big-baddy, everyone is out for themselves to escape with the prize. Reminds me a little of Claustrophobia but without the asymmetric gameplay. Enjoyed, might buy.

Walnut Grove - “meh”. Not /bad/ but not good. Typical economic engine game with an added tile building/management aspect for production, which I enjoyed… But the game overall? Meh. Nothing stood out, nothing grabbed me.

Dark Horse - Kickstarter indie game that’s effectively a Wild West mix of Kingsburg action selection & Catan expansion/resource gathering on a map. Worked very well for what it is, is already in production, and played well. Didn’t overstay its welcome - 60 mins for 3. Designer was /very/ nice & looking for feedback on the role I played.

Rise! - Another Kickstarter game, this one is up for funding right now. Two player abstract, 20 minutes long, simple to learn,nice to play. Enjoyed this & would fund it if I thought it’d make it.

Played a bunch of older games too, of course, and had my yearly “epic” game on Friday with the same guys I’ve been doing since my first year at the Con (this year Warrior Knights). Came forth place in a 7 Wonders tournament, getting a freebie Essen game that I’d been interested in.

All in all, a great long weekend away. Met a bunch of interesting new people, traded for a bunch of new to me games, and played a bunch of good games. Well worth it. I thoroughly recommend the BoardGameGeek.Con for any board gamers out there. It’s filled with friendly normal people who love to game.

4047

The 18xx games are much more brutal than any of the other train games I’ve played, enough so that they’re essentially their own genre.

You can start a company with another player, run it into the ground for short term gain, and then potentially sell all your stock (so you can invest it in another line) just before it goes bankrupt (generally due to drain obsolescence), thus dumping it on your erstwhile partner – who is then personally beholden to cover the company’s losses out of his own pocket.

This sort of hostile market just doesn’t exist in the typical train game where you play a train company, rather than a train investor.

4048

dogbert, thanks for the reviews, great stuff

I have my eye on Eclipse. I think it will fill the Twilight Imperium gap nicely. We can’t/won’t play TI anymore, too many 10+ hour games.

I’ve been on a boardgame buying frenzy lately:

Purchased:
[ul]
[li]Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Good game. Only had 1-2 borked minis. 1.5-2.5 hours[/li][li]Blood Bowl Team Manager. Very fun card game that will definitely have expansions. 1-2 hours[/li][li]Rune Age. another card boardgame that was fun but NEEDS an expansion. ~30-45 minis[/li][li]Runewars: Banners of War. Might play it Weds.[/li][li]Dominion Hinterlands. Might play it Weds.[/li][/ul]

Getting for xmas:
[ul]
[li]Game of Thrones 2e[/li][li]War of the Ring 2e[/li][li]Risk Legacy[/li][/ul]

I have a lot of boardgaming to do!! :)

4049

He certainly has, “AD&D” hasn’t been used since 2000. ;)

4050

Nerd!

Glad to hear Eclipse is brilliant. I think that’s going to be my next game at some point (along with Blood Bowl: Team Manager).

4051

Congratulations to Hans for winning the 2-player Alliance game of Conquest of Nerath on BGG against Dave Perkins! It was a very close game, until Dave left Iron Circle’s capital vulnerable to Vailin forces in Round 5. Once the capital fell, Dave conceded. Fun was had by all!

4052

Hey guys, I’d be interested in trying out one of these game-by-forum games next time you get one rolling. I don’t get to board game nearly often enough, and that might be fun to try. Have you done anything other than Nerath?

4053

Pushed me over the edge. I pre-ordered it.

I also put Sentinels of the Multiverse and a dice tower on the order to get CoolStuffInc’s free shipping. Looks like Christmas is coming early to my house. :P

4054

I brought a copy of Sentinels of the Multiverse to CarnageCon in Vermont and it was a pretty big hit. I played it with all kinds of different people and everyone enjoyed it. It is easy to set up and play, moves quickly and it oozes theme. It can be little busy when there are a lot of cards on the table and the balance is all over the place, but in general I loved it.

4055

I’ve hosted multiple games of Small World in the past and just finished hosting my first game of CoN. If you’re interested in playing a game of Small World or Small World Underground, subscribe to the SW PBF Lottery thread on BGG and wait for Matt (image on BGG, the guy currently hosting SWU games) to open the lottery. Once open, reply to the thread stating you’d like to join it. Winners are chosen randomly, and your odds of winning increase each time you aren’t chosen.

The 4th player for my second CoN game is tentative. If he declines, you’re in. Otherwise, I’ll include you in the next one.

4056

Minor clarification: Colby Dauch, the Summoner Wars guy, is publishing Dungeon Run via Plaid Hat Games, but it was designed by a guy who goes by the name of Mr. Bistro. He published the game originally as a print-and-play, but Plaid Hat picked it up and re-themed it to the Summoner Wars world. I’m very much looking forward to it, myself.

4057

Fantastic! :)

4058

Doh, I should have known that :) It was the one demo I was most looking forward to as Summoner Wars is my most played game this year, fits into my lunch schedule perfectly, and I love that stripped down dungeon crawl feel of Claustrophobia.

The simplified movement feels like Claustrophobia, the tile art/production quality is great, and the combat moves quickly enough, though it’s a little more fiddly than Claustrophobia. Definitely want to play it again.

4059

I conceded on the field of battle, but not in my spirit!!!

4060

Glad to hear the positive on Eclipse also - preordered this and I’m on pins and needles waiting for it to arrive!