This one just appeared on my radar and is receiving impressive reviews. The gameplay sounds like a lot of fun.
CF_Kane
5442
Is anyone interested in a play by forum game of Andean Abyss? It seems particularly well suited to that format, given the lack of private diplomacy or hands.
I would be happy to run one, once I am confident in the rules.
SlyFrog
5443
I am in the middle of a game of Through the Ages that I started this weekend with my wife and kids.
Moment of great geek pride when my son realized (not by happenstance, but by deduction) the synergy between Michelangelo and St. Peter’s Basilica, got them both, and is now using them to beat our brains out with the monster culture bonus they give.
Second best is my daughter meekly apologizing for stealing my science and resources through aggression cards. As she noted, “Well, you are the weakest in military strength, and I really need the science. Sorry!”
Yeah I’ve been playing it online on Boardgame arena. I really like the it. It definitely takes a few plays before you see the nuances, but when you can pull of a killer combo and then fast-forward time to win the game the look on your opponent’s face is priceless ( or at least it is in my head as I’m playing online and can’t actually see them).
Sure. We can start a thread or something…
— Alan
Though starting next Tuesday I will be out of the country for 8 days and probably will have very limited internet access.
— Alan
CF_Kane
5447
It will take some time set up anyway Alan, so why don’t we try to recruit two more and plan to start Friday, September 21?
corsair
5449
Anyone play the Cities expansion for 7 Wonders yet? I suppose there’s no real point in asking since I just got the expansion (the very last one left at OrcCon - edit in - sorry, Gateway. Not entirely sure why they bother to name the Strategicons differently). We had the option to play it in the finals of the tournament, but since none of us had actually played it before, most of us didn’t want to learn it in the middle of a tournament final- but I’m curious about opinions anyway.
They handed out the Catan Wonder board and Esteban Leader card to everyone in the tournament (the designer - Antoine Bauza - was there).
Haven’t gotten a chance to play my copy of the Cities expansion yet, either. It looks like it’s not as big of a change to the game as the Leaders, but I like the diplomacy concept (takes you out of the next military battle, so your neighbors fight each other). It also looks like it’s trying to do something to absorb some of the money that tends to stack up for most players in a game (in my experience) and give them more to spend it on and ways to take money from the other players.
Syzygy
5451
I’m in for Andean Abyss play by forum. Starting a bit later is good for me, too, as I’m on a business trip until Saturday.
Funny you should ask. I had no idea it’d been released yet, but a guy showed up to game night tonight with a brand new copy of 7W and Cities (but no Leaders). I’ve played the game a bunch over the last couple years, both with and without leaders, and I feel like this expansion changes it at least as much as the Leaders do, but in a different way. Leaders essentially made money more important, and added another round of drafting. This actually makes the game more interactive than worrying about what your immediate neighbors are up to (and whether anyone else is going for Green or not). The Diplomacy thing is a big shift, and can change things drastically, as can the money leech. Overall, I liked it. It added enough to change the dynamics, but not enough to add bloat to a fast, streamlined game.
In other news, I finally broke down and ordered a couple new games. I really have been trying to wean myself off buying new stuff lately, but the problem is that I do feel obligated to buy something every once in a while to ‘pay the rent’. The game shop we play at doesn’t really tend to get too many games in other than the really big ones (FFG releases, Dominion expansions, etc.), so its been mostly easy to hold off- nothing I’m particularly interested in has come out that they’ve carried. But doing some poking around the 'geek, I finally pulled the trigger on Leviathans (Damn you Alan Dunkin for bringing this back to my attention!) and a weird strategic fantasy wargame called Lyssan. They’ll be coming in the mail in a few days- I’ll let y’all know what I think.
hepcat
5454
Ordered Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery after hearing great things about it. I saw it at Gencon but didn’t pay it any mind as it looked like a really cheap tv show tie in. After hearing numerous folks call it the darling of Gencon and then reading the rules (which are available from the files section of the link above) I was convinced it needed to find a home in my gaming closet.
Also put in an order for The Sentinels of the Multiverse Enhanced Edition. Been wanting it for a while but decided to hang off until this edition was released.
By the way, if anyone in the Chicago area is looking for a day of gaming with other fans of the hobby, there’s one being held by some members of Octopus Overlords. Usually gets a decent turnout. Also, I’m always looking for fresh blood in the area. I have a core group that meets up fairly regularly but some new faces are always welcome.
hepcat, I saw Sentinels for the first time at PAX. After my demo I bought it and I think it was my favorite game of the show. Now I’ve just got to grab the two expansions and the two promo decks (one hero and one villian). I’m a sucker for the super hero setting and the strategy of the various decks and interactions sealed it for me. My kids are loving it as well.
This was the greatest thing about PAX for me…getting to see and play new stuff. I need to go to more conventions since the board gaming where I live is few and far between.
–Jay
Amazed no one is talking about the Dreadball Kickstarter here…unless it’s in another thread.
Amazed no one is talking about the Dreadball Kickstarter here…unless it’s in another thread?
With as many BB fans that are around these parts I figured there’d be some talk.
So… maybe you can sell me on giving the game another try. I own the base game plus the expansion, and so far I’ve tried to play it twice with my group. No one feels like playing it any more, because both times, no one ever felt like they were making any interesting decisions (i.e., there was always an obvious best power to use in any given situation). Also, we never felt threatened by the villain. Has your experience been different?
hepcat
5459
I know that most folks think it’s a very weak 2 player game, but that’s all I have in regards to SoM’s faults. I have had fun with it.
Well, I’m far from an expert (I think I’ve played 4 - 5 games now). Each game has been quite different, and I’ve only managed about a 50% win ratio against the villains. I think the selection of heroes/villain/environment would play a big role in creating challenge while also presenting you with interesting choices.
An example from a recent game with me and my kids…we had 3 heroes out (Haka, Bunker and Fanatic) against Baron Blade (normally one of the easier villains) on Mars. Blade drew a card that required us to take damage for each ongoing card on the table, with the option to discard them to reduce the damage. The damage was pretty hefty (8-9 pts), but just discarding all the ongoings wasn’t going to be the answer, since all three of these heroes really needed those cards to contribute.
Shortly after this, we drew a card from mars that started the doomsday counter. If it was allowed to reach zero, everyone lost. The only way to prevent this was for one or more players to skip their turn…but we needed to deal with the constant damage from the Baron. So now, each turn, we had to decide if we could live without a heroes contribution or push and hurt the Baron further…tough choices.
We ended up losing due to a couple of really tough plays on the villain deck, but we had fun.
I would say that if you want more complicated games, playing the tougher villians (Warlord Voss/Citizen Dawn) with heroes that take a bit of work to get going (Bunker, Absolute Zero) can make for a hopefully different experience.
/fanboy off
tldr…I like the game and think hero/villain/environment choices can make a big difference in how the game feels.
