6181

Boardgamegeek’s annual Solitaire Print and Play contest has started, for anyone who likes to sift through downloadable content for possible gems, and then cutting those gems out with scissors.

I will note that Dave Kershaw, designer of a couple interesting solitaire wargames as well as a free Android and iOS app about the 1939 Polish campaign has entered a game called “Irish Freedom” about Irish independence and the Irish civil war.

In case you think this is all about serious wargames, there are plenty of others, including stuff about pirates, alchemists, Darth Vader vs. The Terminator, and a superhero card game. Also a game about being a security guard. And something about Vichy France.

Previous solitaire print-n-play contests:

BGG 2012 Solitaire Print and Play Contest

BGG 2011 Solitaire Print and Play Contest

6182

I just found this very interesting Lovecraft adventure game in the 2012 submissions at the link above. The files are all available. If someone checks this out before I do, tell me how it is.

6183

Anyone played Risk Battlefield Rogue yet? It looks intriguing.

6184

Huh. Hadn’t heard of that. Looks interesting, but my utter disinterest in any sort of media involving ‘modern’ warfare (including WWII) means I won’t be picking it up.

I will say that at the very least, my experience with Risk:Legacy last year means I won’t be immediately dismissing anything with the Risk brand on it. As some people talking in the review thread on BGG said, it’s super interesting that Hasbro is willing to branch out into new mechanics/ways of playing with their Risk series, as opposed to just slapping on a new theme ala Monopoly.

If they were to do a sci-fi version of this, I’d be all over it.

6185

For owners of an iOS device and the 7 Wonders board game, 7 Wonders Companion is FREE for the first time ever!

6186

Everyone seems to think highly of Sentinels of the Multiverse. Thoughts on why that’s so?

How well does it play with two players?

Which expansions and the like are must-haves?

Thanks!

6187

I didn’t expect to like it, but I totally fell for it once I played it. My favorite expansion is the Infernal Relics expansion (magic theme), but all the big expansions are quite good, with a few “must-have” characters and villains.

I haven’t played it a lot with 2, but it definitely works. You each play two heroes, so it operates like a 4-player game. And since it’s cooperative, it just means there’s fewer of you to discuss strategies with.

6188

Thanks for the reply, Nightgaunt! I’ve read that winning is virtually impossible in a 2-player game with each player controlling one hero. Has that been your experience, as well, assuming you’ve played it with only two players?

6189

I would not play it with 2 characters. 3 is considered hard mode.

6190

Yeah, I don’t think it would go too well. The scale-for-players mechanic is already kind rough, and I do think 3 players is harder, so 2 would likely be very tough. When you get familiar with the game, I could imagine ways you could tweak with it, if you’re really interested in a game with two heroes. Plus, some villains are easier than others, so they might be a beatable challenge for two.

6191

I definitely have thoughts on why that’s so! Check out the front page next week and, better yet, listen to the podcast on October 2nd for some special guests. :)

As for which expansions to get ,you’ll be glad to know some of the decision is out of your hands, as Rook City is out of print and pretty much impossible to find. Anyone who knows otherwise, let me know! The other two add-ons are still available and include some pretty clever gimmicks. You’ll want them.

But I wouldn’t recommend it for two players. The idea is that you need at least three heroes in play, so one player will have to play two characters, which can be daunting. The game gets pretty fiddly and it’s definitely built so that each hero requires his or her own player. That said, a more veteran player could theoretically play two of the more straightforward characters while a new player takes the lone character. But two people sitting down to play isn’t optimal. Dig up a third or fourth buddy for best results.

 -Tom
6192

Thanks for the additional replies! Hypothetically, if I had placed an order for the game with CSI, it would have been for all available SotM products (so no Rook City), excluding the promo components. Hypothetically.

Tom, I have some good news for you! Rook City isn’t OOP. According to the publisher’s website, another print run will be available in December!

6193

And here I thought Tom had passed Sentinels by for being all cooperative and stuff… Really looking forward to the podcast, etc.!

6194

The Vengeance expansion is up for preorder through their website through October 18th, by the way, though you won’t actually get anything until March of next year since they’re prioritizing people who snagged it through the Shattered Timelines Kickstarter (and the Galactic Heroes KS). But anyway, the rest of us have to wait.). You’ll still get the promo character cards for Legacy and Bunker, though, and I was under the impression that you would also get the Vengeance oversized villain cards (these are really nice to have) but can’t see anything confirming that on their site. See here: https://greaterthangames.com/blog/2013/09/vengeance-preorder-begins-now

6195

While Rook City is still totally worth getting, it is my least favorite of the three expansions. I imagine the others will keep you well busy until the reprint happens!

6196

Is there a reason to play the expansions in the order they were released? If so, I’ll be stuck playing the base game until the Rook City reprint is available.

6197

No reason whatsoever. Actually, Rook City is by many accounts the hardest in terms of villains and environments and the weakest in terms of heroes.

6198

Anyone play A Distant Plain? I’m really interested in getting a war game and I loved Labyrinth.

6199

There is a play by forum game going on now.

I just got my copy and am eager to play it as I am a huge fan of Andean Abyss and the COIN series is shaping up pretty well. There is a thread just for the COIN games and one for Labyrinth as well.

I do worry that the COIN series is rendering Labyrinth obsolete; COIN was built from the ground up for simulated insurgency where Labyrinth is an adapted Twilight Struggle. Labyrinth still has the global scale going for it and it is a great two player head to head experience (Tom V Bruce maybe? ;)

Tom M

6200

Pretty epic and storylicious Sentinels of the Multiverse game tonight.

It was The Visionary, Absolute Zero, Mr. Fixer, and The Scholar up against the conniving Miss Information (the Freedom Five’s bitter, secretary-turned-terrorist) in the Final Wasteland.

If this were a six-part mini-series, the first four or five issues would have been Miss Information’s diversions throwing the group for a loop and short-circuiting all their power-build-up until things looked really bleak. We really had many of the wrong heroes for a villain that destroys your equipment and ongoing cards. Everyone but the Scholar were worn down by the diversions and the build-up of environment critters, even with the Scholar absorbing and mitigating the damage everyone took for a turn and Absolute Zero zorching all the Clue cards to turn them into damage on every enemy once they revealed Miss Information’s identity.

We figure Miss Information thought she was pretty clever luring everyone into the Final Wasteland to die. But her hubris was her own undoing. With all but one hero out of play Miss Information and her minions became targets of the environment. The Scholar stood back with his flesh turned to iron (x2) and absorbed all the damage coming at him (fueled by the env card that let him draw two in exchange for an extra env card draw–basically more monsters). The Scholar, like The Dude, abides. Miss Information, on the other hand? She was set upon by Jersey Devils and devoured.

When will they learn?