1601

So I have gone ahead and purchased Golem Arcana to see if I can get my miniatures fix but with a game that might be easier for others, including my wife, to play. With some of the stuff they are doing in scenarios and such, this does look like it could be a really interesting platform and a nice use of a smartphone/tablet to add to gaming.

1602

The thing about Mr. Fixer is that he doesn’t generate his own damage bonuses for the most part, and if you’re using the Jack Handle and the Alternating Tiger Claw, you’re not able to use most of the tools he has to deal real damage. (IIRC the Jack Handle only does one damage by itself.). So he can be super powerful in the right team build, but that’s synergy, not Mr. Fixer per se.

1603

Ok, I guess that makes sense for balancing. This was my first time playing him and I definitely noticed he had fairly low damage output at the start. It did take me most of the game to get him to that point, but when I did, non-heroes started dropping fast. Apostate seems to rely a lot on reducing damage to the relics, and making it easy to get relics out, while relying on that just right timing to kill him, so it may be that Mr. Fixer and the rest are just a really good combo against him if you can get the right cards in play.

Has anyone found a decent way to play Sentinels online in real-time with others? The Vassal module only has a few decks in it. I’d really like to play it more often with others, but my gaming group seems to have moved on from it.

1604

I am curious on this one as so far there is very little information on it. I can’t tell if its innovative or a really clunky video game trying to get more revenue. I can’t help but wonder if it has a chance to succeed long term. Even if almost every one has a smartphone or tablet, it is pretty bold to create a board game that requires one (I am looking at you too xcom) as that calls up all kinds of new issues like demographics, long term support, and hardware churn.

Although… I did buy my PS3 to play Eye of Judgement and that pretty much is what fuels my questions since it was a similar gimmick.

1605

It was not too bad. I frankly am the one who probably tends the most toward analysis paralysis, but I did not notice it being a particular problem with Nations. A couple of things are helpful: (i) it is a family game, so we do not really feel time pressured, and can just leave it set up on a table and play it over the course of a day (taking breaks, watching a movie in between, etc.); and (ii) we have all gotten fairly good at having a point where we just cut the computer cycles off and make the best choice we have come up with so far. The latter is essentially just a matter of getting comfortable that it is better to make a suboptimal move in a reasonable period of time and just keep the game clicking than it is to make everyone else wait five minutes while you try to eek five percent more efficiency out of your choices.

Besides, sometimes you make absolutely atrocious moves that lead to hilarious results, which are nearly as fun (and certainly more funny) than brilliantly planned moves that lead to victory. :)

1606

The thing that bugs me the most about Nations is that they give you three decks of cards – basic, intermediate, advanced – but the rules never tell you how to use them. Or rather, it tells you in one place to substitute some of the basic cards with intermediate and advanced cards (but doesn’t tell you how to decide which ones), and in another place it tells you to add the intermediate and/or advanced cards to the basic deck.

Look, dudes, if you can’t be bothered to figure out how to play your own game, I’m not going to waste my time doing it.

So, all you people who like Nations, how do you decide what cards to use?

1607

Maybe the tablet version that Handelabra Games is working on? I am not sure if it will allow multiplayer over the net (I went to their site but I cannot find any info).

1608

Yeah, I understand the issues, however I think it also adds a lot of new capabilities that makes it interesting to see how it will work. With the app capability, the things I am aware of right now that it allows:

  1. Manage all the rules, buffs, locations, math, and capabilities. This should make the game actually move a lot faster, makes it easier if you forget a buff or advantage/disadvantage because the app tracks all that and will use it when calculating the hit chance. Also, you can choose to roll physical dice instead as well.
  2. The point value of each unit is tracked in the app, so if a unit is over or under powered, they can adjust the point value in the app to compensate.
  3. They will be adding remote play capability, so you could play a miniature game with your buddies, see their pieces on the board but with the app doing all the communication. While vassal is nice, being able to phsyically see and react with the board while playing online is something I am looking forward to.
  4. The game rules are set up so you could play the game without the app, you will just have to do all the calculations and such.
  5. The scenarios are dynamic and created by the game designers and sent out to the app. This also means the scenario can have hidden events in them that neither player is aware of, such as NPC conversations or events that happen.
  6. The world will become a living world so everyone’s games will impact the future of the world and its development.

I am definitely NOT going to give any kind of recommendation for this game, since I only just ordered it and haven’t even played it yet. But I am pretty excited for the possibilities it does represent.

1609

I’ve only played with all three decks once (by just shuffling them all together) and it was disastrous. One player, due to events and the finishing of some wonder (I think the Titanic) began two rounds in a row with 0 gold, essentially missing an entire age of the game. We’ve since decided we’re not good enough players to handle the advanced deck.

Since, I’ve played quite a few games just shuffling in the intermediate deck. It does mess with card distribution, so we’ll have some ages heavy on war, and some with almost no building. But it actually doesn’t hurt the game that much (you’ll note this similarly happens with lower player counts). It does change the way you need to play, making play even a bit more tactical and needing to have strength in nearly every field so you can react to bad situations better.

The moral of my story is skip the advanced cards until you really think you’re ready. They don’t sound as bad on the card as they can be when played out. A mixture of more devastating events and more interactive advisors / wonders greatly increases the chance of someone building an engine into a dead-end. We still mostly play with the basic cards because I find myself playing with new people a lot and I don’t terribly miss the intermediate cards in those times.

I’ve never done the approach of removing cards while adding in the new ones to keep the distribution set because I don’t find the swingier card distributions to bother me that much. The intermediate and advanced cards are not more powerful than the regular cards so they don’t need to be balanced in distribution. They just require every player to watch each other closer to make sure they’re prepared for disasters opponents can bring down on them.

1610

I just use all the cards. Even in my first game. The makers designated them as such in case someone new to this type of game wanted a helping hand with learning the game. I highly doubt anyone here should have such issues. I also didn’t find it bothersome in the least.

1611

Thanks Galadin. Your statement about remote games is rather interesting even if the first gamer that comes to mind to use that feature with would likely scoff at minis that you don’t get to spend all your free time painting.

I look forward to hearing more once you have a few games in.

1612

There is a very active community on Google+ that plays Sentinels online. They use a GoogleApps Spreadsheet to track the different hps and counters.

After that it’s just a matter of using a headset (and Webcam, if inclined) to say what card you drew. One person runs the villian as well as their hero.

1613

WoahWoahWOAH. Just found out that Star Realms is two-player only?!?

Well, I guess that’s going to save me some money. I appreciate great 2-player games, but they just will hardly ever got to my table.

1614

One 15 dollar starter set is two player only. Buy another 15 dollar starter set and you can play up to 4. Buy another and you can add two more. The game plays wonderfully with 4 (the most I’ve ever had in a game), by the way. And it includes more than a few variants (team mode, death match, etc.). The 10 dollar promo expansion even adds coop and solo modes. In addition, more modes are coming in the mini expansions they’ve announced recently.

This is most definitely not a two player game only.

1615

Whoops - beaten to the punch by hepcat :)

You can play Star Realms 4 player if you buy TWO decks.

One deck is 2 player only.

1616

sadly the computer star realms is 2 player atm

1617

BGG had a “meh” review of the digital version. I have to agree with some of their complaints about the UI though. It could use some polishing.

1618

I didn’t think it was that bad. I just thought it was telling you to not use the intermediate or advanced cards the first few times you played. I thought the assumption was always clear that after you’ve played a few times, you should use all of the cards. Maybe I missed something.

In general, we just always ignore the parts of rulebooks that tell you to play the limited version of the game the first few times you played. Because limited means pussy, and I’m not a pussy. All rules, all advanced, all games, all day, every day in this house.

Sure Agricola, I’ll play the “family game version.” As soon as I put on a skirt and turn in my firearms to Obama.

1619

I hope you were writing that with one hand while steering a semi across a hastily built rope bridge in the Amazon, 'cause I sure as hell was while reading it.

<fist pump>

1620

Well, that’s just what it was, an assumption. Because if you actually read the rulebook it tells you to do two different things in different places. Also, we tried just using all the cards and the game was terrible, because somebody at the table is going to get screwed by the card distribution (oh, I need stability. No stability cards show up for three consecutive turns) and just loses, nothing they can do about it.

So that’s why I went back and looked at the rules, and sure enough (in one place anyway), it says you’re supposed to substitute intermediate and advanced cards for basic cards. That makes sense because then you can prevent the distribution from getting completely out of hand; but unfortunately I don’t really want to spend half an hour building the deck each time I play.