Publisher: FarOff Games

Price: $29

Where Purchased: FarOff Games

First Time Play Through: July. 13 2017.

Game Type: Versus Exploration.

First Impressions:  More XIA, who can argue with that. The game structure has been updated. Really positive changes.

Rule Reading: We have played the original a lot, it is actually one of the few games that we dont have to reread the rules. The updates were very well detailed. The reworking of trade really changed how we played the game. It led to a lot more exploration and risk taking. We loved the ship mods that added specific system bonuses. Especially the ones that increased our some what famous low dice rolls.

Things That Slowed Us Down:

Nothing specific. The game takes a long time to play, but it is a great experience.

Over All: 

This update really matures the game and adds to an already excellent experience.

Things it is kind of like: Being in space.

Publisher: Mayfair Games

Price: $35

Where Purchased: This is BJ's game purchased at a convention.

First Time Play Through: June. 22 2017.

Game Type: Co-Op Dice Allocation.

First Impressions:  I love Star Trek, you love Star Trek. We all love Star Trek. Star Trek.

Rule Reading: Slim book and clear instructions. Pro tip, the quick reference guide is on the back. Also there is a tabletop episode about this game.

Things That Slowed Us Down:

Choosing Next Gen or Original Series. When will we all be able to get along?  We ended up playing a game of both. My preference was the Next Gen, because I am not a monster.

Over All: 

Fast to learn and super fun. We had a full crew and were able to get two play throughs in without any prior experience.

Things it is kind of like: Tiny Epic Galaxies, in that it had dice?

Today the kickstarter expansion for xia arrived.

Reading through the rules briefly I am excited that more 'space' things are now part of the game. The dead worlds look intriguing, can't wait to recover some relics. I like the idea of the space station and the comet.

It looks like the trading system also got an overhaul. It will definitely change how we play, as I was often guilty of just trading mass amounts to try and get the win.

My copy of the 20th anniversary reprint of deadlands classic arrived today. Pictured here with my 3rd reprint of the original. 

Deadlands is my favorite game world. The game itself is not without its problems. But the world is beautiful. I first played deadlands around 18 years ago when it was a relatively new game.  What immediately hooked me was the combination of old west and horror. The genre mix was perfect. 

I can recall a few details of that adventure. One of the characters was a reporter named Robert E Fett, and one of my friends was an Indian from India. Our huckster was a priest, who to hide his casting, had fake arms that were always clasped in front of him. I think that my character was a bar room piano player, which actually came up more than it needed to. 

Since then I have only ran games, not played them. Which I guess is fine, I can always throw in a piano player when ever I need to. I think one of the most enduring aspects of the game is that you can explain the game in two words, horror western, and people are onboard. 

Over the last few weeks we took a break from learning new games to replay some favorites. 

My wife likes games that you can win, so when we convince her to hang out we usually play euro style games.  Takenoko was first up. This game is super approachable. The rule set is light, and illustrated beautifully. We had one first time player, we were able to explain the rules easily and get going really quickly.  

This game takes around an hour, and each session has it's own feel. The game was won, by my wife who always seems to win. She managed to score some really complex panda cards that had high values. 

In another game session we played Xia, legends of a drift system. This is one of our groups' favorite games. The game mechanics are simple exploration and trading, with a little combat thrown it. This game takes a few hours to play through to the higher victory point wins. We have learned that you really want to do this, as getting the third tier ships really makes the game interesting. 

This session was a little different to our usual play through as one of the players was aggressive early, forgoing the usual detente  at the beginning of the game. We learned this session to pay attention to setup. When one of the players takes weapons, you need to make sure that you equip shields.

The usual practice of taking engines, and exploring the galaxy with tier 1 ships was not a feature of this game. We did uncover a lucrative trading route early, however the player with the weapons outfit was able to camp this route and attack anyone attempting to make a trade run. This included a tier 2 perk that meant anyone near the ship was attacked on their own turn.

The results of this early action really shaped the game. The armed player was able to get to a tier three ship within 5 rounds, while the rest of the players were stuck at tier one with little access to making credits. 

The other players were able to eventually expand the galaxy enough to where it wasn't as easy for the armed ship to camp on all the routes. With access to credits, others were able to get into the game, but it was generally a lot slower for this reason. 

Outside of the huge frustration that this caused,  the tactic of arming up and hammering everyone  paid off. Once other players were able to get credits, they adjusted load outs to include shields. This offset the offensive play but by that point the game was already decided. 

Lessons for next time, take shields.

Publisher: Osprey Games

Price: $29

Where Purchased: Amazon

First Time Play Through: Mar. 23 2017.

Game Type: Hidden movement.

First Impressions:  The  resource components are excellent. The other components are pretty basic.  The rule book is clear, and there is even a strategy guide. The game really could use miniatures. The non submarine pieces all look similar and the submarine pieces are so small that they feel disappointing as your main  interaction with the game.

Rule Reading: The rules for this are light, there was also no real play through videos. I had to read through the boardgamegeek questions and clarifications a few times. The game designer is active on bgg so it was fairly easy to find clarification for some of the less well explained aspects. I did have to break out the whiteboard to write out some of the more common rules for reference.

Things That Slowed Us Down:

Explaining some of the more complex aspects of the game. The weather, and it's effects requires constant reference. 

The ships. The ships are so similar looking. This is a shame. The reference cards for damage / resources don't have the movement on them. This is one game that definitely would benefit from a one sheet player aide. 

It is tough being the Soviets in this game.

Over All: 

I was so ready to love this game. It had everything that should of worked. Submarines, naval combat, strategy. 

This game did cause the biggest meltdown of a player we've had. There were all kinds of accusations leveled at the game, everyone else, and the universe generally. This is mainly because the game is massively frustrating if you are the Soviets. There is so little you can do. Within two turns we had lost a base, and within three we had lost a destroyer. 

I am not sure what the issue was, we are all relatively game savy. We even had a strategy. It just seems too hard to figure out where the subs could be. 

Our sub team played smart, they did a good job of throwing us off. After a few turns the Soviets were so massively frustrated the game was basically over. 

I am not sure that we will play this again. I am not sure that it can be enjoyable for the the Soviet team. The ocean is so vast, and the subs can move many spaces, potentially at 3 depths. It seems unlikely that you would catch them. 

We have played other hidden movement games, notably Letters from Whitechapel.  I am not sure that I have ever won that game, but I would absolutely play again. This game would be a hard sell.

Things it is kind of like: Not so much but a little like Letters from Whitechapel. 

Publisher: Sixpence Games

Price: $60

Where Purchased: Kickstarter

First Time Play Through: Mar. 16 2017.

Game Type: Scenario Based Co-op.

First Impressions: I did a box opening piece, the art work is really good. Print quality is good.

Rule Reading: The rules for this are light, at around 6 pages. They are, unfortunately not the most clearly written. I read through them several times before game time. Still required another read through as we set up.

Things That Slowed Us Down:

The rules introduce mechanics, and don't explain them, either well or sometimes at all. There doesn't appear to be a clearly defined win condition. The scenario cards list task to be accomplished but don't explain what happens if you do those things. Do you win? Do you have to defeat the monster?

There are references to artifacts on the scenario card, but no real idea where these come into play. It didn't come up in the game we played. 

The board set up, while having specific instruction, seems kind of vague. Do you need to use all the pieces? Probably? Does it matter if some doors hit walls? Maybe? Maybe not.

The skill tests are not easy to follow, especially the scenario tasks where it is really unclear what the test win condition is. 

Some of the items are very over powered. In our play through, we played the Pharaoh scenario. The cultist managed to get a suit or armor and a shotgun. It was not possible for us to damage him, so the came became kind of broken.  

Over All: 

The game is close to being something good but currently is very flawed. This might be a case where play throughs with non friends would of helped the developer maybe? Not really sure what process was taken. It seemed clear to us early that there were many obvious questions.

Things it is kind of like: Betrayal at the house on the hill. any lovecraft game. 

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This week we doubled down on deck building with some Harry potter. 

Publisher: USAopoly

Price: $40

Where Purchased: Amazon

First Time Play Through: March. 9 2017.

Game Type: Deckbuilding.

First Impressions: The game is very immersive.

Rule Reading: Perfect. This is how you write rules.

Things That Slowed Us Down: This game is easy to pick up. We had one question about discards as it was a little unclear on discards vs spent.

Over All: 

We crushed this game. After last weeks  deck building lesson we really took to this. By year three when you get abilities we were parsing cards by who should use them, keeping weak enemies around. The whole deal.
It was a fun game. The art work is strong, the spells have the wand directions on them, which is pretty cool. Three of us knew a lot about the world so it was really fun.

Things it is kind of like: Co op deck building is pretty rare I think, but it uses everything that every deck builder uses. 

This week we were light on people so we broke out some card games. 

Publisher: Tasty Minstrel

Price: $20

Where Purchased: Amazon

First Time Play Through: March. 3 2017.

Game Type: Deckbuilding.

First Impressions: The art is really cool.

Rule Reading: Not too complex. Some of the icons are not that clear but it becomes clearer as you work through the game.

Things That Slowed Us Down: This wasn't that bad for us. Some of the rules regarding sanctuaries and nexus were a little confusing. We also didn't really understand the abjure thing as game mechanic, and used it just to use it.

Over All: 

Not huge into deck building, so not sure how many times we'll play this again. We were able to figure out strategy fairly quickly. It might of suffered from there being two of us, as we were each others targets. 

Things it is kind of like: We don't play a lot of deck building games, so not really sure, it is based on star realms. 

 

Cultists of Cuthulhu came today, been looking forward to this one for a while.

First Impressions: 

The box art is excellent, really captures the Lovecraft feel. The box is weighty and textured. 

Inside:

The pieces are excellent. Thick card, really good artwork. The dice are fantastic quality. 

Rule Book: 
Glanced through this, not too long. Seems like it will be quick to pick up.

Will be back with a review.

Publisher: Fantasy Flight

Price: $85

Where Purchased: Amazon.com

Played: Feb. 16 2016.

Game Type: Scenario Based Co-op.

Return To The Game: 

We have played this game, maybe 4 times. We have played the first episode twice. We keep meaning to come back to the campaign and getting distracted by other things.

This time we assumed the completion of two missions, and started on the third. Which we suspected we had already played. 

The rules for the game are fairly intuitive, so extensive rereading wasn't required. The game takes turns between hero and empire units, with the empire being a little less flexible in the actions available to them than the heroes. 

The game flows pretty well, as there is an overall objective strategizing is pretty straight forward. Our campaign required the heroes to hold a base for the 8 turn game. So the game strategy was a give and take of zones for the heroes as the empire attempted to overwhelm them.

We really enjoy this game. We are big star wars fans, so it definitely helps with some of the confusing campaign steps. There are a few mechanics that have not really come into play. We haven't really accessed the empire deck. Spending the empires experience seems a little unbalancing, but I think as we approach episode 4 and no empire wins that will change. 

Still not really sure why the at-st is in the game, it seems mostly useless. Trying to navigate the large piece in a small terrain is annoying, and it just turns into a massive target. 

Expanding the types of empire units has really been exciting. We had fun with the imperial guards and even probe droids became useful. 

Overall: This game is expensive.  Every time we play we say 'we need to play this more', and yet something always stops us coming back on the regular. To get the most out of this, you have to love star wars and have the commitment to bring it out a few weeks in a row to see the character development start to influence the game.

Publisher: Triton Noir

Price: $85

Where Purchased: TritonNoir.com

First Time Play Through: Feb. 9 2016.

Game Type: Scenario Based Co-op.

First Impressions: The pieces for the game are all (good quality) card. There aren't too many to keep track of, a lot of the pieces recycle easily between games. The rule book is accessible and clear. Our group enjoyed the historical references in the book, and the attention to detail of every aspect of the world building.

Rule Reading: The week leading up to the first play through of any game is always a lot of reading. The rules for V Commandos are broken down into the game phases. I have seen this approach before, but I found this especially useful and effective for this game. There aren't that many new elements to this game that we haven't seen elsewhere, but how they are packaged makes the game fun. The focus on the experience of a 'commando mission' means elements like stealth are key. As such this is the first element dealt with in the rules. This seems a little jarring as you are unsure how it applies, but it quickly becomes clear why you are provided with key game elements separately. I really appreciate this approach and would hope other games follow it.

Things That Slowed Us Down:

The alarm rules, not that complex, we just kept misreading the icons for alarm vs spotted.

We played a mission that was based around a battleship. The terrain tiles are on one side inside type terrain, the other outside (trees, grass etc). The mission we were playing involved a battleship. The outside terrain cards do not really represent a 'dock' setting well. It took a minute or so for us to convince one of the players that he would have to use his imagination.

Character selection on the first mission was kind of based on who we thought was coolest. This was probably more of a function of our wanting to get into it quickly than an issue with how the game was written.

We were a little unclear if you could stealth kill the machine gun nest. We decided that it was a better world if you could.

The rules for 'spotted tokens' could be a little clearer. 

Over All: 

We took to this fast. We were able to strategize early, which I feel is a real strength of how well the rules are written. Our first terrain claimed two commandos due to us not really understanding the implication of the alarm being active, and the Germans going towards the two spotted soldiers. By the next stage of the mission we were able to make sure we were all in a better spot when we sprung our trap. We really liked this game, we have been looking for a WW2 game and I feel like this is perfect. Easy to learn, and fun to play. The mission cards are really well written, and give a good idea of why your mission is critical.

Things it is kind of like: Similar set up to  Star Wars Imperial assault, I would say this however will be easier to pick back up. STIP, for us has been difficult to maintain momentum. As commandos doesn't require linear progression it really fits our group better. 

Our work team name is 'Maverick'. I drew up a laptop sticker and had diecutstickers.com print them.

I think, it's actually kind of hard to tell, that the helmet is actually blue, but black is cooler.

Vinyl Toy: Design a Storm Trooper

I always like the chaplain space marines. I think that the skull as part of the helmet would be a super intimidating in battle. I have a space marine that sits on my desk, and I encorporated some of those elements into the Storm Trooper helmet. I would love to see a squad of these guys in combat.