Board Games Feeds

by JohnnyDollar

I'm curious where people have been buying this?

Any thoughts on why it's not carried by the usual suspects (e.g. boardsandbits, thoughthammer) and why it's not even in the boardgameprices.com database?

by Doctor_Zaius

Here has been my experience with Dominion.

Base game: I found it boring.
Intrique: A moment of hope, but still boring.
Alchemy: Boring again.
Prosperity: Finally! The new expansion. Yaawwn.

Seaside: Love it!

Maybe I'm just a naval nut, or maybe I'm more demanding in theme. All other types of Dominion I just don't feel connected to the "storyline" or "world" of Dominion. I'm just shuffling and picking up cards with no feeling.

Yet with Seaside everything hits on notes. The island, the village, the pirate ship! The treasure map! The artwork on the cards and the function of the cards and the coin / embargo components just seem to reach out and grab you. All the other Dominions seem dull, faded, and black and white. Seaside seems to be full of life and in bright colors.

Maybe I'm just weird like that, but Seaside is the only Dominion for me.

Thoughts?

by fatgreta

Hi,

I'm not sure who does the Vassal modules for WaW, but I figure this is a good place to post. The current module is very nice, but there are two things that could be improved.

1) LOS Checks - currently the module doesn't seem to have a "snap to center of hex" feature, at least not that I or my two opponents have found. That makes LOS checks tough sometimes.

2) Support Weapons - They don't seem to register correctly. For instance, if you add a SW to a stack, the stack, it doesn't show up when you mouse over the stack. You also can't double click on the stack and have it separate slightly, so as to manipulate different units.

So, those are two requests as I assume the module will be updated fairly soon.

Thanks!

Chris

by HamsterOfFury

Finally Baseball Heroes has been made available to purchase through The Games Crafter!
While the basic card set (and Japanese rules!) are available on BGG, you can now buy the full game with box, counters, dice, English rules and all the parts you need, as well as the player cards themselves for a measly $17.99!

Check it out here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/baseball-heroes


This is my first game through Games Crafter and must state that I'm impressed with all their uploading software and templates. So if you have your own game you want to "self publish" a bit more professionally they seem to be a great company to go with!

by The Smarch

Just finished S13 Priority Target and had several rules malfunctions arise. Any help for future games would be appreciated:

1. Emplacements - does an emplacement allow a broken crew to stay in an Open Hex rather than rout? +2 is pretty good cover.

2. If a crew that was manning a Gun is in melee with an enemy unit, does the crew get the TEM for the emplacement if fired upon outside of the hex?

3. If a gun uses its IFE and keeps its ROF, can it fire again using the TH chart?

4. Does a unit have to do anything to "capture" an enemy Gun? Can it eliminate it at any time?

5. We assumed the Captured Use and Inappropriate Personnel (can't think of the correct term) penalties are cumulative -- +4 to hit and +4 to Breakdown. Correct?

These are just a few that arose off the top of my head. Thanks!


gmj

by noisenet

I've got my Lightning Bolts ready... let's roll.

by Rick Smith

Review of Globbo. By Rick Smith (c) 2010

The opening lines of the Globbo Rules is: "Globbo is a quasi-organic, polymorphic play room assassination device." This line sets the tone for the rest of the rules, the rules are really fun to read. Humor bubbles out of them at every turn.

This is not a serious game by any standard. The reproduction habits of the "truly rotten" children violates the laws of thermodynamics so enough said about that.

Globbo will "smash the children flat at short range, has a battery of lethal laser batteries at long range and plays soothing music for the little ones". Not mentioned in this line is a very powerful burp attack that puts the 'long range' of the laser batteries to shame.

The little insect like children explode, doing damage to Globbo and splitting into little puff balls and putty like blobs. These can reform into insects (biters), using fewer parts than the explosion produces!

The game has Globbo and the children running around damaging each other. The kids reproduce while attacking so Globbo has to cut down their numbers before they reform. Globbo also can replace damage and can choose what parts to build. There is some strategy here. Extra laser batteries allow long and flexible pseudo pods, but they are easier for the children to damage.

There are rules to how Globbo is allowed to move. Basically the head moves, and then surrounding the head are laser pistols and surrounding those are the hands. (Hands can't touch the head.) Like an amoeba Globbo oozes is a way that gives it the best shots at the children.

I was rather fond the the game, it is quite well balanced and anyone who has baby sat has some sympathy for the playroom of death. ("If the children survive their little tete-e-tete with Globbo the parents are willing to put up with them anyway".)

The game is short, you can pull it out and play it while waiting for the last few people to show up for gaming night. (They might have to wait a few minutes while you finish, but it is fun watching Globbo ooze about and, hey, they shouldn't have been late in the first place.)

The major problem with Globbo is that it feels the same every time you play, so after a half dozen game you are ready to put the game away. At least until you are drunk or want to introduce the game to some one else so THEY can read the rule book. Not bad for a free game that came in a magazine.

Warm regards, Rick.

by Rick Smith

Review of Globbo. By Rick Smith (c) 2010

The opening lines of the Globbo Rules is: "Globbo is a quasi-organic, polymorphic play room assassination device." This line sets the tone for the rest of the rules, the rules are really fun to read. Humor bubbles out of them at every turn.

This is not a serious game by any standard. The reproduction habits of the "truly rotten" children violates the laws of thermodynamics so enough said about that.

Globbo will "smash the children flat at short range, has a battery of lethal laser batteries at long range and plays soothing music for the little ones". Not mentioned in this line is a very powerful burp attack that puts the 'long range' of the laser batteries to shame.

The little insect like children explode, doing damage to Globbo and splitting into little puff balls and putty like blobs. These can reform into insects (biters), using fewer parts than the explosion produces!

The game has Globbo and the children running around damaging each other. The kids reproduce while attacking so Globbo has to cut down their numbers before they reform. Globbo also can replace damage and can choose what parts to build. There is some strategy here. Extra laser batteries allow long and flexible pseudo pods, but they are easier for the children to damage.

There are rules to how Globbo is allowed to move. Basically the head moves, and then surrounding the head are laser pistols and surrounding those are the hands. (Hands can't touch the head.) Like an amoeba Globbo oozes is a way that gives it the best shots at the children.

I was rather fond the the game, it is quite well balanced and anyone who has baby sat has some sympathy for the playroom of death. ("If the children survive their little tete-e-tete with Globbo the parents are willing to put up with them anyway".)

The game is short, you can pull it out and play it while waiting for the last few people to show up for gaming night. (They might have to wait a few minutes while you finish, but it is fun watching Globbo ooze about and, hey, they shouldn't have been late in the first place.)

The major problem with Globbo is that it feels the same every time you play, so after a half dozen game you are ready to put the game away. At least until you are drunk or want to introduce the game to some one else so THEY can read the rule book. Not bad for a free game that came in a magazine.

Warm regards, Rick.

by Bobagabe

The encounter cards feel to random to me but I understand why they put them in the game. Perhaps if they tied the encounter cards more into the existing monsters it would feel less random and give the monsters more personality.

Possible encounters card:
(complete the first true statement)

"Growing Shadows"
-If a Wraith is adjacent to hero, it steels one life from the hero
-If there are two wraiths on the same tile as a hero, the Wraiths drag the hero to the closest tile that has no Hero and drains 2 HP from the Hero.
-If there is less then 3 wraiths in play, add an additional wraith at location of your choice.

"There are too many of them"
-If there is 1 or 2 zombies in play, place an additional zombie adjacent to an existing zombie.
-If there are 3 zombies in play, move them all one tile closer to the weakest Hero. If there is then a zombie on the same tile as the weakest Hero, The Hero looses 1 hp.
-If there are no zombies in play, add 2 zombies to a tile of your choice.

"Burning Bones"
-If there are any Skeletons on a tile with a water source (fountain, pool, river) and a Hero. They become regular Skeletons.
-If there are less then 3 Flaming Skeletons and one of them is on a tile with a coffin, add an additional Flaming Skeleton to the coffin tile.
-If there are no Flaming Skeletons in play and there is a hero on a tile with a coffin, add a Flaming Skeleton to the coffin tile.

"The Meek are amassing!"
-If there is 1 or 2 Kobold in play, place a kobold horde marker on the starting tile. Now whenever a Kobold is activated it will attack (if possible) and then move two spaces towards the Horde marker. If a Kobolt reaches the marker, increase the number of Kobolds to 3. Place the new Kobolds adjacent to the Hord Marker. Then remove the Kobold Horde marker.
-If there are no Kobolds in play, add two Kobolds to a tile of your choosing.
-If there are three Kobolds in play, add a fourth Kobold adjacent to an existing Kobold.

*I know there are only 3 Kobolts but if there could be 4 of any type of monster, it should be the Kobolts

These are rough ideas but I think these types of encounter cards would make the encounters feel less random. It would also give the players more of a sense of control over the game. Completely random and isolated events just don't feel right.

by SoylentRed

I find myself kinda disappointed that they advert the game as a 1-5 player game - and then only 2 of the 13 (right?) quests are actually designed for 1 player... Anyone else? I enjoy playing solitaire board games - this, DungeonQuest, etc. - my wife goes to bed early and I enjoy being able to play something as I zone out to TV.

I love playing boardgames with my friends - and really like that there are up to 5 players in the group quests (as we typically play Descent so our main play group is a group of 5...)

Anyone play with 2 heroes as a single player? That run fine for you if you have? I presume it would...

Have they said anything about more bonus missions they might be releasing as well - for single play?

by GregF

This was our second game of the night and fourth play total- this scenario was Daylight Assault, where the goal was to collect 12 treasures before getting killed. There were just two of us left, so we went with the Cleric and Rogue (I was the Rogue).

The first part of the game was more or less what we'd seen in previous scenarios- explore a new room, kill the monster, curse at picking up yet another "discard this now" treasure card. One-HP monsters are easy, two-HP monsters need us both adjacent to Backstab or to be undead and Sacred Flame, repeat. Still, sfter one string of terrible rolls (nothing above a 4 for a few turns in a row), we started to regret not having the Ranger around for his auto-hit.

Tensions rose when I explored a new room and revealed the Gray Hag herself- we'd picked up the promo card at PAX last weekend. While we were spread out enough for the initial lightning bolt not to get us both, we weren't going to be able to do a good amount of damage to her without bunching up and letting her get several more attacks off- and the very next turn, the Cleric drew the encounter card that switched him and the Gargoyle we'd evaded before. Now we were totally separated, with a Gargoyle and a Fire Trap between us, and the Gray Hag bearing down on me.

So I did what any good explorer would- run away! With only two of us, the Hag's power to act every other turn made her no faster than any other monster, so I was able to get clear in time and have her only catching up one tile at a time. When the Hag was about to pass the Gargoyle, the Cleric knocked out one monster and rolled a 20- he picked up Flame Strike as he leveled up. I was lucky enough to draw the Daze treasure card (which skips an activation of a monster) and we hatched a plan from there.

Dazing the Gargoyle let the Cleric rush in and throw down a Flame Strike without being ripped to shreds, with me ready to pop in a Dagger Barrage on the next turn. As luck would have it, the Encounter card the Cleric drew on that turn spawned another monster on the same tile, just creating more targets for the splash attack. The pocket of monsters fell quickly after that.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to ride that little moment of awesome to victory. While we started with three surges due to losing the last few games badly, we still only had ten of the twelve treasures as the monsters became too much to bear. (And we'd probably misplayed the end of the Sun track as "You draw an Encounter card even if you explore a white-triangle room" rather than "You draw one more Encounter card than you would otherwise")

Some thoughts and observations:

*I like the Gray Hag as a mini-boss shuffled in to the Monster deck. While she's pretty dangerous, the 4 XP letting the team almost ignore an encounter card from the one kill thereafter mitigates it, and it makes for an interesting turn of events in play.
*This scenario is really long- we used the majority of cards in each deck, and the dungeon was starting to sprawl over our character sheets and power cards. There were just three cards left in the Monster deck when we were done!
*The sheer number of monsters we had to kill meant that we had a ton of experience to burn on canceling Encounter cards- there were times when we had a pool of 15 or more, and we usually had 5-10. Still, it seemed like we never had enough when we really needed it.

by toddrew

I've been playing a rather lot of battlelore lately (thank you, Mark and Dan ) and a couple situations arose that I think we have a handle on, but thought it would be good to hear some other opinions:

1) What effect does a play of Mass Shield (or Stone Skin/Agility, for that matter) on the attack of a Bagpipe unit? Is the defending unit able to ignore a bonus strike result since it ultimately is considered a retreat? Is it able to ignore a color result as it is ultimately considered a retreat (this is the one that applies to Stone Skin/Agility as well)?

A more concrete example: a blue goblin short sword unit that is supported is targeted by a red bagpipe during a turn in which Mass Shield was played. Blue, Bonus Strike, Bonus Strike, Bonus Strike was the result. How many hexes must the blue goblins retreat?

2) If player A makes their command card play and player B counters with a play of False Orders, when the new command card is chosen, may player A make a "play alongside your command card" lore play?

by Edge

Cellar
Spy
Thief
Cutpurse
Militia
Saboteur
Witch
Torturer
Treasury
Council Room

4 player. What are the reasonable strategy choices?

Three young men came over because I own the expansions and they are bored with the basic game. They are all nascent Fighting Banana Slugs (that is, they leave for the University of California, Santa Cruz in a week.) They had Slug tee shirts and everything. Friends of my youngest, who was out of town.

This was the second game of the night. Random from the first three sets. After staring at it for a bit, they decided to "veto the entire deal". I was still trying to decide if this was an example of my quest for a first player disadvantage kingdom.

Anyone who can get to 5 and grab a Witch can spew Curses.

This would tempt me to get a Cutpurse or Militia to make it harder for my opponents to get a Witch, plus a Cellar to cycle desperately to attack as much as possible.

If my opponents buy Silver, do I get a Thief instead and hope to get lucky?

Can an early Saboteur do better than a Witch if there are Thieves stealing all the Silver?


I really have no idea how I'd play this one. I'd love to hear some ideas. I don't think I've ever seen 7 attack cards in a kingdom before.

by chengr05

Hi All

Just wanted to clarify scrambling:
To scramble, you MUST:
1. have aircraft on an island territory
2. have an airbase on that same island territory

Only fighters and tactical bombers can scramble.

With regards to naval movement through islands that are able to scramble, does the enemy fleet have to stop and encounter the scrambled planes or can the fleet move through the island territory and scrambling only apply IF the fleet wants to attack the island?
Also, what happens if enemy ships move into an island sea zone during non-combat? Can the planes scramble against them?

The way I perceive it is that scrambling only occurs in defence of an island territory with an airbase but just wanted to confirm.

Thanks!

by duckweed

Above: Finnish soldiers during the Winter War. Note the German steel helmets, white snow coats, and the Laplander boots with curled-up toes.

There is a new illustrated After Action Report posted over at the Red Winter forum at Consimworld. This one is for the short Battle For Hirvasvaara scenario. A small but highly motivated Finnish task force consisting of roughly two battalions attacks a battered but dug in Soviet force at the small Hirvasvaara settlement, on the east shore of the frozen Lake Hirvasjärvi.



I'll eventually try to get this AAR posted here at BGG. In the meantime, here's a link to the start of the AAR over at CSW:

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@581.4zRXbdixttM.244@.1dd...

Thanks for looking!

by chengr05

Hi All

I'm a little confused with the status of the Dutch countries for the global game.

From what I've gleaned from the rules:
1. the UK or ANZACs can take over Dutch countries in non-combat moves and consequently get the IPCs of that territory. From this point onwards it is no longer Dutch
2. an attack by the Japanese on Dutch territories is considered an act of war against both UK and ANZACs

Questions:
a. When Japan attacks Dutch territories, does this mean the US is now at war with Japan as it is considered an unprovoked attack against UK and ANZACs? Also, would this be different if Japan is ALREADY at war with UK and ANZACs?

b. can the US or Soviets take over Dutch territories?

Thanks

by Kinosoo

I have three ideas on how to include the Ikkō-ikki in the game. None of these ideas have been play tested yet, so just consider them a rough draft that needs some feedback.

1) For one koku you may buy two Ikkō-ikki. They are then placed in a random enemies’ province (choose your opponent, shuffle all his province cards and pick one). These must be fought before any other actions are preformed. The Ikkō-ikki count as spearmen and only one koku may be used to buy them per turn per player.

2) For one koku you may buy two Ikkō-ikki. They are then deployed in your territories like ronin with the exception that there is no limit to how many may be placed in a province. However, Ikkō-ikki may only be removed as casualties for every regular unit that is removed.

If all regular units are destroyed and there are still Ikkō-ikki left, the province counts as an empty province. Leave the Ikkō-ikki on the board. The province is now hostile to all players, even the one who originally bought the Ikkō-ikki, and must be attacked and cleared before it can be claimed.

If there are regular units left after a battle the Ikkō-ikki are removed at the same time the ronin are.

Ronin may not be used in a province that has Ikkō-ikki. The Ikkō-ikki count as spearmen.

3) The Ikkō-ikki are bid for in the same way as the ninja. The winner of the bid gets a marker to place in an opponent’s province. The armies in that province must now deal with the civil unrest of the Ikkō-ikki and are unable to move or attack. They may still defend if the province is attacked. The marker is returned when removing ronin.

by awakeneddragon

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this game (deluxe), but I'm a bit sad that the game has so much language on the cards.

One of the things that impressed me is that, like the Street Fighter video game, you have all the tools to be the best at the game. No collectability. Practice makes perfect, not purchase.

However, unlike Street Fighter, I can't sit down with someone from any country, speaking a different language, and simply play. Where the videogame requires a sequence of buttons that becomes a universal language, here we have text. It's too bad that I can't easily sit down with my students and play this.

My excitement for the game is still high, but I was curious if, during the design process, the game ever had a languageless iteration?

by Aging One

Is Charon Inc. available now?

It is no longer on the Eagle Games pre-order webpage and is listed with the other available games. When you pull up its webpage, it says: "Charon Inc. (Available Now!)". However, on the same webpage it also says: "Availability: Pre-Order".

by oi_you_nutter

All the copies at the Decision Games booth at Strategicon (approx 10 copies) had the same countersheet printing blemish, on the movement allowance of the 15th Indian Infantry XX, is this a common problem in all games, or just some of the copies ?