The Boardgame Thread

[schild]

Nice!

(that's below wholesale)

[Thrawn]

Nice!

(that's below wholesale)

A lot of Z-Man Games have been popping up for $15 or less off an on for a few months.  Must have printed way too much or dumping stock of some games or something?

[schild]

Well, with de vulgari I just assume it's because no one can pronounce it so no one bought it.

[Thrawn]

Well, with de vulgari I just assume it's because no one can pronounce it so no one bought it.

Bought it based one just your recommendation a while ago, but don't think I've even opened the box yet.  (Same with Pret-A-Porter)  Started gaming a bit at my local shop as they got a much bigger/nicer space but for the "open board game night" it's hard to get people to play anything that requires more than 5 minutes of rules explanation.  Got to play Battlestar Gallactica last week with two expansions and a good group of people and really enjoyed it though, seemed a significant improvement over the base game.

[Teleku]

Due to cheapness and recommendations here, just ordered De Vulgari.  If all else fails, it will look nice sitting up on my game display shelf, and be a good conversation starter for all the none board game players who come by and are amazed such things exist.   

[Chimpy]

I just grabbed it too. Only 9 copies left now.

[Ingmar]

Make that 8.

[Sky]

7. If I don't like it, I can donate it to the library's game collection.

[sickrubik]

If it's still around on the 20th, I'll nab one.

[Soln]

6 left 

In other news, Tales of the Arabian Nights no longer exists in this dimension.  Called every game store I could find and everyone is out.  2 from merchants on Amazon at $110.  Crazy town.

[Ghambit]

It's not worth that much.

[Soln]

Yup I figured.  Not going to shell out that much for new.

[Samwise]

Erm?

[schild]

Tales isn't really worth $60. I mean, I bought Agents of SMERSH and shouldn't have.

These things are basically board game screensavers. The flying toasters of the board game world.

[Soln]

Tales isn't really worth $60. I mean, I bought Agents of SMERSH and shouldn't have.

These things are basically board game screensavers. The flying toasters of the board game world.

Meaning, no decisions or possible player interaction?   And thanks Sam for the link.  Has me confused why there's nothing at retail.  Cheers.

[schild]

Z-Man games has made Alliance / Diamond their exclusive distributors. I like Alliance, but they are not perfect. It's likely a distributor problem.

Anyway, I mean, there ARE decisions. There's just no strategy in either game. Or rather, no meaningful strategy. Player interaction is what I would call "light."

(they're storytelling games that don't need an author, they just sort of unfold)

[Ingmar]

I don't think I'd even call Tales a game. It's more of an activity - and it can be a lot of fun, especially with alcohol and outgoing people, but it doesn't scratch the game itch for me at all.

[ghost]

I really enjoy Tales of the Arabian Nights.  I'm glad I bought it, but it's not going to be Agricola or Twilight Struggle in level of thought/difficulty.  It's fun though, and that is what matters.

[Soln]

PACG questions:

1.  What is the default skill for combat?  Some of the characters like bard and rogue don't have a melee bonus listed under strength.  So what do they use for combat encounters?

2.  What's the sequence for combat with more than one character at a location?  Is the character who's turn it is to explore solo for the whole fight or can another also try in the same turn even if they already went?

[Sky]

1. Strength is the default skill unless you have Melee. Attempting a Check, pg 11: "Monsters can be defeated with a combat check. Weapons and many other cards that can be used during combat generally tell you what skill to use when you attempt a combat check; if you don't play such a card, use your Strength or Melee skill." I know Seoni has a power to use a magic attack and avoid using her crap Str. You would use melee in preference to strength if possible, basically.

2. The character that is active (ie, the one exploring) has to resolve the combat. Everyone else can play cards on the fight (with the restrictions of 1 of each boon type per character). Being in the same location enables cards and powers that require it; and trading can only be done in the same location.

I like the mechanic, as you're getting some utility from being together (Valeros' bonus to combat for characters in his location) at the risk of triggering banes that affect characters in the same location.

[Ghambit]

The answer to #2 aint so simple.  Many times you'll encounter a foe who needs multiple checks to beat.  In that instance you'll see a "THEN" in the check requirements like 8 STR "THEN" 6 CHA.  In this case, if a friendly character is in the same location, yes, they can help (by doing the check instead of you) if say they have a better STR or CHA.  The original encountering character is always required to succeed at at least one check though.  It's essentially a check that takes two turns (in tabletop-rpg terms), so obviously there's time for people to help.

Another caveat; people forget that, unless a card says otherwise, you do have the opportunity to play cards out-of-turn - such as a blessing (even if not in the same location).  Make sure you dont miss opportunities to use those; potions for instance can be drank on someone else's turn I believe, and there may even be certain weapons that'll work.  Definitely a lot of spells will do this.  

So basically, unless a card specifically says "on your turn/check", that means you can play it whenever.  

P.S.
I'm thinking of gaming with Vasel in a week (he lives not far from me and has a large regular gaming "congregation" at various locales).  Anything you guys want me to ask (of) him?  He pretty much has the inside scoop on every game whether released or not.

[ghost]

You should take pictures.

[schild]

Vasels taste is so wildly suspect.

[ghost]

I think he used to have reasonable views on games, but he's now doing this for a living and I'm not sure that I'm buying his reviews now that his livelihood depends upon a decent review.  He's not afraid to trash a game every now and again, which is a nice gesture, but it's rarely an indy game that is put out by the Gamesalute people that he seems to be in cahoots with.

I do find his reviews enjoyable though, mostly because he's such a kook. 

[ghost]

Steve Jackson's Ogre Kickstarter cracks me up.  They've had about 20 launch parties, yet have not yet launched.   

[Hawkbit]

Mike and Chad from Paizo's PACG will be playing the new pack most of the day Sunday (12pm-8pm) at Card Kingdom for the Seattle folks.  I'm having a furnace installed, otherwise I'd go play along.  I'm really, really enjoying this game.  Almost obsessively.  

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q93k?Skinsaw-marathon-in-Seattle

EDIT: the 13th, on Sunday.

[Ghambit]

Jeebus, that's a damned nice FLGS.

[Soln]

I may do that, thx.  Playing last night with 3 for the first time we hit the 30 blessings timer limit.  Reading the boards, some people are agitating for a longer timer for bigger groups.  For us, we just haven't been aware.  But it now throws all those extra-explore abilities into a better light.  Basically, just another constraint to manage. 

[Thrawn]

Got to try out Twilight Imperium yesterday for the first time at my FLGS.  Call it ameritrash or whatever but I really enjoyed it and would absolutely play it again.  Unfortunately about 3 hours into it one person pretty much threw a hissy fit because they were being attacked and losing and quit playing which ended the game early.  To top it off they were being attacked and losing on two tiles that they took from someone else and it was just person that re-taking them.  Needless to say that person won't be invited to play anything competitive again, or more likely, anything at all.  

[ghost]

It's tough to play with dicks like that.  TI is a great game. 

Got through a couple of plays of Through the Ages with the wife over the weekend.  This game definitely has potential as a nice two player "epic" feeling game. 

[JWIV]

It's tough to play with dicks like that.  TI is a great game. 

Got through a couple of plays of Through the Ages with the wife over the weekend.  This game definitely has potential as a nice two player "epic" feeling game. 

This version? http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization 
How accurate is the 240 minute playing time?

[Ragnoros]

So I actually played De Vulgari Eloquentia this weekend. I should have read the manual ahead of time but I did not so my group of three spend the first hour reading over the rules and figuring shit out. While each individual bit of the game is a bit cumbersome in a vacuum, we found out that as we worked through the manual it all started to fall into place and make sense as a whole. To the point that once we actually started the game we only really checked the manual a couple times to clear up some minor rule quibbles.

As to the game itself, it was quite enjoyable to traverse around the Italian countryside picking up bits of documents, gold and influence. One of my friends went to catholic school so he found the whole theme rather interesting and manged to finagle himself into the papacy. It did take us the stated two hours to actually play the game once we finished with rules and setup (setup is super quick once you know what you are doing). However we all thought that it had taken much less as the time really flew by.

Just be sure to be in the right mindset. I tried to play up the theme and get everyone to enjoy the game, rather then get bogged down in the mechanics or AP. This plan worked well, as my friend quickly set out to become a member of the church, while I took the path of trader, and our third went rogue scholar, working his way though the college at Bologna.

tl;dr
If you picked up De Vulgari Eloquentia for the novelty value at $15 you should really give it a play. It's a very thematic and mechanically sound game that will make an afternoon/evening disappear, provided you come looking for a fun experience with friends, rather than some competitive chess like puzzle.

[grebo]

It's tough to play with dicks like that.  TI is a great game. 

Got through a couple of plays of Through the Ages with the wife over the weekend.  This game definitely has potential as a nice two player "epic" feeling game. 

This version? http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization 
How accurate is the 240 minute playing time?

I've played once, last new years with 4.  3 players were new.  We started about 9 and finished about 2:30 iirc.  It is an awesome game but has a few fiddly rules you want to make sure to get right.  I'm looking at you, air units.

[ghost]

It's tough to play with dicks like that.  TI is a great game. 

Got through a couple of plays of Through the Ages with the wife over the weekend.  This game definitely has potential as a nice two player "epic" feeling game. 

This version? http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization 
How accurate is the 240 minute playing time?

I think you can do it a lot quicker with just two, although the full game will probably take every bit of that.  I'm not sure I would want to play the full game though-  advanced is fun enough.

[Musashi]

After failing horribly (gloriously) at beating the pathfinder rise of the runelords campaign, my gaming group has been enjoying the card game of the very same campaign.

It mixes light deckbuilding with light rpg elements pretty seamlessly. If you play the same character over multiple play sessions, you are rewarded with minor bumps in the form of roll bonuses, hand size, various limits to how many cards in your deck.

Overall, it plays pretty fast (when our resident rules lawyer isn't looking up every god damn thing in the book). Supposed to play in 45. We do it in an hour and fifteen.