What Board Game have you been playing? ARCHIVE

Michael Barnes wrote: As much of a fumble as Sentinels of the Multiverse is, at least that small press game with a bunch of sorry-ass nobody characters has ORIGINAL ART for each card. And Marvel can't do this?

Where does Sentinels fumble? If you've only played it solo I can see it would be a bit dry but break it out with a bunch of comic geeks and watch them have a blast working together to battle a super villain with no GM. Outstanding game, man. Sorry it was a bust for you but at least we agree that Legendary is garbage. There's NO superhero theme to Legendary at all.

Sentinels is really tedious with a group, I played it a couple of times with some folks (ranging from semi-comics literate to having longboxes stacked up to the ceiling in the den), by and large the unreliable balance and modifier-based game play really grinds. There are some things that I like about it, but not having licensed characters actually does hurt it and tracking all the +1s and whatnot even with the counters in the recent set is irritating. I like that Legendary is pretty much no bullshit like that, I think it works better but the theme isn't Firefly or Spartacus level, that's for sure. But its' a deckbuilder, and that's how they are. I liked Sentinels better by myself.

I've played 399 games of Netrunner so far. I wonder if I should write briefly about it.

Come back when you know what the hell you're talking about.

Sentinels rules, anyone have any word on how the vengeance expansion is?

I've only played the card game once, but the Kickstarter with the map and minis looks like it could be a cool tactical super hero game. I'm seriously considering backing that one.

VonTush wrote: I've only played the card game once, but the Kickstarter with the map and minis looks like it could be a cool tactical super hero game. I'm seriously considering backing that one.

Then let me say that at KS price it's MSRP+shipping. just wait, there's no reason not to. It looks like it might be ok, but where does it fit in a collection that has Heroscape and DOA2? I'm waiting on it.

I introduced Myth to my group last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite all of the rulebook issues. To prepare for the game I had read the rulebook this past weekend, read the excellent Un-official FAQ, and have been reading rules threads on BGG. I didn't feel it was necessary to print off any of the PDF's Megacon Games provided on their site and the only one I read was the Myth narrative and the new intro Quest (which we didn't use).

We dove straight into the first Act of the first Story Quest. With four players, the Apprentice was the class we left out (I played the Brigand because I knew others may have confusion and I found the Shadows mechanic interesting).

I explained the basic rules and the common stats found on the cards (leaving out things until we got to them - like how to populate a tile or how Spawns/treasure work), and then explained each person's class out loud. I started with the Soldier and explained the Rage mechanic. I also explained how he always uses his stats from his main weapon, unless the card says Shield or Optional: Shield on it, in which case he uses his shield.

I then moved on to the Acolyte, in which I explained the Faith mechanic and explained how he uses his main weapon stats if the card says Range: Weapon, otherwise he uses his Relic.

Lastly, I explained the Archer/Quiver mechanic.

Then I explained to the entire group how the Optional card combo worked and talked briefly about the Brigand.

We started populating the first tile and I let the group choose a Trap over a Quest. The two traps we encountered this Act - Lightning Bolt and Fire Breath were easy enough to decipher that we didn't have any problems.

We kept things simple at first using a single Lair. When we hit the large tile second, we drew a Chapter Quest, which is when I explained how Quests work. We had to kill 20 minions and rescue 2 fighters, which we ended up accomplishing by the end.

The second tile is where things got interesting as we hit a threat penalty (the Darkness Event was reduce Threat penalty to 8) that caused Yardu to spawn. I nearly killed him with a very nice turn where I appeared next to him and hit him with two buffed attacks for 7 total damage (the -2 TN move modifiers on the card helped tremendously). Unfortunately I couldn't stay in Shadows on the second attack and with 15+ minions on the board I fell in the next turn. The Acolyte and Soldier would fall soon thereafter, being unable to deal with the swarms.

The Archer decided to run for it and ended up getting off the final tile into the Graveyard without dying. A well timed use of his card that fires the Scarecrow-like object that attracts monsters was huge. I believe technically, you probably need to clear the final tile of this quest to succeed, but we allowed him to run off as we were up against tremendous odds and it resulted in a good story (judgment calls like this seem to be a staple of the game).


General Thoughts

The hero classes having unique decks is what drew me to this game. I was not disappointed here. I was surprised how few problems we had deciphering the cards. Sure, I spent way more time reading up on issues than anyone should reasonably have to, and if we came in cold it would have been a hot mess. However, I still expected to have to look stuff up but we didn't really have to. Never once referred to the Hero card document.

As a group, we very much enjoyed the free-form decision making. Choosing what types and how many lairs, hunting packs, trap/quest, etc. We're a group of roleplayers and all were comfortable with advocating our own story and making decisions such as these. I think I actdually prefer this free-form element over a traditional structured method like Descent.

I really like the Chapter Quest element. I hope they release many more of these but this is just one of the best parts of the game IMO. It spices up encounters by offering unpredictability and will keep things fresh - until you run out of Quests at least. I think the whole chain thing is clever too (albeit frustrating to those who will be missing out on the Kickstarter Quests).

Fate Dice are very interesting. The recipe system is great. I hope we see tons of variety there going forward. Would love to see Fate Dice recipes appear on ongoing cards (say you put down an Ongoing Acolyte card that has its own recipe, allowing you to use it whenever you attack).

I also very much enjoy the randomness of everything. This will aggravate some people, but I absolutely loved the Darkness card that spawned Yardu. Surprises, crazy unknown events, those are what make games memorable for me. It makes we want to get back out there and see what crazy stuff will happen next. Excited to see the new content in wave 2.

I'm excited for where Myth is going. I hope they get the rulebook cleaned up ASAP. I hope those of you looking forward to the game don't get discouraged by the amount of work it currently requires to really understand it. It is a very unique game that will have elements that will not appeal to large segments of the gaming population (especially the level of decision making it demands in terms of structure and setting up of tiles). I think this could definitely settle in my top 20, but I will need many more plays before I'm willing to commit to that.

Played a couple games of Fairy Tale last night. So much for my membership in the Cult of the New. The game came out in 2005. That's ancient history.

Anyway, I still think it's a pretty fun little card game and the illustrations are nice.

Oh, and I won both games. So take that Engineer Al and Uba .... I am the biggest fairy.

Michael Barnes wrote: I've played 399 games of Netrunner so far. I wonder if I should write briefly about it.

Come back when you know what the hell you're talking about.

Wa?

The Sit Down and Shut Up review of Sentinels is right on the money. It's not really a game. Your decisions are made in the set up, which _IS_ fun since it has that childhood joy of "I want to fight this villain in this locations with this hero" thing going on. But the game itself isn't really a game. You pick a the best card in your hand, the best power, draw a card, and you're done. You do some math and the game is over. You might be fooled into thinking you're doing more than that, but you aren't.

And don't give me that tired line about expansions fixing that. Yeah, they add more to the game, but they only add more of what was already there and what's there is WORK AND MATH.

Fuck that game. Fuck. That. Game.

Josh Look wrote: ... You pick a the best card in your hand, the best power, draw a card, and you're done. You do some math and the game is over. You might be fooled into thinking you're doing more than that, but you aren't.

I don't see your point here. How is this different than any other game in which your best play is always the efficient route? I suppose you could play TI3 at random and ignore VPs but why would you do that if you have any desire to win? Sentinels is no different. I can't count how many times I have had to coordinate with buddies at the table on how best to tackle the villain, his minions, plot devices, etc. before the doomsday clock winds down. There is strategy to Sentinels besides choosing who and where to fight during setup.

Josh Look wrote: And don't give me that tired line about expansions fixing that. Yeah, they add more to the game, but they only add more of what was already there and what's there is WORK AND MATH.

Math? I don't find Sentinels to be any more work than any other hit point based system or even Magic. Are you telling me that Sentinels of the Multiverse is the first game you've encountered that requires you to track a hit point value?

Bull Nakano wrote: Sentinels rules, anyone have any word on how the vengeance expansion is?

I've only played it a couple of times now and only once with the villain team in the mix, but from what I could tell the added turns per villain increases the play time but it's manageable. It was cool to see them in action and deciding how best to to take them down. I like how each villain filled a niche and felt like a unique threat and each villain contains minions that act as nemesis to many of the established characters. I just picked up the expansion yesterday and plan on getting in some more games. The new heroes are a nice addition to the game but I really haven't played enough with the new villains to recommend the expansion yet.

Michael Barnes wrote: Sentinels is really tedious with a group, I played it a couple of times with some folks (ranging from semi-comics literate to having longboxes stacked up to the ceiling in the den), by and large the unreliable balance and modifier-based game play really grinds. There are some things that I like about it, but not having licensed characters actually does hurt it and tracking all the +1s and whatnot even with the counters in the recent set is irritating.

I actually prefer the homage heroes to actually playing with Superman and the JL. That keeps all the fanboy whining to a minimum when they learn that Legacy is an else-worlds Superman who doesn't have all Superman's powers or weaknesses. I can still enjoy the game and appreciate the effort they put into making the Sentinels something different; an alternate dimension Justice League or Avengers. Take Astro City or Watchmen for example, those comics are still excellent reads despite the use of homage/ripoff characters.

Green Lantern wrote:
I don't see your point here. How is this different than any other game in which your best play is always the efficient route? I suppose you could play TI3 at random and ignore VPs but why would you do that if you have any desire to win?

Poor comparison, as TI3 is very much about the metagame, but I see where you wanted to go with it. If I'm playing a game and I don't have more than one option that seems like a really good idea, then I don't want to play that game. I don't play Magic for that very reason. The closest Sentinels ever comes a meaningful decision is between hitting the villain and hitting anything else on the table.

Math? I don't find Sentinels to be any more work than any other hit point based system or even Magic.

The countless modifiers around the table? The 8 (or whatever it is) different types of damage? The soulless, mechanical nature in which all of that shit is resolved? Yeah, I call that work and math, certainly more than Magic, and more than I want to deal with (and I don't have that "closet Euro fan" blurb for nothing).

Look, I get why people like it. When I first played it, I thought I liked it, too. I love superheroes, I desperately want superhero games to be good. There's a hint of a narrative in it, which I've always said is whats sorely missing from superhero games. But the spell that this game casts is just that, a spell, an illusion. You think you're getting this cool, barebones co-op with so many options, but those options are in the setup (which, BTW, I didn't say there was any strategy to...rather that its the same kind of childlike fun one might get from playing Rampage of Heroscape, only not really because, well, it's SETUP). And even that barebones design is an illusion as well. With the right effects on the cards and with more variety in each deck, the rules could facilitate a fun game, but that's not route the designers took. It turns out that the rulebook is what's barebones, the cards and how they interact with each other is where the rest of the rulebook went. You're doing your taxes, only there's a cape on them.

Compounded - A mildly interesting cube-pusher where the cubes have been replaced with plastic gems. Players compete to place gems (representing elements) on diagrams of chemical compounds. Once complete, you score points and various upgrades. It's inoffensive, but not very compelling. I've finished dead last in two plays with five players. The first time I made some seriously bad decisions. The second time I made the bad decision of being unable to randomly draw the most prevalent gemstone from the bag.

Powerboats - What an awesome race game! Not having a racetrack provides freedom of movement and elements of chaos. One bad die roll can throw you way off course or slam you into an island. More people need to play this game. Plus, three-sided dice!

Josh Look wrote:

Green Lantern wrote:
I don't see your point here. How is this different than any other game in which your best play is always the efficient route? I suppose you could play TI3 at random and ignore VPs but why would you do that if you have any desire to win?

Poor comparison, as TI3 is very much about the metagame, but I see where you wanted to go with it. If I'm playing a game and I don't have more than one option that seems like a really good idea, then I don't want to play that game. I don't play Magic for that very reason.

You don't find that there are numerous options in Magic every turn? I usually find that there is a shitload of stuff that needs to be done and it is unclear how best to do it or what to prioritize in both the turn and the sequence of events within the turn.