What Board Game have you been playing? ARCHIVE

I'm on a War of the Ring tear! Played again.

This time it was three player, which I have never done before. I found it to be enjoyable and not as shitty as I was lead to believe, that is team play in WotR. Not something I'd want to do every time I play but not bad.

I was Sauron, Josh was Sauruman and the Easterlings, and Al was the freeps. The rules for card draws and activations are a little altered but otherwise the feel of the game was the same.

Al lost some time in the early game by monkeying around with the dwarves and it came back to bite him in the end. His poor little hobbits were only at the base of Mount Doom looking up when Josh delivered the coup-de-grace and shoved the knife into the heart of Dale for the last vp we needed to snuff out hope.

Huzzah for despair!

Dale is a such a reliable disappointment for the Free Peoples.

Thank you for the report about Seafall.

repoman wrote: I'm on a War of the Ring tear! Played again.

This time it was three player, which I have never done before. I found it to be enjoyable and not as shitty as I was lead to believe, that is team play in WotR. Not something I'd want to do every time I play but not bad.

I was Sauron, Josh was Sauruman and the Easterlings, and Al was the freeps. The rules for card draws and activations are a little altered but otherwise the feel of the game was the same.

Al lost some time in the early game by monkeying around with the dwarves and it came back to bite him in the end. His poor little hobbits were only at the base of Mount Doom looking up when Josh delivered the coup-de-grace and shoved the knife into the heart of Dale for the last vp we needed to snuff out hope.

Huzzah for despair!

I just played with the Lords of Middle Earth Expansion this past weekend. The rules are a lot longer than they need to be; its pretty straightforward if you just look at the new character cards. We did not play with the starting set up variant, just the minor Minions/extra action dice. Pretty cool, worth checking out if you want to spice up your WotR play .

I have the expansion and I think the minions are pretty intriguing and certainly for the Balrog at least it looks like it's a better implementation than 1st ed./Collector's Ed.

The problem is, I haven't painted the damn expansion figures...and I'm still burned out from painting the base game.

Stupid I know.

If it serves to motivate you at all, Repo, I'd be super interested in seeing your expansion figures painted. You're really good.

Are there any really slow-burning fuses or anything that are easy to get? For everytime the Balrog gets placed, you could wrap him in a slow-burning fuse like Blackbeard used to do by inserting them into his beard. Surrounding you with smoke and ash. Very scary stuff.

I guess it would damage the minature or, at the very least, the paint on the minature but it sure would hold presence on the board

Im yet to use any of the lords expansion stuff either. I read Matt's review of it, am always interested in other opinions. Which is the easiest mix of stuff to use?

I finally got to try out Firefly last night. I'm having a hard time figuring out why I didn't like it. I'm glad I played, but I have almost zero desire to ever play again.

The length bothered me, to be sure. I wouldn't mind the pick-up-and-deliver aspect of the game if it didn't take so long to make any progress. I get that people enjoy the leisurely pace in order to play in the 'Verse, but it all felt too repetitive to me.

I liked the idea of building up your ship and crew. I really liked the way travel worked, which could provide unexpected bonuses or hazards. I really didn't have any complaints about the game, except I didn't like it.

Two added pieces of information that surprisingly had little bearing on my enjoyment:
1) I'm a huge fan of the the series and movie. I got all the references, I nerded out on the details, and I respected how well it captured the feel of the show. And yet, none of that made me like the game.

2) I had the worst luck ever during the game. I got River Tam as one of my first crew. I tried to use her eight times, and every single roll was a 1 or 2. When moving through the 'Verse, I got hit with the big, bad, "Reshuffle" cards in both decks. Most of my jobs were pretty low paying. The one $4000 job I got, I failed the first Misbehave which killed a crew, then Niska killed another. But even with all the terrible luck, it didn't bother me at all. I get that sometimes the die rolls against you. It certainly matched the tenor of the show.

I know a lot of you are fans of the game. What do you think makes it fun, rather than repetitive? Does the length bother you, or is that just me?

I have only played Firefly with 4 players and can say I don't like the length of the game with that many, but the length of the game is offset in that there is much more competition for control of resources and jobs. The competition is what drives the beat-the-buzzer momentum of the game and what keeps it fun for me. Sure, you can mosey across the verse and take your time in amassing all the best gear and crew while the more shrewd and aggressive captains finish the high paying jobs before you even have a chance to go after the story victory conditions. Successfully navigating which contacts to work for and what jobs to take is key to victory and keeps the game fresh. I rarely have the luxury of counting on the same crew and route to accomplish jobs and that makes the game a challenge. Each job is a stepping stone to getting higher paying jobs and the method to get the tools to get the job done is never the same so I have to stay on my toes and remain engaged. I think that's why it works for me. The race to finish before the other players is fun and quite challenging.

The Prodigal Player wrote: On a subject similar to Disk Wars, I got Deadzone for the holidays and I kind of think that it scratches the miniatures-game itch minus a lot of the bull.poo Mike wants to avoid, but still with miniatures.

For $70-80 you get a game that fits on a 2x2 board with 3d plastic terrain you can clip together and two factions each with twice the units you need to play a game, so there is variety built in to how you choose your force each time. The miniatures are generally easy to assemble, and the rules are excellent. The movement is even on a grid, so there isn't any tape measuring to do. You don't even need to buy green felt, it comes with an awesome urban themed mat that is made of mousepad material

It might still be bridge too far for Barnes in terms of assembly, but I'm willing to call it the most excellent and complete miniatures experience in a single box made to date, and if any of you have the slighted pangs of nostalgia for this sort of thing it might be right up your alley.

I just did a search at ToS for the best wargames of the past two years and this popped up. It looks pretty great. A lot a game for the money.

Gregarius wrote: I know a lot of you are fans of the game. What do you think makes it fun, rather than repetitive? Does the length bother you, or is that just me?

Let me preface what I'm about to say with a good, stern warning. I'm about to say some shit that is blunt and to the point. I'm not trying to insult anyone, but I don't know how else to get the point across the way I want to. This being the internet and all, I just want to make sure everyone knows it's not my intent to make this into a personal attack. /warning

I have no tolerance for the crybaby game length bullshit that BGG seems to have forced game designers/publishers feel as though every game needs to run a maximum of 90 minutes. I don't want a 90 minute TI3, the fact that is so long is what makes it what it is. If the experience justifies to 2+ hour playtime, then let it. Between one really good 2 hour game and 2-3 good but not great games, I think the choice is obvious and that playtime should be a factor. I can't help but feel that it's in part cultivated by how BGG and the gaming community at large is driven by he cult of the new. We all know that those people do not make up the majority of the people involved in the hobby, but are the ones that buy games and the games they're buying are short. It boils down to a bunch of in-one-ear-out-the-other, flavor of the week bullshit.

No, the length doesn't bother me at all, and it doesn't really take a rocket scientist to know how to make the run at a faster clip. You don't need to sit there and watch people shop. In fact, there's not much that can happen that could prevent you from planning out your next turn as soon as you're done with your current one. There's barely any interaction as of now, which is sort unfortunate, but whatever, it's not that game and I'm not sure it would have a positive impact on the game if it were there.

The luck...yeah, that can be a bitch. It works for the theme though, since the push your luck and hope for the best nature of the game play is pretty much perfect when you compare it to the adventures Mal and his crew have on the show. The preparation is a huge factor in this game, you can't rush things and you need to learn from repeat plays what you need to be prepared for. You can't anticipate everything, but you can pick what you're going to be ready for and play to that (until you hit the Misbehave deck...and even then, play a couple games and your going to know things like a transport and hacking rig are pretty important).

So yeah, the length is fine. I don't feel like it's too long for what it is, and given building and outfitting your crew is the most fun part of the game, I certainly welcome that it takes as long as it does. Once you have your shit together the games starts to move at an exponentially faster pace. Even with 4 players, I don't think my games have gone past 2 hours (but then again, I might be a supercomputer). Oh, and learn the game with the intro scenario online. It's not going to be a watered down experience at all, it'll just play faster which is good because you're going to make some bad choices and you're not going to sitting there being miserable for quite so long. Really, use the online intro.

More games like this, less quick playing bullshit games, please.

But the irony is that Firefly feels very much like a leaner, shorter Merchant of Venus in some ways.

I think 2 hours and change is completely fine for this game, which is usually what we do it in. I don't think that's out of sorts for it, and it's a lot like Talisman where you can just shoot the shit and enjoy the social time without hunkering down and focusing on the game. The luck only really matters if you care about winning. I have just as much fun playing a game where I'm just getting beat down by crap die rolls and lame topdecks as when I'm wining the game. Sometimes it's more fun to roll with the punches and laugh about it than it is to be in first place.

Some games need to be four horus, some games need to be forty minutes. Depends on the content. Neither is necessarily superior. But it is undoubtedly true that shorter games sell more these days.

As for where the fun is, I really enjoy rounding up crew, planning the jobs and figuring out where and when to take risks. I don't think it's repetitive at all, not more than any other game.

Look at me defending Firefly, unbelievable. I think it's a great game. The fact that I'm holding on to it for the expansions says a lot.

I agree with Josh in a general sense, but the (or my) issue with Firefly is that the length is not commensurate with the enjoyment and level of decision making. Without the theme it would be a mind-numbingly dull game not as good as the influences it was built upon.

There are many games which do offer enough complexity and meat to justify their length:

-TI3
-Eclipse
-StarCraft
-War of the Ring
-Earth Reborn
-Mage Knight
etc.

Michael Barnes wrote: Look at me defending Firefly, unbelievable. I think it's a great game. The fact that I'm holding on to it for the expansions says a lot.

Holy shit. What's next? Monkeys riding dogs?

90 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours...shut up.

You are all worthless and weak...now drop and give me 20.

I've been playing Devil's Cauldron for a week...and loving every minute of it.