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- Dec 25, 2002
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8man doesn't have shit on this....
New games, new impressions, and 1 reccomendation, as well as some stuff that's coming out on the Horizon. I apologize for my spelling and grammar as I always seem to be writing these up very late at night.
New Games and My Impressions
Games I have pre-ordered:
Games to be on the look out for this year
Hasbro, the #1 toy and game maker, has stepped up and finally decided to stop being bitches and release some of the games they hold the rights to but haven't done proper editions of in far to long (seriously, the stuff Hasbro has the rights to is golden...). So this year we are getting new editions of:
I've played Acquire and I really liked it, but the last edition which came out in 1999 routinely sells for over $100 and the only edition prior to that worth owning is from...1976. Acquire is another game from the genius Sid Sackson. It's essentially a game about the stock market, sort of. It's best with more players as each tries to have stock in the largest chain of hotels. It's deceptively simple to learn, but require some good strategy and tactical placement of hotel tiles. The rules for the 3M 1976 edition were printed on the inside of the box lid, so this is hardly a complicated affair. Expect to see this on store shelves (walmart/target) later this year.
Diplomacy is another classic, dating back to 1959. And I think it is a game everyone should know, or at least heard of. The game is for 7 players with each player taking on the role of one of the belligerents in the first world war. Basically the bulk game consists of each of the 7 countries negotiating with each other for a preset amount of time each game turn. At the end of negotiations, each player writes down their moves secretly, then all moves are revealed and are resolved simultaneously. So, who do you want to ally with? Who do you want to stab in the back, etc? It is a game of negotiation, a classic that has withstood the test of time, and well just a badass game that has had many variations over the years. This should be on store shelves later this year as well.
New games, new impressions, and 1 reccomendation, as well as some stuff that's coming out on the Horizon. I apologize for my spelling and grammar as I always seem to be writing these up very late at night.
New Games and My Impressions
- Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow Expansion
- Arkham Horror: The Curse of the Dark Pharaoh Expansion
-The King in Yellow and Curse of the Dark Pharaoh are mini expansions to the Arkham Horror game. They basically just features a bunch of new cards so that you can have more adventures. You can play only with the Dark Pharaoh/King in Yellow Cards (remove most cards from the base set basically) so that you essentialy play a specific scenario relating to the mini expansions, or you can just add them to the base set willy nilly so you can go on a multitude of crazy adventures. I picked these up pretty cheap, but i've yet to bite the bullet and get the first full expansion to AH that features a new map board. These two expansions are worth it if you want to expand the base game.
- Combat Commander: Battle Pack #1 Paratroopers
- This is an expansion for Combat Commander: Europe. It features 4 new maps and 11 new scenarios that all deal with Paratroopers (mostly American Paras and German, though one features Russian Paratroops). This is a must have for the Combat Commander: Europe Fan.
- Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion Pack #1: Greece and the Eastern Kingdoms
- Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion Pack #2: Rome and Barbarians
- Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion Pack #3: The Roman Civil Wars
- I picked up all three expansions to Richard Borg's (not to be confused with Richard Berg) Commands and Colors: Ancients game for Christmas with money I recieved. Good stuff here covering a variety of conflicts from The Persian War, the conquest of Alexander, the Wars between the Successors, the wars of Rome vs Barbarians (Caesar and all that) and the Civil Wars between the various factions in Imperial Rome. Well worth the money and the newer scenarios are more interesting and varied especially with regard to terrain and victory conditions. Expansion 1 and 2 are independent of each other so you can have one without owning the other. Expansion 3 requires expansion 2. Expansion 3 also allows you to fight "epic" battles that are twice the width of a normal mapboard for some truly impressive fights. I highly reccomend Expansion 2 and 3, though expansion 1 is also worth it if you are interested in the topic it explores.
- Federation Commander: Klingon Border
- Federation Commander: Romulan Border
STAR TREK. 'nuff said. Seriously though, this ADB's new (as of 2005) Starship Combat game based on their Starfleet Battles product (SFB). Federation Commander is a more streamlined (less complex, easier to learn/teach, and faster playing) than SFB. This is essentially a traditional hex and counter wargame, but each ship counter has a corresponding card that shows all the ships weapons, shields, appropriate systems, etc. Sounds to complex already? Well it's pretty easy actually. The ship data card is laminated card stock so you can write on it with the included dry erase marker to show where you have taken damage, what weapons have been used, etc. It's all pretty cool stuff. Basically the gist of the game is that you have ships battle it out. Thats all, though there are some scenarios included where victory is determined by things other than combat.
There are two "base" games. Klingon Border and Romulan Border. Each one has all you need to start playing. Klingon Border features Federation and Klingon Conflicts, while Romulan Border features Federation vs Romulan. Both border sets also feature some other minor races (mostly seen in the Star Trek animated series) such as the Tholians, Lyrans, Hydrans, etc.
The game is OG Trek, but set in ADB's alternate Star Fleet Universe due to licensing reasons.
I ordered Klingon Border and was so enamored with the system that I had to get Romulan Border as well. I wanted a Romulan War Eagle damnit.
The game can be played with miniatures as well, with free form (not grid based movement ala Warhammer/40k) if you are in to that.
- Rails of Europe
-This is the first expansion for Railroad Tycoon, called Rails of Europe. It is basically just a new map of Europe, with some new cards. The original RRT map is mostly set in Eastern United States. Due to licensing reasons this game is an official expansion to RRT, but the developers no longer had the rights to use the "Railroad Tycoon" IP. So no where on the product is Railroad Tycoon listed, instead they just state it is an expansion for "Eagle Games Popular Railroad Game." Lolz. I'm not sure why they even used the RRT ip in the first place, since it really has nothing to do with the computer game aside from trains, and RRT is mostly based on an earlier game called Age of Steam.
Anyway, this was a no brainer purchase for me since RRT is my favorite game and this map supports fewer player, while the original is better with more players.
- Sleuth
- You need this game. Do you like the deduction element of Clue? Do you like logic puzzles like Sudoku? Then you will like Sid Sackson's Sleuth. This is a game of pure deduction, where you try to figure out what "Gem" was stolen. It's essentially Clue, except you don't move stupid figures around on a board. Instead each player knows a certain few gems that weren't stolen and through interrogating other players (you can only ask certain questions, based on interrogation cards you hold in your hand) you try to determine which gem is missing.
This really is an awesome game. It features language independent components, and while the score sheets are in english, the rulebook does come in 7 different languages and has photocopyable score sheets in the other language.
The price is right too!
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED.
Wits and Wagers
- In my ongoing effort to find more accessible games (games to play with non gamers) I stumbled up on this title. This is basically a trivia game like Trivial Pursuit and it's ilk, except you don't actually need to know the correct answer. The questions are presented such that all the answers will be numerical values. Each team secretly writes down their answer and then all answers are revealed at the same time. Answer are arranged from lowest to highest. Each team then gets to BET on what answer they think is correct, or what answer is closest to the correct answer. You don't have to bet on your own answer either. The different bets have different odds, generally the higher or the lower ones have better payouts.
Thats about it. Each game features 7 questions, with the final question allowing you to make insane bets ala final jeopardy. Team with the most points at the end wins. I think there is something like 700 questions, plus questions expansions are in the works.
Games I have pre-ordered:
- Descent: The Road to Legend
- This is the "Campaign" expansion to the boardgame Descent: Journeys in the Dark, that I wrote about some pages back. Essentially this expansion turns Descent in to a light tabletop RPG (omgz D&D lololololz). There are three campaigns included. You move your party on an overland map, resolve encounters (based on a deck of cards) and go to dungeons, towns, and presumably do other RPG like stuff all with some ultimate goal in mind. Not everything is known about the game yet, as it hasn't arrived yet (it's on the boat from China though...the anticipation is killing me). This expansion will feature a few fixed dungeons, but most of the dungeons you go to are randomly made (again, from a deck of cards). The game also features encounters in outside areas as well. You still play the game as heroes vs the overlord, and your characters can level up and stuff (oh how wonderfully nerdy). Supposedly the game is designed so that you can just play 1 dungeon or two in an afternoon, then put everything up and play again next week (complete with some book keeping so you know where you are at, what items you have, etc....). This is my most anticipated board game of the year, and probably my most anticipated board game ever. My Descent Group is dying to play this. Road to Legend only requires ownership of the base Descent game, you do not need the two expansions, though the inclusion of the stuff they provide will be supported in RtL.
More info:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/descent_designnotes3.html
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/descent_preview1.html
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/descent_va41.html
Feel free to ridicule me over this.
- Agricola
-This boardame is as overhyped as FFVII, Fable, and every other overhyped video game you can think of combined in to one. The German edition was originally released at the Essen Fair last year and the English version should be out early this summer.
This is a boardgame about farming. - Yeah I know, stupid theme...but then again who ever would have thought Harvest Moon would have been fun? This is euro/german/family styled board game where each player is competing to have the best, most balanced farm at the end of the game. It actually is pretty neat because you can do a bunch of different jobs and adopt different strategies, etc.
Like I said, overhyped, and overpraised, but I liked what I read in all the reviews and I currently don't have any board games like this.
Games to be on the look out for this year
Hasbro, the #1 toy and game maker, has stepped up and finally decided to stop being bitches and release some of the games they hold the rights to but haven't done proper editions of in far to long (seriously, the stuff Hasbro has the rights to is golden...). So this year we are getting new editions of:
I've played Acquire and I really liked it, but the last edition which came out in 1999 routinely sells for over $100 and the only edition prior to that worth owning is from...1976. Acquire is another game from the genius Sid Sackson. It's essentially a game about the stock market, sort of. It's best with more players as each tries to have stock in the largest chain of hotels. It's deceptively simple to learn, but require some good strategy and tactical placement of hotel tiles. The rules for the 3M 1976 edition were printed on the inside of the box lid, so this is hardly a complicated affair. Expect to see this on store shelves (walmart/target) later this year.
Diplomacy is another classic, dating back to 1959. And I think it is a game everyone should know, or at least heard of. The game is for 7 players with each player taking on the role of one of the belligerents in the first world war. Basically the bulk game consists of each of the 7 countries negotiating with each other for a preset amount of time each game turn. At the end of negotiations, each player writes down their moves secretly, then all moves are revealed and are resolved simultaneously. So, who do you want to ally with? Who do you want to stab in the back, etc? It is a game of negotiation, a classic that has withstood the test of time, and well just a badass game that has had many variations over the years. This should be on store shelves later this year as well.
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