Anyone collect board games? Just babbling about them.

@M

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,
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Wow, you found two copies of Hero Quest at a thrift store? That's crazy, I've never seen a single copy of that game at one of those yet (I always hope to run across one of the smaller expansion packs, as I already have the main set).

I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the Weapons & Warriors Castle/Knights game for a buck I saw last week (it was complete except for the missing instructions), and, of course, when I checked again, it was gone. I did buy the Weapons & Warriors Pirate set last year (complete, but the rubber bands had dried out/rotted, as they're wont to do over the years).

pirates2.jpg
 

NeoSneth

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treat your rubber bands with ArmorAll or some other car protectant. I keep mine in a baggy with a few sprays.
This is the cheap way to keep them soft. There are more detailed concoctions ive seen in various rubber band powered aircraft forums. Wintergreen Oil, Castor Oil, etc....

I think i'm the only one in our game group that rubber bands their games. I'm not too concerned with a little wear on the boxes.
 

@M

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,
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I did not know that you could treat rubber bands to prevent them from degrading/breaking--I always thought that, when they got old or dried out, that was it. Wouldn't have done me any good in this case, as they were already shot when I bought the game and were probably the originals (mid-1990s), but, I'll keep your advice in mind for the future!

I used to rubber band my board games too, but, then we got cats, and felines love to gnaw on and even devour the things, so, that's a no-go anymore. Sure, you can TRY to keep the cat out of the room where the games are, but that never works--cats be sneaky.
 

beigemore

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My group has been playing Kingdom Death: Monster since January.

It's like a really fucked up Monster Hunter meets Dark Souls game. You have a settlement phase where you are basically in your "town" and build buildings, craft equipment, and innovate your society. Then you go into a hunt phase where you are tracking down a specific monster to kill and various events can happen that can be good (find equipment, gain stats) but can also be really bad (someone can die, equipment can break). If you make it through the hunt phase, you start the showdown phase where you fight the monster. The showdown phase takes place on a very large 2'x3' board with a grid where you place terrain tiles (fallen pillars, bushes, corpses) that you can interact with, and you fight the monster which follows a really cool AI system through cards. Some monsters have really cool mechanics where there is a good chance you will lose the first time you fight them, but once you figure out their mechanic, it will be a much smoother ride the next time you fight them -- just like with some video game bosses.

The game is extremely unforgiving, but once you figure out that you have to game the game and manipulate the AI decks with abilities and equipment, it will start to click. Learning not to get attached to any individual character also helps, as they will probably die before they reach max level, so make sure you breed them so you have more babies to send out later on.

The downside to the game is there is an absolute shit ton of information to keep track of: crafting materials, equipment, survivors (your people) along with their lineage and surnames, who has fucked who and how many kids they've had, what they've killed as individuals, tons of passive abilities gained that affect everyone, unlocked settlement locations (buildings), game timeline, etc, etc. Like in my game right now, we have about 30 survivors, and each one of those mother fuckers has their own dedicated stat and history sheets. It can become difficult to manage later in the game when you're trying to determine the best people to send to a showdown based on the available equipment you have. It also helps immensely to have gone through the showdown before so you know what to expect.

Is the game for everyone? Absolutely not.

Is it worth the current $400 price tag? I don't think so.

Is it a good game? Yes, it's a great game that is very brutal, and unless you are willing to lose and restart quite a few times, you won't make it over the beginner's hump.
 

Spycee

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I always wanted to try that game. But on the second hand market it can be as much as 1000$, a lot too much for me... The miniatures are absolutely gorgeous !
My group has been playing Kingdom Death: Monster since January.

It's like a really fucked up Monster Hunter meets Dark Souls game. You have a settlement phase where you are basically in your "town" and build buildings, craft equipment, and innovate your society. Then you go into a hunt phase where you are tracking down a specific monster to kill and various events can happen that can be good (find equipment, gain stats) but can also be really bad (someone can die, equipment can break). If you make it through the hunt phase, you start the showdown phase where you fight the monster. The showdown phase takes place on a very large 2'x3' board with a grid where you place terrain tiles (fallen pillars, bushes, corpses) that you can interact with, and you fight the monster which follows a really cool AI system through cards. Some monsters have really cool mechanics where there is a good chance you will lose the first time you fight them, but once you figure out their mechanic, it will be a much smoother ride the next time you fight them -- just like with some video game bosses.

The game is extremely unforgiving, but once you figure out that you have to game the game and manipulate the AI decks with abilities and equipment, it will start to click. Learning not to get attached to any individual character also helps, as they will probably die before they reach max level, so make sure you breed them so you have more babies to send out later on.

The downside to the game is there is an absolute shit ton of information to keep track of: crafting materials, equipment, survivors (your people) along with their lineage and surnames, who has fucked who and how many kids they've had, what they've killed as individuals, tons of passive abilities gained that affect everyone, unlocked settlement locations (buildings), game timeline, etc, etc. Like in my game right now, we have about 30 survivors, and each one of those mother fuckers has their own dedicated stat and history sheets. It can become difficult to manage later in the game when you're trying to determine the best people to send to a showdown based on the available equipment you have. It also helps immensely to have gone through the showdown before so you know what to expect.

Is the game for everyone? Absolutely not.

Is it worth the current $400 price tag? I don't think so.

Is it a good game? Yes, it's a great game that is very brutal, and unless you are willing to lose and restart quite a few times, you won't make it over the beginner's hump.
 

NeoSneth

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Our game group is starting to collapse. Hate to say it, but the spouses have ruined it for most of us, and the constant nagging has driven the organizers to just fold it. It will likely reform with a less inclusive invite system.

i've moved to playing more Arkham LCG. Built a nice deck case, and I've been enjoying the deckbuilding aspect to it.

Took a quick terrible panorama of tonight's game, and the case I made. The case is an artists case from hobby lobby. It's untreated wood, so I transferred some art and stained it. Added some elastic bands to the lid, and there is a card organizer with some laser cut wood.

IMG_0652.jpgIMG_0651.jpg
 

NeoSneth

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Hey I have that play mat, too. It looks awesome!

Heh. I thought it was a silly mat at first because it only has a few spots for cards. It really does help with the cards sliding and shifting everywhere.

This is a fairly new campaign for the Dunwich set. We just finished Miskatonic Museum without any threat of losing. This is the first time we've been underwhelmed in terms of difficulty. It's a shame too as exploring a museum should have been more fun.
 

lithy

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We have been playing our Pandemic Legacy Season 2 to coincide with the calendar months. Got our asses handed to us twice for March but got a satisfying victory in April.

Long time bump. We finished our Pandemic Legacy Season 2 campaign. It was...good. It was overall pretty uneven, far more stressful than Season 1. The March losses were really our low point and we did pretty well through the remainder of the year. Still, despite doing well, there were times that it just wasn't that enjoyable. I would play Season 1 again in a heartbeat despite knowing the campaign. I would hesitate to commit to playing Season 2 again.

Other than that, I played Die Macher recently, which I enjoyed and would like to play again, although the time commitment is significant.

I did buy the new Pandemic, Fall of Rome which I like a lot, it introduces dice resolved 'combat' to remove cubes from the board. Also got Codenames Duet for Christmas which has been great for my wife and I to play, since we both really enjoy Codenames, but the regular game really needs 6 to work well.

Some of my recent exciting thrift store finds were Smash Up with 4 expansions for $15. Sushi Go Party new for $3. A few escape room games, two Exit games and the Escape Room: The Game with the 4 original scenarios plus 2 additional ones I found later in the year. I also found Star Realms and Race for the Galaxy and the first expansion both of which I want to try out.
 

NeoSneth

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We just finished Season 1. Started the campaign with someone who lives out of state....that was a mistake. So 2 years later, we finally finished. I agree that I would play the campaign again. i definitely would develop a different set of characters. We had a broken combo until ....things happened.
 

NeoSneth

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2 weeks until GenCon 2019
Our group typically comes in on Tuesday. Wednesday we setup in some hotel conference room to get some long games going.

The only event I signed up for this year was the Arkham LCG organized play.

My shelf of shame expanded quite a bit as a bunch of bloated kickstarters arrived at once. I'm still trying to decide what to bring with me.
 

lithy

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My shelf of shame has overflowed onto the nearby desk of shame and some onto the floor nearby of shame...

I recently gave away about 30 games. There are still a couple dozen that I know I could get a few bucks for that I need to take pictures and sell. In the meantime I'm still picking up a few things at the thrift stores every week.

My biggest problem right now is just a lack of organization, I need to strip the shelf bare and then start adding things back. I also need to get a few things to the table that I don't think are keepers for me, but I hate to sell/gift something away without at least having played it first.

My best gaming lately though has been with my 4 year old, playing lots of Outfoxed. My wife and I are playing a Charterstone campaign but so far it hasn't really clicked with me.

6 months since my last post in this thread, some of my favorite thrift store finds since then are, Sheriff of Nottingham for $4, Bob ross: Art of Chill game $4 (actually very fun, Ticket to ride kinda feel), No Thanks for $2, World's Fair 1893 for $4, Kingdom Builder for $5, Colt Express for $4, Escape: Curse of the Temple for $2, Memoir 44 for $6, Terror in Meeple City for $4, and Megaland for $4.

Found 5 gamer games on a single day all were $2 each. New York 1901, Imhotep, Via Nebula, royals, and 7 Wonders.
Also found Euphoria at a gamer flea market for $15.
 

RAZO

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Our game group is starting to collapse. Hate to say it, but the spouses have ruined it for most of us, and the constant nagging has driven the organizers to just fold it. It will likely reform with a less inclusive invite system.

i've moved to playing more Arkham LCG. Built a nice deck case, and I've been enjoying the deckbuilding aspect to it.

Took a quick terrible panorama of tonight's game, and the case I made. The case is an artists case from hobby lobby. It's untreated wood, so I transferred some art and stained it. Added some elastic bands to the lid, and there is a card organizer with some laser cut wood.

View attachment 50748View attachment 50749

I'm not going to front. Not into board games, D&D or any of that kind of stuff but this one looks dope as fuck.
 

NeoSneth

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Gloomhaven released in early access on Steam. FYI,
This is not a digital version of the boardgame. It's a random dungeon crawler with some Gloomhaven heros'. Only 4 at the moment. It has almost nothing to do with the boardgame yet.
 

mjmjr25

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We play Charterstone w/6 and enjoy it. I'm not sure it'd be as good w/2 and the automa actions.

My shelf of shame has really dwindled. We brought up every game we hadn't played and made a rule of for each regular rotation play of a game, we had to play a 1st play of another. Some duds (King's Life, Flip City) but some real pleasant surprises too (Samarkand, The Arrival). I think we ended up keeping around 2/3 and the rest I sold at auction on BGG.

In summer we tend to play shorter stuff and less thinky. A combination of less time plus just feel like we should be out when it's nice.

We've played a lot of Ganz Schon Clever, Noch Mal, Perfect Home, Qwinto and Tiny Towns. We tried Patchwork Doodle and were shocked at how boring and easy. It was $10, but even at that, we don't think we'll play it again, so 1 play at 15 mins and we're done.

Coimbra is the best Euro i've played recently.

Azul Stained Glass of Sintra was ok. I like the planning better than Azul actually, but it's just too slow and fiddly when someone is scoring. I want to love it and say it's better than Azul, but unfortunately it isn't. Reef is really good though and is in that same vein.
 

mjmjr25

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Some recent plays:

Doctor Panic
enhance


Cottage Garden and Splendor
enhance


At the Gates of Loyang
enhance


Escape from 100 million BC
enhance


Machi Koro on one end and a temple building Greek area control I can't recall name of!
enhance
 

NeoSneth

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i have to remember to take more pics. I did a few time-lapses. Not as interesting as you'd think, but I should throw those on youtube.
 

mjmjr25

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My wife often stops mid game to snap photos. Railways of the World EASTERN US map is awesome mid-game.
 

greedostick

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Our game group is starting to collapse. Hate to say it, but the spouses have ruined it for most of us, and the constant nagging has driven the organizers to just fold it. It will likely reform with a less inclusive invite system.

i've moved to playing more Arkham LCG. Built a nice deck case, and I've been enjoying the deckbuilding aspect to it.

I play The Lord of the Rings LCG, and it's fucking great. Love that game. Been meaning to pick up Arkham Horror, but started getting involved in the new-ish Legend of the 5 Rings LCG, which is pretty killer, but you need friends to play. I personally think it destroys Magic, but Magic has such a hold in the competitive card game category. Seriously though, the L5R reboot, is great. If you have friends get it. Great art, cool flavor text, and really deep.

I recently decided I wanted to try a war game, and picked up Fields of Fire. Game is super complex, but seems really good. I'm still trying to grasp it honestly.

I normally only buy games that play well solo, here are some of my favorites.

1. MageKnight
2. Scythe
3. Gloomhaven
4. Photosynthesis
5. Caverna
6. Le Havre
7. A feast for Odin.


Recently I got word from the owner of a board game store, that Nemo's War is getting a reprint this month. So hopefully I can score a copy of that real soon.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/187617/nemos-war-second-edition
 

NeoSneth

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I play The Lord of the Rings LCG, and it's fucking great. Love that game. Been meaning to pick up Arkham Horror, but started getting involved in the new-ish Legend of the 5 Rings LCG, which is pretty killer, but you need friends to play. I personally think it destroys Magic, but Magic has such a hold in the competitive card game category. Seriously though, the L5R reboot, is great. If you have friends get it. Great art, cool flavor text, and really deep.

I recently decided I wanted to try a war game, and picked up Fields of Fire. Game is super complex, but seems really good. I'm still trying to grasp it honestly.

I normally only buy games that play well solo, here are some of my favorites.

1. MageKnight
2. Scythe
3. Gloomhaven
4. Photosynthesis
5. Caverna
6. Le Havre
7. A feast for Odin.


Recently I got word from the owner of a board game store, that Nemo's War is getting a reprint this month. So hopefully I can score a copy of that real soon.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/187617/nemos-war-second-edition


I like everything about l5R, but i don't know anyone playing. One of the guys in my group played a while, until it turned meta. I really don't want to play multiple LCG's either. Both from a cost and time perspective. Arkham LCG offers a fair amount of replay, and scratches that deckbuilding itch. I attempted LoTR LCG, but never got any momentum. It was a little too complex for the SO and I. I think we could handle it now, but gotta stick to 1 LCG. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of game there, but maybe another time.


I don't get too many solo games, but Deep Space D6 is absolutely great. Plays like FTL if you know that indie game.
 
Last edited:

mjmjr25

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I don't play solo, but I like all of those games in groups. I haven't played Gloomhaven, but all the others are all top games for us.

My son enjoys Suburbia solo play. I got him Friday but he hasn't played it yet.
 

Neodogg

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The whole family likes to play 5 minute Dungeon, we don’t play with the timer since our 5 yo is playing, still a fun game for all.
 

NeoSneth

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I really like campaign games, but getting people together is still a challenge. We are now 8/10's of the way done with Mechs v Minions. This is still an absolutely incredible game in every aspect. I wanted to marathon it over a weekend sometime, but it's been spread out over a year :( 2 missions left to go from the box.

MvM.JPEG
 

mjmjr25

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I put my copy of MvM on ebay last week. I've heard only great things and I looked forward to painting the minis, but my mini backlog is strong and as a rule I don't enjoy programming games (except Space Alert).
 

NeoSneth

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I didnt think it needed any paint. The characters are all well done and washed. The minions have a wash too. I've seen painted minions, and they blend into the colorful board.

The programming is much better than something like RoboRally. It's not nearly as chaotic, and you get smarter over time. Play the tutorial missions. I bet you will change your mind. Plus, they say programming games are great learning tools for kids.
 
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