NG.com board game thread

My weekly D&D group played the A Game of Thrones for the second time last week. It's an amazing game. The rules really make you back stab and kill each other. I highly recommend it, but unfortunately the game is really 4-6 players. We never played it with just three, but it wouldn't be as fun. I'm thinking about getting a copy, but board games are awfully big to have around the house.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1589947207...gamegeek.com/boardgame/6472/a-game-of-thrones b

You can get that AGoT 2nd ED for $38-40 on most online board game retail sites. The amazon price is a tad high, see here.

A Game of Thrones 2nd ed is something I'd love to play.

For TAP, here is a lengthy video from a GenCon 2012 demo of the new Star Wars: X-Wing games.

'duf:

Based on your tastes, I'd say Gen Con is a must for you. Honestly, just from what I see of you here, I think you'd really enjoy Gen Con. You MUST go next year. I'd be happy to hook it up. If 'sneth goes, the three of us should hook it up and play some Gears boardgame, or Descent or anything, really.

Gen Con was really great this year, as it always is.

And the A Game of Thrones boardgame IS quite awesome. Fantasy Flight released a print to order event card expansion for it this year covering the newest novel, A Dance With Dragons. They also released a print to order mission expansion for Gears of War. Of course, I snagged 'em both.

Lagduf said:

You can get that AGoT 2nd ED for $38-40 on most online board game retail sites. The amazon price is a tad high, see here.

A Game of Thrones 2nd ed is something I'd love to play.

For TAP, here is a lengthy video from a GenCon 2012 demo of the new Star Wars: X-Wing games.

Click to expand...

Cool. I'll have to check that video out later today.

Thanks for posting it.

Taiso said:

'duf:

Based on your tastes, I'd say Gen Con is a must for you. Honestly, just from what I see of you here, I think you'd really enjoy Gen Con. You MUST go next year. I'd be happy to hook it up. If 'sneth goes, the three of us should hook it up and play some Gears boardgame, or Descent or anything, really.

Gen Con was really great this year, as it always is.

And the A Game of Thrones boardgame IS quite awesome. Fantasy Flight released a print to order event card expansion for it this year covering the newest novel, A Dance With Dragons. They also released a print to order mission expansion for Gears of War. Of course, I snagged 'em both.

Click to expand...

Let's talk GenCon.

It's over and I want to go next year, what do I need to do?

When can I get a ticket and do you have to get a ticket for each day or can I get a ticket for every day? (Seems like Sunday might be a lackluster day to attend)
How do I sign up for scheduled events? (tournaments) Do any tournaments cost money to enter?

So I fly in to Indianapolis (I'm assuming they have an airport...) and then what? How far do I need to travel to the convention? Is there nearby lodging that is affordable? If not is there public transportation that can get me from my room to the convention?

I'd love to play AGoT 2nd edition and check out all of FFG's new stuff next year. Figure I'll bring maybe $200 to spend on games (I figure that'll get me 3 to 4 games easy which is kind of lot to buy all at once - especially if you pay retail.)

Any Gen Con events that I absolutely need to go to?

So dudes, I figure I should start contributing to this thread instead of just messaging Lagduf. I haven't read all of the pages yet, I will though. Some recent plays of mine include the typical Catan, a few rounds of Imperial which I think I understand (and enjoy) now, lots and lots of Dominion.

Today though I picked up a copy of a card game (I know not a board really), its the designers first game and its solid for 2 players which my wife and I have been looking for more games playable with just two. He is a fellow Pittsburgher so that made it make even more sense to support him. You can read about the game and buy it here. http://twolanternsgames.com/morels.html

The next couple I would like to pick up are BrewMaster just because, I had mentioned it in this thread years ago, looks like stupid simple fun and why not, I'm a brewer.

The other is Agricola, 'duf, you mentioned you had it, years ago, of course. Would you recommend it for 2 player games?

Lastly does anyone have or have played Zombicide? http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113924/zombicide

It looks interesting and it is co-op rather than competitive which could be fun for the wife and I to play and then it is expandable to more players when we have folks over.

Agricola is decent as a 2 player but since it is a game where you are vying over a shared pool of resources I feel that it would be better with more than two. It's playable with two of course, but better with three and four, etc.

I have been looking around at 2 player board games, just been lazy and not messaged you anything yet - I realized most of my 2 player boardgames were wargames.

I'm going to recommend you one wargame, because I must, and it's actually not a true wargame per se - as it's about the cold war and your battles are fought with influence rather than direct attacks:

Twilight Struggle - This may very well be the best board game of all time. Doubly so if you like the theme. It's just awesome. This is 2 player and probably doable in, IIRC, under 3 hours.

For 2 player per your requirements I would check out:

• Hive - a 2 player abstract where the pieces represent bugs. Each piece can move differently (like chess), the goal is to encircle your opponents queen (bee) - requires no board. This game is beautiful as well. Fast and somewhat deep, but easy to learn.
  
  
• Blokus - Another abstract. I just call it the board game version of tetris. Basically you try to fit all your tetris like pieces on the board (while the opponent does the same). This can play up to four, but you can get the Travel edition of blokus to play with two. I own both (full size and travel.)
  
  
• Lord of the Rings- make sure it's this specific game called "Lord of the Rings" - It's often touted as a good gateway game, easy to teach etc. It's a cooperative game in which both players work together (as opposed to against each other) to defeat the game "system."
  
  
• Carcassone - I don't even know if this is playable with two (I wouldn't bother without at least 3), but you should probably go ahead and score it on the cheap anyway. Another fast "gateway" game.

Regarding Zombicide - I've heard enough good things to buy it blindly from reading posts on the internet and from a coworker who has played it. It's very thematic and supposedly has a solid ruleset. So far I don't think it has shipped to retailers, just to those who supported the Kickstarter. I think you've got the right idea with getting a game that is good with 2 players but is equally as good with 3 or 4. I'd keep searching for more cooperative games.

In looking at my collection I find I have many numerous 2 player wargames and multiplayer (4+) heavily thematic games.

If you can handle Imperial then I think I could recommend some game with "heavier" rulesets as I understand Imperial does take a few hours to play, no? Always wanted to play that one.

Do you like A Game of Thrones or Battlestar Galactica?

If so each of those IPs have an excellent game from Fantasy Flight Games.

Couple games you might want look at/read about:

Pandemic
Power Grid
Ticket to Ride

I posted this on facebook, but here is the game I just bought (click image to make it larger):



It's called Leviathans. It's awesome. Flying steampunk battleships set in an alternate 1910 at the height of Imperialism.

I need to take the time and bust out my Star Trek games and do a write up on those.

You know you want Summoner Wars for 2-player action.

And for groups I would recommend Small World. Most people should understand Risk making it easy to teach plus it's a little cutesy which helps with the universal appeal.

Need to make another visit to the board game store and refresh myself on what looks interesting out there. Lagduf already mentioned the big ones you'll see on store shelves in his last post.

Lagduf said:

It's called Leviathans. It's awesome. Flying steampunk battleships set in an alternate 1910 at the height of Imperialism.

Click to expand...

It looks like a 3D version of battleship

Eric said:

You know you want Summoner Wars for 2-player action.

And for groups I would recommend Small World. Most people should understand Risk making it easy to teach plus it's a little cutesy which helps with the universal appeal.

Need to make another visit to the board game store and refresh myself on what looks interesting out there. Lagduf already mentioned the big ones you'll see on store shelves in his last post.

Click to expand...

Talk to me about Summoner Wars.

What is it/why should I buy it?

Lagduf said:

Talk to me about Summoner Wars.

What is it/why should I buy it?

Click to expand...

Expandable 1v1 board game played on a board. Strategy comes from card positioning/movement and hand/deck management. Some luck involved with dice rolls used to determine most attacks.

Objective is to kill your opponent's "summoner" unit. 16 factions currently (6 come in the master set which is the best value and includes the board). Unique units for each faction with differing costs, health, attack values, and abilities. (Good for those into asymmetrical gameplay). Also different events for each faction that can do different things like allow free summoning of units, take magic from opponents, add/enhance abilities, etc.

Limited deck building (no randomness in what the decks you buy will contain) through the reinforcement packs they sell that add about 10 units (plus multiple copies for common units) for 2 factions each. Set size on decks.

I haven't gotten into the reinforcement packs yet, and only have half the factions (8) so far but that's already a lot of potential match ups. They seem to be done making new factions for now but will be adding new summoners (with events) in the near future to change up the old decks.

Turn based gameplay with separate phases for summoning new units, moving, and attacking. Build magic to summon more units or play abilities by discarding cards from your hand or destroying units.

Game tends to move pretty quickly, especially once you've learned the unit abilities. And while there is luck involved through the dice rolls they don't feel like a major reason for winning or losing. A major reason I like it is because each faction feels fairly distinct from one another. Mountain Vargath may be more a straightforward, charge ahead faction, but the Benders rely on manipulating enemy position, or the Swamp Orcs use their unique vine walls to trap their opponents or shield their own units.

All the cards are available to look at to give you an idea of what the different abilities are.

Some factions are more straightforward (Phoenix Elves, Mountain Vargath) some are definitely a little more tricky (Benders, Cloaks)

PS: These lists should be a good starting point for finding new games worth playing. With a 2-player category as well.

I have no one local to play games with but that Leviathan picture makes me want to get it none the less.

For anyone who has played with train games, is there any that can be recommended? I remember playing one with a friend who collected HO models back in college. Basically it was a rollout laminated map of the USA (Northern Mexico included) and the premise was using erasable markers/crayons to draw and build new train lines between numerous dots on the map and the delivering your cargo thus making money for more lines and trains. I don't remember what it was called, and looking online brings up a ton of similar looking games so I figured I'd just ask for advice on a game with this kind of theme that's a good one to start out with.

Thanks for the suggestions Erin and 'duf. As for the war games recs, I'd be happy to hear them. I'll probably even buy a couple. Only problem is that I know the wife won't really play them, or at least definitely won't enjoy them, so they'll sit for the occasional family get together with the game playing cousins (they're the ones I've played Imperial with).

I've played Carcassone before, it is nice, not especially exciting I thought but definitely accessible. Gotta run for now, I'll read up on some more of those

Carcassonne is on sale for Xbox 360 for $5. Don't know if I'll pull the trigger on it (got a lot of unspent points) but if nothing else the trial version will give you a feel for the game itself. Plus since it's just randomly drawing tiles one at a time it lends itself well to playing multiplayer by passing the controller. No secrets in that game.

Oh shit Lithy, Twilight Struggle is coming out for PC. Hold off on purchasing a board game copy of that everyone, get the PC version as it will support online play. It's a 100% faithful PC version of the board game original.

Thanks for the post Eric, i've got a few more questions but I'm definitely intrigued.

I want to know more about Leviathans. How long are games, it is easy to get into, etc? I have a friend who's into board games (I'm always willing to play) but this would be fun to get and share with him if it's worth it.

Kiselgof said:

I have no one local to play games with but that Leviathan picture makes me want to get it none the less.

For anyone who has played with train games, is there any that can be recommended? I remember playing one with a friend who collected HO models back in college. Basically it was a rollout laminated map of the USA (Northern Mexico included) and the premise was using erasable markers/crayons to draw and build new train lines between numerous dots on the map and the delivering your cargo thus making money for more lines and trains. I don't remember what it was called, and looking online brings up a ton of similar looking games so I figured I'd just ask for advice on a game with this kind of theme that's a good one to start out with.

Click to expand...

Those types of railroad games are referred to as Crayon Rails or Crayon Rail Road games.

I only have one called Empire Builder but there are a bunch of games in that particular series. Empire Builder has a map of the USA and Mexico but the edition I have the map doesn't fold/roll out. I'm wondering if you played this game though? Maybe a different edition than from what I own?

Other train games worth looking at:

1830
Steam
Rails of the World

Of course there are other games in the 18xx series, Rails of the World has tons of expansions, as does Steam and its "sister" series Age of Steam. Then there are dozens of other lower print run railroading games.

Damn, I hoped you had somehow replied within a minute.

aria said:

I want to know more about Leviathans. How long are games, it is easy to get into, etc? I have a friend who's into board games (I'm always willing to play) but this would be fun to get and share with him if it's worth it.

Click to expand...

I haven't played it yet but I can offer you my impressions.

The game appears to be a of a medium complexity. It has a beginner ruleset that teaches you the basic concepts of the game and then a medium complexity ruleset that has all the rules of the beginner ruleset but simply gives you more tactical options with regard to how you can move and attack. The medium complexity ruleset also expands greatly upon the damage system in the game.

In the beginner game damage to your ship is just basically damage. Only armor and guns get destroyed. In the moderate complexity ruleset you can attempt to repair damage every turn, and the damage that occurs to your ship matters more because it can affect your ships overall speed and how well it can turn.

It's a lot of neat game options and concepts for not a whole lot more complexity. It seems like it will make for some neat situations in games where say your Battleship was damaged greatly on one side and as a result has a harder time turning to the right. You will have to think about how to overcome this hindrance while your opponent will try to exploit it. Likewise ships engines can be destroyed. You can effectively cripple a ship's ability to simply move and leave it dead in the water (or rather, the sky).

In the medium complexity game you also get more attacking options. In the beginner game all weapons fire individually, in the medium complexity game you can have two more guns attack the same point on a ship at the same time ("Bracketing Fire") to attempt to increase the probability of a damaging hit. Aerial torpedoes are also added in the medium-complexity game.

So the game is scalable complexity wise in that you can slowly add on the more advanced rules as you learn the game. There will be an advanced ruleset coming out soon that will add things such as elevation (game supports three elevation levels). There are already optional rules available for clouds and wind.

The game works in such a way that if you find something too complex you can simply toss that rule out and tune the rules you use to find that sweet spot for your group. It was designed from the ground up to allow for players to sort of do their own thing and play it how they want to play it. So you could start out playing with the basic ruleset, then slowly add more rules as you go. Play a game using the additional movement rules, then play another game using the additional movement rules and the additional attacking rules, etc. It seems like it'd be easy to learn that way if you were so inclined. I don't think the game is so complex by any means that you must learn it in this approach. You could just pick up the medium-complexity ruleset and start playing with that. It's what I intend to do, but I have a modicum of familiarity with board games of this type (and this game is very similar to another game I have.)

I will say this: all the things I talk about above are resolved by the simple roll of dice. The game uses custom colored dice, and it's dead simple to tell what you need to roll. The color of the dice (and how many) you need when you fire a particular weapon are printed next to that weapon on the card. In the case of resolving the attacks you're making you are generally trying to have your attack roll ("breach roll") be equal to or higher than the armor value of the part of the ship you hit.

Time wise, not sure. Need to have the game hit the table. I'd say as a general rule the more ships each player has to command the longer a game will take. This is the case in a similar naval combat game I have (it's actually a Star Trek game, but since it doesn't take in to account the third dimension it's basically a naval combat game)

The game does have some "book keeping" - each ship you field in the game has a corresponding ship data card. On the card you basically just keep track of what has been damaged. You do this by writing on the card (it's a glossy plastic) with a dry erase marker. Most of the time you'll just be marking X's through the parts of your ships that have been destroyed.

I'd go for it if you have an interest in the absurdly awesome theme and don't mind a game that is basically just a fight to the death between naval (uh aerial) vessels.

I think the website http://www.monstersinthesky.com might have the quickstart rules available for download if you want to run through those.

Otherwise any questions with the rules could probably be solved quickly by checking Boardgamegeek.com

Eric said:

Expandable 1v1 board game played on a board. Strategy comes from card positioning/movement and hand/deck management. Some luck involved with dice rolls used to determine most attacks.

Objective is to kill your opponent's "summoner" unit. 16 factions currently (6 come in the master set which is the best value and includes the board). Unique units for each faction with differing costs, health, attack values, and abilities. (Good for those into asymmetrical gameplay). Also different events for each faction that can do different things like allow free summoning of units, take magic from opponents, add/enhance abilities, etc.

Limited deck building (no randomness in what the decks you buy will contain) through the reinforcement packs they sell that add about 10 units (plus multiple copies for common units) for 2 factions each. Set size on decks.

I haven't gotten into the reinforcement packs yet, and only have half the factions (8) so far but that's already a lot of potential match ups. They seem to be done making new factions for now but will be adding new summoners (with events) in the near future to change up the old decks.

Turn based gameplay with separate phases for summoning new units, moving, and attacking. Build magic to summon more units or play abilities by discarding cards from your hand or destroying units.

Game tends to move pretty quickly, especially once you've learned the unit abilities. And while there is luck involved through the dice rolls they don't feel like a major reason for winning or losing. A major reason I like it is because each faction feels fairly distinct from one another. Mountain Vargath may be more a straightforward, charge ahead faction, but the Benders rely on manipulating enemy position, or the Swamp Orcs use their unique vine walls to trap their opponents or shield their own units.

All the cards are available to look at to give you an idea of what the different abilities are.

Some factions are more straightforward (Phoenix Elves, Mountain Vargath) some are definitely a little more tricky (Benders, Cloaks)

PS: These lists should be a good starting point for finding new games worth playing. With a 2-player category as well.

Click to expand...

Am I correct in assuming the board is like the battleground? As in the cards move up and down the board and need to get in contact with the other cards to attack? Are there ranged attacks/magic?

What is your favorite faction? I really love asymmetry in a game design. Very hard to balance but when it is it's oh so rewarding.

Is the turn structure IGOUGO in that I move ALL my pieces and then my opponent moves ALL his pieces, or is it more of an alternating structure where I can say play a card, then my opponent plays a card, then I play a card, etc?

I saw some pictures and noticed there were non-unit type cards on the board like Walls. Those look cool if they act like I imagine they do. Any other interesting type of cards you play that aren't fighting characters/units?

PS: You just needed to tell me that I could play as Orcs. Whenever Orcs are I'm so there.

This game seems like a less gamey board game version of magic. And I like that.

I got back in to Magic way earlier in the year, but ended up feeling the same way about it again I as I did all those years ago. Magic is so gamey, meta, abstract (whatever you want to call it) that the rules and actions you take in game don't really feel like, to me, they have anything to do with the source material. I just don't get a good narrative in magic. When I win with my Zombie deck I don't feel like I unleashed a Zombie horde and crushed an Orc or Goblin army. I also hate the fact that decks aren't more thematic. I'm done with Magic in every way that isn't completely casual and entirely thematic.

Sorry for the MtG rant.

Yeah, I understand your point about Magic. I guess with Magic it's just too tied into the color of mana system they have. So it's always more like you're not using an angel deck, you're using a white deck which means you have cards to gain you life that just so happen to have flying units called angels.

Summoner Wars definitely feels more thematic to me. And they mix some things up, sometimes. So while the Cave Goblins would have that sense of cheap and frail/disposable units that you flood the board with to overwhelm your opponent with, the Sand Goblins, on the other hand, are built tougher. They have abilities like avoiding ranged attacks or negating damage. Cloaks will play a sneakier hit and run game, but Vanguards will play more defensive and heal.

To answer your questions: Yes the board is the battleground. Set up as a grid. 6x8 I believe. Typical movement is 2 spaces going by the 4 cardinal points (so a diagonal move would count as 2 spaces). Attack ranges are indicated by the sword or bow symbols. Sword is adjacent, bow is usually up to 3 clear line spaces (no diagonals typically). The big number on the card signifies the number of dice rolled to attack. 3 or higher count as hits, so the game favors the attacker as a majority of attacks will land. Cards also indicate the summoning cost and health.

Walls are what are used as summoning points. As in, under normal circumstances, you have to summon new units next to a wall. You start off with one wall and can play additional walls on your side of the board when you draw them from the deck, or build them as magic if you want. So they can act as a defensive structure (that can be destroyed) or as a rallying point for new units. Other unique cards are event cards that are played for free and have different effects (affect unit movement, steal magic, and add abilities) but they only last the one turn. You can stack them, though.

Game starts with a default unit and wall placement unique to the faction. Basic turn structure is draw cards until you have 5 in hand, play event cards if you have them, summon units, move with 3 units, attack with 3 units (don’t have to be the same units), then your choice of what, if any, cards to place from your hand to your magic pile, ending your turn. As always, some abilities might mean additional movement or additional attacks. And any unit or wall you destroy is added to your magic pile.

The two orc factions in the game are rather unique. They both have their own unique walls that they can use to crowd their opponent (or trap them on a wall). But then there’s a faction like the Guild Dwarves who are made for destroying walls, preventing an opponent from summoning new units.

My favorite faction so far has been the swamp orcs, but the Filth are definitely the most unique faction I own (have yet to use them in a game, though). They mix things up by mutating their units into new things, and I can imagine it would really mess with an opponent not knowing what that guy creeping on your side of the board is about to turn into.

PS: And who wouldn't want to use this guy?

Sounds awesome, Duf, I may pick it up now.

Empire Builder, sweet, I think that's it!

http://gamesbyjohnny.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/empire-builder/

This guy says it came rolled up in the first edition and looking at the picture this is the exact same game I played, so it just must have been an early edition. Thanks for the advice Duf!