Anyone collect board games? Just babbling about them.

[Lagduf]

You sold me on a board game version of a DCC Funnel.

Have you seen the standalone DCC funnel called Tournament of Pigs?

It’s almost a board game in itself. It’s a funnel that takes place entirely in an arena where the players have to survive increasingly crazy gladiatorial type challenges, from straight up fighting to solving puzzles, playing football against orcs, etc.

It’s a really neat package. Has a board for play, Cardboard standees for the players, monsters, traps, etc. It’s definitely still DCC but it’s a slick package. Probably a fun tournament rpg scenario if that’s still a thing.

 

[Taiso]

I see it when I go to Games Plus but I've never pulled the trigger. My friend from STL is a massive DCC fan so I'm sure he has it.

I don't want you to misunderstand my description of EtDC. It shares some similar ideas conceptually but in a funnel you bring a shit ton of characters. In EtDC, you get one character, the deck is different every time and so is the boss. But that basic idea that you are a normal schlub just trying to escape a dangerous situation is very much in line with the concept of a funnel.

I'll have to seriously consider Tournament of Pigs now. You have given me much to consider.

Here is a summary of Escape the Dark Castle. I've never watched anything from this channel but it has 10K subs so he has some cache. I LOVE the art in this game. Very 1E. Very early industry. Big focus on the dark fantasy and horror aspects.

 

[Taiso]

Update on the Elmore situation:

He personally e-mailed me and said he'd autograph the book. He wants me to send my copy to him with my return address and phone number. He also e-mailed me his address and phone number.

Unreal. To think that I could call Larry Elmore, right now, and chat him up.

Elmore: I changed my mind, fagit. I'll address it to Melissa but your name's not going in the book.

 

[Lagduf]

Dude sounds like a fucking class act. Reading that made my heart grow a size, Grinch style.

 

[kuze]

Does anyone here have the Metal Gear Solid board game? I was never big into board games but I’m ready to goob out with this whenever there’s a second printing.

I got it as a birthday gift a year and a half or so ago as a preorder and it finally came in recently. Busted it out and tried a VR mission with four players last weekend as an initial go.

It was a great time and took a couple hours to complete the mission. The game has a cool PS1 style memory card looking box where you keep various gear you earn throughout the vr missions and campaign.

The tension is fairly high as it is easy to get killed and one player dying causes everyone to lose the game, makes for a great coop experience though working to strategize together and use each character’s strengths.

The companion graphic novel for the campaign is really nice quality too. Overall a great game and one with lots of replay value.

 

[Taiso]

The retail release doesn't come with the Rex mini. All well and good, but it looks very cool.

Dude sounds like a fucking class act. Reading that made my heart grow a size, Grinch style.

Larry Elmore has always been generous to me and was with my wife and myself whenever we visited him at his table at the various cons.

Most of the old guard are top flight individuals. I never had a bad interaction with any of them once in my life. All genuine people that earned it and appreciate the fame they have. The only one I have issues with is R.A. Salvatore. Very nice in person but doesn't know how to shut his fucking mouth on social media. He was always kind to me so I won't fault him too much. My interactions with him at cons have always been very nice.

 

[Average Joe]

Some Battle Line today.

 

[Average Joe]

Three games of 20 Strong (Solar Sentinels) today and I can't recommend this strong enough for solo play.

This was absolutely awesome to play.

 

[Lagduf]

My buddy and I did some Gloomhaven digital and we have generally done terrible and have failed all our runs. Though I think we’re finally starting to get a hang of the mechanics now.

Is the rule book available as a free .pdf? I definitely want to read it. I encountered a weird line of sight situation with respect to a door I didn’t quite understand.

The console edition appears to just be a port of PC digital edition with no changes made to the UI with respect to using a controller. It’s really, really clunky navigating the menus. Multiplayer integration has also not been great.

Despite our fails my buddy has been texting that’s he looking forward to playing again lol.

 

[Taiso]

Exposed the roomie to Tiny Epic Dungeons. We started late and she was like 'next time, let's start earlier so we can try a few more runs.'

We failed miserably but she enjoyed it.

I think she may become a massive board game nerd in time.

 

[Lagduf]

A better Gloomhaven Outing tonight.

We beat the mission we failed on numerous times and then beat the second mission after it on the first try.

We’ve been doing Brute and Scoundrel.

I did pick up the solo only version Buttons and Bugs because, hey, $20 and this thread has me interested in trying some solo gaming again.

 

[Taiso]

Buttons and Bugs is a very nice little version of that game.

 

[Average Joe]

I can't praise Buttons & Bugs enough.

It isn't perfect, but it is a complete legit game in a tiny-ass box and I think it's cool as hell.

 

[Taiso]

This came in for me at my LCS last night:

Conan the Cimmerian: The Tower of the Elephant | Conan The Barbarian

"Oh that Yara, he's a fearsome one in his tower. I once dealt with his ilk, I did, and supplied him with thongs from the deepest jungles. It's for his spiders, you see. Ghastly pets, if you ask me, but gold is gold, is it not?"

conan.com

Not that expensive. The box had some heft.

 

[Taiso]

On an entirely different note, I MAY be receiving a call from Larry Elmore this weekend. I wanted to go to Gary Con this year to have him autograph my Art III book, which I backed on KS but couldn't afford an autographed version due to prioritizing my wife's medical health needs. I contacted him today on his website and got a hit back in e-mail where I told them I can't get in to Gary Con because the badges are all sold out and if there's a way to get my book autographed to my wife and me, that would be so great. When he was still going to Gen Con, we would make a point to visit his table, chat with him, buy something from him and listen to his stories of the good old days when TSR was blazing the trail for this industry. I know he's old and retired, but he still goes to Gary Con because that is where the luminaries from his era still go to visit with fans and hawk their new wares. Gen Con is just too busy and doesn't really respect him or any of the hobby's founders anymore. They're all old white men and clearly racists and sexists. Even though Margaret Weis has pushed back on this many times.

One time someone asked her in an interview to talk about all of the women whose voices were suppressed during that era and she said. "Who are these women? Where are they? Who do you speak of? The editor of fiction at TSR was a woman and she made the decision to go forward with Dragonlance novels because the company thought they would make money.' Love Margaret for not joining the fag woke mob that has gaslit us for nearly 30 years. We're still being bullied and fuck off if you think differently. Miss me with that 'white people were always the bad guys' shit. Well, NOW they are. Younger millenials are the fuckiing worst and they need the conch taken away from them.

Sorry. Tangent.

His rep asked me if I was available to take a call on Sunday between 2 and 3. I told him I would make the time.

Update on the Larry Elmore book signing. I got the book back today. When I sent it to him, I included a letter telling him about how I met Melissa, what his work with TSR meant to us and how much she loved all of those pioneers of the TTRPG industry. It was a long letter and I was afraid that even though he was retired, he might not read it. It was an imposition on his time for sure but I can tell he definitely read it. The dragons are clearly sketches of myself and Melissa.

 

[max 330 megafartz]

Update on the Larry Elmore book signing. I got the book back today. When I sent it to him, I included a letter telling him about how I met Melissa, what his work with TSR meant to us and how much she loved all of those pioneers of the TTRPG industry. It was a long letter and I was afraid that even though he was retired, he might not read it. It was an imposition on his time for sure but I can tell he definitely read it. The dragons are clearly sketches of myself and Melissa.
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Thats fucking beautiful.
Thank you for sharing

 

[Lagduf]

What a wonderful human being.

Just wow.

 

[Taiso]

Larry Elmore is a true prince among the great men of this hobby. I've known this for many years. Always generous with his time at the cons. Just a wonderful man and a true ambassador for the hobby. This industry doesn't respect him the way that it should. Guess he was just too good at his job.

 

[Average Joe]

Hanamikoji

Win the favor of the geishas through careful speculation and bold moves.

boardgamegeek.com

Snagged this for the wife and I.

She really digs Battle Line so I looked up games that are similar and this has great reviews.

 

[Taiso]

Hanamikoji

Win the favor of the geishas through careful speculation and bold moves.

boardgamegeek.com

Snagged this for the wife and I.

She really digs Battle Line so I looked up games that are similar and this has great reviews.

I have this as well. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Taiso]

James Ragge, the publisher of Lamentations of the Flame Princess, a retroclone of early D&D with a genre focus on horror and cinema as its narrative backbone, has long been a target of cancel culture for just wanting to make the games he wants to make. But through it all, he's weathered those storms and continues to do as he wants. For a while, he tried to please the wokescolds but that got him nothing from them. It's a tale as old as cancel culture: get called out, apologize for it and promise to 'do better' and then have to suffer while they do everything in their power to co-opt your hard work, absorb it into their collective and then dismiss you. Apologies are never enough. This is a 'tradition' that goes back to H.P. Lovecraft-faggits profiting off of his work while continuing to piss and moan about the man's early prejudices. These are the 'all art is political' types. If that's the case...maybe don't make money off of someone you purport to hate?

Bah. It's all a grift.

Anyway, Ragge broke free of their influence and has a 'no fucks given' attitude about his publications. At last year's Gen Con, I bought the adventure module 'Don't Fuck the Priest', which is certainly a B movie horror title if I ever heard one.

This is a great analysis he does of Questing Beast's interview with former 5E director Mike Mearls. It was an interesting watch.

 

[Average Joe]

I have this as well. Let us know how it goes!

We finally played it today and it's a lot of fun.

It's deeper than it looks based on what's actually in the box and has a lot of room for card game-esque bluffing and whatnot.

A lot of decisions to be made and the back-and-forth is definitely engaging even if winning on the first round is very possible, but after a few games that seemed to happen less.

This seems to be the nice balance my wife needs; simple and quick setup/rules, but with lots of decisions to be made.

 

[mjmjr25]

Been playing a lot of smaller stuff recently:

Scout by Oink Games. Really nifty card game. Rummy mechanics with a major (skill) twist.
Trio - another that seemed like there wouldn't be enough game there, but there was.
Cockroach Poker - late to the show on this one, but it's really good.
The Gang - the hype is real. I didn't think Texas Hold 'Em could be made into a really REALLY good game. Games are super fast. It's sort of like The Mind meets Texas Hold 'Em, what an awesome idea. Works so well. Love.
Finca - elegant. Rondel game of pick up and buy. Super fast, plenty thinky and some meanness.
River Valley Glassworsk - got the deluxe, worth it. Super fun, plays fast. Played 3 games with 5 people in 90 minutes. Very Azul-like, but different enough that it's not Azul. It can be mean. I like it.
DroPolter - a dexterity game. Really simple, but good icebreaker fun. A "board game" for people who don't like board games or lots of rules. Only one rule and rounds take 10 seconds.

 

[Average Joe]

I'm considering Jaws of the Lion.

Going to use my tax return to finish paying off my car (being responsible) and then figured I need to balance out proper adulting with childish indulgences.

 

[Taiso]

Make sure you get a later print of Jaws of the Lion if you buy in, if you can. Some corrected materials and so forth.