Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Limited Edition Smaug Figure

Running a minis game or tabletop RPG with figures and need a Smaug figure to make an appearance?  Well, now that's easy to do and you can find out more here.


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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Systems Saturday - Firefly: The Game (2013)

I've recently had the opportunity to play a few games of Firefly: The Game (2013) from Gale Force Nine.  As a fan of the Firefly (2002-2003) television show and Serenity (2005), the movie denouement for the abruptly cancelled series, I have to say right up front that I was predisposed to enjoy this game.  Every element of the game evokes fond memories of its namesake and they've done a good job of marrying mechanics to theme.


Here's a description of the base game from Board Game Geek (and the publisher):
Players begin with a ship, and travel from planet to planet, hiring crew, purchasing ship upgrades, and picking up cargo to deliver (jobs) all in the form of cards. Some crew and cargo are illegal, and can be confiscated if your ship is boarded by an alliance vessel. Travelling from planet to planet requires turning over "full burn" cards, one for each space moved. Most do nothing, but you can also encounter an Alliance ship, have a breakdown, or even run into Reavers. Completing jobs gets you cash. First player to complete the story goals wins.
Game description from the publisher:
In Firefly: The Game – based on the popular Firefly television series created by Joss Whedon – players captain their own Firefly-class transport ship, traveling the 'Verse with a handpicked crew of fighters, mechanics and other travelers. As a captain desperate for work, players are compelled to take on any job — so long as it pays. Double-dealing employers, heavy-handed Alliance patrols, and marauding Reavers are all in a day's work for a ship's captain at the edge of the 'Verse. Firefly: The Game is a high-end thematic tabletop boardgame from Gale Force Nine (GF9) and the first in a series of tabletop hobby board games and miniatures games from GF9 set in the Firefly Universe.

Gale Force Nine has uploaded a high-res PDF of the rulebook to Board Game Geek here.

The board itself is fairly straightforward without a lot of fancy trimmings that some might have come to expect with modern boardgames.  So, too, the playing pieces are simple but useful.  The Fireflies look as you'd expect, the Alliance Cruiser is bigger (if not big enough in scale) and ominous enough, and the Reaver ship has a shark-like quality.  The counters aren't all perfectly consistent in their cut either.  None of this matters as the system trumps any minor flaws.


The system design for Firefly is amazing.  The way they integrated theme with system amazed me at each turn.  The characters each have a number of Skills in up to three areas, Fight, Tech, and Negotiate, that make them useful to varying degrees.  Finding the right combo for your crew and determining how many crew to have from Job to Job seems to be the balancing act that can lead to victory or failure.


So far, I've mainly played games setup to simply collect the most money, either to a total or a time.  We've played one Story, a scenario with a number of tougher, specifically known-in-advance phases of an overall Job.  Tricky business that, even while knowing much of what needed to be done.  I can see how this game is going to have lots of replayability even without the expansions of which there are already over a half dozen.

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Friday, August 29, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Machi Koro (2012) with Watch It Played


Over the past month, on the Watch It Played YouTube channel, a series of videos have been uploaded detailing the gang's foray into playing Machi Koro (2012).  Enjoy!






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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Craig VanGrasstek's D&D Variant

Over on Jon Peterson's Playing at the World blog, he has an update on Craig VanGrasstek's Rules to the Game of Dungeon, a Dungeons & Dragons variant that VanGrasstek developed just months after D&D was first released.  Read more about this fascinating offshoot of the game and download a copy there as well.


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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - BGG Subdomain Project

Perhaps the most successful aspect of the Board Game Geek's Scott Alden's Subdomin Project is the institution that helped the categorization of wargames as a subdomain of board games.  What this has achieved is the isolation of a list of over 7.5K games under the subdomain "Wargame."  It makes for a very searchable list which can be found here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Mel's Styro-Planning & Wappel's Small Terrain Bases

Mel the Terrain Tutor has recently uploaded a video showing us how to plan out the cutting of styrofoam as we plan a terrain project.  Enjoy.


And over on the Wappelicious blog, James features some great photos of his bases that could double as small terrain pieces.  See more here.


For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Monday, August 25, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Conan Buildings, Painting Thunderwolves, & Brush-on Rubber Molds

Over on Matakishi's Tea House (matakishi.com), among from a ton of tutorials/pictorials, there is one titled "Building Hyboria" with 28mm building-construction ideas including a tower, a house, a prison, a "Dark Citadel," and a "Demon Gate."  See more here.


The GamesWorkshopWNT YouTube channel has a fairly new video on "Space Wolves - Painting a Thunderwolf.."  Enjoy.


Finally, Mike from Terranscapes has a video review of Brush-On 40 mold making urethane rubber from Smooth-On.  Good details and tips for the casters are included.


A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
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Sunday, August 24, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Cones of Dunshire at Gen Con

I'm looking for anyone who has information on how the Parks and Recreation (TV show) inspired game Cones of Dunshire played out at Gen Con.  Read more about the planning of this humorous event here.  There is some info here and here.  Anything more?



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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Systems Saturday - Feudality (2011)

Playing Feudality (2011) is always a treat.  As often as not, I get the chance to play it with the game designer, Tom Wham.  When he is going to be at one of the small conventions I attend, I always look to see if it is on the Sunday morning schedule and sign up right away.  I've tried a number of strategies and have as much fun not winning as I have winning.  This is a good thing, since I have only won a couple of times in dozens of attempts.  Earlier this week, our friend Dave was in town from Colorado and we played several games, wrapping up late at night with this excellent Tom Wham game published by Z-Man Games.  We used both the base game and the hard-to-find expansion.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
A long time ago in Europe, ages were pretty dark. The distribution of wealth back then left a lot to be desired. Greedy people banded together to take things from other people so that the rich could get richer and the poor could have even less. Twas ever thus. Step into the middle of the normal state of human affairs as a Baron or Baroness somewhere almost in Europe a long time ago. Thanks to your birth you have a lot of little people working to make you richer, and you, in turn, are doing your best to make your king even more prosperous. If you do things right, you might someday be king.
Each player starts with a Fiefdom Management card, divided into 64 squares (49 of which can have tiles played on them. Into four of these squares you deploy your Keep, in which you will put your fortification of some sort, and your soldiers. Elsewhere in your land you deploy assorted resource gatherers and buildings in an effort to grow, prosper, and score victory points. Along the way there may be wars, invasions, tournaments, taxes, and a lot of other nonsense.

I have found with this tile placement /resource management game that despite the luck of the dice being a fairly prevalent factor, being able to over-produce a single resource can be immensely helpful in staying competitive.  I've tried being heavy on victory point tiles and leaving my fortifications fallow, but the one thing that has always been true in my own game play, having better-than-solid production in at least one resource has led to me being within a point or two of victory or even winning.  I have also come to the belief that building up your fortifications early can lead to a quick victory but can also strain your resources if the dice aren't going your way (or at least staying neutral).  Check the game out if you get the chance and grab one for your own collection.

A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, August 22, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Midgard (2007) Revisited

Just a couple days ago, I posted about Midgard (2007).  You can check that out here, so I won't repeat the details of the game.  I do recommend the video to which I linked in that last posting as a primer if you are interested in the game.  The plan was to get in a game of Midgard for Game Like a Viking Day, which happens on the third Thursday of every month, for those interested in joining in the fun with your own organized Viking-themed games each month.


We did indeed squeeze in a game of Midgard and I have some insights to add to my previous posting.  Firstly, the discussion we had after the game reached consensus in a few areas.  We agreed that the micro-rewards in so many areas make a ranch of strategies viable, particularly if you can avoid the strategies being exploited by opponents and make quick adjustments as you keep track of which cards your opponents seem to be drafting.  Secondly, and this one I am revising relative to what we discussed post-game as I have reflected on it further, Asgard *doesn't* stink on ice.  We came to general agreement that sending too many Vikings to Asgard can keep you out of the running elsewhere but now I think that is only true if you don't build it into your strategy properly.  That is to say that if you send Vikings there without keeping a flexible way to draw some back if they aren't needed, then Asgard can be problematic.  But if you keep an outlet card, shall we say, so that a couple of Vikings can be brought back to the three Kingdoms, I think both Asgard and Vanaheim can be useful and not simply worker-pits.


Finally, the combination of gaining two points for those Vikings becoming Doomed and the additional point they each gain returning from Valhalla means you have to be sure no one runs away with all of the villages in Doomed provinces round after round.  If you want to hang onto a high numbered Gold card, thus requiring you go first in that same round, it behooves you to jump into a Doomed province to be sure you aren't playing the rest of that round catching up to someone going subsequently in the round.  Once you don't otherwise, if a subsequent player works heavily toward occupying villages in the Doomed provinces, they can really create a wide gap in the scoring.  This is compounded if those Doomed provinces are spread fairly evenly around the board, since they will also be collecting sets of tokens along the way.  Perhaps even worse if the Doomed provinces are bunched up in Kingdoms where you have few cards to dislodge them, and they also manage to gain majority before their Vikings are happily swept off to Valhalla.  So, those are just a few additional thoughts on the game and I hope you get the chance to enjoy it soon yourself!

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Thursday, August 21, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Frozen Frazetta, Fields's Hackmaster Mod, & "&" #10

A few things to herald today including a video uploaded by Mickey Leach to his YouTube site showing off a diorama he fashioned back in the early 1990s with some Frazetta influence.  Enjoy!


Also, and I've already been crowing about this one, my buddy George Fields has a new Hackmaster release in the form of an adventure titled "Legacy of the Elm King" which is available here.


Finally, the industrious Eric Fabiaschi has reviewed the new "& Magazine" #10 and has the skinny on it for us here.


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Midgard (2007)

I mentioned recently on the Game Like a Viking Facebook page that we played Midgard (2007) on Saturday at the Burlington gameday hosted by Steve and Kifflie.  My Thursday regulars at Lake Geneva Games also plan to squeeze in a game of it prior to our ongoing 5E D&D Starter Set playthough Thursday afternoon.  Since that is officially the first Game Like a Viking Day, it seems only appropriate.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
In this area-control boardgame with a mythic Scandinavian theme, players draft cards to place their viking warriors and leaders in the different realms found in Norse mythology. Beware! Some regions will suffer Ragnarok, sending your pieces to Valhalla.

To add a bit to this summary, in Midgard (2007), "suffering" death from the "Doom" Ragnarok tokens and even being "displaced" into Valhalla are point-scoring good things in this game.  There are multiple ways to gain points and it behooves players to exploit all of them while, perhaps, exploiting more vigorously whichever one is presented by the draft cards as most advantageous.  It is not a bad strategy to draft cards that let you swoop into each area where Ragnarok has been predicted and allow it to destroy a great many of your Vikings.  There is a point to be had for each one dying in this manner and then they go to Valhalla.  You get an additional point for each one in Valhalla which are then returned to the Viking ship, where they are stored until you land them in one province or another.


The cards allow you to attack areas from other areas or your ship, to occupy areas that are open, and to collect tokens designating the three regions, sets of which score at the end of the game.  The tokens are also gained along the way for being around the board and it can't hurt to try and get four, five, or even six sets of them.  Pursue more of them and likely your ongoing game will suffer.  And as said, you do need to make sure you have your hand in all of the point scoring pies if only to curtail another player from completely dominating in any area.  Here's a video that does a good job of detailing quite a bit of the game but keep my advice in mind as the elements are all described.  Enjoy!



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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - 28mm Watchtower from Tabletop Workshop

Over on the Tabletop Workshop website, there is a new 28mm Watchtower and a ton of other great buildings to be had.  See more here.


For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Monday, August 18, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Mini Painting 101 on Stone w/ Miniwargamer Jay

Over on his YouTube channel, Miniwargamer Jay has uploaded part 23 of his Miniature Painting 101 series on "Stone."  Enjoy.



A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
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Sunday, August 17, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Mini-Castle in Pena Park

For a bit of inspiration, there's a mini-castle in Pena Park in Portugal.  I suppose someone could run a fun game using real mini-boats and figures around this castle.  Probably ought to stick with plastic that floats rather than pewter or lead though.  Read more about it here.


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Saturday, August 16, 2014

Systems Saturday - Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery (2012)

Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery (2012) is a game I have seen played a number of times over the last two years but had yet to get the chance to join in until this week.   There is a lot of scheming and backstabbing in this game and, much like the classic Diplomacy (1959) game, one should make this very clear up front, particularly when playing with friends you wish to keep as friends.  Some folks can take what happens in game personally, so it behooves folks to follow the precautions suggested.


That said, our gang had a very good time.  We played with the expansion which allowed us eight players.  Four of us were new to the game, one had played a few times, and the owner of the game was most experienced but not exceedingly so.  A couple of the players, those who had played before, slipped out into early but not insurmountable leads, but the rest of us caught up to respectable levels before all was over.  A new player actually won after both the veterans were nearly there themselves but beaten back.  Big thanks to the great folks at Lake Geneva Games for putting up with us a bit later than usual.


The description of the game from Board Game Geek:
In Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery, an exciting game of twisted schemes and bloody combats inspired by the hit STARZ Original series, each player takes on the role of Dominus, head of a rising house in the ancient Roman city of Capua. Each house is competing for Influence to gain the favor of Rome. Through a combination of political schemes and glorious battles on the arena sands your house will rise in fame and stature. As Dominus, you have a variety of resources at your disposal. Guards protect you from schemes launched by rivals. Slaves run your household and earn gold. Gladiators compete to bring glory to themselves and influence to their Dominus.
Three main phases occur in each game round of Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery.
The Intrigue Phase is when players launch their Schemes, hoping to raise their fortunes while undermining their rivals. Schemes and Reactions are represented by cards in the Intrigue Deck. Players wield their Influence to put their Schemes into play, often asking for (or bribing) another player’s help in hatching the most complex plots.
The Market Phase is when players buy, sell and trade Assets (Gladiators, Slaves, Equipment and Guards). Players also bid against each other to acquire new Assets at Auction. Wealth is not the only path to success as players bluff and bargain with each other to acquire the Assets they covet.
The Arena Phase is when the bloody games are held. Gladiators from two rival Houses are pitted against each other in a brutal fight for glory. The spectacles of the games are represented by miniature combat on the arena board. Fighters pit their Attack, Defense and Speed dice against one another to determine the victor. All players seek to increase their fortunes by betting on the outcome of the gruesome conflict. Fighters who emerge from the arena victorious gain Favor and their Dominus gain Influence.
The goal of the game is to become the most influential house in Capua, securing your family’s power for years to come. During the game, players will bribe, poison, betray, steal, blackmail, and undermine each other. Gold will change hands again and again to buy support, stay someone’s hand or influence their decisions. Will you be the honorable player whose word is their bond or the treacherous schemer whose alliances change with the wind?
For myself, the Intrigue phase presented some difficulty.  I kept balking at using one of my special abilities though in retrospect I needn't have been so sheepish.  It was someone else's special ability that allowed them to slip into a victory.  I would be surprised to find that a majority of games are won that way.  While Intrigue cards can be opposed, and even opposing Intrigue cards (Reaction cards) can be opposed by a couple of special cards, I don't recall seeing anything that can thwart a special (character) ability.  I can also see a number of games ending from arena combat but it seems to me the key is the Intrigue phase of the game.  I'll need to play some more to be sure.  Until then, keep your Dominus clean and active.


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Friday, August 15, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Quarriors! Light vs. Dark (2014)

The games in the Quarriors line from Wiz Kids get some pretty good traction.  As dice games go, they are cleverly designed and bring some style to the table.  I recently played Quarriors! Light vs. Dark (2014).


This latest entry to the expansive string of Quarriors games adds more permutations to the sides of the dice and pulls the currency dice back from the building dice pool to try and address some of the issues in the previous incarnations.  The description follows from Board Game Geek:
In Quarriors! Light vs. Dark, players take on the roles of Quarriors, mighty mystical warriors who have the power to capture dangerous quarry from the untamed Wilds! They must conjure the mysterious powers of Quiddity, cast powerful spells, and summon their creatures to battle if they hope to overcome rivals and earn their rightful place as the Champion!
Quarriors! Light vs. Dark has the frenetic excitement of a dice battle game, with an added "deckbuilding" twist as players customize their dice pools during the game by using resources generated by their rolls.
Quarriors! Light vs. Dark can be played as a standalone game or used as an expansion for the Quarriors! base game.

We played it as a standalone and I think that gave me the best picture of the game and the new mechanics.  I'll need to play this a few more times to see if the changes turn me around on this dice game but, for me, if often feels like too many working parts for too little pay off.


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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Megagames

Over on megagame-makers.org.uk, there is a description of megagames, a style of wargaming with many players organized into teams with a hierarchical structure.  Now, I'm a bit skeptical about the claims there of inventing the style.  That style is something I saw all through the 1970s in game clubs and records of similar ways of running games obviously existed in Lake Geneva and Minneapolis with the wargaming groups in the 1960s.  Nevertheless, it's an interesting look at what was happening in the UK during the period it covers.  Read more here.


Of course, it also brings to mind the way in which RPGing was brought about through wargaming, but taking on the role of the leader of your forces while imagine how to strategically play out the scenario.  Much has been writeen in recent years about David Wesely, a lifelong wargmer who Dave Arneson credited "with the idea of the role-playing game."  The game he ran in 1967, now nominally known as Braunstein, the style of play was certainly pivotal in the invention of RPGing as well as sounding a great deal like the megagame.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Kingmaker Revisited

I like to get in a couple of games of Avalon Hill's Kingmaker every year if I can.  I played one at Gary Con in March, and just last week was able to play with two players who hadn't played in years (an d not much at all back then) and two other players who were utterly new to the experience.  As always, I had some fun, for sure.  There was some frustration on the part of the newer players who weren't used to older wargames, as the rules aren't always straightforward.  And a couple of the rules were misremembered by me but we got them sorted out with no detriment to any players' strategy, so no harm done.


Just for the uninitiated, from the description on Board Game Geek:
Kingmaker simulates the Wars of the Roses, the period of sporadic Civil War in England between 1450 and 1490. Ruled by a weak and mentally unstable king, Henry VI, demoralized by the defeat in France at the end of the Hundred Years War, and encouraged by the ambitions of Richard, Duke of York, and his sons; the country's Noble families used their large private armies in attempts to gain control of the government.
The game is based on the premise that the powerful Noble families used the Lancastrian and Yorkist princes as pawns in a greater game of gaining control of England. Players control factions using their military and political power to control and influence the royal heirs, supporting the heir in their control as king while trying to take down all of the other heirs.
Of course, being a first time through, we spent some portion of the evening learning rules then had at one another to get the gist of the game, knowing full well we would not finish in the four hours we had to play.  I wanted to give some idea of how an aggressive player can be rewarded but also takes risk, and mostly proved the latter.  Nearly every battle I initiated wound up with one or more of my Nobles slain.  It was a hoot as the others watched in anticipation with each card I drew.  Great fun!



I've also found a series of videos, and assembled a playlist of the seven of them, for a tutorial from the HistoryGamerDotCom YouTube channel.  You can watch the presentation in a bit under an hour, if you are so inclined here.  Enjoy!

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 
A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Inspirational Doors

There is a great Pinterest page (and see all the connected/related pages) with so many cool photographs of doors you'll be sure to bookmark it for inspiration for your terrain making projects.  See more here.


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For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Monday, August 11, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Painting Pyrrhus of Epirus

Over on the Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy YouTube channel, there is a new video titled "Victory at all costs: painting Pyrrhus of Epirus," a figure from Aventine Miniatures.  Enjoy.




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A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
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Sunday, August 10, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Tavern Radio Live plus the Shut Up Show

A couple of interesting and fun video shows which can be accessed through YouTube and Vimeo include Tavern Radio Live and the Shut Up Show.  Tavern Radio Live is fairly new and features the insights and interviews from Tenkar & the Badger.  The Shut Up and Sit Down folks bring a regular supply of boardgaming reviews and can be accessed through YouTube or their Vimeo home page here.  Tavern Radio Live includes recordings of Google Hangout sessions, the one below recently uploaded highlighting the work on David Wilson Brown's Adventures in the East Mark gaming product line.  Enjoy!



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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Systems Saturday - Lewis & Clark: The Expedition (2013)

Just over a week ago, my buddy Tom picked up a game published last year that had been very well-received.  It's Lewis & Clark: The Expedition (2013).  We played a two-player game of it, to get the mechanics down, then yesterday managed to wrangle enough folks for a five player game.  Both times were enjoyable.



The description as on Board Game Geek is as follows:
On November 30, 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from Napoleon. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson decided to send two explorers – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark – to discover this huge terra incognita.
Lewis & Clark is a board game in which the players manage an expedition intended to cross the North American continent. Their goal is to be the first to reach the Pacific. Each one has his own Corps of Discovery that will be completed by the Native Americans and the trappers met during the journey. He has to cleverly manage his characters and also the resources he finds along the way. Beware, sometimes frugality is better than abundance.
Lewis & Clark features dual use cards. To be activated, one card must be combined with another one, which becomes unavailable for a while. Thus, players are faced with a constant dilemma: play a card or sacrifice it. During the game, each player acquires character cards that enlarge his hand, building a crew that gives him more options but it needs to be optimized as he will recycle his cards more slowly. This new "handbuilding" mechanism fits strongly the historical background.
Since the aim of the game is to be the first on the Pacific coast, the timing and the opportunistic use of the other players' positions are crucial.

It is in-part a deck-building game with aspects like 7 Wonders (2010) in regard to how one collects resources by way of the cards but, as a boardgame, has some aspects similar to Stone Age (2008) in regard to worker placement.  So, with both resource management and worker management features added together with card management, it can be quite complex.  We picked it up quickly just from the rules and were able to teach it to the new players in the second go around without much difficulty.  Here's a video review that includes a lot of the rules explained from DriveThruReview YouTube channel.


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Friday, August 8, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Masters Gallery (2009)

Masters Gallery (2009) is a card game by Reiner Knizia.  Brian brought this to our Tuesday lunchtime gaming at Taco Bell.  It was a fun fast-paced game with simple rules and requiring some clever strategies, with relatively long term planning.



The description on Board Game Geek is as follows:
In Masters Gallery, players are art critics and gallery owners at the same time, trying to pump up the value of certain artists before cashing in their works. The works of five artists – Vermeer, Degas, Renoir, Monet and Van Gogh – are in play. Each player starts with a hand of masterpiece cards, and on a turn you play one on the table to show a stake in the fate of that artist; some masterpiece cards include special actions that allow you to play a second card, draw an extra card, increase the value of a certain artist, or have everyone play a masterpiece card at once.
When a certain number of works from one artist are on the table, the round ends, and each work from the most well-represented artists are sold for $1-3. Masters Gallery lasts four rounds, with players receiving additional masterpiece cards prior to new rounds and the value of an artist's work increasing based on past performance. The player with the most money after four rounds wins.
It took me until the second time through to really understand the game but I picked it up fast enough to enjoy playing.  It largely comes down to the cards one is dealt but there are several approaches of how best to utilize what one gets and adjustments can be made based on what one sees other players playing.  I'm sure I'll try this out at least a few more times and perhaps it will become one of those games that sees regular play at our table.

But this is meant to be a fast-paced game with a bit of quick math.  There's not a lot nor tough math, but you need to do it quickly for this to be a fast-paced game. Some games that are meant to be fast-paced don't wear well if they are slowed down.  I fear this is one such game.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 
Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - War of the Ring (1977) & (2004/2011) Plus The Battle of Five Armies

In 1977, Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) came out with a War of the Ring (1977) wargame that simulated the action from The Lord of the Rings.  The Lord of the Rings (1978) film by Ralph Bakshi was due out the next year and the calendars with artwork by the Hildebrandt Brothers had been coming out annually since 1976.  The game could be played on two levels simultaneously, the warfare game encompassing the many potential battles of Middle-earth and a deeper level where the Fellowship attempts to get the ring of power to Mount Doom even as Sauron searches for it.  There was an additional way to play where a third player takes on the role and forces of Saruman but I don't recall playing it that way myself.  The game was no more complex than any other wargame of the era and if you liked the theme, LotR, then it was a blast.

In 2004, Fantasy Flight Games published the War of the Ring (2004) strategy board game by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello that, for source material reasons, cover much of the same ground.  That game was republished by Ares Games in 2012 as a second edition with updates, corrections, and well-received revamped components and elements.  It jumped from an already remarkably high 7.86 rating on Board Game Geek to an 8.38!  There have been a couple of expansions for the second edition game.  I have played the first edition of the game and loved it.  It is, however, one of those games that takes time to play and requires players with patience and a wargaming mentality.


Now, Ares Games is following up their success by giving us a Gen Con release of The Battle of Five Armies (2014) utilizing the same mechanics as War of the Ring.  The description on Board Game Geek comes from the publisher as follows:
The Battle of Five Armies – based on the climax of JRR Tolkien's novel The Hobbit – pits the hosts of the Elvenking, the Dwarves of Dain Ironfoot, and the Men of the Lake led by Bard the Bowman against a horde of Wolves, Goblins and Bats led by Bolg, son of Azog. Will Gandalf turn the tide for the Free Peoples? Will the Eagles arrive, or Beorn come to the rescue? Or will Bilbo the Hobbit perish in a last stand on Ravenhill?
The Battle of Five Armies features a game board representing the Eastern and Southern spurs of the Lonely Mountain and the valley they encircle, and a number of plastic figures representing troops, heroes and monsters.
The Battle of Five Armies is a standalone game based on the rules for War of the Ring, which is from the same designers, but with the rules modified to function on a tactical level as they describe a smaller battle rather than the entire war. Ares Games plans to expand the Battles game system in the future, releasing expansions depicting other battles from the Third Age of Middle-earth narrated in The Lord of the Rings, such as the Siege of Gondor and the assault of Saruman against Rohan.
I must admit that I am not only excited to see this release and play it but also amped up to want to get hold of the War of the Ring second edition and give that a try too.  I'll need to start checking locally to see who might be willing to play!


Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 
Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Chris Engle's Invasion England

Game designer Chris Engle as a new wargame he'll be showing off at the Hamster Press booth (1636) next week at Gen Con Indy called Invasion England.  Here's his description from his Facebook feed:
It's been a long time since I made a straight up war game. Invasion England is an 1880's war game played on vintage ordinance survey maps using new rules that stress resource management and force multipliers over simple maneuver. I've got three sets. This one is a communist uprising army coming down to London from the Midlands. The other two are a French and German invasion. It's steam punk because it includes zeppelins! All available at the Hamster Press booth (1636) next week.
Sounds like a winner!


Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 
A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Classic D&D Module Walkthrough Maps

With the final rendition of them becoming available in September, you can pre-order Classic D&D Module Walkthrough Maps here.


Terrain Tuesday on MFWARS.com 
For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, August 4, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Scratch built 28mm Barn

Over on the TerrainProject YouTube channel, there is a recent video featuring a "Scratch built 28mm Barn."  Enjoy!



Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 
A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop..
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Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Painting Clear Miniature Bottles

While this might be a good post for Monday, I found this video from the HighCalibre TV YouTube channel of a technique for painting translucent miniature bottle so clever I figured it deserved its own posting in the Sunday Miscellanea.  Enjoy!



The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 
Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, August 2, 2014

Systems Saturday - Lords of Vegas (2010)

One of the games my buddy Tom got sent when his friend Mike was cleaning off some shelves was Lords of Vegas (2010).  It's a two to four player game from Mayfair Games with an available expansion that allows for a couple more players.  I viewed a video on TableTop earlier this year and wasn't immediately taken with the game but when Tom brings something to the table at Culver's, I've learned it is a good idea to give it a go.  I wasn't disappointed.  We played without the expansion and four of us learned the game and played in just a few hours.


The description on Board Game Geek is as follows:
You and your opponents represent powerful developers in a burgeoning Nevada city. You will earn money and prestige by building the biggest and most profitable casinos on "The Strip," the town's backbone of dust and sin. You start with nothing but parking lots and dreams, but from there you build, sprawl, reorganize and gamble your way to victory. Score the most points investing in the most profitable development companies and putting the best bosses in control of the richest casinos. Put your dollars on the line . . . it's time to roll!
The game board is broken into 8 different areas, each consisting of a number of empty 'lots'. Players build lots by paying money and placing a die of the value matching the one shown on the lot's space onto the lot, along with a casino tile of one of 7 colors. Adjoining lots of the same color are considered a single casino. The casino's boss is the player whose die value is higher than any other in the casino. On each players turn, players turn over a new card representing a new lot they get. The card also is one of the casino colors. Any built casinos of the matching color will score both money and VP. Money is earned for each lot in the casino, where each lot may be owned by a different player. VP goes only to the casino's owner. Players can expand their casinos; try to take over casinos owned by other players; make deals to trade lots, casinos and money; or gamble in opponents' casinos to make more money. Ultimately, though, only victory points matter, and that means making yourself boss of the biggest casinos.
It's meant to play in about an hour but since it was the first time through for all four of us, I'm not surprised at the time it took.  As with most games that have a victory point track, it behooves players to move along that as quickly as possible.  You can't move backwards on it, so extending yourself isn't a bad idea.  It's also possible to go to the casinos of other players and gamble there, alleviating them of some of their money on hand, so spending what you have can reduce the chance that someone will put the squeeze on you and drain your nest egg.

Watch out also for casino colors that are drying up.  If you bank too much on one color or another and fail to get some three and four lot locations early in alternate colors, you can wind up stagnating on the victory track.  Then you'll have to spend a great deal of money on the roll of dice to gain control over someone else's casino, and if they have more dice in there, the odds are against you becoming the boss.  I pushed early to build a six lot casino and it allowed me to jump several places up the track each of several turns.  This doesn't ensure a runaway but it does give a great advantage.  The downside is that it makes other players wary of making deals or trades with you, so don't count on those down the line if you have a substantial lead.

I'm looking forward to a game while using the expansion called "Up!" which allows for up to six players and expands building possibilities into upper floors for casinos.  There are other expansion but this is the one Tom has and it seems like a good addition.  I hope we play again soon while the rules and strategies are still swirling around in my head.

Systems Saturday on MFWARS.com 
A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, August 1, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - El Grande (1995)

I could have saved this for a Nostalgia Thursday post or Wargaming Wednesday by some estimations, or even Systems Saturday, as the mechanics of this game are different enough from the field that El Grande really does stand out in that regard.  Let's get that wargame discussion out of the way early, though, as I'm not convinced that this one crosses over quite as much as some say.  Literally, by the text and theme, no one is waging war.  You are moving troops and influencing lands, controlling them even, but no actual war is waged in the playing of this game.  That said, it has some elements that feel like some wargames so I would think the folks who generally restrict their gaming to wargames might want to look this one over.


My buddy, John, ponders an early move.

The components in this game are straightforward but elegant in their simplicity.  This was first produced in 1995 so it isn't as flashy as boardgames from the last decade or so, but with five colored sets of cubes (one in each set being larger to represent the "Grande"), five spinner-disc wheels for secret plotting, a solid and sizable wooden pawn for the king and a (practically indestructible and undeconstructable) four-piece tower for the "Castillo," it's still the map that is the highlight of this game's physical elements.  It's a good looking board with a Old World style map and stylized turn track that does the job admirably.  The game as described on Board Game Geek is as follows:
In this award-winning game, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king's power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various regions. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights in the form of colored cubes) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of regions. After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner. 
In each of the nine rounds, you select one of your 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply).
A turn then consists of selecting one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the castillo - a secretive tower). Normally, you may only place your caballeros into regions adjacent to the one containing the king pawn. The one hard and fast rule in El Grande is that nothing may move into or out of the king's region. One of the five action cards that is always available each round allows you to move the king to a new region. The other four action cards varying from round to round.
The goal is to have a caballero majority in as many regions (and the castillo) as possible during a scoring round. Following the scoring of the castillo, you place any cubes you had stashed there into the region you had secretly indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually according to a table printed in that region. Two-point bonuses are awarded for having sole majority in the region containing your Grande (large cube) and in the region containing the king.
So, as you can tell, the game relies on responding well to the available action cards in direct opposition to the tactics chosen by your opponent(s).  Tactics are definitely the crux of this game.  You are managing a "worker" resource and looking to control territories but the cards and their availability are the key.  You can make long range plans and even devise a loose overall strategy but unless you live in the moment, you're likely to come out behind.  I'm definitely looking forward to playing this one again and again in the future.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 
Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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