Monday, November 30, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Injection Molding, Washes, & Spoke Wheels

Over on makezine.com, they show you how to "Make Your Own Injection Molding Machine" here.


Also, on secretweaponminiatures.com, they have a bunch of "Secret Weapon Washes" here.


Finally, on the PLASMO - plastic models YouTube channel, they show us "How to make a metal-tension spoke wheel" on their "Great Guide Plastic Models" series.  Enjoy!



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, November 29, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - Shipyard (2009)

I'm not sure why Shipyard (2009) doesn't get more play with our crowd and around local events.  I think it's a very solid game with a lot going on all the time. In the past, I've played it quite a bit but I don't think I've seen it on the table more than a couple of times (none with me playing) since my blog post about it here in October of last year.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
We’re in 19th century, sea transport is more and more important. Both corporations and naval forces require newer and newer ships. Try to put yourself in the role of their manufacturers. Hire employees, buy accessories, get favour of evaluating committees. Don’t forget to rent a canal and you can heave anchor.
Players take turns, beginning with a randomly selected player and continuing around the table clockwise. On their turn, they will choose one of the available actions from the Action Track. The action will get the player something they need to help build their ships. On the player's next turn, they will move that Action Card ahead of all the others and choose a different action.
If a player completes a ship on their turn (ships consists of little cards depicting bows, sterns, and (preferably several) middle pieces with several options to add equipment or crew), it is taken out for a shakedown cruise in a canal, during which they may score points for speed, crew, equipment, or safety.
As players take their turns, the line of Action Cards will advance around the Action Track. When the lead Action Card reaches the Starting Space again, the countdown marker moves down one space, and play continues.
The game ends when the countdown marker reaches the finish space. (It can also end early if the players run out of Ship Cards.) Bonus points are scored for Government Contracts, and the player with the most points wins.

It took me a bit to refresh my memory on the rules this time around, so I know I didn't make full use of my contracts, and I think I obsessed too much with getting in bonus actions when I might have better served my scoring by focusing on better canal configuration.  I think I left quite a few points on the table in that regard.  Nevertheless, I still find this game challenging and fun so I look forward to the next time I can play it.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Systems Saturday - Town Watch, City Gates, & the Sword Coast

Over on blackgate.com, they recently posted "An Adventurer’s Guide to the Middle Ages: Town Watch? Where?"  Discover more here.


Also, on ragingswan.com, Creighton Broadhurst gave us "20 Things to See at the City Gate" here.


Finally, on merricb.com, a recent familiar essay and review is "On the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide" here.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, November 27, 2015

Tabletopper Friday - Alien Frontiers (2010)

We recently set Alien Frontiers (2010) back up on the table again.  I've played it several times before, each time with increasingly more expansion components.  We've mostly played it with four or five people in the past.  This time, with just three people, we played the base game with no expansions and it really impressed me.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Do you have what it takes to be a deep space colonist? An alien frontier awaits the brave and daring! This new planet will be harsh, but if you have the skills to manage your resources, build a fleet, research alien life, and settle colonies, the world can be yours.
Alien Frontiers is a game of resource management and planetary development for two to four players. During the game you will utilize orbital facilities and alien technology to build colony domes in strategic locations to control the newly discovered world.
The game board shows the planet, its moon, the stations in orbit around the planet, and the solar system’s star. The dice you are given at the start of the game represent the space ships in your fleet. You will assign these ships to the orbital facilities in order to earn resources, expand your fleet, and colonize the planet.
As the game progresses, you will place your colony tokens on the planet to represent the amount of control you have over each territory. Those territories exert influence over specific orbital facilities and, if you control a territory, you are able to utilize that sway to your advantage.
The planet was once the home of an alien race and they left behind a wondrous artifact in orbit. Using your fleet to explore the artifact, you will discover amazing alien technologies that you can use to advance your cause.
Winning the game will require careful consideration as you assign your fleet, integrate the alien technology and territory influences into your expansion plans, and block your opponents from building colonies of their own. Do you have what it takes to conquer an alien frontier?
Roll and place your dice to gain advantages over your opponent and block them out of useful areas of the board. Use Alien Tech cards to manipulate your dice rolls and territory bonuses to break the rules. Steal resources, overtake territories, and do whatever it takes to get your colonies on the map first! Don't dream it'll be easy, though, because the other players will be trying to do the same thing.

So, why was I impressed?  Because the balance of the game keeps the end game interesting without making the players feel as if they've worked hard for no reason. That is to say, while it requires players to be on their toes the whole game, if you do a good job exploiting a strategy, you can be in the hunt for victory right up to the end.   In this latest game, once one player triggered the end by putting out his last colony, the subsequent player was able to wrest victory away, and the last player was then also able to make some moves that barely squeezed out a victory for them.  And it was never obvious that this was a foregone conclusion.  That's the mark of a good game, in my opinion.

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Nostalgia Thursday - Square Mile (1962)

The other day at a newly renovated Taco Bell, Tom was kind enough to break out his copy of Square Mile (1962).  The box was in bad shape, so it was reboxed with the rules in the box top saved, but has all the components so it is good to go.  This game is as old as I am and yet it plays like a modern boardgame in many respects.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Players compete to develop a square mile of raw land and turn it into a thriving community. The player who buys, sells, and builds most wisely and makes the most money will be the winner. Considered "ahead of its time," the game features a modular board and winning turns on being the most efficient in the use of one's actions. The only randomness in the game is in the board set-up and determining who goes first.

The setup of the board adds an element of randomness to each playthrough and an advanced version can mix it up even further.  The independent selling, independent building, and interactive auctioning each player turn makes it very dynamic.  Keeping a balance between money invested and cash on hand is a tricky business, and risk management is the order of the game.  Pushing the limits on how much you own versus being poised to own more is a constant concern.  I could play this quite a bit more which is more than I can say about games one-fifth its age.  Great fun!


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Wargaming Wednesday - Land, Sea, & Fantasy

Adam Carriere on Fencing Frog gets a lot of wargames to the table and writes some wonderful, pictorial battle reports.  So far this month it includes "Panzer Lehr vs Soviet Hero Assault guns" here.


Also, Adam runs "Two Naval Games" here.


Finally, he runs "The Living Museum" scenario from Frostgrave here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Terrain Tuesday - Graffam, Redwall, & Snow

Over on the wargamevault.com, there's a very nice sale running on Dave Graffam Models here.


Also, on fantasticmaps.com, they've got "More City Design Tips" here.


Finally, on TheTerrainTutor YouTube channel, he's got a video on "More realistic snowy ground effects."  Enjoy!



For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, November 23, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Painting Challenge, Eyes Tutorial, & Zombicide Runners

Over on analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com, join in on "The Die is Cast - The Sixth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge" here.


Also, on destroyerminis.com, they have "A Guide to Painting Eyes" here.


Finally, on the Talk Wargaming YouTube channel, check out the "Army Painter Tutorial: How To Paint Zombicide Runners" tutorial video they have uploaded.  Enjoy!



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, November 22, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - Meteorite Skull, Nerdy Purses, & Cherry Dice Box

Over on hyperallergic.com, "A Skull Carved from a Meteorite Lands on the Auction Block" here.


Also, on dailydot.com, check out "12 fabulously nerdy purses and bags we can't live without" here.


Finally, on etsy.com, have a look at this solid cherry Dungeons and Dragons dice box here.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, November 21, 2015

Systems Saturday - Trans Europa (2005)

While I was at GameHole Con 2015, I got the chance to try a game I hadn't played before.  Trans Europa (2005) is a simple network building game where each player tries to connect a number of location in the least amount of moves while other do the same.  My buddy Tom picked it out for us to play while we had an hour to kill before some other events because, well, trains.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Now it is time to go railroading in Europa. Just like TransAmerica, players work together building a railroad network, but this time it is across Europe instead of the United States. The first to have their five cities connected wins the round - the others lose points for being too slow! After 3-4 rounds, the player with the most points wins the game!

As I said, simple game to learn but ultimately the game is about deception.  Ideally, your opponent(s) will create some tracks into which you can also connect to complete your own routes, thus saving you moves and costing points to your opponent(s).  Definitely a game worth picking up as a filler game as a plays fast and is easy to setup.  Lots of fun!


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, November 20, 2015

Tabletopper Friday - Feudality (2011)

One of the fun things about conventions where Tom Wham is present is getting to play in one of his Feudality (2011) games.


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 try to work a somewhat different strategy every time I play, to keep it fresh, but it almost always includes hoarding tiles that will gain me Victory Points.  After all, that is ultimately the way to win.  Although it is good to have some variety in the resources you might garner, it's also a good idea to have one resources on more tiles than any others (except Victory Points).  This always gives you the chance to trade four to one if you come up short on any of the other resources.  This time, I didn't do much with military tiles though I did build my fortification up rather quickly.  I was right in the thick of it up until the end, though I miss victory by a single point.  Great game!

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Nostalgia Thursday - Careers (1955)

It's the 60th anniversary of Careers (1955) and Tom brought it out to Culver's for some of us to try.  I wasn't even aware of the game before he dropped it on the table and figured it would be something along the lines of The Game of Life (1960) but found it much more interesting than that.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Careers is a game where the players set their own victory conditions. A player may choose to pursue Fame, Happiness, Money, or a combination of all three. The limitation being that the total number of "points" earned in the 3 categories must total 60. eg. 60 Happiness, 0 Fame, 0 Money; 20 of each; or any other combination. The players endeavor to fulfill their goal by going through any number of different "occupation paths". All paths have some prerequisite for entry, and benefits accrue from going through any of the paths more than once. The different occupations are designed to be suited to different strategies, eg. Hollywood is good for fame points, while "Going to Sea" is good for happiness. In the end it is the player (or team of players) who gets to their pre-set goal first who will be the winner, and achieve everything they ever wanted in life.

Despite having a roll and move mechanic, there is a good amount of strategizing that can be done to mitigate it, so I didn't find that aspect problematic.  It all comes down to choosing a combination of Wealth, Happiness, and Fame that you feel you can fulfill before the other players manage their own prediction, and then getting to it no matter what obstacles or setbacks befall you.  The inner "side tracks" are the occupations and each has a number of setbacks within them, as does the outer path which is more about gaining opportunity cards.  The completion of inner tracks gains very useful experience cards which can help with future movement, and avoiding the need to roll the dice for movement.  It's a very cool design for an older game.  I hope to get another chance to play and will keep my eyes open at flea markets and thrift stores for copies of this classic!


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Wargaming Wednesday - 1775: Rebellion (2013)

My buddy Wayne was kind enough to break out his copy of 1775: Rebellion (2013) at a recent Gathering of Gamers in Elkhorn, WI, so we played, then played again, and played a third since we were tied up two-to-two.  The third game ended in a tie and we had no time for a fourth game.  I think this speaks to how well balanced this game is.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
The Birth of America series continues with The American Revolution.
In 1775: Rebellion, players take the roles of the American Continental Army and Patriots against the British Army and the Loyalists. Each side tries to control the colonies, provinces and territories. They call on the aid of Native Americans, as well as the German Hessians and French Army in order to successfully birth a revolution or quell the rebellion. The four factions each use their own deck of cards to move their units into positions. Battles are resolved quickly with custom dice. If you can control an entire colony, province or territory you raise a flag. When the game ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the side with the most flag markers is the winner.
1775: Rebellion uses the same basic mechanisms as 1812: The Invasion of Canada, but to a different end result. The game is quicker (being 2-4 player) and the intermingling of units at the beginning of the game allows the action to start immediately. There are a few core rules that changed in order to better portray the goals of the war.

This game falls into that nebulous category of games I call the "Wargamey Boardgame" which includes both older games by wargame companies that are more like strategy boardgames and modern boardgames that have many wargaming elements.  I found it to be both challenging and intriguing.  It's not difficult to master and the dice, as well as each players' draw deck, will definitely influence the strategies chosen on the battlefields but I think much of the luck can be mitigated by the configuration of the board (the colonies and the areas in them) as well as timing assaults cleverly.  In that way, I think it gives the game more replayability than one might assume based on the limited card decks.  Keeping your forces mixed to allow for both members of a side to maximize their options is a must, and it further increases the number of dice being thrown at any given conflict.  It's also a good looking game, simply presented.  I will definitely play this again and hope to try out some of the other in the series.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Terrain Tuesday - London, Sword Coast, & Cavern Crystals

Over on behance.net, they share some print and build models from "Brutal London," a 1960s and 1970s architectural feel.  Check them out here.


Also, from Wizards of the Coast, they're giving away the hi-res version of their Sword Coast Map fashioned by cartographer Mike Schley.  Snag it here.


Finally, on the AJ Pickett YouTube channel, as part of The Mighty Gluestick series, he delves into "Cavern Tile and Crystal Painting tutorial."  Enjoy!



For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, November 16, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Tigers, Troopers, & Bretonnians

Over on aquamine's imgur pages, a plastic, dollar store tiger is given a makeover here.


Also, on toyland.gizmodo.com, they tell us "A Death Star Filled With Plastic Stormtroopers Is a Better Bucket of Army Men" here.


Finally, on the Blue Table Painting YouTube channel, they share a "Studio Update- the Bretonnian Host musters on the field."  Enjoy!



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, November 15, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - Roll for the Galaxy (2014)

I realize it hasn't been that long since I blogged about Roll for the Galaxy (2014).  I did so after the first time I played it late last month here.  But I've had the chance to play more games with two players, and it holds up so well I wanted to herald this fine little game again.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Roll for the Galaxy is a dice game of building space empires for 2–5 players. Your dice represent your populace, whom you direct to develop new technologies, settle worlds, and ship goods. The player who best manages his workers and builds the most prosperous empire wins!
This dice version of Race for the Galaxy takes players on a new journey through the Galaxy, but with the feel of the original game.

Now that I've played the game a bunch of times with two players, I have to say that I'm amazed it takes so little to allow this to be a two player game (simply roll one die and turn over an additional action card).  That's good design.  I can imagine a lot of designers might have felt they needed to make much more sweeping changes.  Even after about a dozen games, I've also barely begun to see some of the planet cards often enough to recognize them as having been used before.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, November 14, 2015

Systems Saturday - Bremerhaven (2013)

I first played Bremerhaven (2013) about a year and a half ago and haven't had the chance to play again since.  I enjoyed my first go around, blogged about it here, and am glad I've had the chance to play it again recently.  I didn't fair as well as the first time through but still like the game and feel I would continue to enjoy it, so I'll play it again.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Bremerhaven is a clearly structured but complex economic game about the famous harbor town in the north of Germany. Each player builds his own unique harbor and tries to reach the highest combination of money and prestige by the end of the game.
Each round, players are trying to get the most influence on the action fields they want to use. Since you place your influence cards face down, you have to watch closely what the other players might want to do. (You can even place more than one card on one spot.) The options are varied: Get a new ship with new goods into your harbor, close a new contract, change the values of the four different goods, improve your influence card-hand, expand your harbor, buy a new building, or simply rise in the nautical ranks to get more money. But you have to be careful: Every ship and every contract will stay in your harbor only for a short while. (The transporters and trains are waiting!) If you fail to coordinate the incoming and outgoing goods, you might have to pay penalty for not fulfilling a contract! 
Bremerhaven ends after a defined number of rounds, and the rules include both a short version and solo rules. Visually the game will be in the vein of Le Havre.

Honestly, in the year and a half that separated when I first played and this chance to play, I recalled very little of how to play or what I might have learned the first time around.  I was coming at this fairly fresh.  Nevertheless, as I subsequently read over my old blog on the game, I certainly played like I recalled how to do so.  It didn't help.  My new assessment is that money is a huge factor in this game.  Keeping up or close with other players in the Influence category is a must but it is easier to advance your wealth than you Influence, so that is the side of the equation where you should concentrate.  We'll see what I think after my next time through.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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