Systems Saturday - Splendor (2014)

Splendor (2014) is a game I have seen played a number of times in the two years since it was released but that I hadn't played until recently, at the First Sunday gameday (Open Boardgaming at Lake Geneva Games on the First Sunday of every month) then teaching it to a couple of the weekly LGG gamers.  It's a straightforward game that is easy to teach and promote fast play.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

Splendor is a game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.

On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card—in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don't get it—you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.

All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.

With a handful of games under my belt, I think this is a game that makes for a good introduction into niche gaming.  I'm not sure it has the sustained replayability of some other entry-level games like Catan and Ticket to Ride, but it might seem less intimidating then even those.  It can be carried in a much smaller case than the box in which it comes, making it highly transportable, like Love Letter.  Still, I am on the fence about suggesting everyone own a copy.  I need to play it more to be sure but I am leaning in that direction.

Systems Saturday on MFWARS.com 

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

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Tabletopper Friday - Tiny Epic Galaxies (2015)

Nothing gets played more than Love Letter round these parts but Tiny Epic Galaxies (2015) comes pretty darned close.  I've written about it time and again but it's important that the games that make the best impression make the biggest splash too as far as my blogging is concerned.  I've said before that of the Tiny Epic games, I don't care much for the others but Galaxies just seems to hit all the right buttons with me.  I'll check out Western when it arrives but have a feeling it will take a lot to make me feel it is more like Galaxies than the others.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

A thirty-minute game of galactic conquest, Tiny Epic Galaxies is driven by an exciting dice-rolling mechanism that rewards thoughtful programming of the results. Players control a home galaxy and a fleet of space ships. As players upgrade their galaxies, they gain access to more ships and more dice.

Each turn, a player rolls a set of dice; how many dice are rolled is determined by the level of that player's galaxy. Each side of the six-sided die represents a different type of action: Movement, Colony Action, Harvest from Culture Planets, Harvest from Energy Planets, Improve an Economic Influence, and Improve a Diplomatic Influence.

After the roll, the player sorts the results of the roll (one selective re-roll is allowed) and organizes the dice in a desired activation order. Each die, in order, is then resolved and the results are immediate, which allows the player to pull-off unseen combos and surprise other players. Other players have the option to copy other player's actions...at a cost!

As players expand their galaxy by colonizing other planets through economic and diplomatic influence, they gain victory points AND the special powers brought in by those planets! In addition to galaxy upgrades, effective resource management provides luck-mitigating options that can sway the game in a calculated player's favor.

Whoever achieves the most points from acquiring planets and upgrading their personal galaxy wins!

I've gotten into the habit of letting the Secret Mission I choose largely dictate my game, no matter what comes in the center of the table.  I'm wondering if I should be more flexible and let the Secret Mission just be icing on the cake, taking advantage of the circumstances and rushing toward an ending.  I'll have to think on this more.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Nostalgia Thursday - Escape from New York (1981)

Wendy found a copy of the old Escape from New York (1981) boardgame published by TSR some 35 years ago.  Our friend Tom was a playtester on this back in the day and worked a bit on the game.  The components of this one are not up to the quality that TSR games would see in subsequent years.  They were really just starting to come into their own beyond the 1E AD&D core books and magazines, spreading their wings and becoming a real competitor in the game industry beyond just Dungeons & Dragons.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

"Snake, I thought you were dead!" This modest board game, based on the John Carpenter movie, casts each player as Snake Plissken, an ex-con sent on a rescue mission into a giant prison once known as New York City. Players begin with weapons and equipment cards used to help fight enemies and find clues. Cards can be lost in fights or gained at landmark spaces. Turn in matching clue cards at the corresponding location to rescue the president or his important tape. To escape, you still need to find a glider or a map to the mine fields.

Fans of the movie will enjoy the chance to encounter Slag, Brain, Cabbie, Maggie, the Duke, and Romero with the opportunity to gain them as allies during the game. Players win by obtaining the Tape first and foremost, failing that - the President himself. The game is very faithful to the movie and players will find that they can mirror many scenes of the movie in the game.

We didn't play the game.  It's not highly rated and since it was unpunched, it would have been a shame to make it less collectible than it might be.  I recall playing this years ago and it is more like early parlor games than modern boardgames.  This is best kept as a curiosity and collector's item, I think.  It certainly is an interesting piece of history.

Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 

Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Wargaming Wednesday - Chadwick, Harshman, & Hill

In 1972, Conflict Games published a number of titles but one in particular, The Brotherhood (1972), included three designers that all had their starts in that year: Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and John Hill.  While the other titled published by Conflict Games were wargames, The Brotherhood is really a worker placement boardgame.  It was likely put out to capitalize on the release of The Godfather film which came out the same year.  The game was later re-published by GDW in 1983.  Nonetheless, the career of Frank Chadwick includes dozens of titles and continues this year with the release of Battle for Moscow II (2016) from Victory Point Games.  The first edition of Battle for Moscow was released in 1986 and the second in 2009, so this game represented an ongoing interest of this long time designer.

The career of John Harshman is not as prolific but also continues for many years with his work in the most recent Pine Hall co-authored release of Blue Max: World War I Air Combat (2014).

Finally, John Hill also has releases from 1972 onward, though he passed away in 2015.  His storied career is recounted in great detail on acrossadeadlyfield.com here.

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Terrain Tuesday - Milliput

Milliput is a versatile material that is often used with miniatures to build up a section or fill in a gap but it is just as useful for terrain work. Over on coloureddust.com.pl, part five of their Modeling Materials series focused on Milliput here.

Also, on milliput.com, they have a how to page here.

Finally, on the Scale War Machines YouTube channel, they have a video on How to Use Milliput Putty.  Enjoy!

Terrain Tuesday on MFWARS.com 

For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadlyto cover
3D tabletop pieces made from foam, felt, and other materials.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

Minis & Modeling Monday - Fur, Leather, & Paper

Over on Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic YouTube channel, a new video shows us "How to Paint Fur on Miniatures."  Nifty!

Also, on the Tabletop Minions YouTube channel, they explain "How to Paint Cracked Leather [on] Painting With the Pro."  Enjoy!

Finally, on the British Pathé YouTube channel, they shared a video from half a century ago on "Model Paper Soldiers (1960)."  Nostalgic!

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.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

The Sunday Miscellanea - Five Tribes (2014)

Even after having some interest in Five Tribes (2014) a year ago when it first made a big splash, it took this long to get it to the table locally.  Still, we did wind up playing a bunch of games recently include a couple of two- and a couple of four-player games.  It's a thinker and a good one for collections.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. The old sultan just died and control of Naqala is up for grabs! The oracles foretold of strangers who would maneuver the Five Tribes to gain influence over the legendary city-state. Will you fulfill the prophecy? Invoke the old Djinns and move the Tribes into position at the right time, and the Sultanate may become yours!

Designed by Bruno Cathala, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games that feature wooden meeples. Here, in a unique twist on the now-standard "worker placement" genre, the game begins with the meeples already in place – and players must cleverly maneuver them over the villages, markets, oases, and sacred places tiles that make up Naqala. How, when, and where you dis-place these Five Tribes of Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers determine your victory or failure.

As befitting a Days of Wonder game, the rules are straightforward and easy to learn. But devising a winning strategy will take a more calculated approach than our standard fare. You need to carefully consider what moves can score you well and put your opponents at a disadvantage. You need to weigh many different pathways to victory, including the summoning of powerful Djinns that may help your cause as you attempt to control this legendary Sultanate.

We had fun with both two and four players but this one is particular good as a one-on-one contest with a well-matched opponent.  It's also good to set some ground rules regarding meeple placement and the length of time, regardless of player number, if you want to finish quickly or play several time in an afternoon or evening.  This is a game that can bring out the analysis paralysis in folks and is likely to have some players wanting to redo something they just did, which can cause a lot of problems during play.  Players can forget to more their turn markers, too, so my buddy John came up with an elegant solution.  He suggested you mark where you are picking up your meeples with the turn marker when you first get them and once you place each meeple, it is placed for good.  No keeping a finger on a meeple and picking it back up.  That way lies madness.  Once the last meeple is placed for your action, you have to pick up the turn marker and put it on the track for next turn's bidding order, thus ending your turn.  This protocol ensures resolutions during each player's turn and helps folks from over-thinking and re-thinking turns.  Simple.  I gotta get this back on the table soon.

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com

not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!