What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Hahma]

My game group had a 3 year anniversary game event yesterday from 10am-midnight. I only stayed a few hours, as I had too many things to do around the house and wanted to be home with the family since I'm going to be gone for 4 days starting on Thursday. There were probably 25 people there when I left, but I imagine from past all-day events that there will likely have been 50 or so people in and out throughout the day.

There has been quite a bit of buzz over the past year and a half in the gaming community over the game Android Netrunner. I remember at GenCon 2012 how that game was the "it" game to get. Since then it has risen to become one of the top 2 player games around, as it's highly customizable, suitable for competitive play and has a complexity level that seems to fit with those that like somewhat complex card games. It's not really an easy game to teach/learn in that there are a lot of terms to get used to, and different terms for each player because one player is the Corporation with it's own set of thematic terms, while the other player is the Runner with their own set of thematic terms. Once you get past that, a lot of it is recognizable mechanics where you have resource and hand management, as well as action allowance.

The Corporation player represents one of four different mega-corporation factions that are available to play. They are kind of shady guys and try to keep the Runners from accessing their computer servers and access certain things, namely agendas. Agenda cards basically have different values assigned to them and the first player to get 7 Agenda points wins. The Corporation player gets their agenda cards by having them in their server and taking actions to place tokens on them, as each agenda has a required amount of tokens required to be placed on them before the Corporation player can score them. These cards are face-down, as the Corporation player can also play Asset cards in the remote server as well and some of them allow for tokens to be placed on them to try to throw off the Runner. The Corporation player can play Ice cards in front of their servers and they act as different types of protection for that server that Runner must get through.

The Runner player is playing one of three Runner factions. They are basically hackers and each has a different play style (just like each of Corporations has a different play style). The Runner needs to put in play different types of resources, programs and hardware to be able to help them make "runs", which are basically attacks against one of the remote servers, or the Corporations' hand, deck or discard pile. The Runner has to get through any/all Ice in place that protects those areas before they can access the final destination to see if they can gain an Agenda card. So basically the Corporation is trying to throw the Runner off the trail of where his Agendas are located, and/or protect them so much that the Runner has to use up tremendous amounts of resources and time to get through the particular central or remote server. The Corporation has ways to do damage to the Runner in making them discard cards (which are had to get back), and at any time a Runner player has no cards in their hand to discard, they are considered dead and lose. If the Corporation deck runs out, they lose.


So while I had played Netrunner one time before about a year or so ago, I finally decided to buy the base game (it's an Living Card Game like the Lord of the Rings card game) because several people in my game group have been getting more and more into the game and it seems to be growing in the area in general. I remember from the time I played it last year how it was not easy and not easy for the person teaching me, so I figured that instead of having to be re-taught the game just about every time I was going to play it, that I'd be better off buying it in order to study the rules and different faction cards. So yesterday I was able to play a game and since I just got the game on Thursday, I hadn't had time to study it too much, but the guy I played against had the game and was very helpful and patient. After starting out with a 6-1 lead in agenda points (only needing 7 to win), I ended up losing as my opponent built up his servers to make it very costly for me to run against and I was playing a Runner faction that is a little tricky to play and has nuances that I didn't grasp yet. It was fun and I look forward to many more plays.



I (and several in my group) had also just gotten the kickstarter Swagman's Hope Expansion for Agents of SMERSH, so we wanted to get a play in of that too yesterday. What a fun storytelling game this is. It's a co-op set in the cold war era and each player is playing as a spy character, and there are several to choose from. Each character has 5 skills like: spycraft, deception, hand-hand, athletics and persuasion, where each skill is at a certain level that can be raised or lowered depending on the circumstances of the game. They each also have unique special abilities to help throughout the game.

Basically you are traveling to different places throughout the world (Australia was added for this expansion), to acquire Intel and do battle with several henchmen of the big bad guy, Dr. Lobo. Different things cause the Dr. Lobo track counter to advance and the further it advances, the more Intel you will need to defeat him, and if he advances to level 9, you lose. Each level he is at when the end game happens has different amounts and types of Intel tokens required for success, but you don't know what Intel you have until you flip over the tokens in your Intel pool, though sometimes things allow you to flip over a token here and there to have some idea. But before you can try to defeat Lobo with the Intel tokens, you have to locate and have successful encounters with several of his henchmen to advance the location track. In a 5 player game we needed to advance the location track to 5 before triggering the endgame and checking our Intel tokens to see if we beat Lobo.

Also, throughout the game, as you travel the world in search of Intel tokens, you are going to have an encounter just about each turn unless you are resting to heal. There are over 1,500 written encounters in the encounter book and there are steps do determine which one you will have. They have real cool settings that another player will read from the encounter book and then there will be a thematic test that you will have to pass, using one of your skills and dice available for that skill. There will often be a reward for passing the encounter, but failing the encounter usually results in bad stuff for the spy, as well as advancing Lobo on his track. It's really fun to see the different situations that each character gets themselves into, especially when people read the encounters with dramatic flair.

We ended up winning with Lobo on level 6 if his track. Fun game for sure.


That was it for me yesterday, I look forward to seeing our group's Geeklist recap on BGG when it gets posted. We keep track of all games/players/results played for our game nights and events. Usually accompanied with comments and further detail of how things played out.

[Tornado]

Sounds awesome. Pretty amazing you have such a large group of gamers. I am jealous.
I like this part.

There are over 1,500 written encounters in the encounter book and there are steps do determine which one you will have.

It reminds me of old computer RPGs like Wasteland. Thanks for sharing.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Sounds awesome. Pretty amazing you have such a large group of gamers. I am jealous.

Oh believe me Tornado, I do appreciate this group for sure. The group has grown from only a handful 3 years ago (I was number 8 or so in June, 2011), to have over 200 on our facebook page and over 80 listed in our Boardgamegeek. com guild

Of course not all of those people are regulars to our weekly meetings, or show up to our occasional all day events. Some of those people are from other parts of the country that may visit the area from time to time. Some of the people don't come to our regular meeting place, but go to game nights at various local game stores. But even if people don't come to our regular spot, some of the people that do come, know those other people and game with them at other places that are more convenient.

A few of the guys in the group have been very good about spreading the word and using social media like facebook, boardgamegeek.com, meetup.com or even by demoing games at conventions and making connections. It's crazy really. In fact, we had at least 4 new people show up yesterday just in the few hours that I was there. One girl that was a Netrunner fan watched my game, then joined others in various games, one guy that we saw was new and invited him to play Agents of SMERSH (he was a teacher from Beecher, IL and heard of us through meetup.com and then BGG), and then there were 2 other guys that came together that I don't know how they heard of us, but we directed them toward a regular member that wasn't playing a game at the moment, so he could game with them.

That's kind of how it's grown over the last couple years particularly. We also have members of the group that are very active in participating in various conventions like GenCon and very recently one in Milwaukee (where one guy from the group that was demoing games met people there from around us and told them about our group).

I'm not the savvy one when it comes to recruiting, but some of the guys just have the knack.

Originally Posted by Tornado

I like this part.

It reminds me of old computer RPGs like Wasteland. Thanks for sharing.

Actually, the Swagman's Hope expansion I just got has over 300 more encounters for Australia, to add to the 1,500 we already had for the rest of the world. While I never played Wasteland, I guess SMERSH could be compared to a game like that. It's an experience more than a "game" in the sense that it's not like there are a lot of tough decisions, but there are neat gadgets you can get, certain negative affects you can get put on you, etc. The main fun of the game is the different experience you have and the culmination of all the encounters your agent has creates a story that the players will remember and be able to reference months later.

Like: "Remember when Steve's character was sent to try to seduce this bad guy with a special potion and then woke up wounded in the hallway outside of the hotel room?"

There are both male and female agent characters/villains, but Steve had a male character sent to seduce a male bad guy. So when he failed the encounter roll, the fail passage in the encounter book was something to the effect that he woke up groggy in the hallway outside the hotel room and suffered a wound (agents have hit points, usually 3 or 4). So we used our imaginations as to what kind of "wound" he took and from where. It was funny and we remember that from over a year ago and keep reminding him

[Tornado]

Very cool. It is always awesome when game moments stick in our memories and live on and become something greater. That is part of the reason I love RPGs. Lots of opportunities for memorable moments.

One friend wanted to start a Facebook page for our gaming group to better organize our sessions and I scoffed at him and said something like "You know, all you have to do is call me and I will be there." Perhaps I need to re-think that notion and embrace the brave new world of social media.
"Just me and my flip-phone. Not texting, all day long."

[davidlhsl]

Happy Anniversary to your gaming group, Hahma!

Agents of SMERSH sounds interesting; but I've played Tales of the Arabian Nights, which fell flat for me.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Very cool. It is always awesome when game moments stick in our memories and live on and become something greater. That is part of the reason I love RPGs. Lots of opportunities for memorable moments.

One friend wanted to start a Facebook page for our gaming group to better organize our sessions and I scoffed at him and said something like "You know, all you have to do is call me and I will be there." Perhaps I need to re-think that notion and embrace the brave new world of social media.
"Just me and my flip-phone. Not texting, all day long."

Yeah Tornado, while word of mouth has certainly helped a lot for our group, as well as bringing friends that end up bringing other friends, social media has helped quite a bit. In fact, there's a guy that opened up a candy/game store(called Mr. Sweets) about 6 months ago. He started having Friday night game nights, using facebook (our group's and his own to help promote his store) and word of mouth to get people there. Well it started getting packed so much, that only this past week he moved his store to a new location that has 3 times the space in order to accommodate his growing clientele. In fact, instead of ordering Android Netrunner from an online retailer, I stopped into his store during work last week to pick it up. Sure it cost more, but I wasn't going to order $100 worth of stuff anyway to get free shipping, so shipping would have brought the cost up to like $5 or so from his cost, so I would rather give it to the local guy in this case.

Our main group meets at an indoor soccer facility that has plenty of room in the lobby and concessions area for us. The manager of that place is one of the guys that started the gaming group. So if you could find a place similar to that where you can have space w/o paying rent, then it's a good way to accommodate a larger group. We do buy concessions there to help make it worth keeping it open when there are no indoor soccer activities going on.

Originally Posted by davidlhsl

Happy Anniversary to your gaming group, Hahma!

Agents of SMERSH sounds interesting; but I've played Tales of the Arabian Nights, which fell flat for me.

Thanks David.

There was plenty of food and even balloons. We also have an awards board that have different categories that we voted on with ballots over the past month. Things like "best die roller, favorite opponent, best grognard, biggest adversary, game pimp of the year, best contributor, best recruiter, game of the year etc. "

I've never played Tales, but have heard others say that SMERSH is similar in a way, but has more game to it, though it's still not too much game. I guess part of playing games like that is if you like the theme for one, and also the people that you play with. I certainly dig the 60's spy genre of this game, and we certainly have a lot of people in our group that are fun people to play this with. It's certainly not for everyone for sure, as some people in the group aren't interested in trying it.

[Lily]

Been super into Settlers of Catan with my friends, now I've got 6-7 player, Traders and Barbarians, and some expansion I can't remember off the top of my head but it had event cards and harbormaster and stuff in it.

[chas]

One of the good things about Battle Cry 150th Anniversary Edition is that its simple. Another is that you get 30 scenarios with it. Now I've just discovered that there is finally a fan site, by the guys who do other Borg game sites. Although its only been up since February, there are already 35 new scenarios there. The site is www.ccbattlecry.net

Since there are a lot of battles in the American Civil War, coverage is now increased, including Chancellorsville (the only original BC scenario left out of the BC150 game) two First Day of Gettysburgs, and more late war battles, as well as many others. While most are by various gamers, three are by Richard Borg himself.

To check them out, just click on SCENARIOS at the top of the home page. Each scenario is only two pages long. There goes another $30 in printer ink!

(Edit) Below are all the scenarios: Total 65

BATTLE CRY 150 SCENARIOS
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (5/12/14)


1861 (

Falling Waters, WVA. 7/2/61 *

First Bull Run , VA 7/21/61 *

Wilson’s Creek, MO 8/10/61 *

Sharp’s Cornfield, MO (Wilson’s Creek) 8/10/61

Greenbrier River, WVA 10/3/61 *

Ball’s Bluff, VA 10/21/61

Belmont, MO 11/7/61 *

Drainesville, VA 12/20/61 *



1862 (2

Fishing Creek, KY 1/19/62

Fort Donelson, TN 2/15/62 *

Little Sugar Creek, AR 2/17/62 *

Pea Ridge, AR 3/7/62 *

Kernstown, VA 3/23/62 *

Glorietta 3/28/62

Shiloh, TN 4/6-7/62 *

Williamsburg, VA 5/5/62 *

McDowell, VA 5/8/62 *

Winchester, VA 5/25/62 *

Port Republic, VA 6/9/62

Oak Grove, VA 6/25/62 *

Gaines Mill, VA 6/27/62 *

Savage Station, 6/29/62 **

Malvern Hill, VA 7/1/62

Cedar Mountain, VA 8/9/62 *

Second Bull Run, VA 8/28/62 *

Richmond, KY 8/30/62 *

Ox Hill, VA 9/1/62 *

Ox Hill-Chantilly, VA 9/1/62

Antietam, MD 9/17/62 *

Antietam, MD (Burnside Bridge) 9/17/62

Antietam, MD (Morning) 9/17/62

Antietam, MD (Mid Day) 9/17/62

Perryville, KY 10/8/62 *

Prairie Grove, AR 12/7/62 *

Fredericksburg, VA 12/13/62 *

Murfreesboro, TN 12/31/62—1/2/63 *


1863 (14)

Chancellorsville, VA Third Day) 5/1-3/63 **

Chancellorsville, VA 5/2/63

Champion Hill, MS 5/16,1863

Big Black River Bridge, MS 5/17/63

Brandy Station, VA 6/9/63

Gettysburg, PA 7/1-3/63

Gettysburg, PA (McPherson’s Ridge) 7/1/63

Gettysburg, PA (Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill) 7/1-3/63

Gettysburg, PA (Devil’s Den and Wheatfield) 7/1-3/63 *

Gettysburg, PA (East Cavalry Field) 7/3/63

Gettysburg, PA (Pickett’s Charge) 7/1-3/63 *

Chikamauga, GA 7/19-20/63 *

Armstrong’s Hill, KY? 11/25/63

Missionary Ridge, TN 11/25/63





1864 (11)

Pleasant Hill, LA 4/9/63

The Wilderness, VA 5/6/64

Spotsylvania, VA 5/12/64

New Market, VA 5/15/64 *

Drewery’s Bluff, VA 5/16/64

New Hope Church, GA 5/25/64 *

Petersburg, VA 7/30/64

Third Winchester (Opequon) 9/19/64

Fisher’s Hill, VA 9/21-22/64

Franklin, TN 11/30/64

Nashville, TN 12/15-16/64



1865 (1)

Five Forks,VA 4/1/65



EPIC (3)

First Bull Run, VA 7/21/61

Pea Ridge, AR 7/21/61

Gettysburg, PA 7/1-3/63




* = Official game from BC150 or Supplement (30)
**= Unofficial by Richard Borg (3)

[A3n]

I played Ticket to Ride (Europe) last night with my youngest boys. It was the first time that I really didn't have to help them with a game as we played. Normally I sit there & keep looking at their routes & train cards to give them suggestions of where they should be going to accomplish their routes. But not last night. Yeah. It is so much better to play a game when you aren't playing all sides.

[IAmBatman]

Nice! Definitely a good gateway game.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Lily

Been super into Settlers of Catan with my friends, now I've got 6-7 player, Traders and Barbarians, and some expansion I can't remember off the top of my head but it had event cards and harbormaster and stuff in it.

I keep trying to get my kids to play this again, it's been too long. Though we only have the base game and no expansions.

Originally Posted by chas

One of the good things about Battle Cry 150th Anniversary Edition is that its simple. Another is that you get 30 scenarios with it. Now I've just discovered that there is finally a fan site, by the guys who do other Borg game sites. Although its only been up since February, there are already 35 new scenarios there. The site is www.ccbattlecry.net

Since there are a lot of battles in the American Civil War, coverage is now increased, including Chancellorsville (the only original BC scenario left out of the BC150 game) two First Day of Gettysburgs, and more late war battles, as well as many others. While most are by various gamers, three are by Richard Borg himself.

To check them out, just click on SCENARIOS at the top of the home page. Each scenario is only two pages long. There goes another $30 in printer ink!

(Edit) Below are all the scenarios: Total 65

BATTLE CRY 150 SCENARIOS
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (5/12/14)

Spoiler Alert!

1861 (

Falling Waters, WVA. 7/2/61 *

First Bull Run , VA 7/21/61 *

Wilson’s Creek, MO 8/10/61 *

Sharp’s Cornfield, MO (Wilson’s Creek) 8/10/61

Greenbrier River, WVA 10/3/61 *

Ball’s Bluff, VA 10/21/61

Belmont, MO 11/7/61 *

Drainesville, VA 12/20/61 *



1862 (2

Fishing Creek, KY 1/19/62

Fort Donelson, TN 2/15/62 *

Little Sugar Creek, AR 2/17/62 *

Pea Ridge, AR 3/7/62 *

Kernstown, VA 3/23/62 *

Glorietta 3/28/62

Shiloh, TN 4/6-7/62 *

Williamsburg, VA 5/5/62 *

McDowell, VA 5/8/62 *

Winchester, VA 5/25/62 *

Port Republic, VA 6/9/62

Oak Grove, VA 6/25/62 *

Gaines Mill, VA 6/27/62 *

Savage Station, 6/29/62 **

Malvern Hill, VA 7/1/62

Cedar Mountain, VA 8/9/62 *

Second Bull Run, VA 8/28/62 *

Richmond, KY 8/30/62 *

Ox Hill, VA 9/1/62 *

Ox Hill-Chantilly, VA 9/1/62

Antietam, MD 9/17/62 *

Antietam, MD (Burnside Bridge) 9/17/62

Antietam, MD (Morning) 9/17/62

Antietam, MD (Mid Day) 9/17/62

Perryville, KY 10/8/62 *

Prairie Grove, AR 12/7/62 *

Fredericksburg, VA 12/13/62 *

Murfreesboro, TN 12/31/62—1/2/63 *


1863 (14)

Chancellorsville, VA Third Day) 5/1-3/63 **

Chancellorsville, VA 5/2/63

Champion Hill, MS 5/16,1863

Big Black River Bridge, MS 5/17/63

Brandy Station, VA 6/9/63

Gettysburg, PA 7/1-3/63

Gettysburg, PA (McPherson’s Ridge) 7/1/63

Gettysburg, PA (Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill) 7/1-3/63

Gettysburg, PA (Devil’s Den and Wheatfield) 7/1-3/63 *

Gettysburg, PA (East Cavalry Field) 7/3/63

Gettysburg, PA (Pickett’s Charge) 7/1-3/63 *

Chikamauga, GA 7/19-20/63 *

Armstrong’s Hill, KY? 11/25/63

Missionary Ridge, TN 11/25/63





1864 (11)

Pleasant Hill, LA 4/9/63

The Wilderness, VA 5/6/64

Spotsylvania, VA 5/12/64

New Market, VA 5/15/64 *

Drewery’s Bluff, VA 5/16/64

New Hope Church, GA 5/25/64 *

Petersburg, VA 7/30/64

Third Winchester (Opequon) 9/19/64

Fisher’s Hill, VA 9/21-22/64

Franklin, TN 11/30/64

Nashville, TN 12/15-16/64



1865 (1)

Five Forks,VA 4/1/65



EPIC (3)

First Bull Run, VA 7/21/61

Pea Ridge, AR 7/21/61

Gettysburg, PA 7/1-3/63

* = Official game from BC150 or Supplement (30)
**= Unofficial by Richard Borg (3)

Looks fun Chas. I've played Memoir and Napoleonics, but haven't gotten to try the ACW version yet, I used to be really into the ACW as a teen and got to play some cool ACW 15mm minis wargames with my grandparents' neighbor. My buddy Brian has both editions, so hopefully one day we can give this a spin. Of course he still wants to get through the Napoleonic scenarios and now we're into Android Netrunner, so it may be awhile before getting to try Battle Cry.

Originally Posted by A3n

I played Ticket to Ride (Europe) last night with my youngest boys. It was the first time that I really didn't have to help them with a game as we played. Normally I sit there & keep looking at their routes & train cards to give them suggestions of where they should be going to accomplish their routes. But not last night. Yeah. It is so much better to play a game when you aren't playing all sides.

Yep, so much better being able to enjoy the game when the kids can play for themselves

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Nice! Definitely a good gateway game.

Fo' shizzle.

[Heroscaper Guy]

Let's see, lately playtesting (C3G, C3V, HOSS, Summoner Wars, Ashes) and reading some rulebooks for RPG's (Shadowrun, Pathfinder, D&D, Mouse Guard, Middle Earth Role Playing, and Call of Cthulu). Some friends are supposed to start playing MERP soon. So yeah, aside from college, I've been busy (and also aside from videogames and real life).