What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Dad_Scaper]

This week we've played Sheriff of Nottingham a few times with my wife coming in first twice. I also taught SisterScaper how to play Star Realms, and she beat me, because everybody beats me at that game. A couple hours later she wanted to play Love Letter, where she took the first four cubes in a row, but then I came back with a streak of five for the win.

I posted, though, to report that we finally got Romance of the Nine Empires to the table tonight. It was just as robust and exciting as we remembered it from the demo at GC. I fear this complex two-player game is not getting the love it deserves from the gaming community, but there's already one expansion out & the most it was ever going to get (probably) would have been two, for reasons that are too complicated to explain.

We're looking forward to the additional elements of game play as we go, but I'm very pleased with this investment and our experience with Lesson 1: The Simple Decks. Glad we didn't follow the crowd & try to learn Doomtown instead.

edit: So glad you liked Sheriff of Nottingham, @Hahma ! 191 points??!! We haven't seen higher than the 130's in our games!

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

This week we've played Sheriff of Nottingham a few times with my wife coming in first twice. I also taught SisterScaper how to play Star Realms, and she beat me, because everybody beats me at that game. A couple hours later she wanted to play Love Letter, where she took the first four cubes in a row, but then I came back with a streak of five for the win.

We played a few games of Star Realms today and I think I lost all but one, so we can go for the Loser's Crown some day. Also played some Got' Em and DC Comic card game.

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I posted, though, to report that we finally got Romance of the Nine Empires to the table tonight. It was just as robust and exciting as we remembered it from the demo at GC. I fear this complex two-player game is not getting the love it deserves from the gaming community, but there's already one expansion out & the most it was ever going to get (probably) would have been two, for reasons that are too complicated to explain.

Oh boy, it sounds like Race for the Galaxy with a different skin. I can see how this works for you.

[Dad_Scaper]

Mechanically, it's very different from RftG. It's not as elegant or as quick, either. They are both tense two player card games with countless decision points. R9E is more thematic and feels more intense. It would probably benefit from some of the symbology that drives some people batty over RftG, because there's a lot to remember without the benefit of graphics.

I wouldn't say that someone who likes one will probably like the other, but I will also say that the comparison is clever, and fair.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

This week we've played Sheriff of Nottingham a few times with my wife coming in first twice.


edit: So glad you liked Sheriff of Nottingham, @Hahma ! 191 points??!! We haven't seen higher than the 130's in our games!

Great game for sure @ Dad_Scaper . 191 points was sick for sure that game. I played 2 more games today, a 4 player and 5 player. The 4 player I won with I believe 181 points and the 5 player game I came in 4th with around 128 points.

My group had an all day event day today and it was pretty productive.

I played Sheriff of Nottingham twice and as usual it was a blast.

Played Templar Intrigue and it was okay. Kind of a werewolf deduction game but players aren't eliminated and there are two teams. You play a round and one team or the other will get a point. Then shuffle the cards and you may be on the other team the next time etc. As soon as 1 or more players gets to 3 points the game ends and those players win. Pretty quick game but takes from 7-10 players to play. We had 10.

Played Dead of Winter - 5 player game with the Home Sweet Home scenario. We were doing okay for a while and then my truck driver got killed and spread the disease to the other survivor at my location and got our morale down. We had failed 2 crisis cards and one of them lowered the morale by 2. We had a betrayer and he won, but not because he did a big endgame move, but because of other stuff and he didn't have to do the big backstab endgame move. Great game. It was played again later by 4 different players plus the guy who brought his copy. They all lost, but it was a great game, as I watched a bit of it and then overheard it. Lots of laughing and some great crossroads card reading. We have a great group of people that like to get into this game and take on the roles and do some fun acting.

Played a game of Pandemic Contagion - This is a neat little game where players are the viruses trying to wipe out different cities around the world. I came in last out of 5 players, but it was pretty fun.

Played Istanbul and came in 2nd of 4 players. I screwed up and could have bought a ruby for $15, but miscounted my money and thought I was one short, then I could have gotten more money back by gambling nearby and then go and get my final ruby by getting the last piece for my cart. Oh well, it was fun and it's a good game for sure.

Played a game called Red like 6 times. It's a quick weird little game where the rules of the game can change by the color of the card you play on the discard pile and you have to be winning those conditions with the cards you play in front of you by the end of your turn or you are out. So I played 3 2player and 3 3player and won a few. It's okay.

Played Cash N Guns 2nd edition and came in 2nd out of 4 players. Okay little game and it was the first time I played it.

Finished off the night with a 6 player game of Quartermaster General. I had missed out on this last Monday night when it got played twice. 6 countries are represented, Germany, Italy and Japan for the Axis and U.S., England and Russia for the Allies. Each player gets a deck of cards for their country and on their turn plays one card. It can be a status card that affects future plays, a response card that is kept secret until responding with it, event cards that can affect your enemy or help your allies, or basic build army/navy cards or land or sea battle cards. There are several places on the map that you get VP's from at the end of your turn for controlling. Your units must have a supply line that if it gets broken by the enemy, you must replace those units that were lost or the units not connected to your supply depot are lost. The game is pretty fast paced and really fun for sure. I was the U.S. and stayed out of the European theater and kept in the pacific to take on Japan. The game plays 20 rounds and then it's over. We (allies won like 254 to 200 or something like that. Very fun game for sure.

[chas]

Hahma: Thanks very much for the session report on Quartermaster General. Its the only game I hadn't heard of before GenCon that is now on my buy list, but I haven't played it yet! The designer says he's thinking about an expansion with air force pieces.

[Hahma]

Chas. Glad to help. I don't know how it would play with fewer players, but we had 6 players, one for each country. The owner of the game also had 6 players for each of the games played last Monday. He said that it's actually faster in a sense that way because each player is only controlling one country and not having to go back and forth between two of them. Also, being that all 6 countries need to be played in the game ( I believe), then with 3 countries per side, it would require one player playing 2 countries and 1 player playing 1 country on a side if getting down to 4 or 5 players. Not having the rules, I don't know if there are variants with fewer countries being played.

That said, it's a neat game because of the different decks of cards for each country, and how they influence play style. Also, the timing of drawing and/or playing certain cards is key too. Once you burn through your draw deck, it's gone and you are limited with what's in your hand. There are event cards that allow you to force opponent's to discard a certain number of cards from their deck, and that's fun.

The combat is not really combat in a sense. No rolling of dice, just playing a naval combat or land battle card and removing the enemy's piece from the appropriate adjacent space. But there are response cards too that can affect that sometimes. But the combat aspect of the game is there, but done in a euro game way.

It's cool to hear about the air force expansion. That would be neat for sure. There are currently event cards that allow for "bombing" or other air force type actions, but adding the plane pieces and other rules to the game would be great.

[chas]

Hahma: I do have the rules for QMG, which are available at BGG. Like Axis and Allies (and this is almost the only way they are alike), countries are assigned so all are in the game whatever the number of players.

[Hahma]

Cool. I think you will like this Chas. And the relatively quick play time is another bonus.

[SirGalahad]

Oversaw 28 games of outdoor youth soccer yesterday as league president and chief referee, so no time for board games, but did get in a 5-player Ticket to Ride Friday night. Finished dead last, but saw our first ever, every-train-car-connected route.

[Taeblewalker]

On Tuesday I played a 3 player game of Kingsburg with the expansion. I won 46-45-44. Then we played Descent and the overlord kicked our butts with a dragon he purchased with threat.

Last night we played Mansions of Madness. I won as the Keeper playing Green-eyed Boy. The scenario doesn't seem fair to the investigators; at least when you play objective B.

Then I almost beat Kathy at Boggle.

[akden]

I'm a little late, but my son and I met Gurei-Ornery and his son and played a couple of games last week. We got in a game of Zombie 15', which seems like a neat game. It reminded me a lot of Escape: Curse of the Temple, but I think I'd enjoy Zombie 15' a little more.

We also started a game of Merchants and Marauders, but we ran out of time and couldn't finish. I don't have a great deal of experience with pirate games, but I thoroughly enjoy Merchants and Marauders.

My son and I, of course, have been playing lots of Hull Breach, lately. We picked up the first base set (to add to the second base set from Gen Con) at the game store where we played with G-O, and my son immediately starting building a deck. Today, I held off attacking him for a couple of turns because he asked me to wait, and I was being a nice dad. When I finally did attack, he played a minefield event that completely decimated my fleet and destroyed all but one of my fighters. He then proceeded to mop up the remainder of my ships, attacked my station the next turn, and boarded it with his marines. I told him next time the kid gloves are off.

I also played a solo game of Legendary Encounters, which seems like a very cool game. Unfortunately, given the artwork and theme, it's definitely not one that I'll be able to play with the famiy. I'll probably only be able to play it solo.

[A3n]

Let us know how you find Legendary Encounters as a solo game as I won't be able to play it with my family either but was definitely interested in getting it.