What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[NecroBlade]

Been thinking of selling Risk Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition for a while now. Got it out to play it again since I've only actually played it a few times. I appreciate the theme, but it just reminded me how tedious Risk is. Luckily there's a guy at work who's looking for it!

[chas]

Held a second session for the new Pendragon (COIN series, GMT) yesterday. Where we only did one trial Epoch last time, this play we got through the first Two Epoch scenario and had fun. Next we'll try the scenario set later in the period, which is also 2E, and switch sides. We're working up learning the rules for the later 4E and full 6E game some time!

I'm hosting another game of Rising Sun today, with a few new twists and three new players. My new March schedule is out with six more RS dates; if you are in the NYC area PM me with your email and I'll send you a copy with my contact info. Last month I met 5 new local players, a 6th has just signed up for the first time.

Played some Scape last week (see the NYCG4 thread) and initiated a second live opponent into the mysteries of 878 Vikings.

[Yodaking]

So one of my buddies has really caught the Rising Sun bug, and when a 3rd player we had lined up for yesterday backed out at the last moment, we got together and tried a 2 player game where each of us ran 2 clans that would be in an alliance for all 3 seasons. We decided that we should have the two allied clans we control not sit next to each other, but didn't let that effect our clan drafting decisions. So instead each players clan with the highest starting honor would go first for that team, then the lower starting honor would go second. The winner would be the player who had the one clan with the highest number of VPs at the end of the game, although we also discussed the idea of combining the VP scores of your two clans and declaring the winner based on which total was higher. In the end it wouldn't have mattered as I would have won using either method. He made the mistake of ceding board control to me early on and never recovered as I won all 6 battles in the opening round, which made it that much easier to Harvest multiple times for big rewards. I actually ended up collecting 7 battle tiles for both of my clans while limiting his two clans to only 2 battle tiles each and that was the difference of the game.

It was really fun though and pretty casual in nature as we discussed what each clan/team's tactics should be. As a result I feel we both have a much better grip on some of the tactical decisions you face in a given game. For example, one of the primary reasons we wanted our clans to sit every other spot had to do with the fact we didn't want one pair of clans to have a big advantage on the number of tiles they were able to play per season. Looking at how the numbers broke down we came to a few conclusions on who you do, and don't, want to make an alliance with during each tea ceremony phase. Based on the fact that their are 7 tiles played each season, these are your best ally decisions:

In a 3 player game, the player going first each season will get to play 3 tiles including both the first and last tile of the round. While being in an alliance with this player could be really helpful to your own chances to win, you may also be inadvertently making that player too power for you to overcome. As such since only 2 of the 3 of you can be in an alliance, consider making a pact with the other player who is not going first in an effort to keep things balanced until you are the one going first. Then you want to try and convince someone to be your ally, you can often Betray them with the last tile if you need to.

In a 4 player game, you don't want to make an alliance with which ever clan will be going last during the season. Clan 1, 2, & 3 all get to play 2 tiles that round where Clan 4 will only be playing 1 tile.

In a 5 player game, you want to make an alliance with one of the first two clans to act that season. Both will be playing 2 tiles while the other 3 will only play 1. As such it is really important to not let the first two players make an alliance if you are not one of them, so if they start talking terms with each other, start offering incentives to join you instead. Alternatively, if you are one of the first two you should at least talk to the other player going early and use that to maybe get a better deal from one of the 3 players only going once.

In a 6 player game, only the player going first will get to play a second tile so they are the most attractive player to ally with. Just be wary of that player using the Betray action on that second turn.

[Hahma]

I went to a friend's house yesterday and we had 4 of us playing Kraftwagon and then Puerto Rico. I came in 2nd in both games.

[chas]

Played my 11th and 12th games of Rising Sun yesterday.

The clan victories so far show that any clan can win:

Koi: 2 wins (4 Player, 5 Player)
Sun: 2 wins (3,4 Player)
Lotus: 3 wins (3,4,5 Player)
Turtle: 1 win (4 Player)
Dragonfly: 2 wins (3,5 Player)
Fox: - (came in second once)
Bonsai: 1 win (4 Player)
Moon: 1 win (3 Player)

[rudyvalentine]

Been playing some old and new games this month. After a long break between plays, I got to play Power Grid again. I really like this game. The snaking turn order (some phases the leader goes first, while other phases the trailing player goes first) and the economy of the resources is interesting and keeps you thinking ahead a lot. Always trying to budget and excited to see what new power plant options will show up in the auction each round. I found a cheap used copy and hope to get some more frequent plays.

Also got to try out Fallout. I have very little knowledges of the video game source material and don’t know if this game would be more or less enjoyable with a better understanding of the world, but I found it to be a fun game. The encounters reminded me a lot of the crossroad cards from Dead of Winter where you are presented with a scene and given multiple options of how to respond. Based on your choice, you gain a reputation and other game items/options. I also liked the level up system. I’d play this again.

[Hahma]

Last night I played Crokinole with teams and a 4 player game of Steam Time, which I won.

The rest of the night I spent talking to my buddy Brian about DnD. There was a sale on the 5th Edition Player's Handbook a couple weeks ago for only $20, so I got it, but it got mis-delivered and then I had to order another one that I only got this past Sunday afternoon. Brian has been playing for a few sessions via Roll20.net and Google Hangouts and suggested that I join the group he's in. A guy that used to live up our way but moved to Virginia is the DM, and he has a friend in NC that's in on it, as well as a friend of ours from Iowa and another local friend. So I haven't even looked at a player's handbook since the 80's but did a crash course in creating a character, so I could join their session tonight from 7-10pm. Fortunately it's every other Tuesday, so it's manageable. Should be fun.

[IAmBatman]

Roll20 is a lot of fun. Never did DnD as a kid, but I've joined a weekly group on Roll20 with some friends and it's been a blast.

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Roll20 is a lot of fun. Never did DnD as a kid, but I've joined a weekly group on Roll20 with some friends and it's been a blast.

Yes! My brother is a DM on Roll20 for a group including me and a few of his friends. Sometimes I post stories in the form of Letters From the Front. You can, too!

We just played tonight. Exploring an underground cave system / ancient fortress, and the most exciting things including looting some interesting treasure, including a cool-looking helmet we put on my zombie minion. A "hood ornament," we called it. It was all fun and games until he got swept into an underground river and washed away, never to be seen again. Good by, zombie minion, and goodbye, fancy hood ornament helmet.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Roll20 is a lot of fun. Never did DnD as a kid, but I've joined a weekly group on Roll20 with some friends and it's been a blast.

I just got done after 4 hours with my first session. I joined in at level 5 Rogue, since the other 4 had gotten to level 5. The group had gotten into this castle to stop a dragon cult and have to fight drakes, frog guys and cultists. I sprang out of a room to join in a battle, then discovered a hidden dagger with a button I didn't press yet, and at the end before quitting for tonight, after failing to find a trap in a treasure box, I rolled 18 to unlock it. It required a 15+, but a 20 + set off the trap I missed. I found a spell book I will likely give to our wizard.

Fun stuff. Now I have to come up with a story as to why I was there. Likely say that I infiltrated the cultists to get in for some treasure. Saw these guys fighting the frog guys and figured they were going to blow my cover by making so much noise, so I figured I'd join them.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Yes! My brother is a DM on Roll20 for a group including me and a few of his friends. Sometimes I post stories in the form of Letters From the Front. You can, too!

We just played tonight. Exploring an underground cave system / ancient fortress, and the most exciting things including looting some interesting treasure, including a cool-looking helmet we put on my zombie minion. A "hood ornament," we called it. It was all fun and games until he got swept into an underground river and washed away, never to be seen again. Good by, zombie minion, and goodbye, fancy hood ornament helmet.

I had a good time last night for my first time. We get on Google Hangouts and between the vocal comments and the chat comments, it's quite fun, in a 5th grade humor way. On character, played by my friend Brian, is a Firbolg druid. Well, he realized that his armor class would be better if he didn't wear any, so there have been plenty of jokes about him being naked and all that it implies. Our dwarf paladin is known to bust open doors with his codpiece. We have a Kenku monk, the Kenku is a humanoid bird guy that can't speak and writes on a chalkboard, and likes to peck out the eyes of our fallen enemies.

My dice rolls for my short bow sucked, but when I got a chance to use my sneak attack with my rapier, I was really good.

[Dad_Scaper]

Excellent. We have a whole thread for the sharing of such stories, if you’re interested.