What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by A3n

First time I played Splendor. We played 2 games & I would've won the 2nd game if I hadn't forgot what I was doing on what would have been my second last turn. Took me 3 turns to recover from that mistake & then it was too late.

Yeah, it can take a little time to recover if mess up and someone else takes what you want. I like to use the "reserve" action for a nice card I'm really wanting, but can't afford just yet. Keeps it out of others' hands, as well as I get to have it to look at as a reminder of what I need to get to pay for it.

I like the engine building and planning aspect of the game. People will start going in some different directions, but if you pay attention, you can see if someone is saving up for something you may be interested in, especially the bonus tiles that you can get for having 3 or 4 of certain colored sets.

[chas]

Just got back from an afternoon playing Memoir 44 Overlord: Market Garden Battle Map. I served as German C-in-C and although the Allies won 13-10, we gave them a run for their money! The game took about 2 1/2 hours. As the only person who owns the old paper map, I was happy to bring it down. We're now talking about a Battle of the Bulge event.

The game was played at The Compleat Strategist in Manhattan, NYC. We had 7 of 8 players show up, which was pretty good. The guy who ran it was the same person who held the last two M44 D-Day Landing Operation Neptune games (12 Player). My own gang considers this the best of the half dozen old Battle Map Overlord scenarios.

[Johngee]

Today I joined the South Jersey Confederation of Wargamers (SJCW) at their monthly event and sat in on a session of Saga with beautifully constructed and painted 25mm metal figures on so-so 3D terrain supplied by my friend John, who also created the 4-player scenario.

The story that he envisioned was set in the Dark Ages. A village on the western coast of Wales had been attacked and looted simultaneously by three separate marauding armies - Vikings, Saxons, and Welsh. These were each given four treasure tokens, which served as victory conditions if they were carried all the way from the hill top, across the river, and through the woods to the long boats parked on the coast.

I commanded the Vikings with seven units (Warlord, 2x Heavy Inf., and 4x Light Inf. with 41 figures). Jim commanded the Saxons with seven units (Warlord, 4x Heavy Inf., and 2x Light Inf. with 33 figures). Bob commanded the Welsh with nine units (Mounted Warlord, 4x Light Cavalry, and 4x Light Inf., with 33 figures). John on the other hand commanded an unending supply of peasant conscripts that after fleeing the initial assault were emboldened to confront the attackers and prevent them from reaching the relative safety of their ships and then escape with the treasures on board. They kept coming out of the woodline on either side of the valley through which we were supposed to egress. He commanded at least eight units (Warlord and 7x Levies with 85 figures). The part of the local peasants in this drama was played by undead figurines which gave everyone plenty to laugh about.

Apparently Bob never got the memo about the victory conditions and thought he was supposed to be in alliance with the zombies. Jim and I both made a mad dash on foot toward the fords that crossed the stream between us and the beaches. But our efforts were consistently hampered by the hit-&-run tactics of Bob's javelin throwing cavalry. Our rear guards took a beating in this retrograde operation. The Welsh light units also took several casualties in the melees that ensued and Bob was then more careful to keep them at a safe distance.

Once across the river, both Jim's and my own heavy infantry (Huscarles sp?) slaughtered many of the undead creatures, probably at a rate of 4:1, but the hoard just kept re-grouping and our units were no longer at full strength and were somewhat disconnected. After three hours of strategic Action Dice allocation and many dice resolved skirmishes, the game ended in a stalemate due to other priorities and familial duties pressing upon the minds of the participants.

I can't help thinking that if we three had worked together, the cavalry could have seized the three fords early, allowing the heavies to cross the stream uncontested, and as a united front we would swept the undead rabble from the battlefield like the wipers removing pollen from your windshield. Then we could have celebrated on the shore line before sailing off into the glorious sunset. Oh well, c'est la guerre, c'est le jeu.

[chas]

Johngee,

Sounds like fun. In my games, the players get a chance to huddle together and plan out their game before it starts! Your experience reminds me of two old scenarios I ran years ago:

1. In A Viking Cattle Raid in Ireland, we had pretty Irish colleens out in the fields with the cattle, while the men slept in the main house. The guys said the planning was as much fun as the playing!

2. In A Filibuster In Nicaragua (pre Civil War), my pal played the Napoleonically uniformed government troops, putting down a peasant rebellion (think white Mexicans in sombreros). William Walker and his southerners were backed up by endless peasants who just kept coming. Finally, in reference to the old Sci-Fi video game, my opponent complained: "What is this--Peasant Invaders!?!

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by chas

Just got back from an afternoon playing Memoir 44 Overlord: Market Garden Battle Map. I served as German C-in-C and although the Allies won 13-10, we gave them a run for their money! The game took about 2 1/2 hours. As the only person who owns the old paper map, I was happy to bring it down. We're now talking about a Battle of the Bulge event.

The game was played at The Compleat Strategist in Manhattan, NYC. We had 7 of 8 players show up, which was pretty good. The guy who ran it was the same person who held the last two M44 D-Day Landing Operation Neptune games (12 Player). My own gang considers this the best of the half dozen old Battle Map Overlord scenarios.

Sounds like fun Chas! My group has all the stuff to do this and have done some Overlord games before, but sadly there are so many games people are interested in, that a game like Overlord goes too long between sessions.


Yesterday I played a couple solo games of Snowdonia to get familiar again with it before teaching it Monday night. It does have a nice solo mode, so it was useful in seeing well I did versus other sessions. I played the regular base game version, as well as the Blsenau Ffestiniog scenario for the first time. It was really cool.

Snowdonia is a worker placement game where players represent companies supplying a labor force to dig and clear rubble up Mt. Snowdon in Wales, as well as laying track and building some stations along the way. It's neat for several reasons. The rubble, track and station cards are displayed around the outside of 3 sides of the board, and you work your way up from the left side around to the right side, as in actually going up the mountain. You can only lay track on cards that have been cleared of rubble, and you can only help build stations that have the path cleared up to them of rubble. Then there are contract cards that give you a one time ability, as well as victory points for completing them. There is also variable weather that affects the rubble clearing and track laying rate, as well as fog that doesn't allow you to clear or lay track. Additionally, at the end of each round, you draw cubes from a bag to restock the stockyard (with Iron Ore, Stone and Coal), but there are some event cubes in there that will trigger an event that will cause either some rubble to be cleared, track to be laid, or stations un-buildable because an "outside" company is working against the group of players. You also can buy a train engine that will offer an ability of some sort, and there are 7 different train engines.







Edit: just finished a solo game of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, playing Advance on Thistletop scenario with Amiri, Lini and Seelah. It was tough, but we got it done!

[IAmBatman]

Played Sentinels of the Multiverse (we rescued Dreamer without much drama) and Eldrich Horror (we came within one mystery, and then one wound of beating Chuthulu) last night.

[Jormi_Boced]

Played in WizKids Rainbow Draft weekend yesterday. It was a ton of fun and the new promos are pretty cool.

With the completion of the ground units Tail Feathers is finished and ready to fly!

Staborah


Snag's Commandos


The Downwood Militia


It was a really fun set of minis to paint. The birds were especially fun to paint, and I really loved Aerijin. The blues and silvers complimented each other so well. The armor and bird is a really cool sculpt. Can't wait for this game to come out.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Jormi_Boced

Played in WizKids Rainbow Draft weekend yesterday. It was a ton of fun and the new promos are pretty cool.

With the completion of the ground units Tail Feathers is finished and ready to fly!

Staborah


Snag's Commandos


The Downwood Militia


It was a really fun set of minis to paint. The birds were especially fun to paint, and I really loved Aerijin. The blues and silvers complimented each other so well. The armor and bird is a really cool sculpt. Can't wait for this game to come out.

Saw pictures of those minis on Facebook. They look awesome!

[Dad_Scaper]

Epic. I beat the Kid in a nailbiter, with just 2 health left.

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Epic. I beat the Kid in a nailbiter, with just 2 health left.

I love how you never feel sure of the win until you win in Epic. Saturday, we played ~10 games of Epic and only 2 of the games were technically blowouts.

We also squeezed in a massive 500 point per side Star Wars: Armada battle and a 4-player X-Wing battle using all of the huge ships clocking in around 200 points a piece.

All around "epic" day.

[Hahma]

Last night I played a 4 player game of Snowdonia and came in 2nd place, and then a 4 player game of Viceroy and came in 3rd place.

I own Snowdonia and love it. It's a medium weight worker placement game with a theme of the player being a company providing labor for excavating, laying track and building stations up Mt. Snowdon in Wales in in the late 1800's. It's neat because the track and stations are represented by cards around 3 sides of the board and you work your way up from left to right, and it feels like you are progressing up the mountain. There is also an element of changing weather that can affect things, as well as a game AI that represents competing labor companies that can move things along when events occur. You also have contract cards available to take that give you a one time ability, as well as endgame bonus for completing certain objectives.

I don't own Viceroy, but it's my second time playing. Kind of hard to explain. It's an okay game that requires a few plays to get it more, and the various ways to score. We let the winner get too many infinite gem cards and that allowed him to more easily pay for stuff.

[akden]

Originally Posted by Gurei-Ornery

I love how you never feel sure of the win until you win in Epic. Saturday, we played ~10 games of Epic and only 2 of the games were technically blowouts.


All around "epic" day.

I'm still waiting on my Kickstarter copies to arrive. Color me a little jealous.