What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by spidysox

Played Pathfinder Adventure Card Game today. We played through then entire "Skinsaw Murders" expansion.

The level of difficulty is what I would probably say is my biggest beef with the game, but it doesn't take away from the fun for me. It's a dungeon crawl/loot grab with rpg elements and that just spells fun.

That is our issue with PACG also, but it is still fun. We have started adding the adventure deck number to all monster checks to up the difficulty.

Played two 3-player games of Heroscape today in preparation for the Savage, MD multi-player tournament next weekend. Also played the DC Comic card game and Steam Park. Good day.

[NecroBlade]

X-Wing Store Championship.

[Codeman]

With the extended weekend (Blizzard starting Thursday night thru Friday)... it has been a good weekend for gaming.

Trains
Kill Doctor Lucky
Tsuro
Poison
King of Tokyo
Quarriors
Saint Petersburg
7 Wonders
Game of Thrones
a home made BG still working on.....
and I am sure I have missed several games.

Granddaughter also wanted to play HS but of the maps I currently have at home are in garage and the doors are froze and snowed under at the moment.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Jim

I posted this here a little over two months ago:

Something I did for my copy of Suburbia was to get some small colored cubes in each player color, as well as another color. Players put their color cube on any of their own tiles that potentially do something when they play, and the other color cube gets put on any of their tiles that potentially do something when other players play.

I like this idea Jim, though for now I'm going to try to make use of some of my bag full of HS 1st edition blue and red dice. We can use the blue ones to put on tiles that affect our own stuff, and the red ones can be put on the ones that can affect other players.



Played another solo two player game of Suburbia to get more familiarity before teaching it (and because I like it). Also played Snowdonia, which I really enjoy. And also played Castellan with each one of my daughters.

Been reading the Robinson Crusoe rules a bit too. Just to get an idea of how things go. I won't likely try to play it for a couple weeks or so, but I kind of enjoy reading game rules, and any head start with this game certainly can't hurt

[quozl]

I got to play Battleship Galaxies and Sekigahara today.

[chas]

Finally played my first games of Star Wars X-Wing yesterday. We started out with very basic options flying 'training missions' against the identical plane on both sides, and worked our way up to X-Wing vs TIE with different pilots and upgrades; the last game was 75 points each with meteors all over the play area (not using that scenario yet though). I won seven of the eight games.

Tactical airplane games started out for me back in the Sixties with Dogfight, my favorite of the Milton Bradley American Heritage series titles (the others were Broadside, Battle Cry, and Hit The Beach). These games were simple, but a cut above other strategy games then available. In DF your Spad or Fokker carried numbered Burst cards (the highest won in a head to head confrontation) and Barrel Roll and Loop cards if you were lucky. If you played a Loop, your two planes changed positions, and you could fire at the other guy--unless he also had a loop...and you changed places again, etc.

In the Eighties I played many scenarios of Red Baron, the minis game with WWI airplanes clipped on height sticks; you had to change your altitude as well as use turn arcs. You also had to plan out a number of moves in advance on your log sheet. I ended up specializing in flying near impossible missions with ungainly British bombers which were like flying school buses. But hey, my Dad was a ground crew chief on B-24 heavies in the WWII Pacific. I wear his old Kelly's Cobras squadron insignia on my Bananna Republic vest.

You don't win a war with fighter planes, no matter how glamorous they are...bombers do the real work. About the only time a fighter squadron did something strategically significant was when they 'assassinated' Admiral Yamamoto in his unarmed transport! Yet fighters get the best pilots; and bomber pilots are considered second rate flyers. I enjoyed finding the old USAAF training film on tape which showed how to actually operate a B-24 Liberator. So much for the heroic movies. The controls were so rough, one man couldn't even fly it alone. Maybe in the sleeker B-17 Flying Fortress you could--the movies always show one man getting his Fort home; but the ungainly B-24 was heavier and nastier, having a greater range and carrying a heavier bomb load.

In his autobiography Saburo Sakai, the greatest Japanese WWII fighter ace, told of a bomber pilot who envied the fighters. When the man's plane was hit and burning, he died trying to perform a loop in his two engined bomber--which was impossible, so his plane stalled, hung in the air for a moment, and then exploded. Sakai was later wounded when he attacked what he thought was a US Hellcat fighter from the rear, only to discover it was in fact a recently introduced TBF Avenger bomber, whose rear gunner put a bullet in his eye. Watch out for those bombers! His long flight home in his Zero was epic. Sergeant Pilot Sakai survived the war, even after flying off on a final massive kamakaze mission--the weather was bad and they were all returned to base for another try, which never happened. Now, that's beating the odds!

Just before he died at 88, my Dad told me his proudest moment of service. One day on the flight line after finishing with his own plane, he noticed a preflight problem on someone else's plane, and reported it immediately. By doing so, he saved the lives of the Colonel and his entire crew, who would have died on landing even if they survived to return and make one. He was proud of saving lives, not helping to take them.

Later on I played Wings of War, the main problem with it being that both paper card and light plastic minis end up moving about by accident every time you touch them, so fine points of turn and fire arc calculation are really blurred and lost; the game being decided by whose hand brushes against the pieces (by accident or on purpose). I had the bomber expansion, but never got to play it, as the three dimensional minis just plain cost too much, and I gave up on the system. It did have a nice variety of planes with nice varied paint jobs, but talk about fragile pieces--the STXW craft are strong in comparison!

I also played, and still have the ships for, the Star Wars Space Fleet game (made when the more well known Star Wars land minis game came out). Loved those TIE bombers. But that's why I'm not investing in X-Wing myself. I own enough games and 54mm minis to choke a horse, so a new collectible game is out. Now my pal owns the first few expansion sets so far, and I'm looking forward to his getting some TIE bombers!

The problem with these games is that you end up firing as often as possible, and doing what seems gutsy but is in fact foolish. Only a very bad real life pilot actually has to make the suicidal move of going head to head with his enemy. The ideal of course is to sneak up behind him, so he can't fire back at you. But these limited table space games make that very difficult. Practicing with more than one plane each, I wasn't able to do it even with a team, flying two XWs against four TIEs. I note also that the game simulates WWII Pacific air combat in that the TIE performs like an agile Zero against the more well armed and armored US fighters (although the US planes were faster historically--but you have to balance the game design, I guess). Comupter flight simulation games probably are able to solve this problem, but being so low tech I don't play them. I did enjoy the simulations on the TV series Dogfights; you finally get to see what they are actually talking about in air tactics in three dimensions, from WWI to jets, and I have the DVDs from both seasons.

Well, I've got something to shoot for when we fly again next time. Of course, if you can keep out of the other guy's firing arc while bringing him in yours, that's usually good enough!

(Edit) Just a note that the best WWI Air Combat movie is probably Aces High (Malcolm McDowell, 1976). Its little known, and frighteningly realistic, not in gory effects but in psyhcological terror. Think you would have wanted to be a real life fighter pilot back then? Think again! The best documentary on the subject is Days of Thunder, which takes you through the step by step developments in the whole war. Both were recommended to me by the guy who got me into Red Baron, Ed Harmon, and I mention his "expert level" favorite picks to honor him, as he's no longer with us. Keep it flyin' Way Up There, buddy!

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by Hahma

Been reading the Robinson Crusoe rules a bit too. Just to get an idea of how things go. I won't likely try to play it for a couple weeks or so, but I kind of enjoy reading game rules, and any head start with this game certainly can't hurt

Try out one or both of these player aids. They would have been very helpful when I first read the rules. Can't wait to hear what you think of the game.

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/83876/round-sequence-crib-sheet

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/88...obinson-crusoe

Originally Posted by quozl

I got to play Battleship Galaxies and Sekigahara today.

I looked at our Battleship Galaxies longingly yesterday, but decided it would be better to continue getting my daughter ready for her first Heroscape tournament this Saturday. We were able to squeeze 2 games into an over scheduled Sunday.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Gurei-Ornery

Try out one or both of these player aids. They would have been very helpful when I first read the rules. Can't wait to hear what you think of the game.

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/83876/round-sequence-crib-sheet

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/88...obinson-crusoe

Thanks G-O. I have the first one printed out already but that second one looks pretty sharp. I'm sure after I give it a spin some early weekend morning (as is the time I can get some solo gaming done or practice learning games) I'll be sure to let you know. It seems like there's a lot to it, but I think it looks like once you get some of the fiddly stuff down, then it should get easier to play (but not to win ).

It seems like you enjoy it, so I hope to get some good times with it for a long time.


Tonight I finally got to teach Suburbia and had a nice 4 player game. Everyone enjoyed it, though it was a learning curve for 2 of the players, while the other one picked up on it right away and actually won with 141 points to my 137. The other 2 were pretty close to each other, but down in the 60's or 70's point range. Just didn't manage the money/population well and the guy that won ended up getting 2 Homeowners Associations and some other stuff that he invested in to keep his population on his player card way up for several rounds and helped mitigate all the red lines he crossed that reduced his population and income on the track. It eventually caught up with him in a way, but by then he was too far ahead. I had gained 50 points in attaining 3 goals to get me pretty close to him. One guy just needed me to buy a lake so he had the fewest and get I believe 15 more points for his goal. I really enjoyed the game, and keeping track of what we or others had to affect each other wasn't an issue.

Then I played Colossal Arena for the first time and totally sucked at it. The other scores were 11, 11, 12 and 13, while mine was 4. My secret bet was on the Ettin and he got taken out in the first wound, then my other heavy bet guys got taken out. Cool enough game, but I just wasn't good at it this time.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Hahma

Then I played Colossal Arena for the first time and totally sucked at it. The other scores were 11, 11, 12 and 13, while mine was 4. My secret bet was on the Ettin and he got taken out in the first wound, then my other heavy bet guys got taken out. Cool enough game, but I just wasn't good at it this time.

I have this game as well as its precursor, Titan: The Arena. I've won and lost both games; sometimes you just don't get the cards to keep your creatures in the game.

[A3n]

King of Tokyo arrived yesterday & my boys & I got a game in. I would say it's ok, but not over-joyed with it thus far. It was the first game & we were still learning the rules. There seems to be a big component of luck, which I don't enjoy so much. But again that might be because we haven't played it enough to get any ideas of strategies that can apply. I do like the risk/reward component of being in Tokyo although when my boys are going for the quick kills getting 4-5 attacks there doesn't seem like to much reward.

Paid for it now though so I won't give up on it. BTW what is the 2 extra green dice for?

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Taeblewalker

I have this game as well as its precursor, Titan: The Arena. I've won and lost both games; sometimes you just don't get the cards to keep your creatures in the game.

Yeah, having the right cards probably helps But the Ettin got taken out in the first round while I was still trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. Had I realized it then, I probably could have played a high enough value spectator card (ones with the Void power) on the low value Ettin card played. But as with my Archer bets (3 and 2 point) I didn't get a chance to protect it before the player before me put a 0 down on it and it was the card that ended the round. Oh well.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by A3n

King of Tokyo arrived yesterday & my boys & I got a game in. I would say it's ok, but not over-joyed with it thus far. It was the first game & we were still learning the rules. There seems to be a big component of luck, which I don't enjoy so much. But again that might be because we haven't played it enough to get any ideas of strategies that can apply. I do like the risk/reward component of being in Tokyo although when my boys are going for the quick kills getting 4-5 attacks there doesn't seem like to much reward.

Paid for it now though so I won't give up on it. BTW what is the 2 extra green dice for?

You need the Expansion 1 to really make the game great. (Adds player-specific cards to make the Monsters more unqiue, you get to start with one at random.)

You know the cards that you can buy in the game using the energy cubes? There are two that allow you to get "Extra Heads," which allows you to roll more dice.

As to one strategy, you have to figure out how long you can risk staying in Tokyo.