Any Board Gamers Up in This Piece?

[MrX 683]

Stumbled onto this thread. Awesome. 
 

Azul is really fun. 
 

We have Quacks of Quedlinburg but when I opened it, it felt overwhelming. Our kids are 10 (four of us). Too early or plow ahead?

 

[Sheep Have Wool 1049]

8 minutes ago, MrX said:

Stumbled onto this thread. Awesome. 
 

Azul is really fun. 
 

We have Quacks of Quedlinburg but when I opened it, it felt overwhelming. Our kids are 10 (four of us). Too early or plow ahead?

 

Plow ahead. If you're struggling, there are some rules explanation videos on YouTube that are available.

[BoomMF 1396]

On 1/5/2024 at 9:50 PM, MrX said:

Stumbled onto this thread. Awesome. 
 

Azul is really fun. 
 

We have Quacks of Quedlinburg but when I opened it, it felt overwhelming. Our kids are 10 (four of us). Too early or plow ahead?

 

Kids really get a kick out of Quacks and it's much easier to play than the rules make out. Like SHW said, rules videos and playthroughs abound, but if you play one round you'll see how it all comes together pretty quickly.

[BoomMF 1396]

Castles of Burgundy is turning out to be one of our most played games. Everyone we show it to loves it. It's not easy to bring around due to the size of the Collector's Edition, but it's worth it.

 

Speaking of not easy to bring around, but worth it, we got Foundations of Rome back to the table. We had some family over for the holidays and chose this one as an "easy to get into" game. It was a hit. No surprise.

 

Trying to catch up on the backlog I forced everyone to play 51st State Ultimate Edition. What a great game! I know it's Zee's favorite (his promo is even in the pic), but his are the tastes I'm least sympatico with. Turns out he and I agree on this gem. The game is fast but you feel like you accomplished quite a bit in that amount of time.

 

And speaking of fast, we played Zee's compadre's Last Light KS Edition. It's supposed to be a 4X game that plays in an hour, and it does, but when you're through you don't feel the weight of having just played an epic 4X game. So, I kinda don't see the point since it doesn't really scratch the "4X itch," imo. However, the game that is there is great. Lots of fun decisions that don't make or break your strategy - or, at least, if you play something strategically wrong, you can usually recover quick enough. I dig the production, which is half the reason to even play modern board games obv, but the insert is something from the bowls of hell. Thank goodness for those Etsy designers who do a ton of work creating inserts and giving us the option to snag a cheap STL.

 

The kids had some friends over that wanted to try a board game, so we busted Everdell on them and I facilitated. Suffice to say they were amazed at the experience. They came from a Monopoly-is-the-peak background and had no idea what modern gaming has become. It's neat watching that discovery flash across faces, which happens quite a bit!

 

The wife and I play the app of Terraforming Mars when we travel so it's a game we're both very familiar with. Playing Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game KS is a pared down experience, but hits a lot of what we enjoy about TM.

 

We finally played Ankh: Gods of Egypt. It's the all-in pledge so we were not for want of god or guardian options.  This one also plays pretty quickly, but with a lot of simple yet impactful decisions. Your turn is pretty much about 4 main options and the stress of when to trip events. The map gets congested very quickly which is always good fun chaos. We played with the merge mechanic, but I'm not sure we'll play with it again. Everyone enjoyed it otherwise.

 

But then we played Oathsworn KS and quickly played it again and again. The campaign is fantastic and the app narration is top notch. The music they play during the encounters is choice. I have a bluetooth soundbar below the table, so we crank it up and let the thematic brilliance wash over us. Here's a campaign we might actually finish!

[morehornsepower 854]

@BoomMF Oathsworn looks amazing.  Coming from the Ascension & Carcassonne level of board games, it looks like a big jump in $ investment.  Worth it?

[BoomMF 1396]

On 1/16/2024 at 9:10 AM, morehornsepower said:

@BoomMF Oathsworn looks amazing.  Coming from the Ascension & Carcassonne level of board games, it looks like a big jump in $ investment.  Worth it?

We've been enthralled with the story. If you have room for a campaign game in your life, this is the one to get imo. I've played Gloomhaven, Tainted Grail, ISS Vanguard, and a few other great ones, but this one captured me the way the others couldn't.

If you make it to Chapter 3 and are able to quit playing, you're a stronger person that I.

[atomheartbevo 88912]

Friend who works for a tabletop RPG company mentioned a few days ago that Hasbro maybe done with physical D&D books, which means they are done with physical gaming.  All the people responsible may have been a part of the big wave of WOTC layoffs last December.  Can’t find confirmation other than a shitload of people were laid off, and they’ve been going hard on digital for quite a while now. Probably be easy to find on LinkedIn.

Will be a bit sad as there’s been some great books over the past few years, but I have my old books, and these days I mostly play through Roll20 and another service with friends.

Edited February 6 by atomheartbevo

[BoomMF 1396]

I think Warhammer is on the same path. Physical books are expensive to produce and store and they're hard to change after-the-fact. Digital resources can be changed on a whim, so I get it. I don't like the idea of not owning something because old. I get satisfaction looking over at the shelf and seeing a string of books, whether I play with them or not.

I play primarily on Fantasy Grounds now, too, and I can't convince myself the experience is better than all of us sitting around a table, but a shit ton more convenient and at this stage in our lives convenience is the only thing that makes it happen anymore.

[MillerEP 30270]

Just started getting into Warhammer 40K, and I may have already spent more money than I'm comfortable with.

[BoomMF 1396]

#plasticcrack

[Kwix 2186]

Anyone here used Board Game Arena before?  Thinking of getting a subscription to play online with family.

[BoomMF 1396]

22 hours ago, Kwix said:

Anyone here used Board Game Arena before?  Thinking of getting a subscription to play online with family.

I believe @TexArcher plays on BGA all the time and recommends it. I know it's very popular compared to TableTop Simulator since the interface is more intuitive and simplified (or so I've been told).

[TexArcher 37040]

100% correct.

I found TTS to be a bit clunky.

BGA has a good selection of games, tons of players, and a game plays in about 1/3 the time of the tabletop version.  You can also play real-time or turn-based.  And it's like $25 for the year.

Steam is good, too, but then you're paying by the game.  Some of us hardcore nuts use it because it's the only place to play certain games.

But if you just want to play card games and family stuff, BGA is the way to go for sure.

[morehornsepower 854]

On 7/12/2020 at 6:50 PM, BoomMF said:

Thanks. Here's the plans I used, modified a little bit:
 

 

 

Boys and I have decided we're going to try to tackle this over the summer.  I've watched this vid, and his follow-up on what he would do differently.  Anything you'd do differently if you were doing it again, @BoomMF?

[BoomMF 1396]

17 hours ago, morehornsepower said:

Boys and I have decided we're going to try to tackle this over the summer.  I've watched this vid, and his follow-up on what he would do differently.  Anything you'd do differently if you were doing it again, @BoomMF?

Instead of a 4'x4' internal playing surface I'd make it 6'x4'. I'd also put the power plugs off to one edge instead of in the middle of each side.

Good luck and don't forget to post pics!

[BoomMF 1396]

I've been lax updating, but here's some recent games we've gotten to the table.

I know some have tried to have less 7th Continent (people were selling it like crazy before this launch), but I'm over here trying to find time for more. 7th Citadel is a great 2.0 game that takes away the grindy bits of 7th Continent and favors more exploration, which is the whole reason for the season.

 

We played a lot of Kingdom Rush's campaign and really enjoy the way it's bringing the app to the tabletop experience. It's a fun puzzler really and the production value is stellar.

 

 

Age of Steam is still a game we play the most often and we just received the acrylic tiles as well as the latest map expansions. This is also the first time we played with the plastic train upgrades. Age of Steam is one of those games that should probably be in everyone's collection.

 

 

More ISS Vanguard, this time with a reset! Zzzzz

 

 

Another favorite, especially with normies is Foundations of Rome. We recently received the latest expansion but haven't had a chance to play with it yet since we had to play vanilla to accomodate noobies. It's on the list though.

 

 

Carnegie is fantastic! @TexArcher thinks it's solvable though. We might have to find out.

 

The newest Stonemaier game we have, Apiary, seems like the company getting back to releassing top-tier titles. Highly recommend this worker placement game. I still need to pick up Wyrmspan, but we have Wingspan's Nesting Box filled to the brim - Do we really need more? Probably.

 

Kanban EV is now my 3rd favorite Lacerda, with a chance to rise. And there's something about Eagle-Gryphon deluxe games that just give me the warm and fuzzies.

 

We finally got Galactus out and he started devouring almost right away. I love these silly over done epic CMON scenarios so much that it's the only part of the upcoming Game of Thrones tactical game I picked up.

 

 

And keeping with the epic CMON games, we played Dune: War for Arrakis and had a blast. I've still never played War of the Ring, but now I wonder if I ever have to.

 

The wife and I still play a lot of Kingdom Death, but this time we tried the latest Vignette of Death, Killenium Butcher. We promptly got butchered and a good time was had by all.

 

But the game we've played the most by far is Oathsworn. I'll post pics here behind a spoiler shield because I know people are big on that. Don't click if you don't want to see very cool bosses being battled.

Spoiler

 

You remember that dice tower inspired by the OG Player's Handbook cover. I thought it looked great but to my surprise it doesn't come painted like the cover. It's missing a gem eye, which is being stolen on the original cover, which is a cool detail, but if it's not lit red by the cauldron it's not the cover! So I painted it myself to match. It looks great when the fire is turned on. lol

 

And we're now getting dangerously close to running out of space for neoprene mats. Is this just how it's going to be from now on, constantly having issues storing these things?

 

Excelsior!

[TexArcher 37040]

I wouldn't say Carnegie is solvable; it just tends to be pretty much the same game every time.  But I've played it about 30 times, so obviously that isn't too much of an issue.

[MrX 683]

We’ve been playing Splendor but the Marvel version. Kids love it. I haven’t figured out the strategy yet, so it’s keeping our interest. 

[MillerEP 30270]

I Founded a new chapter of space marines:

[BoomMF 1396]

Oh snap!

[Viper 11948]

I love playing Cosmic Encounters but I only have a couple of friends nearby who will play that involved a game. The wife wants to bring some coworkers over for a game night and they'll probably need something a big more casual and easier to pickup.

[BoomMF 1396]

Asymetric games are tough to teach, even with experienced players.  If you're comitted to playing CE maybe have them watch a tutorial before they come over, then you can just polish up any confusion they may still have.

It'd be really cool if you're able to find a group of people that dig CE, because then the world of hobby board games is pretty much open to you.

[morehornsepower 854]

Looks like we're a few years behind the rest of you, but we had a chance to play Scythe on our family vacation at the end of June.  Was able to pick up a barely-used set with some expansions last week, and we've had several game nights since.  Good stuff.

 

Wife ixnayed the "lets build a game table over the summer" idea, as too much of a non-family time-suck while the kids were all home, so I'm just now getting started on that.  Actually picked up a (free) 3.5X6 desk/table that I'll be using as the base.

[morehornsepower 854]

Should be a good weekend!!!

 

[BoomMF 1396]

Awwwww shiiiit.

[morehornsepower 854]

Spoiler

First encounter set up. Spoilered in case anyone expects to play and wants to maintain the mystery. 
 

A lot of set up time. (Definitely need to get that gaming table done). Thankfully, it looks like our second-hand all-in version had some of the prep work done and nothing was missing.  The app adds greatly to the atmosphere.  
 

Chapter one story and encounter finished, with 2 of our 4 characters KO’d at the end. Took a good 4 hours, but well spent. Had to refer to the rules book pretty often, so I’d expect us to get better and not need that quite so much. Really liked the encounter portion…the story was “good” I’d say. 
 

Hope to get into chapter 2 this weekend. 

[BoomMF 1396]

That app is what all other campaign apps should be judged by - James Cosmo kills it and the fight music is epic. You're in for some memorable moments, and some are just a few chapters away!

[CleverNickname 1281]

is their something like a cooperative Crank? Doesn't have to be Clank, but my family game night prefers coop games.

[morehornsepower 854]

On 9/3/2024 at 2:02 PM, BoomMF said:

That app is what all other campaign apps should be judged by - James Cosmo kills it and the fight music is epic. You're in for some memorable moments, and some are just a few chapters away!

Chapter 2 was great!

while playing, we thought we were missing the “curative” cards, but an internet search this morning says they look just like the “injury” cards, so maybe they were hidden in with those. I’ll have to check when I get home. 
Only complaint is the setup and cleanup takes quite a bit of time. I’ve got to get this game table done. 

[kilroydos 266]

On 9/5/2024 at 6:41 AM, CleverNickname said:

is their something like a cooperative Crank? Doesn't have to be Clank, but my family game night prefers coop games.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266507/clank-legacy-acquisitions-incorporated

I've got a group I'm working through Clank Legacy with.  We love it.  Clank as a legacy game turns into a great combo of cooperative and competitive.  The group has overall goals to achieve, but you still want to be the winner of each round.

We played the Pandemic Legacy games together, and can recommend those also.  Season 1 > Season 0 > Season 2, but they've all got cool mechanics that work in interesting ways.

[morehornsepower 854]

Yes, I'm doing a lot of this work - especially assembly - in my living room.  Still too hot outside...  Decided on 6x4 playing space for the gaming table.

Buddy had an executive desk that he no longer needed, so I decided to use it as the base.  Planning & sizing up:

Vertical edges of the desk were not flat, which complicated my plans slightly:

 

Here is where we sit today - base mounted, vault sides mounted.  I'm so tempted to cut the neoprene and start using it as-is...

FInishing rails, with cupholders & stain, are next...but we'll see how quickly that happens... Still undecided on any electrical outlets, but led lights will for sure be included.