Through the ages is a great, great game. The new version “Through the Ages a New story of Civilization” is greater greater game. It’s a refined version of the original. Short version of review. 
TTA is an interesting beast. A civilization builder without a map. It might be more accurate to describe it as an economy builder with the ability to throw a spanner in other player’s works. Usually at the most inopportune time. Don’t worry there’s also AMPLE opportunity to hoist yourself on your own petard. TTA is a hard mistress.  

It’s also a very clever game. There’s several elements to it. A grab for cards that appear on the conveyor belt of history. A juggling of resources to improve your lot and a constant struggle to stay, if not ahead then close enough to everyone else militarily so you don’t get ganked. Repeatedly. 
Like all resource games you never have enough of everything and you have to just do your best with what you have and plan well ahead. There’s no one route to victory. Get big and rich and the others will plunder you. Get ahead technically and the others will plunder you. Get ahead militarily and go out there and plunder others like a good Christian. Military on its own just doesn’t work btw. Some will disagree. As the ages roll by it takes cash money to keep up with the latest tech and sticking all your cash into weapons will leave you with spears and bows against tanks and aircraft. But listen you’re not dumb you figured that yourself. Like all good games it’s a balancing act, making the best worse choices. Working with limited resources. Making do. I’ve started to see parallels between this and Twilight Struggle but this game is two to four players which is sweet. Not by any means the same type of game but similar Ban Ki-moon headaches. 

Say one thing for TTA it demands repeat plays to learn how the cards flow. There are four ages. All the cards in the decks will appear (pretty much) although someone else may snatch them up before you and begrudgery is a key skill. There are certain cards that you really really need like improved mining and agriculture oh and science. The problem is so does everyone else so it’s a scramble. Despite limited cards it’s rarely luck that loses you a game. Someone grabbing the iron before you is not the end of the world something better will appear. Make sure you jump on it this time. 
Again like a lot of games of this sort you really need to play people of your own skill level to get the most out of it unless you want to improve. In which case play against a shark and get a paddling but learn from it. 
Despite what some people contend it is a Long game. You want to budget four hours for it and be thankful if you get out Early. There’s no early wins it always to the biter end. 

In case you haven’t gathered. I really love this game. I rate it up there with Twilight Struggle. It’s harsh, it’s unforgiving but it a joy to play. The new version is like a tweaked version of the original, gone are a lot of the minor (and major) niggles from the first one. The whole thing just looks and works beautifully and It really shouldn’t work. A 4x game missing at least one x. It absolutely and utterly does work. It’s a wonderful game. You need to play this game if you haven’t already and if you’ve played the old version you need to try out the new one and soon
Huzzah!
Vic 

Got to play Multiplayer last night for the first time and was summarily handed my Keister (sign here and here) by an online gaming chum, not once but twice.  I offer no excuses

So what’s Multiplayer like?  It’s excellent.  If you’ve played Total War before you’re in familiar territory.  I played as dwarfs and came close to winning the first time against vampire counts.  I was hammered soundly by Bretonians.  Yes Brets. The multiplayer battles allow up to 3v3 with six races in there.  Empire, Dwarf, Bretonians, Chaos, Vampire Counts and Green skins.

I was impressed with the graphics engine.  I dialed the detail all the way up and it was still as smooth as silk.  The game looks gorgeous.

I think they have the versus battles down pat.  It captures the spirit of Warhammer really well but is still very much Total War.

Campaign

Now the multiplayer campaign is a different matter.  it IS only two players but can be played versus or co-op. Also Brets aren’t in there for campaign. I would have liked more players but it’s OK we can do our campaign map outside the game and do our battles online (I have a plan)….

Right, that’s your lot, back to work

Huzzah!

Vic

Well that’s a first. I logged onto steam late last night and my friends (steam friends) were all playing the same game, Warhammer Total War. 
It’s been a long time coming. Yes there’s been modded versions of the various TWs but this is the first official one and it’s very welcome
Let’s cut this short. Is it any good? Yes. Should I buy it? Yes. 
The game comes with four factions (dwarf, human, vampire counts, greenskins) and a fifth (chaos) if you buy it preorder or within the first week of launch. 

Interestingly dwarfs are easiest to win a campaign with (if the difficulty setting is to be believed). I tried these first. The lack of cavalry was weird having played TW in the past. 
I need to qualify this review. I only got a couple of hours in last night and it was only launched yesterday. The developers did a sterling job getting it back on the rails. The multiplayer servers were over subscribed to and it all went down but was back up again quickly. So as of yesterday evening everything was humming along nicely. Since I moved to a fibre area words cannot describe my Joy as the 10gb game downloaded in 15 mins. (I celebrated by texting my buddy who lives in a broadband black zone but he didn’t share in my joy) 

Graphically the game is a treat. Like all TWs you can dial the detail up to stubble on the chin level if you have the horsepower to run it or down to stockmen on bland backgrounds. The shine on the brasses and armor looks the business. Animations look great. The big units leap in like Sauron and knock everyone flying. Heavy weapons knock troops like nine pins. Troops move “right”. All of it looks just as you (well me) expected these units to move. 
Now I have to qualify this which I will soon but multiplayer campaigns seems to only allow two players which was disappointing. I was envisaging eight player month long campaigns but that ok. I have a backup plan to run that part outside the game. 
You can play one off battles against each other and AIs as normal 
The economy is much simplified but there is a good tech tree and the campaign map is dramatically realized perfectly for the source material
Needs more play which it will get. Check out http://www.cdkeys.com. I picked it up for €36.69 rather than the iron price of €60 from steam
More soon 
Huzzah!
Vic 

Xcom has been around for over 20 years. Probably 30. They’ve been pretty successful when you think about it as there haven’t been any alien incursions to my knowledge in that time. Nobody has been probed since the 70s so job well done all around. 

Xcom 2 arrived a few months back on the PC and I was hesitant to buy it. Surely I had done my bit for world security but like always just when I thought I was out they pulled me right back In

The new Xcom (which the board game is based on) was a good reboot. The enemy within was a much better version. It felt like an Xcom 1.5 and was far superior to its predecessor. Xcom 2 is good but it doesn’t feel like a new game it feels like a very well improved version of the enemy within. A 1.8 if you will. That’s ok. It’s still a really good game and worth your hard earned to buy it

A few things have changed and some extras have been added. The story is a big one. This is set 30 years after the events of the last Xcom and the aliens rule earth all friendly like the lizards from V. They’re bad but they control things now and they have a sinister plan. 

You play the commander of a rag tag group of rebels trying to raise support and stop the aliens. It’s a new slant (if you discount Xcom apocalypse) and it works really well. You feel like a proper rebel when you play, constantly scraping resources together to achieve your goals, always waiting for the hammer to fall and always the underdog. The theme is strong
Gone are the mini games of shooting down enemy UFOs. Instead you react to situations as they occur you take on missions and gather resources. Gone is the globe map, you now start in North Africa and try and take more of the risk style map by completing missions. Getting more support means more precious resources. Time is the enemy here. I’m not going go give the plot away but as time progresses the aliens deploy bigger and nastier aliens to stop you. 

The earth is a different place, the collaborating humans now act as a security force with the exotic aliens hiding in the background to maintain a veneer of normality for the hoi polloi. Gone are the weak aliens. They’ve all been working out for the last thirty years and all of them are dangerous. The sectoids you encounter early on are way way tougher than before and sport nasty psi abilities as well as plasma weapons. You spend a lot of time saying “what the <expletive> is that?” When you first encounter new aliens and reuse the expletives again and again when they run roughshod over you in double quick time. The battles are considerably tougher than previous xcoms and you will not progress without multiple returns to earlier saves mid battle. Play this game hardcore and I wish you the best getting even a few missions done. 

There’s a number of extra features in there I like. You start with your squad concealed and a vital tactic is to slip into a good position first (Kelly’s heroes style) before the shooting starts. The stealth mechanic is welcome but I would have liked to see more. I can’t see a way of completing a mission stealthily. It’s guns blazing every time.  

Weapons can be customized by scavenged add ons dropped by killed aliens. Wounded operatives can be carried to safety. The new aliens are all interesting and a there’s a nice bit of strategy required to defeat them. Taking out certain ones that support others first is key. Missions often see you up against a deadline so there’s no hanging about. Sometimes there is. Some missions are snatch and grabs, some are straight out firefights. To be honest you’ve seen most of these before and more variety would have been nice, but it’s still all good 

Battles are much the same as before. The tactics and weapons will be familiar. Almost too familiar. This is why it feels like Xcom 1.8 rather than 2.0. 

The graphics are really good if a little laggy on higher settings which surprised me. This is more to do with coding than complexity. 
The game is VERY compelling. It’s got the Xcom just one more turn thing switched on to max. It’s hard. You do not want to lose your experienced operatives but it happens. It’s a much tougher challenge than its predecessor and that’s just fine. It is above all a fun fun game to play. 

I haven’t touched on multiplayer but I will 
For now I recommend it and I’m sure the price is going to tumble in time so keep and eye out

Great game well worth a play

Huzzah!
Vic 

I can’t say I’ve read all the Terry Pratchert books but I’m not far off. He was brilliant and the worlds he created were sublime. Ankh Morpork is a fairly simple area control secret mission game set in the titular city which reeks theme and features lovely artwork and good solid production values. 
Each player starts with a lord secretly picked that dictates your win condition. There’s only a few and those are things like, have control of four areas, have some of your dudes in seven locations or spread trouble to x amount of areas. 
The city map is split into a dozen or so locations each with a build cost and a special ability card for the one (and only) who builds there. There’s considerable difference in property prices and money is always short in this game.  

There’s a nice trouble mechanic. A black cube pops into existence when someone enters a location. Evidently nobody in the Disk world gets on with anyone else. It takes cards and effort to get rid of these trouble cubes so you can build there (unless of course your mission is to spread trouble)
The game is straightforward once you learn the icons on the cards. It’s a racetrack type game insofar as you need to learn the cards or have players at your level of stupid to best appreciate the game. All the myriad of characters from the books are in there in card form and act pretty much as you would expect them to. Cards have an icon or icons at the top which allow you to add some of your dudes to a location, bump off someone else’s, remove trouble, build, gain that all important gold or do something else as described on the card. It’s a fast game to learn as a lot of the rules are written on the cards. 

Is it any good? Yes it’s a fun game. Is it really good? Nope. Not as games go but it does have a lot of charm if you’re a Pratchert fan. It’s good for younger players too. Would I recommend getting it? Sure. It’s a good buy but it’s expensive for what it is and like the Great man himself it’s out of print. If you’re a die hard Pratchert fan this is a must or you’ll be cutting your own throat.
Good game, good fun, magnificent theme. 
Huzzah!
Vic 

Roll enough dice and they will all average out. All Great in theory until you roll a one and your opponent rolls a twelve and the difference is how many Damage points you take off your 11 point hull… Xia is a dice rolling fest. It’s unforgiving. If you fall behind its going to be a struggle to catch up. You get picked on when you’re down. You get bad rolls but mostly you make bad decisions and you have no one to blame but yourself (and everyone else). 
Xia is multiplayer elite in board game form. You set off to gain fame (because I assume you want to live forever) and the first to a predetermined score wins. You gain points in a number of ways, trading, exploring, completing missions, rescuing stranded players, killing others, completing missions and rolling a natural 20. So it’s a race

The map is made up of an ever expanding set of hexes each with a dozen or so spaces. The sectors contain planets of varying types, asteroid fields, Jump gates and bloody big lethal stars. As you get to the edge of hexes you flip another one over and reveal it so every game map will be different. You spend most of your time trying to get points whilst occasionally trying to ruin everyone else’s day. Let’s be honest this is the most fun part and unlike a number of other race type games getting up in someone else’s business is the order of the day if you draw and assassination or theft card. 
The game is just like (insert Hollywood star), very well put together. The coins are metal and without doubt the best money in any game ever, the ships are prepainted (in the finest sweatshops) the artwork is good, the pieces are solid. It all oozes qualify. 

There’s a magnificent vibe to the game. It’s a joy to play. It’s like a Mercedes of games. There’s issues true but none that can’t be fixed easily with a bit of common sense and maybe a house rule or two. It’s pricey but you can see the production costs when you crack it open. Is it worth the cost? Honestly no there’s a lot of really good premium games out there at a little less than this. This is more like an expensive wine. It’s a treat. It’s an indulgence. But you know what? I really like it because well, I’m all posh and that
Huzzah!
Vic 

We’ve added two new groups for your pleasure to our Facebook Presence

Knavecon Buy and Sell

A place where you can buy, sell and trade your old boardgames/card games/minis/stuff.

Knavecon Online Gamers

A register of Knavecon players and their online handles and a place to hang out with other Knaves from the comfort of your own keyboard

Get out there, spread the word

Huzzah!

Vic


Two top tips. Don’t read fashion magazines they will make you feel fat. Don’t play Blood Rage against someone who’s played it a lot they’ll let you think you’re winning and snatch it away from you utterly at the end. Also eat more veg, floss, don’t start a land war in Asia and dig two graves when you set out for revenge. That should cover everything.

I played Blood. Rage. (said in a Dracula accent) again last night. Four Vikings walk into a blood Rage. A noob, two semis and a bastard shark. Figure the punchline. Hubris is a cruel cruel mistress. 

The game itself IS good. Not as good as the hype that surrounds it but a solid fun game and to stand a chance you need to play it multiple times. Then more again. There are combos that are game winners. There are certain actions you need to take or chances are you’re sunk. It reminds me of build orders in competitive RTS games. Some cards are overpowered. Some creatures (I’m looking at you fire giant) are way too good and it’s luck you get them. 
Despite all this, it is a really fun game and it does look (with models painted) the business. After a couple of plays I’ve seen a depth open up here. There are multiple strategies to winning. There is a lot of adjusting your plans on the fly or in my case throwing them away completely and capitalizing on opportunities.
Is it worth rushing out and buying. Yes if your group doesn’t have a copy but one copy is enough. It’s expensive for what it is. There are many fine games out there and this is one of them. Try it before you buy it. It may not be your skull of tea. I came THIS close to winning right up until the end. Curse you Thor 
Huzzah!

Vic 

I’m a big fan of Fury of Dracula. More so when I’m playing the big man himself. I got to play third edition and I have mixed feelings about it.  Mostly because I have won a game. YET
I’ve had second edition for a long time and I was wondering if third is a better bet. I had mixed feelings about it :). Didn’t help that I got hammered when I played it by a lucky card from one hunter.

There are quite a few differences from the original and quite a bit left the same.  All said I had forgotten how many rules there are in the game. All worth the effort though
If you’re unfamiliar with the game. It sees one player taking the roles of Dracula who sneaks around avoiding the hunter players, laying traps (encounters), killing hunters, raising more vampires and generally leading the hunters a merry and hopefully fruitless dance before winning on points and high fiving the children of night
That’s the theory. My experience varied a little from that. In the last game I got Rodney Kinged by all four players at once. Now here’s the thing. I’ve lost two games being Dracula and I’ve played Dracula a lot so this game is quite a challenge, the hunters have upped their game or I’m not the vampire I used to be. Probably a bit from column a b and c. Any road up I’m eager to stick on the tux and do it all again asap

If like me you’ve played second Ed you’re probably wondering if it’s any better and should you upgrade. A good question
Here’s the basic changes
Night and day happen every turn. Didn’t like this. It used to be more strategic now it’s pure luck if you meet the hunter at the right time. Night and day are also not as important as they were.
Combat has been revised. More streamlined. I did like this. Out goes the dice. In comes the rock paper scissor style matchup

Gone are some of the stupid cards like the Nina harker GPS locator and the Dracula teleport. I don’t miss those.
Is it a better game? Yes. Should I rush out and buy it. Yes. Unless you have second Ed in which case you’re there or thereabouts already and there just aren’t enough changes to justify it
Still a great game,still a lot of fun still happy to play it at the drop of a top hat.

Huzzah bleh de bleh!

Vic

Just in time for May the 4th the third Board Game Monthly has just dropped. This months theme is Space and it features some excellent stories and reviews (and also some reviews I did too).

The team that put this together are based all around the globe and it’s been immense fun working with all of them which (unless they get wise and boot me out) I’m planning to do for a long time to come.

Get over the Board Game Monthly and snag your copy of the magazine and May the 4th be with you!

Huzzah!

Vic