Artemis Thur – Being a Drax Report

It was early last week that a group of gamers from Northern Ireland by the power of the inter-web made me aware of a gaming experience called Artemis. Artemis was the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon and there’s a fair chance that the people who will get the most out of this game are themselves virgins (or possibly affected by the moon). Event though it doesn’t say it this IS the bridge from Star trek.

You and a team of other players via laptops, smartphones and tablets and a wireless network get to team up and take the roles of Engineer, Navigator, Communications, Weapons, Science of even cooler Captain of a Starship.

It’s clever, very clever. One PC or device becomes the server and shows an external view of your ship. The other players with their laptops/tablets can then jump on and become the various work stations for the afore mentioned roles. Off you go on a variety of missions and work together to complete them or I dare say even more interestingly off you go with a larger number of players on DIFFERENT ships and take each other on Wrath of Khan style.

You can probably sense my excitement here, this is Sci-Fi nirvana and yes I did want to be the captain.

To be honest it was a pretty rushed affair having only heard of the game but all was looking good. One of the guys even brought a rather nice mini projector and had the main view screen up on the wall. Unfortunately due to different versions being released (at the moment) on ipads and PCs we couldn’t link them all together so we fell back to playing a less ambitious game with just iPads.

Yes, it’s great fun. If you’re short a few players you can swap between posts on the one PC. For such a new game it’s very nicely polished and the experience is very good. Even though we were like a bunch of cadets on a school tour we did manage to nuke and destroy an enemy ship whilst calling the odds to each other from our various stations. this is DEFINITELY one we’re going to revisit when they get the versions in order

After that is was back to earth for more simple fare.

Race for the galaxy was played while we few startreked across the universe. I can’t comment on it I’ve only played it once and that was a long time back and I didn’t get it.

Next up was an old classic Scotland Yard

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/438/scotland-yard

Most people have played scrabble, monopoly, game of life etc. Scotland Yards is one step up from these and a nice gateway game. I’d never played it before and I did like it, but then again this type of hunter/hunted game appeals to me.

Scotland yard < Letters from Whitechapel < Fury of Dracula

The above three are similar but increase in complexity as you go right. I’ve mentioned whitechapel and Dracula before, both excellent game. Scotland yard is a similar but a little bit simpler and certainly less bloody and more family friendly than the other two.

One person plays the bad guy who’s sneaking around the city, the other play police men trying to hunt him down by deduction, luck and guile. It’s a nice little game, very straightforward it is definitely fun to play. Our first game we caught the bad guy about half way through the game

the second (some way say third) I was the bad guy ….. and they never caught me. Buwahaha hahaha. That said I’ve played a lot of Dracula and Whitechapel so I was prepared. I would definitely play again. It’s faster than other too and it hits the spot. If a criticism could be levelled it’s that all three games are really two player games just with a group playing the good guys. That’s fine too. I’m just saying

Also played that night were Ribbit (you B******DS) and Love letter. Ribbit is killing me, I can’t get the hang of it and it’s a childs game for 5-105 year olds…. just goes to show

More next Thur

Huzzah!

Vic

November 8, 2013 0

All Hallows Thur – Being a Drax Report

“Victor how come there isn’t a mark on any of the rule books for you games?”

It’s true I’ve been accused of not reading the rules before starting games. It’s a filthy lie, I ALWAYS read the rules, perhaps a few times before I put a game out to play. Now that said I may have READ the rules but that’s no guarantee I have a clue what the rules mean

So last night was no exception. I read the rules for Netrunner a carefully, I read the cheat sheets, I even watched the tutorial videos a few times. I carefully punched and bagged up the games and everything was ready to go…. took a while to figure out though. But I digress first up was Cards Against Humanity

This is pure and simple, adult Apples to Apples and just like that game you play the person not the game. it’s fantastic. Great party game, easy to learn and is gut bustingly funny.

It’s a perfect game for non gamers. be warned it will offend some people (whomever they are), it’s quite adult

Next up whilst the lads had a go at Ticket to Ride (I hate ticket to ride) Someone who drew the short straw got to play den den DENNNNNN NETRUNNER agin me.

Netrunner is a fast paced (unless you play me) two player card game by Richard Garfield. One player takes the role of an evil (aren’t the always?) corporation who wants to advance their agendas while the other player takes the role of a dashing Hacker intent on stopping them. Now what’s really cool about this is both players play slightly different games

It’s really worth having a look at the video tutorial and you’ll get it pretty quick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAslVfZ9p-Y

The Corporate player sets up agendas and assets that will give them score and resources (the resources in the game are credits and clicks). These are set-up on remote servers and are protected by ICE to stop hackers getting at them. There’s a certain about of bluffing insofar as the hacker doesn’t know what each server contains, it could be an agenda an asset or a trap.

The hacker spend their time building up their assets (hardware, programs) and when they choose they can do a run to disrupt a corporation server.

It works really well, I’m dying to play this again and as we learned the game the turns whipped along pretty fast.

We were only scratching the surface last night as the game comes with a number of corporation and hacker decks and as you learn the game you can configure the decks to your best advantage.

NOW unlike say Magic the gathering this is a living card game so when you buy it it’s got everything in there, you don’t need to buy a dozen decks to get a half dozen cards. I like that idea and fantasy flight are old hands now at this format

Production values on this game are excellent as you would expect with FF. Card Quality, Artwork, everything, it can’t be faulted. There’s also a stack of expansions already out.

It’s set in the Android universe (very bladerunner). I played the original Android game some time back and it never really worked for me even though I really wanted it to but I’m glad to see FF are using the same IP again just like they’ve been reusing their Twilight Emperium universe for new games like Rex.

If you’ve looking for a good two player with a good level of complexity I would highly recommend this. Make sure to read the rules. several times.

The evening wound up with a bit of Ribbit and then it was time for a clean up

Good fun, no-one lost and eye

More of that next Thur

Huzzah!

November 1, 2013 0

Still October Thur – Being a Drax Report

7 in boardgaming is an unlucky number, well not so much unlucky as awkward. Most games are designed for a max of 4,5 or 6 players so when you get 7 people around a table the obvious thing to do (apart from ignore one person) is to split into two smaller groups but somehow last night that wasn’t going to work for us so it was 7 players all the way

First up was TSURO

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16992/tsuro

It’s a very simple game akin to pipe dreams where you lay ties with paths on them and move your marker and anyone on the same tiles marker to the end of that tile. go off the edge or collide with someone else marker and it’s game over. very simple and I THOUGHT practically no strategy, so… why do I still like the game? I don’t know. It intrigues me, I got it for the iphone and it still intrigues me.

The game itself if beautifully presented, nice quality pieces and a lovely oriental theme. It’s very light and you wouldn’t play a huge amount of it BUT it does have the one more go quality and it plays up to eight. Try it on the iphone first

Still with 7 in place we moved onto CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50381/cards-against-humanity

This is a winner. Quite simply it’s Apples to Apples for grown ups. The box says 17+ age for players and it’s accurate. it’s also HILAROUSLY funny, bawdy and very cleverly written. Oh and it’s good value for money, I ordered it from amazon half way through the first game, it’s that good. if you haven’t seen Apples to Apples it’s a great party game especially for children but it works well with adults too. I recommend CAH it was the game of the night

Still holding fast with 7 we moved onto 7 Wonders

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders

7 wonders is a card based civilisation type game with no map, a LITTLE like through the ages but way faster and a little like Magic the Gathering insofar as if you’ve ever played a grand melee it will be instantly familar. You can only attack the person left or right of you.

The players get a hand of cards, pick one and pass the reduced stack to their left, play the card and take the stack coming from their right. The idea is to build the best ’empire’ you can whilst messing up the other players turn. it’s fast, it’s very strategic and it’s good fun. Especially the crys as you hand a hand of rubbish to the player on your left

Then without a pause it was King of Tokyo

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo

This is a great little game by Richard Garfield. It’s nippy, it’s lite and it’s in your face. You take monster and duke it out with other players in Tokyo (where else) until all the other monsters lie dead and you do your victory dance.

After that we wound down with Love Letter

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/129622/love-letter

A favourite of mine since Knavecon. Great little game and I learn more about it every time I play which is saying something since there’s only 15 cards in the deck!

So all good clean fun and more of that sort of thing next Thur

Huzzah!

Vic

October 25, 2013 0

Winter Thur – Being a Drax Report

Zombicide (death by Zombies I assume) is a coop game. WAIT, WAIT ! come back, it’s actually very good and yes you can stab your friends in the back…. ok take a seat I’ll start again…

Zombicide is Left4Dead in Tabletop form. You get a mission (collect some items, get to an exit point, kill a certain amount of zombies) and you and your team of survivors have to complete it. Well you don’t HAVE to but it would be a very boring game if you gave up so early.

It’s a pretty simple game (my six year old loves it), the production values are high and it’s all very logical.

Each player starts with one or more survivors each with their own attributes (the cop starts with a pistol, the drifter is good at searching and so on) and they have to wade into a world where the zombies just keep coming. Each turn your get to search for items, move, attack zombies, drive a car and so on, then it’s the zombies turn, they spawn and come stumbling (or in the case of runners running) towards the noisiest players (shooting, smashing open doors and so on causes noise tokens to appear next to the player), rinse and repeat.

Stay too long searching for weapons and you’ll get swamped, go in half cocked and you’ll get murdered, so it’s a fine balance.

In my case it would appear on reflection that running ahead and smashing in a door that contained a shit ton of zombies may have not been the best strategy for all involved. I’m sorry, I ended humanity again.

What’s clever about the game is as you kill more zombies, the difficulty level racks up so more and more and tougher and tougher zombies start appearing. it works very well with a lot of difficult choices. nicer still is it’s very easy to die if you’re not smart. two wounds and it’s over

I really liked the game. I was lucky enough to get a gift copy of it at Knavecon from the Wee Gamers (great bunch of lads).

Given time I’d love to paint the models for it, they’ve lovely

There’s a number of expansions on kickstarter and a lot of download missions for it along with a pile of extra characters you can play (snake pliskin anyone?)

It comes recommended. It’s a bit pricey but you DO get a lot for your buck. The models are excellent and you get a lot of them and believe me you WILL need them all.

Next up was….

Actually I forget. I think we played Munchkin and it was a suprisingly long time since we played it. It hadn’t changed a lot, it’s fine, I’m not the biggest fan of the game but it leaves me alone and I leave it alone generally and it’s a fine introduction game for players. I’ll leave it at that

Bit more love letter (really liking this game, a complete game with just 16 cards)

The coffee flowed, the gaming was constant, it was a good thur

More of that I say

Huzzah!

October 7, 2013 0

After Knavecon Thur – Being a Drax Report

I’m not ALWAYS a Cylon when I play Battlestar Galatica BUT I always want to be and when I am people tend to remember because I revel in it. So last night.. Well I was a cyclon. HAPPY DAYS!

Just like werewolf being a Cylon is great fun especially if you’re an evil fecker who likes to ruin people day. What’s not to like?

If you haven’t played this game it’s based on the TV series which is several years old now but still crackin Sci Fi. I’m going to start on the basis that you KNOW BSG and go from there.

Each player takes a character from the series, each with some special traits and during their turn they take a good action then have to take a bad action which everyone else tries to help them with…. UNLESS they’re a cylon in which case they want to screw up and make happen that bad action.

Obviously no one knows who the bad guys are but during the game they may deduce it and of course it’s all about paranoia and mistrust. What’s really cool is half way through the game is people get additional loyalty cards and may or may not become a cylon.

The game does a fantastic job of matching the series and racking up the tension. last nights game was particularly close being one a step or two from winning for the humans against some tough odds but… they didn’t. They lost and it was mighty 🙂

I love this game, I love the series and it’s still a cracker after a number of years. There’s been no less than 3 expansions released the latest one only recently. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the first one “Pegasus” which introduces extra boards, a second battlestar and a host of new play mechanics. It does lengthen a game that already is hefty if you don’t keep it rolling around, but it improves an already excellent game so it’s worth the time. The second and third I haven’t tried yet but it will happen.

I thoroughly recommend this game. It’s a fantasy flight game so very good build quality and artwork.

More of this and I’m sure next time I won’t be a cylon….

September 13, 2013 0

Knavecon 2 – Being a Drax Report

The idea for Knavecon was a very simple one. A boardgaming “night”, but for the whole day and with a few more people. After the first one which was limited to friends, it’s quadrupled in size and it’s still maintained it’s laid back, friends around a table vibe.

I had a blast on the day, granted we were run off our feet making coffee and registering people but I got to try out some new games, show others how to play a few games I love and enjoy the company of some fantastic people. Oh and I got to run a big game of werewolf. I LOVE werewolf.

Everything went with military precision on the day, fry up at 9am, doors open at 10 and then people arrived…. and they kept coming. We were hoping for 40 or so to break-even but we got upwards of 80 people on the day. They came from all over, Cork, Kerry, Clonmel, Dublin, Wicklow, and Belfast. They brought their kids, they brought their spouses, some of them brought their own games, some of them borrowed the ones that were there or joined in with others with shouts of “I need two more for Waterdeep!”, “Who fancies a game of imperial?”. Friends who had chatted and gamed online met for the first time in person, gamers who didn’t know there were others living not so far from them got to game, chat and drink coffee together and it all worked out perfectly.

Games were played, bought and traded. Coffee was quaffed, donuts demolished and still they came. Tired children were relieved of gaming duty by spouses. Flagging gamers were revived by application of Pizza and chip with oaths sworn of “Gym Tomorrow”. Dice were rolled and moves made, orders issued and strategies planned, shouts of “HA!” and “AH FECK!” echoed around the room and still they gamed, long into the evening and into the wee hours, some exhausted but thoroughly satisfied with a good days work left the field of battle with words of thanks and queries of when will we meet again? And I stood amongst it, striding between tables coffee in hand, watching everyone revel in their favourite pastime. It was the best of times. Nothing beats a good gaming session and this was truly a good gaming session.

The people who attended on Saturday were stars. They came, they got stuck in and they had fun, they we’re courteous and helpful and they shared the love of their hobby. The trade stands that came had a great time and they too got stuck in, abandoned their shop posts and joined in the gaming revelry.

A big thank you goes out to all those who attended, you guys made the day and what a hell of a day it was.

As I write this it’s been a few days since Knavecon ran but people are still talking about it, posting pics, sending texts, PMs, email, organising their own game nights and planning what games to buy. The main thread being, “we loved it”, “we want more” and “we can’t wait”. That’s the best accolade we could have hope for.

We are delighted with how it went and I reckon, it’s here to stay. To paraphrase the game Spartacus, “My Knavecon will Rage on!”

See you all at the next one

Vic

September 10, 2013 1

Stormy Thur – Being a Drax Report

It wasn’t actually called Stormy Thur but It’s late and I’m not checking my mail so with that in mind it’s back to 1888 for more MURDER MOST FOUL! it’s Letters from Whitechapel

I’ve had an interest in this game for a long time and wanted to like it, so it’s great that I do like it. a lot.

As I said last week it’s a bit like Dracula but it’s simpler but it’s in no was less of a game. In fact it’s a damn fine game on par with the Fury of Dracula.

Last week I was caught short, in the middle of my second murder (jack has to complete 4 to win) and each gets tougher to complete as the police start to close in on his hideout. So this week a new Jack replaced me (a man used to wearing black) and boy did he lead us a merry chase!

It would have been charitable to describe the investigative team as bumbling. the first murder happened quick sharp and jack we had NO clue where he was. We attempted to up our game by using cheesy quotes from cop shows but even this bold step didn’t help.

Murder two happened quickly and the mayor was chewing me a new ass when we started to get a clue as to where the coffee cups in the kitchen were. I was going to crack this case if it cost me my badge

Murder 3 (a double header) kicked off and we had at this stage used most of the clichés. It was desperate times so we applied more brainpower to the problem and despite me getting the backup to move in and let jack free we eventually caught up to him and it came down to a 50/50 shot for him to make it to his hideout. he lost, we won. Brilliant detective work all around and much back slapping

Fun little game, well worth the entry fee. It’s a definite btw for Knavecon

In a repeat of last Thur and a need to do better we washed the first game down with a Notre Dame Chaser

It’s pure worker placement with a certain amount of cock-blockery. It’s a better game than it appears and the whole plague thing is great fun. Can’t bate rats for entertainment.

Last week I lost on 58 points with the winner (drax) /spits on ground getting 59

This week, he RACED ahead with a neat set of points from supporting the church early on and often.

There’s going to be a third game of this and next time it will be different (He’ll probably beat me worse and I’ll burn the game and bury the ashes)

I have a hankering for Struggle of Empires. Once I figure out the rules (HA!) We’ll have a lash of that, maybe even next thur

Huzzah!

Vic

July 27, 2013 0

Thur Most Foul – Being a Drax Report

“He’s Hardly gone back to the scene of the crime to hide in plain site has he?”. Thus ended my promising career as Jack the Ripper in the game Letters from Whitechapel

It’s a deduction game in the vein of Curse of Dracula (highly recommended) and Scotland Yard (no idea). One player takes the role of Jack and has to commit a number of heinous murders whilst the others take the roll of the police and try to apprehend him

Jack has to be sneaky (check) and resourceful (check) and more importantly in last nights game sneak past the Sauron like view of inspector Drax (no check).

I’m a huge fan of Fury of Dracula having played it many times and always enjoyed it. Although the rule book looks daunting this is a simpler affair but no less fun for that. Apart from the theme it could be easily played by youngies so maybe scotland yard which is quite similar could be substituted for this.

It’s a cracker of a game. It’s brain meltingly hard for the police who are constantly scanning for traces of jacks movements or where his hideout might be (he has to return there after each murder). I got to play Jack and I loved it, sneaking, backtracking, leading the police in the wrong direction, epic stuff.

The game is back in print with some minor tweaks (not to the rules) and it’s definitely one that will be replayed again and again, like say next thur

After my swift demise it was a revisit to Notre Dame

No not that Notre Dame, the other one

Notre Dame is pure worker placement. I liked it when I played it first and I like it a bit more. I did NOT like scoring 58 points and having Drax score 59. That aside it’s still a nice solid game, a little different and it certainly need a number of plays before you get the swing of how it works and more importantly what’s going to come up. Like Whitechapel this one will definitely make a reappearance , losing by 1 point aside it’s a very interesting game, theme works and it’s the right length of time to play. I like it, not as much as Whitechapel but I still like it

More of this sort of thing next thur I say

Huzzah!

Vic

July 19, 2013 0

Sudden Death Thur – Being a Drax Report

2-4 Players can often be just like the pirate code a Guideline rather than a rule. We proved that to be the case with Bloodbowl Team Manager – Sudden Death Last night.

But before that could happen we had to have a few warm ups whilst the players assembled

First up was ZOMBIE DICE with the expansion

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/110279/zombie-dice-2-double-feature

I ordered this for my son who’s a fan of the game and it’s GREAT fun. adds a surprising amount to a simple game. The expansion itself is three dice

The Hunk – Features double shotguns and double brains

The Hottie – Runs away a lot but still packs a punch

Santa – Gifts for all the zombies in the audience

Each of these ‘characters’ can rescue each other should they be brained and the game becomes a little (not much) tactical. If you have the original, you need this expansion

I ordered it via Parcel Motel (more on that in another post) and it cost €6 including postage. So great value

Next up was….

Letter of Marque.

Since trading for this at the last Knavecon, I’ve wanted to like it. it’s got ships. so I should like it. After several games last night I DO like it. It’s a good little filler and after a few games we started to learn the subtleties of it. It’s simple it’s fun it’s a good filler. no more no less

ax2

NOW twas time for the meat in the sandwich.

Sudden Death.

I’ve been warming to Bloodbowl Team Manager and this expansion adds more of the same to it. That’s not a bad thing. There’s three new teams Vampires, Undead and Dark Elves. The first two were trotted out last night and both proved great fun.

Undead are all about regeneration (if you can roll the dice)

and Vampires are all about gaining blood points for attacks which increase they’re star power (no connection with super mario)

We played it six player, bypassing all safety protocols and it proved to be very nice indeed despite a longer game. We played three rather than four rounds and it rounded out the evening nicely (before more zombie dice)

The Expansion doesn’t add a whole lot of new rules, the rule book for it is a four pager.

It does add extra match ups, extra events and a few more powers for the existing races.

I would have liked to have seen more but it’s a fine expansion and there were no complaints from the group. The game is straining for a few more expansions and I can’t see Fantasy Flight leaving us too long before there’s another.

All in all a good fun game as good as the original.

Evening rounded out with some more zombie dice and the threat of Tichu but we were all a bit sensible and left it with dice

More of that next Thur

Thanks for those who prebooked for Knavecon

Huzzah!

Vic

June 28, 2013 0

a bit of THIS thur night – Being a Drax Report

Have I read the rules? Of COURSE I’ve read the rules. I don’t REMEMBER any of the rules but I’ve read them. a common enough theme for a gaming night. I was shocked at how much I forgot about Bloodbowl Team Manager, but help was on hand

It was summer, we had a smallish group and young Borys had brought Augustus

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/137297/augustus

“It’s up for a speil award”

“it’s a bit like bingo”

“how long does it take?”

“30 mins”

“bang it out so”

Augustus plays a bit like Stone Age if you can remember that. Each person gets a set of three which have a number of icons on them. One person draws random icons cards from the bag and everyone tries to match them up. If they fill their card they shout out “AVA CEASER!” and collect a reward either in score or extra ability or a bit of feck up your neighbours plans. Now this is the way it’s supposed to work however the group being the mature people they are couldn’t help but shout out BINGO! when they completed a card or “BINGO MAXIMUS!”. Once you complete a card you get another one from a communal picking track in the centre and you rinse and repeat. First one to seven stops the game and you count up your score. There’s shades of Stone Age, little bit of Settlers and it’s grand and dandy. There’s a little bit more choice wise to increase your score and decisions to be made. NOT a huge amount of cock blockery which is a pity. I’m not a fan of solitaire type games.

Not a fantastic game, not a bad game. A very good kids game I reckon. I’d play it again definitely but I wouldn’t rush out to buy it. We couldn’t see it winning awards but what do we know

Next up was…

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/90137/blood-bowl-team-manager-the-card-game

Blood bowl Team Manager. Now I must admit I didn’t remember a whole lot of rules for this game. I THOUGHT it would come back to me but it didn’t so I punched the game and JUST as we were assembling the dials fortune shined on us. A passing gamer and his son who knew the game inside and out from many rainy days play dropped by to say hi and coached us in this nice little game.

Bloodbowl Team Manager is a clever little game in the style of Iliad. You have a limited amount of player cards and you try and score as highly as possible in a match to carry off the prize. It’s a funny one insofar as it’s difficult to explain but once you’ve played a game it sinks in and you can play away without issue after that.

We’re BIG fans of Bloodbowl (we’ve a new big league of the computer version just kicking off) and this captures the spirit of the game nicely without becoming bogged down in the long game. It’s fairly short (If I can stop talking long enough to take my turn), it feels like bloodbowl, the production quality of the game is excellent and it’s very much a direct in your face game…… and for some reason I still can’t warm fully to it. I don’t know what it is but I should love this game and yet it falls short for some reason. Not sure why. I think it’s a blip I need to play it more and I’ll tell you what, I REALLY want to get my hands on the expansion.

I recommend this game. It’s pretty cheap for a boardgame, it’s got quite a bit of variety and it’s clever. nicely different to other games. I have a hankering to play it again so I reckon we’ll be seeing a lot more of this and the expansion soon

More of this sort of thing

Huzzah!

Vic

June 21, 2013 2