War of the Ring (second Ed)

Just like Sauron I’ve had my beady eye on this game for a long time. I was glad to acquire it recently second hand but altogether perfect

War of the Ring sees between two and four players reenacting the titanic struggles of the lord of the ring series.

The free people must band together and fight off the unwelcome advances of the shadow players allowing the fellowship time to get to the cracks of doom with the one ring or with a lesser force conquer a number of shadow players fortresses. The shadow player must take over enough of the free people’s turf or corrupt the ring bearers in order to win.

So it’s capture the flag with hairy feet.

I’ve played two games of this so far. A 1v1 and a 2v2. Both of them have been epic and both have been right down to the wire. (The free people’s just making it before the shadow player engulfed middle earth)(Boo hiss)

The game is pretty straightforward once you’ve learned the rules (all of which fit on a single handy cheat sheet provided), that said it it did take two full games before every little niggle was ironed out. There’s a couple of really good instructional videos out there and I recommend you either play someone who knows this game or study the videos or you’ll find yourself reading the rules a few times over before it sinks in. (Universal head do an exemplary rules summary well worth a look). Just like twilight struggle knowledge of the rules won’t save you from ignorance of the event cards and a number of run throughs will be required and a few visits to the strategy forums. No bad way to spend a few hours.

The game itself is beautifully presented.(More so if you sell the house and buy the collectors edition). There are a ton of models for the various good and bad guys all cast in reasonable quality given the amount in the box. It can be a struggle to recognize the difference between say an isengard uruk versus a Mordor orc but since you’ll probably paint all 100 plus models straight off the bat it won’t be an issue for you.

This is a clever game. It captures the feel of the books magnificently. The way the game played out each time was perfectly believable. Gandalf the grey pops his sandals in moria. Isildur defends minis tirith like a boss. Gimili rouses the dwarfs in the iron hills to war. No two games play out the same and it’s possible to try out a few what ifs.

For the amount that happens in a sitting the game is surprisingly fast. Three hours saw us setup, played and finished and we were still chasing a couple of rules during that. There is no down time in this game. You’re either planning a few moves ahead or watching in horror as something unfortunate befalls you (more so if you’re the free people)

I like this game. The two sides play out very differently. The shadow player WILL rule middle earth. It WILL overpower the free people given time. It’s all about shock and awe. The free peeps are all about holding out, sacrificing and crowd surfing the hobbits to a victory. It’s desperate times and hopefully you have enough left in the tank for that final push when you eventually get to Mordor.

It’s also thrilling. From start to finish something is going on. No matter which side you’re always stretched to achieve what you want, making do, taking risks, setting things up for next turn, reacting to events, taking the best worst choices. It’s glorious and its my very favorite type of game.

Map based conquest, big battles, and a forgivable solid set of mechanics. Layer in a familiar world and we have a classic.

I was lucky enough to snag the second edition which sports a few improvements over the first. I know it’s an oldy (Boardgames never age they just get more expensive) but it’s my favourite game this year and I can’t wait to play again. Probably as the bad guys because well. You know. Highly recommended, doubly so if you’re a rings fan.

Huzzah!

Vic

May 16, 2015 0

Betrayal at the house on the Hill

They say variety is the spice of life. I’ve no idea whom “they” are but “they” could be right. They usually are. Betrayal an the house on the hill has variety squared. Thousands of possibilities each time you play. It’s also been around a while and it’s still popular so it must be doing something right.

The game sees you entering the titular house (bad idea) and rummaging around its bottom middle and top floors (really bad idea) until something Ghostbusters bad happens (I warned you)

The bad could be anything (well not a man eating his own head for example), a vampire attack, the house flying into the air and only two parachutes available, zombies, a traitorous player who’s actually a vampire, serial killer or maybe a parachute etc.

Once this happens it’s everyone for themselves (no change there) and a swift exit or other objective required.

This is a good fun game. It’s fast. An hour will see you done and dusted with the right crew and it clicks along at a tidy pace. Nothing is particularly new in this game apart from perhaps the variety of that what you’re up against. The build quality is workman but more than adequate, the rules simple and the premise simple. It has a certain charm all of it’s own.

I’d definitely play it again which is always a good sign (then again I have a morbid curiosity). All in all a solid worth a lash game.

Huzzah!

Vic

May 13, 2015 0

Lost Leg at sea – Lost Legacy

It was a few Knavecons ago that I was introduced to love letter for the first time. I’ve played it a LOT since then, all different versions, including the custom Knavecon version. For a game With 16 cards (well 15 really), It packs quite the charge

I’ve come across a few other 16 card games in a bag all of them good. Cypher and Lost legacy for e.g. and there’s a few more out there. They’re cheap, portable and fun.

I got to play lost legacy last Sat. I really like it. Which is good because I own it.

It’s not a million miles from love letter but it does contain a few more tactical options in the shape of recycling the discard pile and banking multiple turns for end game as well as fewer mid game eliminations.

The game sees you trying to find the Lost legacy. Some sort of artifact of power (could be the toupee of inevitability for all I care) which will either be in someone’s hand or the discard pile. Whomever finds the card at the end or shows it in their hand or eliminates the other player during a round (a tall order) win. Rinse and repeat until someone scores 4.

It’s simple. It’s fun. I think it’s better than love letter (even batman love letter) and I’m a big fan of love letter.

For €11 you can’t go wrong. I’m loving these small cards packs in a bag. More of this. Cypher next I reckon.

Huzzah

Vic

May 7, 2015 0

Our Ma Da

I got to play Star Wars Armada last night for the first time. Along with Imperial assault I seem to recall saying I had no interest in playing this game either this year…… I stand corrected. Not only have I played it I bought it.

Armada is good actually it’s very good. Is it as good as X-Wing? Absolutely. Is it better than X-Wing? Short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but.

First and foremost Armada is not X-Wing with different ships, although it shares a number of attributes it’s a very different animal. Fantasy Flight have done a sterling job of conveying the feel of large ships grappling with each other (liked we’d know). It all feels right. It’s a slower more tactical game than x-wing (not that there’s anything wrong with x-wing).

There’s two distinct unit types in the game. The hulking capital ships and the annoying little fighter gnats. Both compliment each other nicely. Fighters wiz around harassing each other and occasionally scoring hits on the big ships If not unescorted. The big ships swiping at them cows tail style while maneuvering for a better angle and lashing off their big guns at the other big ships.

I’m a big fan of the age of sail. Massive slow moving ships going toe to toe with each other. Furiously working every angle to steal the advantage on their enemy. This has that same feel. The big ships have a lot more tactical options than the ships in x-wing (not that there’s anything wrong with x-wing). Diverting damage, repairing, adjusting speed, concentrating fire and it all feels right. The ships feel big and lumbering. The imperial ships you need to queue up orders in advance. The rebel ships are more zippy and responsive but outclassed in shields and firepower.

The game’s order queue is a lovely mechanic. You in advance order your ships to change speed, repair, concentrate fire or command fighters nearby. The bigger the ship the further in advance you have to book your orders. Getting these wrong when the rubber hits the road is not the end of the world by any means but getting them right just as you need it gives your ship a nice little bonus that could swing a battle.

Battles are drawn out unlike the game which only lasts six turns. You really have to work hard to take out an enemy capital ship. It’s no one shot nonsense here. Shields have to be knocked down, Hulls battered but engineer crews given enough turn can see all your brutal work undone.

I got lucky last night and got a nebulon b into two firing arcs and let rip with concentrated fire at point blank range taking out shields and buckling her hull. A turn later I finished them off as we slid by each other. It all felt right. It all felt big ships Star Wars

Now the cons.

The game is Dublin pub expensive. You’d get small change from a hundred quatloos for the base game and if you want to play competitively (I don’t) you’d really need to get two

The expansions are pricey too. Big ships are a minimum of €30 and squadrons of fighters are around €20. That said you only need two or three ships for a battle (less if you’re playing imperials)

The build quality is questionable. It smacks of rushed work that will improve in time as the manufacture gets their head around the new moulds. Nothing serious but there was an excess of flash on some pieces from my set.

Storing the models is a complete Jon Snow, then again so was x-wing (not that there’s anything wrong with x-wing).

If you can live with those above negatives then you’re in for a real threat. Myself and my x-wing buddy sold all our x-wing models at Knavecon and I reckon we might sink a bit more of our largess into this system. It’s a nice game. A very nice game. I’ll talk more about it once I’ve played it a few more times. For now if you’re question was should I buy it? then yes, go buy it.

Now excuse me while I brace for impact

Huzzah!

Vic

May 3, 2015 0

Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad – Homelands

I like Gale Force Nine boardgames, they’ve written some really good
stuff, Spartacus is great fun, I haven’t played Sons of Anarchy but I
hear it’s good and last Thur we got to play Homeland the boardgame.
Gone are the days of cheap movie tie ins, these days we expect decent
mechanics and in a lot of cases designers deliver. Homeland delivers

It’s a semi-cooperative game. Semi when added to the less than bracing
word cooperative makes for a very interesting experience. We’re all in
this together! (Terms and conditions may apply)

Homeland sees up to six players working as agents to stop terrorist
threats from kicking off. These threats appear on various spots of the
conveyor of doom and each turn move from low threat through four more
stages to imminent where they really need to be defused. Failure to do so will mean a gain in points for the terrorists. Success means points for the good guys.

But since this is SEMI co-op who are the good guys?…..

Borrowing a little from Battlestar and Bang! players start with an
agenda card and may be Loyal Agents (who score points by defusing
threats), politicos (who score points by not letting the terrorists win,
but allowing them perform a bit of mischief and thereby upping their
own self importance in the form of political Clout points) and a good
old fashioned hidden traitor who just wants to see the world burn. The
role cards are handed out face down from a pool of seven with three of
the good guys, three politicos and one terrorist so it’s possible that a game won’t have a terrorist in it.

The game cracks along at a merry old pace (faster if you’re not talking
rubbish about everything but the game) and ninety minutes will see you
done and dusted. There’s no real down time as once you’ve taken your
turn you need to keep your beady eye on what everyone else is doing,
figure out their agenda and of course blame them for problems
the agency is having.

The threats that pop up on your radar vary in difficult to solve.
Actually it’s very simple, a threat will have two attributes, it’s
impact (how many points it will score for the good guys if they solve it
or bad guys if it goes off) and it’s difficulty (how many points of good
resources you need to throw at it to fix it). added to this is an
obliging terrorist card that sits on top of it and adds their difficulty
to the proceedings. Agents have to throw cards battlestar style at it
face down to try and defuse it before it ends it’s turn in imminent.
That said a bad guy or a politico might want some threats to go off
scoring points for the axis of evil.

On your turn you get to assign your agents to be lead investigators and
the buck firmly stops with them. Solve the threat and you gain some
bonus points, mess it up and usually everyone suffers

Assets, agents and soldiers allow you some extra powers to look at
threats in more detail, assist in defusing them or just muck around a
bit. (You can help or hinder other agents work either directly or covertly)

Once either good or bad points reach 12 the game ends and everyone
counts their points. Politicos add accumulated clout points up, good
agents success points (either of which can be sacrificed mid game to
gain extra resources to help in solving threats). The traitor scores
points from successful threats going off points.

In the game we played the good guys ended the game with successes but
the terrorist has accumulated enough assets and just enough terror
points to pip me at the post. I wanted a second game but it was too
late.

I like this game. It’s pretty simple, I don’t think we made any
mistakes with the rules which were concise and clear. The game play
flowed well with no speed bumps, the theme was good although it could
have been helping old ladies across the road rather than threats and it
would have been just as much fun.

A good solid fun game, well done once again Gale Force Nine

Huzzah!

Vic

April 24, 2015 0

Galaxy Truckin Across the iOS

I’ve spoken before about Galaxy Trucker and as you probably know it’s a firm favorite at Knavecons. It’s a mess. A glorious, riotous, sand pit of construction where it’s just as much about sticking it to your friends as helping yourself. It’s a game best suited to those who enjoy the frustration and despair of others…..

I notice none of you have left so I’m guessing you’re that type of gamer.

Galaxy trucker recently (last year) came out on the iPad and more surprisingly the iPhone. You can get it for android too and I think the PC is either here or WIP. They’ve done a fine job.

I played it on the phone. I’m still playing it on the phone. It’s good. It’s really good

As a fan of the cardboard version I was surprised they were able to squeeze it all into the diminutive screen of the iPhone. The other thing that surprised me was just how well it all works on small screen land. What took my whole kitchen table in RL works just tickeyboo in VR.

Unlike the base game the single player features a very neat campaign (as well as bot matches) where your character earns cash and levels up and gets to travel along increasingly hostile routes. The mechanics of the game are clearly visible as the game proceeds which I like, you’re never in doubt you’re playing a boardgame, however the graphics, music and sound effects add more life to an already lively experience. The music is catchy, the voice overs humorous and the graphics continue the lovely cartoony feel of the original.

The app features a good solid multiplayer which comes in either real time or curiously turn based. This makes for a very different style of play, less a cat fight and more a gentleman’s/lady’s pursuit.

I’m still trying this game out, the mutiplayer I need to explore a bit more and I may do a more comprehensive article on it later but in the meantime, I’m having a lot of fun with this game and I highly recommend it

Huzzah!

Vic

April 22, 2015 1

Dicing with Death – Pirate’s Dice

Pirate’s Dice aka Perudo or Liar’s Dice is a very simple push your luck game. It’s very very simple. Each player takes a set of five dice and secretly rolls them not revealing them to the other players.

The first player then calls out a challenge such as “Five fours” indicating that they believe there are in total Five Fours or more rolled between ALL the rolled dice on the table (he’s probably lying). The player to the left of them can either raise the bet say calling six of the same or something else or call the player on the their bet.

Once called the dice are all revealed and either the roller or the one who shouted “Five fours? Pull the other one!” (Or something similar)” is right. Whomever is wrong loses a dice and the process repeats until one person is the only player with dice. An extra rule sees ones are wildcards so judging can be tricky.

This game reminds me of Texas Holdem, rather than the blinds moving towards you it’s the bet and being in a good position makes all the difference (no you can’t swap seats).

For such a simple game it’s quite tactical. I played a few versions of this and just like Skulls and Roses you could make it yourself with a stack of dice. The last version I played had coloured dice and shakers for each player, a nice touch which allowed you to judge things that much better by looking at the number and colour of the discarded dice.

This is pure beer and pretzels gaming but not bad for that. I recommend trying it and seeing what you think. Dig out a dozen dice and let me know what you think.

Huzzah!

Vic

April 21, 2015 0

Star Realms Gambit – The Verdict

Gambit is the first electronic expansion for star realms. They really hit it out of the park with Star Realms. It’s a great great game and works so well electronically.

Gambit on the other hand is a minor enhancement. It adds a little but not a huge amount to a the base game. It’s certainly not essential to your enjoyment of the game

I’ve had it for a few weeks now and it’s fun but really compared to what you get for your money with the base game it’s small beer. I’ve waited a few weeks before I gave my opinion and it hasn’t changed.

Star realms itself is a stupendous game, it’s so much more than the sum of its parts. Gambit doesn’t add enough to recommend it. If you’ve had your fill of vanilla star realms then it could be worth a look. If you’re a die hard fan chances are you’ve already in game purchased it and are now wondering what you could have done with that 3.99 you burnt

There’s another few expansions coming down the tracks and those I’m looking forward to. Until then don’t bother, just like octodad it’s a damp squid…..

Sorry

Huzzah

Vic

March 30, 2015 0

now… Say my name. Alchemists 99% pure.

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Obviously Paulo never played this game or would have realised that the universe was, as expected, indifferent to my plight.

Alchemists is a like a crazy inventors machine. All confusing levers and dials or more accurately, mysterious spots on the board to place workers upon that make no sense until you’ve played it at least once, better still if you’ve played it once with with someone who has a clue how to play the game. I’m lucky I didn’t have to read the rules and if I had to I would still be doing so now I’ll venture. More than likely incorrectly

The first time you play this game you will lose. You’re not within an asses roar of coasting in on beginners luck. This game has to be test driven hard before you can begin to understand it

Alchemists is both a worker placement and an investigation game. Having played if a couple of times I’m very impressed. There are quite a few mechanics going on here and yet it works as a seamless whole and it holds the theme together perfectly. Someone’s put a lot of thought into this game and I salute their design skills.

If you’ve ever played dungeon lords or dungeon petz you’ll be in familiar territory. The artwork and components are top notch. The app is excellent.

I look at the design and I’m amazed how so many different elements have been woven together without any of it feeling tacked on or herniated. I also look at it and think there could never be an expansion for this game it’s too well formed.

Up to four players duke it out to be the best potion maker in the kingdom. To do this they need to figure out which ingredients (different each game) make up which potions. Expound theories on ingredients. Disprove others. Sling potions to adventurers, earn cash, make a good showing at the final expo but above all do it before your opponents do. So all in all it’s medieval breaking bad

The old adage of if you can’t convince them confuse them applies here and it is possible to win the game by faking your way through, just not with my group. There was an incident with diplomacy some years back (I forget the details*) that branded me as untrustworthy, but hey you shag one sheep and suddenly you get a name.

The app is absolutely integral to the game (although there’s a GM set of rules should you be on desert island) and it’s very slick. It allows you to test out potions secretly on yourself or on your capitalistic apprentice and hopefully not poison him or you. Expect many curses and shouts as you discover the herb world doesn’t always work as expected.

The game plays out over around eight rounds with the last ones having you in the spot light showing off your wares at the final scoring expo.

There’s a lot to this game. Not so much in the rules. They’re fairly straightforward but a clear path to victory is not obvious. There are numerous ways to score points and they all add up making for neck and neck racing from start to finish. Constonopolis had a lot going on, this has a lot more, but it never feels overpowering or anything other than fun.

I really like this game. It’s different. It’s worker placement for sure but with a lot more than your normal Fare. The app really makes it, as do the funky player screens and wild looking main board.

We Will have this at KNAVECON and I recommend a test drive If you want something challenging and different

Huzzah

Vic

March 2, 2015 1

There is no I in XCOM. XCOM Boardgame

I love XCOM. I’ve loved XCOM since it was laser squad. Since it was UFO. I played laser squad nemesis by email. Enemy unknown and the wonderful Enemy Within and everything else in between. It’s one of the best game franchises of all time, Nothing more ,nothing less so like a Star Wars fanboy waiting for episode seven, the Boardgame was setting itself a difficult goal and a hardened critic. I needn’t have worried this was fantasy flight. They don’t mess around

XCOM the coop Board game is a coop game, WAIT! Come back! Based on the last incarnation of UFO, XCOM the enemy within. If you haven’t played this game I highly recommend it. If you’ve played enemy unknown I still recommend enemy within its tremendous.

If you’re a fan of the video game you’ll love this incarnation it gets the vibe just right. FF as you would expect have lifted graphics straight out of the game and the build quality of the game is spot on.

Xcom has always been a game of two halves. A strategic management game and a tactical squad based shooter. The board game concentrates on the former. You and up to three other players have to deal with running Xcom and allocating resources to combat the myriad of problems that crop up.

The game is app driven. A very slick and free app assists your play and unlike say Descent, Heroquest etc the bad guy is played by the app. Truth be told I would have loved if one player (me) could play the aliens and micturate on the goodie goodies. It’s not to be, it’s the app or nothing.

The four players take the roles of science officer (chose which research for which player role ) squad leader (ground troops), central officer (satellites and events) and commander (allocates the budget and emergency funding).

All of the roles rely on each other so even though it’s coop blame can be squarely levelled at one player when it all goes south. (Probably the squad leader). I got to play a couple of games on Thursday last. We lost them all. The last one was very close. I didn’t mind, it was still fun. Perhaps I should mind, we played it on easy

The game is all about resource allocation. Be it your limited budget, your pool of troopers or your murder of fighter planes.

The turn is split into two distinct halves one timed and one not. The first dozen or so actions consist of (sometimes in no particular order) guided by the app, picking which techs to research. Picking the best choice of two upcoming crises cards. Seeing where UFOs are appearing, seeing which aliens are coming for tea in your base (you’re all out of tea), what missions are popping up and whom to allocate to defend your base, go on away missions and whom to support them.

The time section is tense. The app counts down minimum safe distance style and any time saved on one section gets transferred to another. In easy level you can pause. On normal you get some breather time. On higher levels it’s, well it’s bad, real bad. You have most certainly picked a bad day to give up sniffing glue

Once you’ve come out of the timed section you reap the seeds you set one by one and hope you haven’t made bad decisions leading up to this (you probably have). Attempts are made to conquer these problems in your in-tray and a push your luck mechanic means you can sometimes make it worse but you always know it was your fault if it all goes moobs up.

Once you’ve dealt with all these issues its back to the timed section for the next turn.

Rinse and repeat for a half dozen or less iterations until you complete the final mission.

There are a number of different scenarios that the app picks at the start so each game is different.

It’s a fun game. It’s coop. I don’t like coop games. I like xcom. It’s fast. Faster still when you lose. It’s xcom (the greatest game ever). It’s fantasy flight. It’s worth a look

Some people are against the idea of using an app for this, but it does add to it and I personally welcome our app overlord. Hail App.

There will be a few copies at KNAVECON. I recommend you have a look, if you’re an xcom fan doubly so

Huzzah!

Vic

February 27, 2015 0