FFG Holiday Sale is on

How forgiving is Planet Steam? Is it super-tight like Age of Steam? Basically if someone starts out rough is it possible for them to catch up, or does a stumble mean they are out of the game effectively?

I just can't pull the trigger on GoW. In my opinion, it and Level 7: Omega Protocol both suffer from a drab sci-fi theme that I can't get past, no matter how much fun I have playing L7:OP. Is GoW worth it if I already have the D&DAS games? I know GoW has better AI behavior but the simplistic AI of the D&DAS games doesn't bother me.

VonTush wrote: How forgiving is Planet Steam? Is it super-tight like Age of Steam? Basically if someone starts out rough is it possible for them to catch up, or does a stumble mean they are out of the game effectively?

It's not AS bad as AoS, but it can get pretty tight. You start out with a decent amount of cash, so unlike AoS it's not quite as easy to throw yourself down a hole.

SebastianBludd wrote: I just can't pull the trigger on GoW. In my opinion, it and Level 7: Omega Protocol both suffer from a drab sci-fi theme that I can't get past, no matter how much fun I have playing L7:OP. Is GoW worth it if I already have the D&DAS games? I know GoW has better AI behavior but the simplistic AI of the D&DAS games doesn't bother me.

If you're happy with the D&D:AS games then I don't think there's a reason for the overlap. Myself I prefer GoW to the D&D system and got rid of Ravenloft when I played GoW, I just felt it was cleaner. But if the theme doesn't grab you I'd say stick with what you know and already like.

I think GoW is a fair bit more compelling than the D&D boardgames.

That said, the AI is still pretty poor. One of the main reason why I cant stand such co-op games is that finding such with convincing AI is rare.

If you are one of those who turn your nose up at Solo/Co-op AI games, then Gears of War likely won't change your mind about that sort of game.

I asked for quite a few items from the holiday sale. Asked my folks for the collector's editions of Deathwatch and Black Crusade—each $40 for otherwise very expensive, and very nice, books—along with Blue Max, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, a few Arkham Horror and Android novels (I like cheesy fiction sometimes), and other miscellaneous items.

From my partner, I asked for Planet Steam, Kingdoms, and The Hobbit boardgame, along with many additional books for Deathwatch, Black Crusade, and Only War, and a couple more small items. Who knows if I'll ever get a Wahammer 40,000 RPG group together, but I love the fluff, so why not.

Maybe next year I'll finally splurge on a big Dust Tactics army.

Blue Max is part of Canvass Eagles, right? Sort of a starter kit?

Canvas eagles is a game based on the blue max system. I believe it's a fan made game.

So it's like an open-source ruleset. There's a crowd that plays it at my "local" game store with Wings of Glory airplanes on a big hex grid. I've played on youplay.it and it's a good little game. Don't know if Blue Max is a good enough implementation, but it's cheap.

S.

I've never played this new edition, but blue max is a lot of fun. It's x-wing 30 years ago.