What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

charlest wrote: Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan is highly underrated. Very thematic, fun, and probably the best ninja game. Plus it's perpetually on clearance.

superflycircus.com/2011/09/ninja-legend-...-based-on-deception/

I wasn't keen on it primarily because the one sidedness of the turn durations.

Gary Sax wrote: I have a deep abiding love of BSG (base game). But the dirty secret about it is that it is never a contest when ANY new players are involved. Cylons win. We had a game this evening that proved that point again. Humans are not impossible, but any player I have played with in the last 5-7 games THINKS it is. Even though if they had played 2-3 games with the same players they would see where the humans have significant advantages with revealed Cylons. It's really one of these "You have to play multiple times" anti-BGG games.

The hallmark of a good game design is that no matter the outcome, you still had a blast, irrespective of the people you played with. That's why I love BSG, personally. I have a "workaround" that is still thematic, although it tips the game balance a hair:

When playing with new player(s), do this: Split the loyalty decks into several stacks: The "rookies" will be the only stack that has Cylons in it. This ensures that the veteran players aren't cylons until later in the game, so it stacks the odds in favor of the humans. It also lets the rookie players be "the bad guy" more often, and because they're new to the game, it's a counterbalance toward the veterans knowing they're cylons for sure, immediately, because they don't have the game down and therefore might just be playing poorly. The trick is that you CANNOT provide advice to the new players with any level of insistence. More like, if they ask, lay out all the options and then shut the fuck up.

It works pretty well.

When I learned BSG it was with the same basic pool of people, right around the time the game came out. The problem we encountered down the stretch with new players is that the humans lost won almost every time. If the new player was a Cylon, the vets were too experienced at being humans to let them get away with much. If the new player was Human they could mostly just sit back and let the experienced players figure things out, which was easier because we all knew each other very well.

I'm interested to try it again now that I've moved to a new group. I bet it'd have a whole different dynamic.

*edit* I mean that the humans WON almost every time. I changed the post.

SuperflyTNT wrote:

charlest wrote: Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan is highly underrated. Very thematic, fun, and probably the best ninja game. Plus it's perpetually on clearance.

superflycircus.com/2011/09/ninja-legend-...-based-on-deception/

I wasn't keen on it primarily because the one sidedness of the turn durations.

Nice review and explanation of the game, Pete. I wish I'd read this before my first game as deciphering some of the rules was tricky.

It's your own damned fault. I've got like 120 reviews on my site, and nobody ever reads them!

Played a nice game of Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy last night. I ended up winning by 10-12 honor points. My family was much less sprawling than my opponent's and I was almost hamstrung at the beginning of the game by having no female friends. I overcompensated and was nearly out of it at the beginning of the 2nd generation when I was only having daughters; however, I had some strong synergies and created a French juggernaut that was raking in the honor at the end of the game. Coupled with resources provided by the Mexican taxman, it was a strong final engine that allowed me to build a nice Park in Paris and purchase a second mansion.

I was almost hamstrung at the beginning of the game by having no female friends.

That's what you get for raising a family of gamers.

I'd like to get a hold of that game again...there's some really neat stuff going on there.

I'd like to try Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy too, but, I'm afraid that I don't have a large enough playing surface. How bad is that problem with this game?

You don't need too much room. We played two-player games last night and it was probably on a table that was only 2 ft wide (maybe 2 1/2) -- we had the leaf folded up underneath.

There is definitely a lot of cool stuff -- really nice worker placement with never enough actions to do everything you want. Tons of decision points about what friends to cut loose while still trying to maintain combo potential within the family. The only negative for me would be that I think it ends a little arbitrarily.

Josh Look wrote: Time for me to weigh in on Imperial Assault.

I like it. I like it a whole lot. I like the campaign game. I like the skirmish game.

That's all I've got for you for now.

I would love to hear more about this -- so far, Barnes' take has really taken the excitement level down. I had considered it as a birthday present for my brother, but I don't know now.