What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Tried another solo game of XCOM. I was about to write it off for solo play after the last time when it felt really unwieldy, but this time I think I got in the groove of it. It was helpful to set it up a certain way, with the Squad side of the board facing me and all Timed Phase cards and Resolution cards grouped together. And allowing myself a little bit of flexibility as far as the Timed Phase was a lot better. I know there's an Easy mode where you can pause all you want, but I enjoy the pressure of the time limits so I want to stick with that and the Normal mode. But for example, if a Timed Phase tech gives me money or an interceptor or allows me to place a soldier somewhere, then I just go ahead and do that before the phase even begins, or when it's done, and don't stress about whether I remembered to do it or not during the Timed Phase. It's hard enough to keep up with everything you might be able to do when just controlling one role, and hard enough to win as it is, so I'm okay with allowing a little adaptation like that for solo games. I maintain that this is clearly best with the full 4 players, but I think I will give it some spins solo as well.

I had a chance to win this game, but couldn't keep the enemies out of the base. The particular scenario I played involved Thin Men, who reproduce themselves by adding a new enemy when you kill them, so that made the base defense aspect of the game really hard. Aside from that, I might have defeated the Final Mission on that last turn, though every single continent except Australia would also have gone into panic. I think solving the mission would have given me the win, though, taking precedence over the panic issue.

Also played xcom but first 4 player game. We got hammered in 3 turns due to a mix of me blowing the budget on subpar research on turn 1, some bad rolls with interceptors and a few harsh crisis card draws. Really enjoyed it still though.

Egg Shen wrote: Hanging with CT F:AT crew was a blast. Shellie and Al's gaming room is all sorts of kick ass and they're all just awesome people in general. If you're in the North East these are some of the best people you can find to hang with. Conn Con, Trashfest NE...if you're ever on the fence just go knowing you'll get to play games and shoot the shit with some great people.

The above is very true.

It is also true that it was great to have Egg come out and hang. AND he brought us the "black blood of Rhode Island"....coffee syrup.

In other news, Headmaster Thirstyman, has taken me under his stern but fair but mostly stern wing to attempt and teach me ASL. Going ok. Still uphill on the learning curve but someday I'll see the wide open fields at the top.

I haven't scratched him yet.

Fields of Arle lazy Saturday non-game. I generally loathe where I live, but the weather can be divine. Sunny, 80 degrees, no humidity in February.

Had a friend over to play some 3 player games/have a beer in the evening. If you really want to fuck with people who are newer into the hobby, just have them play a full game of A Study in Emerald. Sure, when you open by describing the winning condition it sounds a little non-traditional, but watch their eyes bulge when you actually get to the end and decide the winner.

Also two games of Splendor 3 player. I can't tell if it's better than with 2 players, but I do like the increased incentivization on picking up cards and taking a gold because of the increased chaos/churn of the board state. Also, I seem to be pretty good at Splendor which is funny because it's not a real brain burner for me.

Went to a buddy's all day gaming birthday party. Played a nice amount of stuff.

Cyclades - Titans - After a terrible first play of this I've now gotten in several amazing plays. I think this may be the single best expansion ever created. Seriously.

Coup: Guatemala - I'm getting a little burnt out on Coup and it's gotten stale. This, however, was excellent. The inclusion of random roles really made things interesting and multiple plays felt very different. I see no reason to play regular Coup with this in existence.

Homeland - Hell Yes. Wow. I think I may be selling BSG and all those goddamn expansions. We played two games of this back to back. I can't remember the last time I played a non-filler back to back. I wish I was playing it again right now. GaleForce9 I love you.

SafeBreaker - I've now hit close to 20 plays over the last month of this very good filler that's only available in the UK.

Harbor - Awful. My first time playing and it was just mind numbingly slow and boring. Half the table was on their phones during the game and I repeatedly exploited two buildings to slowly collect resources. No engagement, very stale, completely boring. I really just wanted to play a third game of Homeland.

Super Fantasy: Ugly Snouts Assault - This was definitely good. I hate to say it though but I wasn't a fan of the standees, would have much rather preferred miniatures. The dice action pool system is great though.

Homeland? Is that out? Details, please.

Grudunza wrote: Homeland? Is that out? Details, please.

It should be out sometime in February, probably in a couple of weeks. Last week they sent out preview copies to reviewers. Barnes will be reviewing it on FAT.

That sounds phenomenal, Charles. I can't wait to get my hands on that. Does this company do anything bad?

SoA, Spartacus, Firefly. Man, they are becoming the go-to Ameritrash publisher.