What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

I personally wouldn't get involved with a "game sharing" situation, but I get where you're coming from given the crazy cost.

Back in HS when I was doing miniature games we'd all chip in to get a base set or two for a particular game...Necromunda, Mordheim...etc. The big GW box sets. We only played at one guy's house which meant all the stuff was stored there.

Some years later I asked if I could claim a set of tokens and counters since at this point we've moved to different states and have our own things going. Brought up that I threw down a lot of cash on various sets...etc. etc. You'd have thought I asked him to spin the earth the opposite direction. Wasn't that big a deal since I was able to snag what I needed from eBay relatively cheaply.

This is the same guy that I went in on a few (3 I think) Dreamblade booster cases for dirt cheep. The plan was to use them and do little bind drafts with them when we played. Well as it turned out I dominated him in the game the first few times, so we never really went back to the game (he doesn't like to lose at games). Some time later I asked him what ever became of those boxes thinking about picking up the game again. Turns out he sold them, forgot I chipped in on them and never mentioned to me that he wanted them out of his garage.

Point being...Usually just consider your money pissed away if you're not the person that has pretty permanent possession over the game.

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53a23242e4b0097de330c4ab/t/54bc4e31e4b05e8a3643f95e/1421626930194/simpsons-season-2-21-three-men-and-a-comic-book-comic-book-guy-first-appearance-millhouse-martin-bart-radioactive-man-review-episode-guide-list.jpg?format=750w

EDIT: Do the image link tags not work right now?

I've had really good luck with game sharing. In fact we do that as a group with lots of things... but the key is that these people are good friends you can trust.. None of the people I've done this with were game group or some other type of nerd group friends.. They were friends first and foremost and we just happened to play games together, or share comics or video games. So I knew exactly what I was getting into and it worked out great for all of us. I even share consoles with people. Last gen I had an X-Box 360 but my buddy had a Playstation 3 and we would just trade our entire systems back and forth. Occasionally I bought games for his system and occasionally he bought some for mine. It worked out great, we both played way more games than we would have otherwise and saved money. We also shared expansion costs and all kinds of things.

I know it's risky but it can result in a great experience if you know what you're getting into.

Oh the guy that I did this with was and still is to this day my best friend. That's why in the long run I just didn't care...Despite my copy of Battle Master being pillaged for some Warhammer Fantasy Army. My copy of HeroQuest getting blended into his big box of plastic miniatures.

VonTush wrote: Oh the guy that I did this with was and still is to this day my best friend. That's why in the long run I just didn't care...Despite my copy of Battle Master being pillaged for some Warhammer Fantasy Army. My copy of HeroQuest getting blended into his big box of plastic miniatures.

Well there is two parts to that. A good friend that you know well enough. I have friends I wouldn't do this with as well, but I know them well enough to know that. Then there are some I do trust to do this stuff with. It's a matter of knowing people and if they're good friends there is a higher chance I know something of their character. That doesn't mean they are an automatic candidate for this kind of set up, some people just aren't good at this kind of thing or don't share my ideals.

But certainly there is always risk when you don't have complete control.

bfkiller wrote:

EDIT: Do the image link tags not work right now?

Image tags only work when the link ends with .jpg (or other image extension?). Just delete all the crap after that.

You guys make some good points. And in the clear light of morning, victory high receded, it occurs to me that I had reservations the first time it was brought up. I guess I need to discuss with them what happens if someone moves or otherwise wants out. I trust these guys, but I also know that people are weird and can do some weird things.

While it would be great to be able to play 5 or 6 players, I'm perfectly happy with the base 4.
Also, I'm pretty certain the owner would let me borrow the game anyway.

I'm going to have to ruminate on it for a bit. Thanks for the varying opinions.

P.S. Nice pull, bfkiller.

Got in a great game of Bolide last night. I'm the only guy in North America playing this apparently, plus anyone dumb enough to be standing near me when the box comes out.

Two new guys, me, and one fellow veteran. We played the French track whose name escapes me. A couple of big-ass straightaways where you can really wind it out.

The other half of the table had four guys playing Scoville including its owner, and they were teasing us at how slowly we were going. The first lap is slower because the cars are slower until the second lap, and because we had two new guys and the car movement mechanic isn't exactly the most overused part of your brain. But once they got it and once the cars spaced out a little we just cruised around the board and had three cars in a photo finish.

I had blown off the top of my gear box in the first lap and was four turns off the lead, but the other three cars changed positions several times on lap two and at the end I was coaching all three on the lesser known rules and their implications, particularly over-revving to try to wring an extra dose of acceleration out of the car. The rules give the guy in the lead first move, and getting up to top speed coming out of the final turn was an imperative -- two good boosts would buy you four spaces and the lead in the turn order -- in a game that was going to be won in about three turns. With me well off the lead I could clearly explain each option, and both players in the lead were just saying "screw it, I'm here to win, I'm flooring it." The guy behind them was close enough that either of them missing a gear would jump him up a spot, and there was a chance he could jump both. So he was pushing his luck as well to keep the pressure on.

In the end the guy in the lead over-revved to keep #2 at bay, and got his bump. He needed it -- he was coming out of the turn slower. The second guy drafted the leader to get a lift, pressed his engine to try to get second one, but failed. He would go second in the final turn of the game, missing the win by a fraction of a second. Third place guy finished on the same turn.

I've been arguing on the other site that gamers need to slow down, to look at game night as having a main event instead of trying to wedge four games into four hours. Last night proved my point in spades. We were likely two and a half hours from box-open to box-closed, but we had a great time, got to bullshit and trash-talk as we played and really had an interesting evening. I was the most experienced player there and was still learning, in spite of having to move at speed three or less for half a lap.

Primary lesson by the way -- don't press your engine when you're half a lap from the pits. Bad idea.

Oh, and we played some game about coffee shops and cheese factories before everyone arrived. Mucho Cocoa or something. Was kind of like Yahtzee. Bolide pretty much trampled it in my mind.

S.

Bolide is an amazing game. I will play with you next time I see you.

stormseeker75 wrote: Bolide is an amazing game. I will play with you next time I see you.

We'll talk some more. Might be May 1st.

S.

Listen, there's a better solution to this Cthulhu Wars conundrum then ponying up $62 or whatever to buy an expansion for someone else's game in some kind of sure-to-be-problematic cost-sharing arrangement.

JUST PLAY SOMETHING ELSE. I mean seriously, there is NO WAY there is ANYTHING in that game that is worth the price. I mean, come on, you're talking about buying an expansion for somebody else with this silly promise that you can "borrow it any time". Which is not ever really going to be the case. Didn't we all learn that in, like, elementary school?

I can't for the life of me understand why people are willing to bend over and pay this kind of money for ANY game in a day and age where we have more gaming options than ever before. Nothing against you or how you choose to spend your money D, that's on you at the end of the day and what makes you happy, but I can't imagine thinking about paying more than the cost of one game to buy PART of an expansion for a game I don't even own.

I see Cthulhu Wars' price- even without all the nickel-and-dime expansions- and I don't think "welp, I gotta pay to play". I see that and think "Fuck that shit, there's a thousand other great games out there I can play" There are even plenty of Cthulhu/HP Lovecraft titles to choose from, any number of DoaM games, Chaos in the Old World, etc. etc. etc.

Take that $62 or whatever and go buy yourself TWO games that you've been wanting or some expansions for games that YOU own. Let everybody else get into an awkward cost-sharing thing and then just play the damn game when you're over there anyway. Or play it and just use the original four factions that you didn't go in if you're afraid of being tacky.

I keep seeing you guys talking about this game and all I can think of is how freaking expensive it is...and I wonder why anyone would put so much money into a single board game like this. Not my racket, I guess.

Listen, there's a better solution to this Cthulhu Wars conundrum then ponying up $62 or whatever to buy an expansion for someone else's game in some kind of sure-to-be-problematic cost-sharing arrangement.

JUST PLAY SOMETHING ELSE. I mean seriously, there is NO WAY there is ANYTHING in that game that is worth the price. I mean, come on, you're talking about buying an expansion for somebody else with this silly promise that you can "borrow it any time". Which is not ever really going to be the case. Didn't we all learn that in, like, elementary school?

I can't for the life of me understand why people are willing to bend over and pay this kind of money for ANY game in a day and age where we have more gaming options than ever before. Nothing against you or how you choose to spend your money D, that's on you at the end of the day and what makes you happy, but I can't imagine thinking about paying more than the cost of one game to buy PART of an expansion for a game I don't even own.

I see Cthulhu Wars' price- even without all the nickel-and-dime expansions- and I don't think "welp, I gotta pay to play". I see that and think "Fuck that shit, there's a thousand other great games out there I can play" There are even plenty of Cthulhu/HP Lovecraft titles to choose from, any number of DoaM games, Chaos in the Old World, etc. etc. etc.

Take that $62 or whatever and go buy yourself TWO games that you've been wanting or some expansions for games that YOU own. Let everybody else get into an awkward cost-sharing thing and then just play the damn game when you're over there anyway. Or play it and just use the original four factions that you didn't go in if you're afraid of being tacky.

I keep seeing you guys talking about this game and all I can think of is how freaking expensive it is...and I wonder why anyone would put so much money into a single board game like this. Not my racket, I guess.

Listen, there's a better solution to this Cthulhu Wars conundrum then ponying up $62 or whatever to buy an expansion for someone else's game in some kind of sure-to-be-problematic cost-sharing arrangement.

JUST PLAY SOMETHING ELSE. I mean seriously, there is NO WAY there is ANYTHING in that game that is worth the price. I mean, come on, you're talking about buying an expansion for somebody else with this silly promise that you can "borrow it any time". Which is not ever really going to be the case. Didn't we all learn that in, like, elementary school?

I can't for the life of me understand why people are willing to bend over and pay this kind of money for ANY game in a day and age where we have more gaming options than ever before. Nothing against you or how you choose to spend your money D, that's on you at the end of the day and what makes you happy, but I can't imagine thinking about paying more than the cost of one game to buy PART of an expansion for a game I don't even own.

I see Cthulhu Wars' price- even without all the nickel-and-dime expansions- and I don't think "welp, I gotta pay to play". I see that and think "Fuck that shit, there's a thousand other great games out there I can play" There are even plenty of Cthulhu/HP Lovecraft titles to choose from, any number of DoaM games, Chaos in the Old World, etc. etc. etc.

Take that $62 or whatever and go buy yourself TWO games that you've been wanting or some expansions for games that YOU own. Let everybody else get into an awkward cost-sharing thing and then just play the damn game when you're over there anyway. Or play it and just use the original four factions that you didn't go in if you're afraid of being tacky.

I keep seeing you guys talking about this game and all I can think of is how freaking expensive it is...and I wonder why anyone would put so much money into a single board game like this. Not my racket, I guess.

For $62, you can probably buy both Chaos in the Old World and the Horned Rat expansion, and have roughly the same game as Cthulhu Wars. Despite the looming threat of unemployment, I seriously considered jumping in on that Cthulhu Wars kickstarter, despite the high price tag. Awesome miniatures, neat maps, and straight from Sandy Peterson, the creator of the Call of Cthulhu rpg. But after studying the game demo videos, Cthulhu Wars really looked too similar to Chaos in the Old World, at an insane price.