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21 Feb 2015 09:32 - 21 Feb 2015 09:34 #198067 by Josh Look
A friend from work came over yesterday and we played X-Wing. It was my first time in a year and a half, first time for my friend.

By Crom did it feel good to come back to this game. We played 2 scenarios. First one was escorting the senator's shuttle using the 3 ships they recommend (this was just to focus on learning the rules for my friend's sake). Both the shuttle and my X-Wing made it to safety with 1 hull. For using ships with no upgrades or special abilities, it was still an immensely satisfying game. Second game was just as good though, this time building our own squads. Scenario was the one from the Slave I where the Rebel player has 150 points, Empire only gets 90. Trade off is that the Empire only has to destroy one ship of the Rebel's choosing (which was the Falcon, duh, come at me brah) while the Rebel has to destroy everything. Another tight game that came down to the Falcon and Slave I, Falcon finishing the game with 2 hull left. Han took quite a beating though, among which was the damage cockpit card which reduces his skill to 0 (so much for shooting first).
Last edit: 21 Feb 2015 09:34 by Josh Look.
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21 Feb 2015 12:06 - 21 Feb 2015 12:15 #198069 by Grudunza
Played 4p XCOM last night, and boy were we plagued by the 1's on the d8. Barnes says they come at the worst times, but in this game, they just seemed to come all the time. Two of my first three tech rolls were 1's (and no successes), and the third failed at 2, with only 1 of 2 successes. It was a big hurt to have no tech at all developed early on (only one tech was researched in the second round and that was lost to a Crisis card in the third round). That first round resolution phase saw, I think, 4 different failures where a 1 was rolled, and several came later. It didn't help that one of the first round Crisis cards was the one that shuts down the card that lets you re-roll the alien die. As a percentage of rolls where the threat was 1 and we rolled 1, it sure seemed higher than 12.5%.

This game also saw the most unusual pile of UFOs I've seen yet in about 7-8 games, where we'd get 6 UFOs in Europe in a round, or 5 in North America, and nothing else. I've heard tell that in addition to the 5 different scenario missions in the game, that there are also a few different AI builds, so I think we got a particular one that dumps UFOs in one place. Or maybe that's what happens normally with the "Domination" scenario, but I'm pretty sure I've played that one before and didn't see that kind of UFO distribution. You'd think that might be a bad strategy for the AI, as you can just plug 3 interceptors into that continent and save on resources, but when you roll a 1 on the alien die and only get 1 or 2 successes and lose all of your interceptors and are left with a big pile of UFOs in that continent, well...

By the fifth (or maybe sixth) round of the game, the Commander had *no* interceptors left, and *every* UFO was on the board. Obviously, we'd have lost with two continents going to full Panic, but between the Central Officer doing some sorcery with satellites and me working my Workshop like crazy, we did actually have a chance to win, with the Squad Leader having a one die at 4 threat chance to complete the final task on the final mission. Fittingly, the alien die was a 1. We had a re-roll, though... And it was a 2. Oh well.

If I have a complaint about the game, it's that it can sometimes seem to give you more of a chance than it should. By all rights, with the kind of start we had and bad luck throughout, with every UFO on the board, we shouldn't have had any chance to win. We did the best with what we could, but it almost seemed like it was ridiculous that we could have actually won the game at that point. But I suppose that's the Hollywood ending built into things. Sure is entertaining, though.

Also played Five Tribes for the first time, and whaddya know, I don't have anything much to write about that in terms of narrative. Glorified mancala with a ton of AP and downtime. It's okay for what it is, but not sure why it got the hype it did.

Also Dice Town, which is always fun, though clearly not as good at 3p as with more, and Red7, which is great.
Last edit: 21 Feb 2015 12:15 by Grudunza.

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21 Feb 2015 12:28 #198070 by Michael Barnes
I swear that die has a Bluetooth chip in it or something that hooks up to the app to listen in on the table talk.

First roll, three squaddies on the line...1. Two times in a row. On a do or die base defense.

D8 laughs silently.

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21 Feb 2015 14:08 #198071 by Grudunza
Ha yeah. I should definitely replace the die. There does seem to be a lot of talk in the ether about sentience lately... no doubt we'll see that at some point in our games, and FFG will probably be on the cusp of that.

That reminds me of a simple difficulty tweak for the game... use a d10 or d12. I wouldn't do it, as I like the difficulty as it is, but I could see that being a tech for an expansion, where you place a satellite and use a d12 for one task.

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21 Feb 2015 15:10 #198072 by Michael Barnes
You know, at first we were all like "alien die is bullshit". But because of it, it enables a real sense of risk-taking (like sending your favorite troops out on a mission) and it also creates a decision point for tactical withdrawal. But more importantly, it creates both those awesome heroic moments where somebody has one shot at getting a couple of successes while under the gun and also those WTF just happened moments where everything suddenly goes pear-shaped.

I've been thinking about the game all day...I soloed it the other night and thought it was decent but if the four player game holds up, it might be a great one- even if it some of it is really experimental.

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21 Feb 2015 15:14 #198073 by Grudunza
I agree, and the balance with getting hosed by 1's is that there are other times where you're pushing it and threat is held on the 5 and you keep going and rolling 6's and 7's and 8's and everyone's cheering but also moaning because you still didn't get that last success you need and have to try one more time. That particular dice resolution method is one of the best I've ever encountered. Very fun.

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21 Feb 2015 15:58 #198074 by stormseeker75
Just played Elder Sign with the first expansion. This game feels a lot like lather/rinse/repeat with nothing exciting going on. It just feels tedious to roll and re-roll dice over and over again with nothing really happening.

If anyone is interested, let me know.
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21 Feb 2015 21:14 #198078 by SuperflyPete
Thanks for confirming my suspicion, Steve.

Well, here's the rundown.

1313 Dead End Drive: What a bad ass, fucking horrible, backstabbing, evil game. I love it so dearly. Oh. My. Golly. It is a hobby game in a mass market shell.

Zombie 15': I am still up in the air on this one. I ~want~ to love it. The soundtrack is SPECTACULAR. SPEC-FUCKING-TACULAR. It redefines what soundtracks should be. If Psycho Raiders had Friday the 13th music in the background it would PALE in comparison. But....and this is a big but...the game itself, while really smart, and while it bears the best, most well designed player mats in all of gamedom, it just feels off. It's fast-paced, sure, and it's tense, kind of, and it's exciting, sort of, but it lacks what Michael would call "a soul". It almost feels like that dreaded word in the gamers' lexicon, "optimal" is how to describe the way to play. It most assuredly is not worth the 70$ I paid for it at GenCon last year. It's really good in a lot of ways, but it feels like the whole game is an optimization exercise. It might get much better as the scenarios progress, but I'm just not feeling it all that much right now. SOLID 7 at this point.

It's a shame, too, because it has so much going for it. Great player mats. Streamlined, smart rules. Simple action system. LOTS of bad ass weapons. GREAT mechanics that ~should~ fit the game. I was loving it at first, sort of in awe of the smart design and wonderful art. But the setup is tedious as fuck, and I say this being a former Heroscape nutter.

I just hope it gets better because it's ~almost~ the best zombie game. It just needs ~something~ to make it better, like dice or something. Something to make it less Euro and more Ameritrash.

Sad face.

TransAmerica: This has gotten a bit old, despite my love for it. There's not enough routes to really keep it interesting. I literally have pulled identical card sets now, and that's fucked up.

Cathedral: Still the best abstract after Chess. Wicked awesome fun. Don't get the magnetic travel version unless you enjoy the smell of cyanoacrylates.

All I want to do is play 1313 all night long at this point.

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21 Feb 2015 22:41 - 21 Feb 2015 22:44 #198081 by Sevej
So, I visited my parents for 5 days (hooray for my awesome bosses). I previously mentioned in the local wargamer group that I was interested in the Dawn of the Zeds, and one of them, an American BGG user who lives in Indonesia, offered to mail me the C3i Soviet Dawn, to give me a taste of the States of Siege system for solo.

So he did, and I tried playing it.

Overall, Soviet Dawn delivers it narrative and is a heck of a way to learn about the Russian Civil War (which I knew nothing about). But I find it lacking in gaming department. Each turn the card controls the advancement or retreat of 5 enemies along a track, and you are given 0-3 actions, with DRM bonus/penalty for different actions. The game relies mostly on a die to get going, and the odd's just suck. For example, to get a random upgrade, you have to roll a 6 (with the occasional +1). To knock back an enemy, you have to roll better than 3 or 4. But an unlucky string of events at the beginning of the game could put a permanent -1 to all your combat roll. This rarely happens thankfully. To do well politically you have to roll several 4+, then 5+, and then a couple of 6+.

You can go for two or three turns accomplishing nothing. The upgrades are vital, but rolling for 6 is tough, and when I do get it, it feels like a lot of luck to me.

For most of the time it works, but your success really depends on the order of the cards and your dice rolling.

The other thing that piqued my interest about this game is how the game uses "flags" to mark major events that affect future events. In the first trimester you have to decide whether to withdraw from the ongoing World War 1. The czar could be liberated, or executed. You could build permanent fortifications. Interesting things. I think this should be in more games.
Last edit: 21 Feb 2015 22:44 by Sevej.

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22 Feb 2015 02:03 #198086 by ThirstyMan
I have Soviet Dawn, good for 5 min fun.

Triumph of Chaos. That is all.

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22 Feb 2015 09:00 - 22 Feb 2015 09:02 #198090 by Pugnax555
Of the three or four States of Siege games I've tried, they've never done anything for me. Something about the main mechanics and the tracks just bugs me. Interesting way to learn a little about some bit of history (at least some names, places, and events), but ultimately they fall short. I'd much rather play Hero of Weehawken if I'm in the mood for a solo VPG game.

That said, I've spent the past few days wrapping my head around Uwe's Zen Garden (Fields of Arle). Gary's written some about it and I have to agree with what he's said. It's definitely a Rosenberg, but it's got a weird twist on it. Feeding/surviving almost takes care of itself, which leaves the rest of the game as pretty much an open-ended 36-turn farm sandbox with zero direction given and almost no competition. It's definitely not for everyone (hell, you can AP for a long while before even placing your first pawn), but throughly enjoyable if you like building engines and trying different things in his games. I'm glad I picked it up, especially knowing that it might be unavailable for some time thanks to zman's excellent forecasting abilities. :-p
Last edit: 22 Feb 2015 09:02 by Pugnax555.
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22 Feb 2015 09:45 #198092 by Gary Sax
I could certainly see it needing a timer for some players.

Did Z-man already run out of their first printing? I bought mine like the 2nd day CSI had it and haven't looked since.

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22 Feb 2015 10:46 #198095 by Pugnax555
Yeah, the English version has been gone from the big online retailers since shortly after you got yours, and it's been disappearing from the smaller online places over the past week or two.

I could see how an expensive, heavy game for 2 may not exactly be at the top of Z-Man's reprint list even if the demand is there. And that's assuming they actually have control over the reprint schedule, as opposed to simply notifying Feuerland that they want more English copies made up the next time it's printed.
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22 Feb 2015 10:53 #198096 by charlest
Been playing a lot of Imperial Assault lately and digging. It's not nearly as spectacular as X-Wing but it's good and the campaign elements are superb. Love the side mission deck and growth options, especially from the Imperial side.

Also tried out Pictomania which is actually pretty fun if you're in the market for a party game. It kind of does for Pictionary what Wits and Wagers does for Trivia. Gamer version where you don't have just be good at the predecessor's core element.

Lots of playtesting for my microgame Shiv and a buddy's microgame he's working on.

Got Eclipse back to the table last night and won in a 4 player game. I was Descendents of Draco and saw the tide turning against me late mid-game as my fronts were a bit weak. I had a trick up my sleeve though as I nabbed Wormhole Generator and Neutron bombs, causing my neighbors to have to pull back and defend their flanks. The threat ended up being much more powerful than the actual aggression as it caused the others to take their foot off the gas just long enough for me to shore up my entries and protect my ancients. I won by 3 points in a close game where a player who was nearly knocked out early came in second.

After Eclipse we hit Dead of Winter which was my second play (first being at GenCon). I like it but definitely prefer Homeland for betrayal and semi-coop goodness. Dead of Winter definitely is probably the best Zombie game out though.

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22 Feb 2015 10:55 #198097 by repoman
I continue my education in the ways of Advanced Squad Leader. My impressions so far:

1) Oh my god, total constant rules referencing. All-the-time! Every step of the way. That is some what made less ultra-suck by the digitized rule book (both for android and ipad). Less bulk and easy search.

2) Far more thought required than any other squad level game I've played. Not just what you want to do but exactly how you need to do it. Just one action forgotten or out of sequence will shoot your plan to hell.

3) Brutally unforgiving. Make a mistake and you WILL be punished.

And yet I find it to be enthralling and enjoyable. I find myself thinking about it afterwards and that is always a good sign that I really like a game. I hope the rules reference becomes less as I grow more familiar but it will never go away completely. The system is too detailed and there are so many exceptions.

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