What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Yeah, I can't imagine playing without the abilities ever again. The characters are interesting and it adds a layer of decisions to the game that give it some added oomph upon repeated plays.

hammered out several more games of Impulse, most 2 some 3 or 4 player. I still really dig this game and it could creep into GOTY call for me. Though I do wonder whether it lacks strategic depth vs Chudyk's other more famous titles. The first 3 or four cards you put down on the sector map really matter. If they are good level 3 cards that allow you to build both types of ships, or draw lots of cards, or plan from your hand, or move Fleets (as opposed to ships) then you are in business. If they are all semi useful level 1 and 2 cards you can really struggle.

Also played Red 7, decent small card game where the catch is sort of like flux or some trick taking games in that you can change the scoring system each turn. The other critical rule is that you have to be winning by whatever the current rule is at the end of your turn. Its very quick and simple but quite a lot of fun. Worth the asking price.

We played a 4 hour game of Through the Ages. I've played this quite a bit over the past and ended up winning. At one point I was streets ahead but then one player scored the fast food chain and came close to taking the lead. I'm not sure if i'm souring on it, but the game is so explicitly a spreadsheet efficiency exercise which appeals to me less than it used too.

I picked up a copy of Wiz-War today and played 2 and 3 player games, good times. One guy isn't really into boardgames but loves Risk so i thought i'd get him to try WizWar first. He liked it, but still wanted us to play risk afterwards. Risk was pretty dull.

OK. This is an odd update. Over the last week the 14 year old and I played...

HOTEL TYCOON (x2)
This is a fun little economic game that's like Monopoly Plus. Awesome fun and the 3D terrain makes the game. Only beef is that I wish the board had indentations for the little "entrances" to sit in.

MONOPOLY (x1)
OK. After playing Hotel Tycoon, and me talking about "Monopoly" she asked what it was. Now, I have NEVER lost a game of Monopoly, and I've been playing since I was 6. It ~was~ a point of pride, until the moment I overspent and got really unlucky, ending in my shameful defeat. Kid was GLOWING but was a good sport. Wife said we were playing wrong because we weren't "passing" on properties instead of auctioning them, and there was no Free Parking money. I tried to explain but she wasn't listening. I handed her the rules and she kept looking for that which was not there. So, the best part of the game was either seeing my kid so happy, or seeing my wife so utterly confused.

BSG (x1)
Played with 2 n00bs. No Cylons to the midpoint, which we found out when we quit on time. Still, someone was dumping negative cards into the pools so we thought it was my 14 year old screwing up. As it turns out, my buddy whose wife was one of the n00bs hated it so much she was poisoning the well to make the game end faster. We all got a laugh about that.

VEGAS SHOWDOWN (x3)
Once with 4 player, twice with 3 player. I fucking love this game. My 14 year old LOVES this game. I can't believe I didn't play it until a month or two ago. Considering pimping out the chips with clay chips.

~~~AND THE BIG ONE~~~

The Downfall of Pompeii (X3)
Holy shit. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this until Mr. Weeks mentioned it a week ago or so. Picked it up cheap, and while setting the cards up initially SUCKED, I figured it all out pretty quickly. First game was WAY short because of a mistake made, but still fun. It's like a slightly more intellectually interesting version of Survive!, kind of. This game is much more tuned toward direct fuckery, but the opportunities are more limited than in Survive, making it all the more visceral when you toss enemies' dudes into the volcano. It also gave my 14 year old and I the opportunity to discuss the historical Pompeii tragedy, and how well the game actually kind of acts out the event.

If you don't buy this at Miniature Market while it's like 20$, and you like Survive, you will have failed yourself. Buy. This. Game.

Twilight Struggle

First time I've played in maybe five years? I taught Engineer Al the game and he promptly wiped the floor with me, ending on turn 7 or so with a complete Soviet Victory.

I told Al I took it easy on him because it was his first game.

That was a lie.

After reading the rules over several days, my son and I played a two-player game of Space Empires 4x using the Advanced Rules and parts of the Close Encounters expansion. The game took about three hours--my son won. We explored the universe, researched technology, and built up our fleets, all culminating in two epic final battles that decimated my fleet and resulted in the destruction of my empire and home world. My son's alien racial advantage, Fearless Race, turned the tide for him in most of our battles. Can't wait to play again!

SuperflyTNT wrote:
The Downfall of Pompeii (X3)
Holy shit. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this until Mr. Weeks mentioned it a week ago or so. Picked it up cheap, and while setting the cards up initially SUCKED, I figured it all out pretty quickly. First game was WAY short because of a mistake made, but still fun. It's like a slightly more intellectually interesting version of Survive!, kind of. This game is much more tuned toward direct fuckery, but the opportunities are more limited than in Survive, making it all the more visceral when you toss enemies' dudes into the volcano. It also gave my 14 year old and I the opportunity to discuss the historical Pompeii tragedy, and how well the game actually kind of acts out the event.

If you don't buy this at Miniature Market while it's like 20$, and you like Survive, you will have failed yourself. Buy. This. Game.

Such a great little game. Don't forget to pick up an LED tea light to put in the volcano.

Advanced Squad Leader: Retaking Vierville

This is actually a "starter kit" scenario so somewhat dumbed down.

I was totally molested by Thirstyman's Germans. My American soldiers couldn't shoot for shit, broke like eggs, and absolutely refused to come out from under the beds where they ran to hide. I brought shame and disgrace to the American Armed Forces.

More notably, it was the first time I used Vassal for live play and it worked great and was easy to initiate.

^I think live VASSAL is probably the way to go. I need to start making time to do it again.

That's right, I forgot we played live over Vassal. Well second time using live Vassal but first time for ASL. Worked fine and dandy.

Great for wargaming where getting an opponent isn't always easy and also great for games that are too ridiculously big to actually be set up in a normal home. Monster games and such.

My friend and I have played a half dozen more games of Impulse 2 player. I recant my comment that you need to play lots of 3 value cards early, though this does help. You can get by on 2s and 1s with smart play. We both have got better at the game and It only blows out if one side cannot get a card allowing them to build transports within the first 4 turns, even then the losing side may get a reasonable score, they just won't win because they cannot get the multipliers easily. Mining drains too many cards to really compensate, though if one side leaves their transports unprotected there can be an upset.


I also taught him Cribbage, and old British card game for 2. Its pretty random since you play each round with 6 cards each from the deck so you could have more or less anything but its quite relaxing working out how to generate the highest scores/counts. I've won both games so far. I can see this making a good pub game, not really sure ehy people play tournies of it though.

hey, has anyone tried LEGENDARY yet? We got it for my buddy's birthday on Saturday but only drafted Magic in the end. I was wondering if the game is any good.

Played a few games 2P over the past couple of weeks.

Five Tribes - This is great as a two player game. The bidding becomes very important (well...it's always important) since you can go twice in a row and set up some fancy moves. At first I disliked how pretty much everything gives you points. However, it does open up multiple pathways to victory. The Djinn giving special powers injects some much needed chaos and helps keep you on your toes. The game looks beautiful on the table which is no surprise since it's coming from Days of Wonder. There is a tiny bit of interaction via the assassin's and Djinn so that's nice. I think if you're a fan of Euro Games it is very much worth tracking down. The trick is to play quickly though. Sure you can think for a minute if you need to, but it shouldn't be every turn. Also we didn't allow the board to be analyzed right after the player turns were done. We just went directly into another round of bidding. It kept things flowing smoothly and I feel that's the way it's meant to be played. One could EASILY over-think every move and just make playing this unbearable. Stop being a pussy and make a goddamn move.

Letters from Whitechapel - I was the detectives trying to track down Jack. Didn't use any variants or extra rules. The first round I caught a huge sniff on Jack's trail and I became fairly confident I knew where his hideout was. The next turn the murder happened ALL the way across the board from where his hideout was. I used a few policemen to funnel the crook towards the long route. Then I left some of my forces back to where I thought his hideout was. It came down to the final turn of the round. I looked at my opponent and said, "Is it even possible for you to win?" They just said, "Maybe I can...maybe I can't". I move my guys, make some arrest attempts and fail. The next turn Jack sauntered to his secret hideout. "FUCK!" I excused myself from the table to use the bathroom. During a frothy, rage-filled, piss I thought about where the bastard could have gone. I couldn't figure it out. The next two turns I floundered about barely catching a whiff of the bastard. Jack disappeared into the night and won the game. The worst part? I asked what happened on turn two when it came down to the last move. Apparently Jack couldn't get back to his hideout because I had one policemen blocking the way. He had been watching this intersection, not moving, for several turns. Then on the last turn I ordered him down an alley to check for Jack which opened up his escape. SonofaBITCH. I had a great time though. If you're a fan of Fury of Dracula or any hidden movement game this is a no brainer. The production looks stunning, the rules are very easy to grasp and it works well as a two player game and easily supports more. I'm glad to finally own this one.

Black Barney wrote: hey, has anyone tried LEGENDARY yet? We got it for my buddy's birthday on Saturday but only drafted Magic in the end. I was wondering if the game is any good.

Legendary is good, but I like the Alien version quite a bit better.

from the movie Alien?? There's a thematic board game around that? Can i has it?

It's pretty solid. I enjoy how difficult it is and it does feel a bit thematic, although it feels more like you're playing through highlights of the movie as opposed to narratively following any semblance of the film's structure.