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Outback Crossing Review

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02 Jan 2016 12:14 #218868 by RobertB
Disgustipater wrote:

What's the deal with the GEV version? Just more units and a bigger, different map?


The GEV map is bigger, and has many more terrain types. There are several new unit types, including a train that is involved in some scenarios. There are several new scenarios.

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03 Jan 2016 11:39 #218919 by hotseatgames
Last night I introduced 3 new people to Fury of Dracula. Again, I was Dracula, and again I pretty much stomped them. It took them too long to realize I was chilling in England. By the time they got my trail it was too late to stop me and I won the game at Castle Dracula.

This morning I played a round of WWE Superstar Showdown, and the match went down to the wire. Pretty awesome.

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03 Jan 2016 12:03 - 03 Jan 2016 12:04 #218920 by repoman
Yesterday at Look Manor we played Twilight Imperium 3.

Now I'm no huge fan of the game as I've said numerous times in the past but this is the first time I played the game where I think I was finally able to make some decisions based on strategy rather than just trying to remember the rules. I think I had played three times, maybe four, in the past but the plays of this game are so rare that each time I felt I was just flailing through the game trying to get it.

I don't think I'm ever going to be one that says it's the greatest game ever but I liked it fine and had a great time playing which had as much to do with seeing old friends as it did with anything that was going on in the game.

I ended up playing the Green Dudes with +1 to combat rolls. I also ended up winning with Josh as those other weird looking guys with some power or other coming in a close second.
Last edit: 03 Jan 2016 12:04 by repoman.

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03 Jan 2016 13:12 #218930 by KingPut

repoman wrote: Yesterday at Look Manor we played Twilight Imperium 3.

Now I'm no huge fan of the game as I've said numerous times in the past but this is the first time I played the game where I think I was finally able to make some decisions based on strategy rather than just trying to remember the rules. I think I had played three times, maybe four, in the past but the plays of this game are so rare that each time I felt I was just flailing through the game trying to get it.

I don't think I'm ever going to be one that says it's the greatest game ever but I liked it fine and had a great time playing which had as much to do with seeing old friends as it did with anything that was going on in the game.

I ended up playing the Green Dudes with +1 to combat rolls. I also ended up winning with Josh as those other weird looking guys with some power or other coming in a close second.



Wow that's the worst review / session report I've ever read in my whole life on this planet. "I was the green dudes with the + 1 combat rolls". What did you play until 4:00 am and you're to hung over to remember anything?
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03 Jan 2016 13:19 - 03 Jan 2016 13:28 #218932 by SuperflyPete
I despise TI3 for that reason. It's too long for what it is and you can't really remember every pocket rule unless you play it all the time (I imagine).


I played Artifacts, Inc. with the wife on NYE, and it was pretty fun. It's a lot deeper than Ininitially thought. I can see that it only supports 2P because they wanted to squeeze that in...it really is kind of broken with 2 because of the cube shortage. I think I'll like it more with 4.

At this point, there's only 2 games I want: Xia and Ancient Terrible Things.

Also, last night before Fallout time, I played some Firestorm Armada. Aquan (agile and strong at mid range) against Terran (mediocre but good defense). Thought my Terran frigate squadron could take on the Aquan Dreadnaught..its the equivalent of six X-Wings trying to take on a Super Star Destroyer (and its fighter wings). Bad idea. The thing lit me up when I got into its power band, so to speak, and the kid rolled 6x 6's once, which count as 2 hits and then get another die added, and she rolled 3x 6's again, and then one more. It ended up being like 15-16 hits. I imagined it like the Yamato in Star Blazers firing into a swarm with its Wave Cannon. She utterly annihilated my shit. I brought in my Carrier and launched a shitload of bombers, supported by a Battleship and my dice were shit, so I ended up killing it, but she had tucked her Destroyers (the Clam Warriors, as I like to call them) behind an asteroid, cracked them out and proceeded to light me the fuck up. Killed the carrier in one action thanks to linked fire, leaving my sad little bombers lost in space forever. The battleship was Yorktowned just before I could swing over and get my laser cannons at them, she ended up kicking my ass big time.

I'm convinced that kids should be allowed to play lottery tickets because their uncanny ability to roll crazy good should be used for financial gain.
Last edit: 03 Jan 2016 13:28 by SuperflyPete.
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03 Jan 2016 16:51 - 03 Jan 2016 16:52 #218936 by Sevej

SuperflyTNT wrote: I despise TI3 for that reason. It's too long for what it is and you can't really remember every pocket rule unless you play it all the time (I imagine).


That's what I hate about most complex games. Unless I'll be able to play them subsequently in reasonable time frame (and I won't right now), forget it.
Last edit: 03 Jan 2016 16:52 by Sevej.

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03 Jan 2016 17:41 - 03 Jan 2016 17:43 #218942 by southernman
Well with people off for holidays I've actually got a few games played and - miracle of miracles - I have won four on the trot, probably a first time ever, although teh last one was a shared win in Fief: 1429 (a very good game). Plus they have been a very enjoyable variety as well:
Fief:1429, Cyclades, Forbidden Stars, Twlight Struggle, Horus Heresy, Risk Star Wars Edition, Imperial Assault, Last Night on Earth, Fluxx, Sons of Anarchy.

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Last edit: 03 Jan 2016 17:43 by southernman.
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03 Jan 2016 17:45 #218943 by Gary Sax
How'd like you Forbidden Stars and Fief, Southern? A very good game... any more thoughts?

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03 Jan 2016 23:30 #218956 by trif
Actually had quite a few good gaming sessions over the (our) summer break.

Gave my brother Codenames for Xmas and we then ran through six plays of it, one after the other. We have a rule in the gaming fraternity that couples shouldn't be on the same side in Codenames, but my sister-in-law demanded that we waive it and then proceeded to infuriate my brother with her opaque clues.

Xmas day was spent with my wife's family - we have four nieces and nephews between 12 months and 5 years old so I thought I'd spring some games on them. They enjoyed Super Rhino, Sorry! Sliders and Toc Toc Woodman, but the surprise hit was Monster Factory. I now have to find a copy for them.

Then a session with our inner west games group playing Merchants and Marauders, Oregon, Wiz War and Roll for the Galaxy. I was so glad to finally get Wiz War to the table I didn't mind the game ending abruptly on the fourth turn with ozjesting's wizard having a wall fall on him, followed by Muzza throwing my chest on to his home square, scoring both vps in a single turn. Great game, hope to play it again soon.

One New Year's Day Muzza and Bruce came over to inculcate me in the ways of Mage Knight (another game I've been trying to get to the table - and it's taken us about a year to organise meeting up to play it!). We played the Reconnaissance scenario, which is like the first taste you get rubbed into your teeth before you start injecting into the vein. It didn't take as long as we thought it might, so we introduced Bruce to Roll for the Galaxy and then I finally got out an old Wolfgang Kramer game WildLife, which is like a mash up between Dominant Species and El Grande but not quite as complicated. Bruce had introduced us to a Knizia game called Genesis which was similar, but WildLife is much more intense, in fact we found it more brainbruising than Mage Knight..

We plan on visiting the standard scenario for Mage Knight real soon now.

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04 Jan 2016 08:50 #218963 by charlest
The Eclipse: Shadow of the Rift expansion is certainly interesting. I think it has a higher ratio of useful stuff but I think I'd still get Rise of the Ancients first. The new races though are the cream of the crop as they function the most differently from anything else we've seen.

I played the time travelling race in my first game with it, pulling a dreadnaught from the future, later sending fighters into the future, receiving resources from future self, etc.

You basically either gain an immediate reward (like +5 money) but you need to pay it back in X number of turns. If you don't a paradox occurs and you lose VP. The resource tiles actually require you pay back more in the future (think money was 7 and build was 8, to gain 5 now). I like how you get 1 VP per tile you accomplish as there's incentive to mess with the mechanism and take chances. I sent two fighters off into the future because I didn't need them terribly bad and wanted the 1VP.

I won the game but by 2 points. I could have nearly eliminated the second place player in turn four when I took the middle hex, but I had mercy as he was new to the game. He was the base game race that can research two techs at once and he came back with a nasty set of ships that utilized the new Flux cannon and solid defenses. He was beating the shit out of my ships in the last round but it was too late.

My two neighbors on my flank ended up forming diplomatic relations early through one of the warp portal things from the first expansion. One player got a little aggressive and occupied the other side of the portal after it was bankrupted in mid game, this split his soft ally's hexes kind of apart and caused them to go to war. I think this cost them both the game and allowed me to do so well so fast.

More Loopin' Chewie, Tumblin-Dice, Skull, and Rhino Hero on New Years.

Still soloing away at the Warhammer Quest: ACG. I took down the first mission in the campaign and nearly lost my Warrior Priest. Just ignored the nemesis dude for the most part and explored like crazy, making sure to kill those I was engaged with.

Preparing for more Eclipse, X-Wing with the new Imperial Assault Carrier (the model physically carries TIEs!), and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong.
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04 Jan 2016 10:29 - 04 Jan 2016 15:53 #218969 by Egg Shen
Played over the weekend:

Runebound - Soloed this one again. At this point I've played most of the characters and I really love how they all feel different from one another, which was a big complaint of mine about Second Edition. Battles in this game are pretty dangerous, and I like that. The game isn't really about a big ol adventure or story. Sure it has story beats based on the deck you shuffle into the game...but really this is a game about developing your character's abilities/skills and solving the puzzle of the scenario. The box has a TON of value/replayabilty, but I'm really curious to see where FFG takes the game. Also, I lost the game because I spent too much time trying to get one last weapon to slay the dragon. So while I was running around a village delivering some goods to earn some petty cash...the dragon went all Smaug on Tamalir. Oops.

Spyfall - At one point during early 2015 this was THE party game of choice. People who scored a copy of it would gloat and say how awesome it was. Then Codenames came out and nobody gave a shat about Spyfall any longer. I played this with my brother and sister in-law (and my wife). This game is a tough sell because it almost always falls flat for the first 3-4 plays. Once people start figuring out the nuances of the game it gets much better. You feel really clever you answer a question with a perfect response that clears you of being the spy without giving away any vital information. On the flip side, when you win as the spy it really feels satisfying. With only four of us we used the variant that forced you to answer the question as a specific role on the card. This seemed to level the odds for the spy. We just played it for a while and didn't keep score or anything. We laughed quite a bit and enjoyed some good food n drink. Can't ask for much more than that.

DungeonQuest - Sweet dear lord did I have some shit luck in this game. I was playing as Hugo, the Armored Dipshit. Each pull of a card was some sort of catastrophe that chipped away at my health. Scorpions, Giant Centipedes, Demons, Ferrox...all sorts of deadly shit. Meanwhile, my wife was playing Brother Good Luck who was having a lovely little jaunt in the dungeon. He would randomly come across gold, easily escape danger, drink a potion that DIDN'T murder him. Sure he got lost in the catacombs, but he was able to escape with a few hundred gold and some cool stories to tell his brothers. Meanwhile, Hugo made it to the Lair of the Slumber Wyrm. Against all odds the beast remained asleep. Hugo snatched some treasure and got the fuck up outta there. He of course hit a dead end. With 2 HPs left, he risked it and searched. Much to his delight he found a secret passage that would get him back to an explored path! Then his clanging armor attracted a skeletal archer that shot him in the head from somewhere in the dark. He died a miserable death. I swear Hugo could feel the draft of the entrance. I love this game.
Last edit: 04 Jan 2016 15:53 by Egg Shen.
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04 Jan 2016 10:41 #218970 by JEM
With holidays and stuff I've been mostly offline and away from my usual weekly group, but I was able to attend this weekend and play a few games.

Elysium- A fairly interesting tableau builder/set collection game. It has that "collect suits or collect straights" thing going on, and the "use it or score it" on the cards, both of which reminded me a lot of Valley of the Kings. It took way too long to play for what it was, and I think that VotK fills the same head space in a better, faster game.

Champions of Midgard- Soulless eurosnoot that is not Lords of Waterdeep, which is the main thing it has going for it. I am relatively OK with being stuck playing this instead of LoW.

A Study in Emerald- Two of us knew the game already, and two were new players but smart ones at that. It was a really nice session for a learning game. Factions were effectively determined fairly early on, and a lot of my game was spent countering the other experienced player's actions. He had Lestrade, which usually makes games miserable, but it did not feel like a problem this time around. The green minions of evil won this time.

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04 Jan 2016 11:49 #218973 by Sagrilarus
I pulled out my Crokinole board and started practice shooting, and the noise drew the kiddies out of their lairs like moths to a flame. "Are you playing Crokinole?" they asked, rubbing their eyes at the bright light in the kitchen. I said yes and that I'd love an opponent and that they're free to pull down the board anytime they like and play without me. It sits on a shelf they walk past 25 times a day.

In short order I had given it over to all four kids and they were shooting away happy as clams at high tide.. Got in two more sessions over the week.

DS3s are nice, but there's something oddly captivating in the noise that actual physical components make in a game like Crokinole.

S.
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04 Jan 2016 13:13 #218984 by bfkiller

Egg Shen wrote: Runebound - The game isn't really about a big ol adventure or story. Sure it has story beats based on the deck you shuffle into the game...but really this is a game about developing your character's abilities/skills and solving the puzzle of the scenario.


So, a bit like Mage Knight in terms of narrative?

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04 Jan 2016 15:00 #218994 by Egg Shen

bfkiller wrote:

Egg Shen wrote: Runebound - The game isn't really about a big ol adventure or story. Sure it has story beats based on the deck you shuffle into the game...but really this is a game about developing your character's abilities/skills and solving the puzzle of the scenario.


So, a bit like Mage Knight in terms of narrative?


Actually yes. I've found that the narrative that matters is really the development of your character. I sort of keep thinking about Mage Knight when I play it. It feels like a lesser version of that game mixed with a tiny bit of DNA from Runebound 2nd Edition. There is still the FFG standard, "cards with quests n' flavor texts". You might flip over a purple card with a story snippet which gives you two choices. These don't really provide much other than fluff. Sure you can expand upon the fluff and what happened to your character, but in a solo game I don't focus on that. Though I like how some of cards are pretty dumb and ridiculous...the game doesn't take itself too seriously.

It's not nearly as abstracted as Mage Knight...or as deliciously deep. In Runebound you'll only acquire a few skills and items each game. That coupled with the scenario specific stuff is really what fills in the story. It seems like a focus of the design was to really make it about building up your character in an interesting way. Afterwards, they added the typical "flip a card and see what happens" stuff so as to not completely alienate previous Runebound fans. Seems like a decent compromise.

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