Octopus Overlords

by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:12 am

hepcat wrote:Smash Up is definitely on my radar (I mentioned it on this page a while back), and Star Trek: Fleet Captains is currently gathering dust in my rather large gaming closet right now, but I suspect it will reemerge with the release of the Romulan expansion. It has the potential for greatness, but was hobbled right out of the gate with a few fundamental flaws...one of which is that the Federation player could just avoid conflict and interaction with the other player all together, huddle up in his corner of the universe and win rather quickly. I'm hoping that the Romulans change that up. The game itself is fantastic when you get two players who want to just mix it up and have fun.

I wouldn't have known about Smash Up if I didn't read it here and the AEG guys were happy I'd at least heard of it. The WizKid rep said they're hoping that the Romulan expansion is well received since it will allow for three players and add the element of espionage.

LordMortis wrote:Set aside about three to five hours and play through the walk through. You're still playing the game but you're learning most of the game as you go. Keep the rules out and refer to them often for the next five games or so. Eventually the games will come down to about two hours a pop if you are playing with people who are fairly on the ball.

If you want to learn it by yourself before introducing it to others then pretend to be two different players and go through the walk through and then play the solo variant.... And still keep the rule by your side. It just takes a number of games to feel comfortable with the rules enough to not have to reference them again and again.

Yeah, that's what I sort of figured, though I'm a lazy gamer and learn best when someone else is explaining it to me. Once I have the rules down I can explain it to other people no problem, but learning it initially is always my issue.

Also, don't start with GenCon for a national Convention. Start with Origins. You could probably even drive to Columbus for New Jersey. What is that? Maybe 8 or 10 hours?

Yeah, probably 10 hours, which is actually pretty reasonable. The convention we attended locally apparently locked in the July 4th week for the next two years, which is rather problematic. Next year the 4th is on a Thursday and then in 2014 it's a Friday. I can't reasonably disappear for 12+ hours on the 4th of July as it's sort of earmarked for family related activities, so our plans to make it a 3+ day event are already sidetracked. But I can certainly look into the Origins event...

by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:17 am

Anyone have any experience playing Battleground? My buddy seems eager to try and they had half a dozen tables set up with people hammering it out. It looked like a reasonable way to play war games without all the fuss of painting and storing figures.

by **coopasonic** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:18 am

hepcat wrote:already signed up for the 25 dollar level.

Now I am as well. Thanks for the heads up.

by **LordMortis** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:20 am

Smoove_B wrote:Yeah, probably 10 hours, which is actually pretty reasonable. The convention we attended locally apparently locked in the July 4th week for the next two years, which is rather problematic. Next year the 4th is on a Thursday and then in 2014 it's a Friday. I can't reasonably disappear for 12+ hours on the 4th of July as it's sort of earmarked for family related activities, so our plans to make it a 3+ day event are already sidetracked. But I can certainly look into the Origins event...

If you commit to going then I'll make a commitment to think about going a little bit more than I normally commit to think about going. I think it's been five years or more since last I made the drive down. I think OctoCon generally scratched my commute a long way to game itch.

by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:24 am

Smoove_B wrote:Anyone have any experience playing Battleground?

Zarathud and I played it at Origins years ago. I had an instant dislike for it, while I believe he kind of enjoyed it. I wasn't enamored of having to use the cards to measure movement and it came down to archers attack, game over. To be fair, that was probably more due to my inability to field an effective force though.

I eventually found Summoner Wars to be a good tradeoff for a miniatures game without all the fuss. But most folks might not see it that way.

by **Zarathud** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:31 pm

The Origins demo of Battlegrounds wasn't well explained, so hepcat got screwed up on doing his orders and measuring attack range. You use the card edges (long/short sides) to measure distance and mark up the plastic cards as you go. I thought it was a decent compromise for a miniatureless wargame and Summoner Wars fills the same niche.

I could be willing to send you my few Battleground decks, so PM me.

by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:35 pm

Smoove_B wrote: But I can certainly look into the Origins event...

And I may even let you touch the sleeve of one of my shirts if you go. Although I do draw the line at allowing others to make eye contact without prior written approval.

by **Remus West** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:16 pm

Muss his hair. He loves that.

by **Zarathud** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:41 am

Hepcat also likes his umbrella drinks.

by **Chaosraven** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:08 pm

hepcat wrote:
Smoove_B wrote: But I can certainly look into the Origins event...

And I may even let you touch the sleeve of one of my shirts if you go. Although I do draw the line at allowing others to make eye contact without prior written approval.

Because he prefers it from behind.

by **Chaosraven** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:13 pm

Chaosraven wrote:In preparation for next weeks Pauper Tournament

UPDATE:

I built decks and some friends played them.

20 players, and 2 of my decks made top8. One took second.

My son made top 8 with his deck and lost to the winner.

I was nowhere near top8 with the deck I chose to play.

by **Jow** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:19 am

incidentally, if no one mentioned it already, Neuroshima Hex has been released for Android for $3. Unfortunately the #1 feature I was hoping would be in (online multiplayer) is not in, but it does support hotseat multi. The original four factions are included - no idea about plans for the remaining factions. Implementation is great, with only one niggling little problem on my particular phone: the various buttons (especially end turn) occasionally require multiple presses before they're recognized. Guess they're working on it. Very, very worth the $3 though - I've probably played 15-20 games already.

by **Fishbelly** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:38 am

incidentally, if no one mentioned it already, Neuroshima Hex has been released for Android for $3

Bought. Thanks for the heads up--I have been waiting for this!

[edit] If anyone is wondering, Neuroshima plays perfectly on a Kindle Fire.

by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:55 pm

Last night we played Wings of Glory for a good three hours. I think the consensus is that it's a really fun game. The first few rounds were a bit cumbersome until we got the hang of things, but it can be surprisingly quick when everything comes together. I never would have thought that using cards and little plastic models to simulate dog fighting would be fun, but it really was. My buddy picked up some type of kit that added smoke and fire effects to the planes via tiny magnets which really looked impressive. It seems that the series switched publishers at some point, though maybe I'm not clear on what happened. Are there plans to release more planes? In checking ebay the prices are...interesting. Anyway, it was fully playable out of the box with the four planes included and we had a ton of fun. We were only using the regular rules and could see the value in starting to incorporate altitude and speed as part of the fun. We're not quite there yet (mentally), but it made sense to start thinking about those types of things the more we were playing.

After that was another round of Lords of Waterdeep, which I really think shines with three players. The flow just seems perfect and it's become one of my favorites.

We closed the evening with another hilarious round of Get to the Chopper!!! After a couple of beers and an iPhone supplying the appropriate soundtrack, it really is just great fun. My buddy (of course) picked up the old MicroMachine versions of all the characters, upgrading from the cardboard cutouts included with the game. Makes the gameplay so much more fun, but for a free print-and-play game, it's surprisingly detailed and balanced. I think we've played it half a dozen times and the Predator always ends up winning...but things usually play out pretty close to how the movie unfolds, which always amuses us. If you have fond memories of the movie, seriously print out a free copy and play. You'll be busting out movie quotes all night (some of which are helpfully included on the character cards).

by **hentzau** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:58 pm

Wings of Glory (or, the original Wings of War) is really a great game. We try and have an "as many players as we can get on a side" dogfight at the end of each Octocon. We've had up to 12 playing at once, and when you get that many birds in the air, seems like you're always in someone's firing arc after the first couple of rounds.

We never use the altitude rules when playing, and we only use some of the advanced damage rules to keep things moving. The one question we always debate about is whether to use the "explosion" damage card or not. Depends on how long we want to keep Lawbeef in the game.

by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:05 pm

I can see why. The explosion chit was the first one I pulled my first time playing. The games are fast enough that it didn't matter and we were all learning so it was cool. But yeah, if we had a giant battle and I was instantly knocked out, I'd probably get irritated.

I think we're going to try the "Tailing" rule next. What we like is that if we understand correctly, you can just add or ignore advanced elements as you see fit. It really did play fine with the regular rules, but the idea of being able to see the other player's card if you're tailing them seemed like a nifty addition. Adding fuel? Not so much. But it's cool that you can really get that detailed if you want.

by **hentzau** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:09 pm

Smoove_B wrote:I can see why. The explosion chit was the first one I pulled my first time playing. The games are fast enough that it didn't matter and we were all learning so it was cool. But yeah, if we had a giant battle and I was instantly knocked out, I'd probably get irritated.

I think we're going to try the "Tailing" rule next. What we like is that if we understand correctly, you can just add or ignore advanced elements as you see fit. It really did play fine with the regular rules, but the idea of being able to see the other player's card if you're tailing them seemed like a nifty addition. Adding fuel? Not so much. But it's cool that you can really get that detailed if you want.

Fuel must be something new with Wings of Glory. Wings of War doesn't have fuel. Interesting.

by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:21 pm

Fuel comes into play when performing low speed (1 point) or high speed (2 points) maneuvers. When you run out of your allotted fuel it's game over. I think diving and climbing also require fuel expenditure but maintaining course does not.

I believe you can check the rules here. I think he picked up WoG because it's brand new and he's not really into WWI bi-planes. But there really seems to be way more stuff available for the original game.

by **Chaosraven** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:26 pm

When a bunch of guys are playing only a single or couple plaes, that explosion nerfs the fun for someone taken out of the game. But losing a single plane of your side to a lucky shot really gives the random taste of victory/defeat without being too brutal

by **LordMortis** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:21 am

hentzau wrote: Depends on how long we want to keep Lawbeef in the game.

by **hepcat** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:40 pm

The monopoly franchise heads to the final frontier.. Not something I'd order but it's a neat idea.

by **Debris** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:55 am

My son-in-law and I played a few games of Dust Tactics last night. It was our first foray into the game, so we only played the first two scenarios of the revised core set. We found the rules to be relatively easy to grasp and the games moved along pretty quickly when we weren't clarifying or double checking rules. Still it's a rather in depth miniature board game but not so much so that you get bogged down with mechanics.

The revised core set comes with 5 units per side, but they are in no way evenly matched. The Axis focuses on ranged combat and heavy defense while the Allies are all about speed and close combat. Still, both of our games were very closely matched with the winner of each battle having only 1 or two models still on the board.

We both agreed that this is an interesting, fun and easy to play game. We also agreed that we will need a few more units on each side to make the armies more flexible. Still, we had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, often at my expense, and are looking forward to our next game.

by **hentzau** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:00 am

Went to a party last night for the express purpose of playing Crokinole. It was with some guys that I did a show with a few years back, along with our spouses and the music director (who must be like 85 years old but absolutely loves the game even though her arthritis makes it hard for her to flick the pucks.) Man, that was a lot of fun. Because we had an odd number, we were playing one board 4 player and one board 3 player (I was always the solo player). Man, that was a lot of fun. I really do love this game, even though it hardly ever hits the table except at special occasions and picnics and the like.

We ended the evening with 3 games of Tsuro. This was the first time I've ever played with 7 players, and man was that chaotic. Seems like after your second tile, someone else was always up in your business. It was a real hit (one of the guys, in a slightly tipsy state, went to look for it on Amazon and accidentally ordered it since he had one-touch ordering turned on. Oops.)

by **coopasonic** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:06 am

Finally played the first "tutorial" for D-Day dice with my 6 year old. He likes rolling dice any way. I'm not sure my brain will be able to handle the full game. :shock:

There's a lot going on with moving a die around a board. It does look like a pretty reasonable solo game though and not terribly long to play so it should have a shot in my house.

Also played 3 games of Hive with the aforementioned 6 year old. His first time playing and he's clearly not ready for that level of strategy. He finally picked up how to trap pieces, but he hasn't worked out how to free trapped pieces. Also the split focus of capturing the opponents queen while defending your own is a challenge to him. He can do reasonably well at either (except freeing a trapped piece), but not both.

I was just happy to NOT be playing Catan Jr again. Or a my son sees it "the how mana coco the parrots can I collect game". When he wins it's because he accidentally built everything with coco cards and prevented me from progressing with pirate movements again from the coco cards.

by **Chaz** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:31 am

I got to teach the GF and her parents Elasund. I've been slowly introducing them to more complex games, and this was the next step. It's one I really like because it starts out pretty sedate with everyone building buildings spread out from each other, but about halfway through, the board gets really crowded, and you're basically forced to start bulldozing people's buildings and hitting each other with pirates.

There are a lot more options available on each turn, along with forced planning ahead with where you put your building permits, so it took her parents a little while to get up to speed with the options each turn and why they'd want to do things. Eventually, they caught on, and overall it went well. I think it wound up taking close to three hours including rules, which is long for that game, but everyone was engaged the whole time, so that was good. It'll be much better the next time.

I also finally tried Incan Gold (Diamant) with the GF and her mom. It's nice and fast, but kinda blah with only three players. I suspect it'll be better with more. Or if we make it a drinking game.

by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:42 am

Zarathud and I had an impromptu "wife and kids are away, let's play" get together Friday night. The total damage was two games of King of Tokyo, one game of the iOS version of Summoner Wars, 2 games of Flash Point and a game of Miskatonic School for Girls.

We actually won our second game of Flash Point on recruit level. It was touch and go, but I think swapping out roles using the crew change rule is a big help. I still am quite taken with this one.

The real surprise was how much fun I had with Miskatonic. I've only played it a couple of times with Seppe and the rules didn't quite gel with me at the time. Friday I think I played it with all the rules in place and correctly interpreted and it was rather fun. I need to play it again, methinks.

by **The Rocketman** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:12 am

As a big fan of fighterplanes, from WWI to now, I'm always interested in reading about Wings of War (or Wings of Glory). I haven't dared to delve further into it though, because I keep hearing the cost is quite high, and I'm not sure just how 'fun' a dogfighting game is. Also, the new X-Wing miniature game that FFG is releasing in a couple of months looks promising. But again, high costs I'm afraid. And FFG's rules are always a bit clunky and often unbalanced. What do you guys think about these 2 games?

by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:46 am

Others can feel free to correct me, but I think if you tried getting into the series starting with Wings of War you'd probably go broke. However, after they switched publishers and released Wings of Glory you now have a much more reasonable option to start playing (Cool Stuff is selling it for $45). Right out of the box you're set for 2-4 players (four total planes provided). We started looking into buying older Wings of War planes and yeah, those prices range from $10-40+ (which is ridiculous). Apparently the new publisher is releasing their own set of new planes, but I'm not really sure what the story is there (when, how much, etc...)

We didn't have a problem with the rules at all and I included a link to them a few posts above. I'm not even really a fan of flight games on the PC and this managed to win me over. It's fun - even with the explosion chit.

by **hentzau** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:47 am

The Rocketman wrote:As a big fan of fighterplanes, from WWI to now, I'm always interested in reading about Wings of War (or Wings of Glory). I haven't dared to delve further into it though, because I keep hearing the cost is quite high, and I'm not sure just how 'fun' a dogfighting game is. Also, the new X-Wing miniature game that FFG is releasing in a couple of months looks promising. But again, high costs I'm afraid. And FFG's rules are always a bit clunky and often unbalanced. What do you guys think about these 2 games?

I love Wings of War (the WWI version). Picked it up before they had the models, and they were just the icing on the cake. Many call the minis "pricey", but I think that $13 for a nicely painted and detailed biplane isn't too far out of line. If you look around, you can still find some of the planes fairly reasonably (just don't expect to get discounts from series 1 and 2).

If you just want to try out the game, you could just pick up the base Wings of War: Famous Aces set. Checking on ebay, there are three sets out there right now from $19-$33. This would let you try out the system using cards rather than models, and then you can decide if picking up the planes is worth it. (But the models really do add onto the fun of the game.)

by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:20 pm

Just ordered a copy of Descent 2nd Edition for a birthday present to myself. :oops:

by **The Rocketman** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:14 am

Thanks for the replies about Wings of War. I'm not really interested in the miniatures, but the system used for WW2 (2 consecutive orders, you have to plan ahead) seems more fun to me.
I'll keep an eye out for a bargain there...

About Descent 2: it does seem rather good! I've always enjoyed Doom, but some of it's mechanics (for example: overlord needs to score 6 frags to win) bug me, and a single scenario takes a long time. I like this new direction they're heading, with trying to streamline the entire experience.

by **Chaosraven** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:16 am

Hmph. First it's the unwarranted Senior Discount at the restaurants, now my decks at Nerdsday Nights are labelled "Granpaw" "Deckname".

When the younginz come around and start with "I loved your Granpaw DuckButter, what do you think of my tweak on it?" and the description of a game they just played with it... *sigh*.

Yep.

At Nerdsday, I am now Granpaw Raven.

by **Chaosraven** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:16 am

The fact that I played Magic before some of 'em were born has no bearing on this.

by **Remus West** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:42 am

Chaosraven wrote:At Nerdsday, I am now Granpaw Raven.

by **wonderpug** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:46 am

Anyone have a favorite primer on how to play Le Havre? I bit on the iOS version but it's a little hard to learn with the screen only being able to show so much information. From what I've seen so far it looks right up my alley, though.

by **Chaosraven** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:54 am

Remus West wrote:
Chaosraven wrote:At Nerdsday, I am now Granpaw Raven.

laugh it up, fuzzball. You played 20 yr ago too.

by **Remus West** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:16 pm

Chaosraven wrote:
Remus West wrote:
Chaosraven wrote:At Nerdsday, I am now Granpaw Raven.

laugh it up, fuzzball. You played 20 yr ago too.

Yes, but nobody calls me Grandpa or offers me senior citizen discounts.

by **hepcat** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:46 pm

The name Grandpa Duckbutter is now my official name for you.

by **SpaceLord** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:56 pm

So this week I picked up:

Vinhos, an economic game of making, selling, and promoting wine at fairs. I've heard great things, and after teaching myself, it does indeed seem awesome.

by **hepcat** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:46 pm

Went a bit crazy for my birthday and bought Descent 2nd edition and Olympos. Then i put in an order for Dominant Species the Card Game.

In addition to the arrival of D-Day Dice this week, I'm rich with gaming goodness.

Octopus Overlords

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