OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

[YellowKing]

Good luck! I own the base game and despite having tried a couple of times to get through it, it's never really clicked with me. I don't think it's the game's fault, however. I think the mechanics are sound and I think if I ever had the patience to really focus on it I'd probably enjoy it a great deal. It's one reason I haven't sold it yet - I keep thinking, "one of these days...."

[Skinypupy]

Played through the first chapter of Folklore. I mostly like it, although I can absolutely see why others don't.

The Good
- Probably the closest to D&D that I've played in a board game. The dice, the skills, the checks, the abilities...everything feels very similar to a D&D campaign.
- The setting is fantastic, very Castle Ravenloft.
- I really like switching back and forth between movement and random events on a world map, then exploring or tactical battles on a smaller map. Gives a really good sense of scale.
- The fast-paced “Skirmish” mini-battles are fun. I like having some quick combat mixed with the full-fledged encounters.

The Not-So-Good
- So far, combat has been very "run in and hit them while they run in and hit you". Not much tactics involved, most combat feels like a battle of attrition and lucky/unlucky rolls.
- Speaking of lucky rolls, it can be swingy as well (like every Ameritrash game). My fighter could not hit the broad side of a barn, while the final area mobs scored two natural 100's in a single battle. Doesn't feel like there's much mitigation you can do if the dice don't go your way. That said, I was playing with just the base rules for the first chapter. I'm going to mix in the Initiative Mechanic from the xpac next time and see what that does to combat (I've heard it makes things much better).
- The random events can feel incredibly punitive. A couple folks have said they house-ruled down the frequency of road and off-road events. I.E. Instead of a random event after every movement, roll a d6 and do an event on 5-6 for road or 4-6 for offroad (thematically it's safer traveling on the road).
- Also felt like enemies were a bit overpowered. The first boss took 2/3 of my 23 HP in a single hit and my only restoration skill was healing 4 HP. Two merely average boss rolls and you're dead. That's...a bit much.

Definitely had fun, and I really, really enjoyed the D&D feel of the whole thing. We'll see how it holds up.

[Fardaza]

Was going to wish you good luck but then saw that you said that yesterday.

Glad it went well. Keep us informed of your thoughts. I'll go look at it now.

[hepcat]

The only problem I had with Folklore is that combat usually goes like you described it (getting cornered by a baddie is almost impossible to escape from), and the level up mechanic is less carrot on a stick and more very small pebble on a stick. When I level up, I want more than "you get 1 percent better at hitting something" (I exaggerate...but not by much).

Still, it's honestly one of the best themed games I have and I always regret giving up on it after the first few missions when I do try to play it again. I should look for house rules on BGG as those folks can often take a good game and make it great.

[Skinypupy]

the level up mechanic is less carrot on a stick and more very small pebble on a stick. When I level up, I want more than "you get 1 percent better at hitting something" (I exaggerate...but not by much).

Yeah, I meant to mention that as well. Getting a +2 improvement when rolling a d100 always feels quite underwhelming. I've been considering doubling the plusses (and environmental minuses) to make it feel more impactful.

[hepcat]

Like I mentioned, check out BGG for community rules. I believe there was a bunch of changes proposed to alleviate that and my issue with combat.

[Skinypupy]

Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game was a surprise arrival this afternoon, as Amazon said it wasn't coming until the end of next week. It's pretty basic mechanics as deckbuilders go, but the theme goes a long way. It's got a couple fun quirks as well.

1. There's a total of 90 market cards: 30 Rebel, 30 Empire, and 30 Neutral. Obviously Rebels can't buy Empire cards and vice versa, so when they show up in the purchase row you can use your attack value to destroy cards of the opposing faction instead. Those cards are immediately discarded from the row and your opponent won't be able to buy them. Thematically, using Rebel Commandos to blow a Star Destroyer out of the space before it can attack their hidden base is perfect.

2. There's a Force track that serves as a push/pull resource throughout the game. Some cards have synergies that if "the Force is with you" (i.e. the marker is on your side of the track) then the card gets a bonus or extra ability. Other cards allow you to move the Force marker one or more spaces towards you on the track (3 spaces each side). If the Force marker is all the way on either side of the track, that player gets +1 resource that turn. It's a neat mechanic that forces you to think about whether you want to use specific cards for their resource value, combat value, or Force movement value.

Certainly nothing revolutionary here, but it's very fun.

[Daveman]

I picked it up the other day too, and my son and I played 3 games in a row, which is always a good sign. I've enjoyed games with deck building as a mechanic (Quest for El Dorado, Clank!, etc.) but haven't played a "pure" deck builder since Dominion and some Ascension. This is definitely more like Ascension with the whole economy and attacking system.

The choice between attacking the enemy base vs. attacking their cards in the market is the best part of the game to me. We also like the subtle differences between the Empire (lots of cards that reveal the top card of the deck to do X, cards that buff other cards in play), Rebels (cards that make the Empire discard, lots of bonuses for having the Force) and even the Neutral cards (lots of bounty hunters who are either very good at, or get extra rewards for attacking the market cards).

I was a little disappointed that so far, the Empire doesn't benefit directly much from having the Force. I think only Darth Vader and Tarkin do? Having said that, the Empire definitely DOES want to have the Force so that the Rebels don't, since a lot of their cards benefit from it.

Obviously Rebels can't buy Empire cards and vice versa, so when they show up in the purchase row you can use your attack value to destroy cards of the opposing faction instead. Those cards are immediately discarded from the row and your opponent won't be able to buy them. Thematically, using Rebel Commandos to blow a Star Destroyer out of the space before it can attack their hidden base is perfect.

Not sure if this is what you meant, but you can't attack capital ships in the market row, they don't have a "target value" or reward. One small rule we overlooked as well is that any attack value from capital ships can only be used against the enemy base, not the market.

[tylertoo]

Wish me luck.

Yes, I own both Folklore and the expansion and spent several weeks setting up learning, playing a few scenarios and just found it too damn difficult to track all the stats. I would realize at some point I'd forgotten a temporary modifier or two that affected outcomes, and then get despondent, and ultimately lost interest. I tried an Android app but it didn't help that much. So let us know how it goes. I am tempted to try it again, but maybe the crunchiness is not for me. Or maybe I need to learn to just not worry about fuck-ups and go with the flow.

This (Saturday) morning I loaded up three large bags of games that I wasn't playing anymore, coincidentally including Folklore and the expansion, and drove 30 minutes to a board game swap held in the basement of the church. I stayed for two hours and actually had fun and got invited to a couple of separate weekly groups.

I bought some games, sold some, and swapped a bunch, and ultimately this was the outcome:

Traded away or sold:
Auztralia
City of Kings
Aeons End War Eternal
Friday
One Deck Dungeon
Space Hulk: Death Angel
Tiny Epic Mechs

Traded for or bought:
Terraforming Mars (yes, never played it)
Flashpoint Fire Rescue
Hostage Negotiator with a bunch of bonus packs
Wingspan NIS*
Welcome to...*
Truffle Shuffle*
Mice and Mystics*

(Folklore and a few other games I'd brought drew no interest).

I had been ambivalent about going but now I'm glad I did. Gone are games I wasn't going to touch again, and came back with a variety of games new to me. The final four incoming games, the ones with asterisks, were grabbed as family games for wife and daughter. And cashwise, I came out $55 in the positive, even factoring in a $10 donation to the church. And more importantly, it was a ton of fun trading and browsing and hanging out.

[YellowKing]

My FLGS does a consignment sale twice a year, and I'm definitely going to participate in the next one. Heck, you don't even have to be there. Just bring your games, price them, and they take care of the rest for a modest cut. I've identified a good chunk of games I'd be OK selling or trading, and I've hit the point where I really need to thin the collection a bit.

[Skinypupy]

Obviously Rebels can't buy Empire cards and vice versa, so when they show up in the purchase row you can use your attack value to destroy cards of the opposing faction instead. Those cards are immediately discarded from the row and your opponent won't be able to buy them. Thematically, using Rebel Commandos to blow a Star Destroyer out of the space before it can attack their hidden base is perfect.

Not sure if this is what you meant, but you can't attack capital ships in the market row, they don't have a "target value" or reward.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I had actually put "blow Darth Vader out of space" in my original post, but changed it to "Star Destroyer" for some reason.

Yes, I own both Folklore and the expansion and spent several weeks setting up learning, playing a few scenarios and just found it too damn difficult to track all the stats. I would realize at some point I'd forgotten a temporary modifier or two that affected outcomes, and then get despondent, and ultimately lost interest. I tried an Android app but it didn't help that much. So let us know how it goes. I am tempted to try it again, but maybe the crunchiness is not for me. Or maybe I need to learn to just not worry about fuck-ups and go with the flow.

Oddly, I don't mind the fiddliness and stat tracking on Folklore. Which is odd, as that is usually something that bugs me. I think I give this one a little extra grace because it feels so much like a D&D campaign.

I was hoping the combat would get more interesting the further I got. Unfortunately, it's actually the opposite. I just finished Story 2 and now instead of standing in one place and rolling 1d4+1 over and over again against a boss with 40 HP, I'm now standing in one place and rolling 1d4+1 against a boss with 80 HP. It's not more interesting, it just takes longer and you have a greater chance to die because the boss now hits harder or inflicts more status effects. The abilities you can gain are mostly underwhelming, with the only stuff that might be gamechanging not being available until much, much higher levels. Combat, at least at this level, simply boils down to "good dice=win, bad dice=lose". It's not terribly interesting, tbh.

It's a shame because everything else about the game is SO damn cool. The story is really interesting and forces some difficult choices that can have unforeseen consequences down the road. Traveling on the world map and running into different on-road and off-road events is very cool. You play really cool characters. Instead of a basic Warrior, Wizard, and Cleric, my party is an Indiana Jones-ish Archeologist, and Exorcist, and an "Avenging Madman" who can literally rip off the limbs of defeated enemies and throw them at others (one of the few cool skills). The monsters you fight against are cool. The "ghost" system that allows you to still be involved after death is cool. There's so much good here, but the combat is just 'meh', at best.

I haven't incorporated the Initiative Track mechanic from the xpac yet. Not because I don't want to (it does look interesting) but because I've read the rules on it a half dozen times and still can't make heads or tails of it. I did find a video of someone doing a playthrough using it, so I might check that out.

Overall it's an A on theme, setting, and worldbuilding, but a (generous) C- on combat. Kinda regretting the purchase, if I'm honest.

[hepcat]

You hit the same wall I did with Folklore. But I have always intended to check out the community made rules on BGG. But my numerous other dungeon crawls keep getting in the way.

[tylertoo]

the community made rules on BGG

[Skinypupy]

Obviously Rebels can't buy Empire cards and vice versa, so when they show up in the purchase row you can use your attack value to destroy cards of the opposing faction instead. Those cards are immediately discarded from the row and your opponent won't be able to buy them. Thematically, using Rebel Commandos to blow a Star Destroyer out of the space before it can attack their hidden base is perfect.

Not sure if this is what you meant, but you can't attack capital ships in the market row, they don't have a "target value" or reward. One small rule we overlooked as well is that any attack value from capital ships can only be used against the enemy base, not the market.

One quick question on capital ships. Do they get to use their ability and resource gain on every turn once they're deployed? Or do you only get that resource/ability on the turn that they're played?

Checked a couple times yesterday and I couldn't see that clarification anywhere in the rule book.

[wonderpug]

One quick question on capital ships. Do they get to use their ability and resource gain on every turn once they're deployed? Or do you only get that resource/ability on the turn that they're played?

Checked a couple times yesterday and I couldn't see that clarification anywhere in the rule book.

Page 13 for Beginning of Turn: "Gain the resources from each capital ship you have in play."

As for the ability, they have you tap each card to show if you use their ability, and everything untaps at the end of your turn. So yes, you can use capital ship abilities every turn.

[YellowKing]

After ordering the new Coldsnap expansion for GI Joe: The Deck-Building Game I'm giving it another go to try to complete the current content I have.

WHY IS THIS GAME SO HARD........

If knowing is half the battle, apparently I don't know s***t.

[Skinypupy]

One quick question on capital ships. Do they get to use their ability and resource gain on every turn once they're deployed? Or do you only get that resource/ability on the turn that they're played?

Checked a couple times yesterday and I couldn't see that clarification anywhere in the rule book.

Page 13 for Beginning of Turn: "Gain the resources from each capital ship you have in play."

As for the ability, they have you tap each card to show if you use their ability, and everything untaps at the end of your turn. So yes, you can use capital ship abilities every turn.

Thx, we were playing it wrong yesterday.

That definitely changes the focus when a capital ship is in play!

[Daveman]

We were thrown by that entry on capital ships and thought you ONLY get whatever resources they generate at the start of your turn, but you also get them at the time the capital ship is played as well.

[EzeKieL]

After ordering the new Coldsnap expansion for GI Joe: The Deck-Building Game I'm giving it another go to try to complete the current content I have.

WHY IS THIS GAME SO HARD........

If knowing is half the battle, apparently I don't know s***t.

I knooooooow, still really love playing it though!

[Blackhawk]

After ordering the new Coldsnap expansion for GI Joe: The Deck-Building Game I'm giving it another go to try to complete the current content I have.

WHY IS THIS GAME SO HARD........

If knowing is half the battle, apparently I don't know s***t.

(And what is the obsession with making solo-friendly games as difficult as humanly possible? Almost every game I have that is intentionally designed for solo play has been bitterly hard.

[Skinypupy]

(And what is the obsession with making solo-friendly games as difficult as humanly possible? Almost every game I have that is intentionally designed for solo play has been bitterly hard.

So very, very much this.

[Smoove_B]

I think I hit a new stage in board gaming last week. Managed to finish a complete play through of Return to the Night of the Zealot Arkham Horror LCG on Table Top Simulator with a friend. We've been playing weekly for the last few months and just finished (and won) this week. I was really hesitant that it would work, but I'm actually really impressed with how well it went. We finally had to give in and realize meeting up through TTS for a few hours a week was more likely than meeting in person so we started playing it online in December of last year. When you factor in how quickly it is to set up, it really made playing so much easier.

I'm actually going to teach him Marvel Champions next, but after that we're going to continue on with Return to the Dunwich Legacy.

If you have the interest, it's definitely something I'd recommend trying.

[YellowKing]

Totally agree Smoove. We were right in the middle of our Gloomhaven campaign when Covid hit, so we started meeting weekly in TTS and finished the rest of the campaign completely virtually. There was certainly a learning curve, but it quite literally saved us months of progress we would have otherwise lost.

Since then I've used it to game with friends across the country that I'd almost never get a chance to play a board game with in person.

[coopasonic]

In a bow to the power of RNGesus, last week I taught 3 others to play Space Base and then came in last place. I really like the game, but damn man, sometimes you just get no breaks.

[AWS260]

This weekend I played Stationfall.

In our game, the Station Chief released the Entropy Ghost from Project X. The Entropy Ghost made its way toward the Antimatter Containment section, eating the memories of every person it encountered along the way. It eventually threw itself into the antimatter unit, triggered an unstoppable countdown to utter annihilation. It looked like a few characters would make it to safety in the escape pods, including the Corpsicle who had been painstakingly dragged halfway across the station, but the pirate Boarder shot the Station Chief before he could order the pods ejected. In the end, only the Inspector made it out alive.

It's quite good.

[AWS260]

Today I played Nemesis for the first time. The aliens absolutely wrecked us, but one player managed to wiggle into an escape pod at the very last minute and win. It wasn't me.

It was a really fun and tense experience. Not as goofy as Stationfall, the other achieve-secret-objectives-as-the-spaceship-falls-apart-around-you game that I've played recently, but it does a great job of constantly ramping up the alien threat.

[EzeKieL]

This weekend I played Stationfall.

In our game, the Station Chief released the Entropy Ghost from Project X. The Entropy Ghost made its way toward the Antimatter Containment section, eating the memories of every person it encountered along the way. It eventually threw itself into the antimatter unit, triggered an unstoppable countdown to utter annihilation. It looked like a few characters would make it to safety in the escape pods, including the Corpsicle who had been painstakingly dragged halfway across the station, but the pirate Boarder shot the Station Chief before he could order the pods ejected. In the end, only the Inspector made it out alive.

It's quite good.

With how many players did you play?

[EzeKieL]

I played Revive and really liked it.

It’s a deck + engine builder with asymmetric powers. It looks complicated but it’s really not, I think the looks of the game here might scare some people off as it looks more intimidating than it really is .

I love that the cards have a top and bottom action and they get used depending on where you slot them into your player board (top or bottom). Add this to the modules you can add to these slots and you can easily get a nice engine going.

With those resources you can then explore, populate, build buildings or hibernate when you run out of things to do.
Finally, the game also comes with a 5 game campaign which unlocks alternate player boards, new factions and game mechanics!

[AWS260]

This weekend I played Stationfall.

With how many players did you play?

We played with five, which I think was a good number for maximizing chaos without too much downtime between turns.