The Board Game Thread

Fed up talking videogames? Why?

Do you play board games?

Hells yeah! I'm a board game geek!
53
46%
I don't but would like to get into them...
36
32%
You mean, like Snakes & Ladders? :shifty:
20
18%
No way! They're for nerds!
5
4%
 
Total votes: 114
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Hypes
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hypes » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:37 am

FatDaz wrote:
Hexx wrote:Pandemic: Iberia

This is a bit good innit? Recognisable as Pandemic, but very very different mechanically.

The restrictions on movements are interesting - but it's the fact you can't "cure/eradicate" diseases that make the biggest difference. You're never "in control" - and there's constant pressure on disease cubes.

Rather than cure diseases - you focus on using pure water etc to limit their spread - but it means there's much much much more pressure than in normal Pandemic as you're never really able to "control" diseases (or stop worrying about certain colours


I really like the travel mechanics, the map is small but you can move about surprisingly well even without direct flights. The sea ports help and The railway mechanic is great and opens up a lot of choice in how you approach the game.


I bought this a while ago, but I've only managed to play it once so far because Legacy is still on the go

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Hexx
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hexx » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:46 am

Hyperion wrote:
FatDaz wrote:
Hexx wrote:Pandemic: Iberia

This is a bit good innit? Recognisable as Pandemic, but very very different mechanically.

The restrictions on movements are interesting - but it's the fact you can't "cure/eradicate" diseases that make the biggest difference. You're never "in control" - and there's constant pressure on disease cubes.

Rather than cure diseases - you focus on using pure water etc to limit their spread - but it means there's much much much more pressure than in normal Pandemic as you're never really able to "control" diseases (or stop worrying about certain colours


I really like the travel mechanics, the map is small but you can move about surprisingly well even without direct flights. The sea ports help and The railway mechanic is great and opens up a lot of choice in how you approach the game.


I bought this a while ago, but I've only managed to play it once so far because Legacy is still on the go


See I hate my life.

I mostly play boardgames with a group on Wednesdays - there's others, but that's the main/regular.

I really liked P:I and want to buy/play more. But it feels a real dick move to buy it (when someone else at group has it) and turn up and go "Oh yeah I bought it as well so we can play it MORE MORE MORE"

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Roonmastor
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Roonmastor » Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:57 pm

Just buy Legacy for that group instead

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Tragic Magic
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:56 pm

I've instantly fallen in love with Arkham Horror LCG after my first go. It's so good and the emphasis on story is right up my street. Everything was going so well in the starter chapter until I was driven insane right at the end. I had a machete and a guard dog and I felt completely tooled up to take on the task at hand. I quickly ran back the way I came from, crying like a baby however, following a failed fight action. Insanity was unavoidable. I can't wait to play it with my wife.

Basic plot line of my first session:

Got out of the study pretty quickly using a flashlight.
Found Dr something or other in the cellar/ice caves (he aids investigation)
Was attacked by an icy ghoul and took all the damage myself but the whole thing freaked the Dr out quite a bit. He hung in there though.
I then hacked the ghoul up with my machete over the course of a turn. It was a close shave but I found all the clues I needed from the body and we moved on to the attic.
Two ghouls caught us off guard in the attic but...
Before they could deal any real damage, I hacked them both up. Machete came through again.
We then found our way into the parlor after being chased in there by this crazy ass goat skull man.
The Dr strawberry floated off somewhere. I reckon he must've been shitting his pants and snuck out the front door. But I teamed up with a trusty guard dog so it was okay.
Guard dog and I thought strawberry float it, and decided to take the goat skull dude head on, all or nothing.
I strawberry floated up my attack. My dog took some damage but gave the goat guy a good nip before the poor mutt was scared shitless and went doggy mental.
I then legged it the strawberry float back to the parlor with the goat chasing after me. I begged this mysterious woman in the parlor to help me the strawberry float out.
But she was all like... "no". And I guess she watched me go insane or something. Bitch.


Edit - Spent Sunday morning playing the first chapter with my wife and she loved it too. I didn't realise the game gives you choices to make upon completing a chapter which is just amazing.

I think we're going to replay the first chapter next time, now that we've both had a practice, and immediately start playing it as a continuing campaign.

Last edited by Tragic Magic on Sun Aug 20, 2017 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Sat Aug 19, 2017 11:58 pm

Pretty cool evening of D&D tonight. We were kidnapped and found ourselves aboard a slaver ship that just happened to have been taken over by a bunch of undead.

Finished the evening with an epic boss fight on the ship deck, against a wraith, surrounded by a tornado/storm full of wraiths and ghosts circling in the sky.

2 of the party, myself included, were mere points away from instant death during the fight but we all luckily pulled through. My character had a particularly heroic, albeit extremely dangerous and risky, moment just before the final blow was made. I basically put myself completely in harm's way, even though my character was already severely wounded, to heal a downed player and give them a magical sword I'd retrieved, hoping it would give them an advantage in the fight. It was insanely tense stuff but so rewarding when it paid off.

Hopefully next session we'll be able to figure out just what the hell is going on.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hexx » Mon Aug 21, 2017 12:28 pm

A warning about "choices" - they're not always that meaningful, particularly in large campaings.They change somethings later (or XP rewards or what's in the token bag) but the story can't branch that much.
Would recommend not looking at other Resolutions though for later replays.

Our D&D last night ended with us about to fight a massive red dragon (we're level 6 and boned)

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:26 pm

I really want to try being the story teller for a World of Darkness: Vampire campaign but my friends have only just gotten to grips with D&D so it's probably not a good idea to suggest learning a new RPG ruleset. I've read both the WoD and Vampire The Requiem books though and it appeals to me so much more than the D&D fantasy setting. Not that I don't love D&D.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tafdolphin » Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:16 pm

I think we're one session away from wrapping up my first adventure as a DM and I've mixed feelings about both my performance and the sourcebook we're using, Tales from the Loop

GM:

Pros:
- I'm pretty good at improvising and changing things on the fly. The players have sometimes intentionally ignored clues I've laid down but I've managed to corral them without railroading the adventure

- Prep. I've come up with some pretty good surprises. I wrote a cinematic intro complete with timed video (ie as soon as I mentioned a crashing boom, a crashing boom sounded). I created an actual 1980's text adventure for the players to play (they found it on an NPCs PC), that paralleled the RPG and led them to a vital clue (and contained a screamer!). The finale will involve dimension hopping and I've created some mood setting videos for each universe

Cons:
- I've strayed away from the ideals of the sourcebook, that being that its supposed to be a Speilbergian 80s adventure with the characters mixing social problems and the adventure. Once the mystery got going we pretty much ignored the social stuff and ploughed on through. I think this is also due to half of the players being newbies and not used to playing a role beyond "I've got X skill can I do this?"

- I completely lost track of one of the two main mystery threads. The mystery kicked off with a kid being attacked and the players hunting for the attacker. It was supposed to be a slow pull-back, from hunting the killer to realising something much bigger was going on. Unfortunately the players didn't go to the crime scene until much later than I expected and by the point they had the relevant info about the attacker (strongly hinting it's a robot) they already knew something bigger was going on. The attacker's whereabouts and motives have been almost completely sidelined.

Tales from the Loop

Pros:
- It's simple. The dice system is real easy and great for beginners whilst having enough wiggle room to make some interesting encounters
- The world it draws, that of an alternative 80s, is great

Cons:
- As a first time DM I found it restrictive. The player's can't die they can only take conditions that take away skill dice, but when someone is rolling 10 dice with the objective of getting one 6 this doesn't really make all that much difference. Each player can only take 3 conditions before they become Broken and autofail everything. I don't think I managed to find the balance between handing out enough conditions and risking every character autofailing everthing

- The rules are hard to abide by. Adults can't help you. There should be lots of scenes apart from the mystery to explore the character's lives. I dunno. I think this is my limitation as a GM but I've constantly found myself wanting to do stuff and not being allowed by the rules, or feeling bad that I haven't done things the rules suggest.

Anyway, we're all having fun and that's the important thing.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:19 pm

Ludorati Café in Nottingham has 25% off all board games this weekend so I ended up buying Mansions of Madness and Flash Point Fire Rescue on an impulse. Was only meant to buy one, if any. :shifty:

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by FatDaz » Mon Aug 28, 2017 5:21 pm

So I tried Clank and marvel legendary yesterday. Both are deck builder genre and it made me realise I don't have anything like that in my collection. So I've ordered Arctic scavengers. Shut up and sit down speak of it as a must have deck builder and since the game now comes with its 2 expansions included I thought I'd give it a go. Quite like the concept of deck building and Arctic scavengers adds a bluffing and direct conflict elements which makes it more competitive compared to many deck builders where you focus on your own game and dont interact.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Cuttooth » Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:31 pm

How much value for money do the main Arkham Horror LCG expansions give? I'm conscious the main one released so far is some £90 for everything, on top of the £30 original, so a bit worried just two people playing through it wouldn't get all that much out of it.

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Hexx
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hexx » Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:39 pm

Cuttooth wrote:How much value for money do the main Arkham Horror LCG expansions give? I'm conscious the main one released so far is some £90 for everything, on top of the £30 original, so a bit worried just two people playing through it wouldn't get all that much out of it.


Depends how much you'll replay

They expand the cards for player sets for future expansion

I've played them all twice through with different decks. 2-3 hours play through per expac is ok value to me.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by smurphy » Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:52 pm

Shut Up and Sit Down put it best:

while Arkham is expensive for a board game, it’s not expensive for a truly great time.


And despite them liking it so much they went on about how it's only really good the first time though, which I 100% disagree with. I've started another playthrough of the core set with the added Dunwich stuff and a third player. The scenarios are playing out completely differently, and we're seeing the resolutions which we missed the first time. And that's to say nothing of the character cards yet to come, or when you bring it out years down the line when it pretty much is like playing it for the first time again.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tafdolphin » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:52 am

And done. Finished my first ever RPG. 6 sessions, 5 players, 1 DM. A lot longer and a lot larger than I'd intended, but it all worked out in the end.

The finale was a dimension hopping reference fest where the characters were chasing a mystery figure through various universes. They visised Karnaca (and met up with characters from another RPG my friend is running with us), (hotline) Miami, and Hawkins Labs from Stranger Things. They eventually tracked the guy down, who turned out to be a spacially displaced medieval knight, and got the best ending after siccing a blood-fly they'd obtained from Karnaca on him.

It was good!

Last edited by Tafdolphin on Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tragic Magic
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:06 am

Congrats Taf!
Unfortunately I'm not sure I'll ever finish my first D&D campaign because 2 players (a couple) in our D&D group have started being really weird ever since a 6th player joined us. Like they've been acting so self entitled and immature about having a new player join us. It's like they immediately decided they weren't going to like him despite him being just like us with exactly the same interests, sense of humour, etc.

I considered the 2 a pair of good friends as they regularly join us for board games but this whole situation has really soured my feelings towards them.

The group has tried to bring it up multiple times as well but the pair feign interest and swiftly change the subject. It's strawberry floating infuriating because the rest of us want to play but the pair won't commit to either a "yes we'll play" or "no, we don't want to play anymore".

Like I say, it's really making me dislike them and not want to have them over to play board games anymore (my board games, I should add, as they've never contributed anything to the table). It's all just so childish. But like I say, we've tried multiple times to discuss the issue and it's not gotten is anywhere with them.

Rant over.

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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tafdolphin » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:21 am

Thanks!

That's rubbish for you though. Did they know the person beforehand? We had some last minute changes last night actually as one of our regulars was sick. His girlfriend took over his character (as well as her own) and another friend joined and turned a prominent NPC into a PC. Overall it worked really well but I was sad my friend missed the finale.

Two of my players were first timers, and one was...annoying. He intentionally ignored plot hooks and clues and wanted go on and forge his own story involving his own plots. Took a lot of wrangling from myself and the other experienced players to get him to well, play the game.

EDIT: For each universe the players went to I created a mood video; a bunch of images and a soundtrack to make them feel a bit more real. Used the below song to introduce the Hotline Miami one. Bloody amazing tune, worked really well


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Games wot I worked on:
Night Call: Out now!
Rip Them Off: Out now!
Chinatown Detective Agency: 2021!
EXOGATE Initiative: Early Access Summer 2021
t: @Tafdolphin | Twitch: Tafdolphin
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Tragic Magic » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:31 pm

That's awesome, Taf. Soundtrack is one of the main things making me want to run an RPG in a modern setting. Selecting fantasy music is all well and good for D&D but I'd have so much more fun picking other genres of music to set scenes.

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Hexx
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hexx » Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:58 pm

Rise of the Empire posted!

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Hypes
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hypes » Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:12 pm

Playing our final game of Pandemic Legacy tonight. Hope it goes well :dread:

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Hypes
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PostRe: The Board Game Thread
by Hypes » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:31 pm

WE WON :toot:


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