Board Games

[Warhammer]

Warhammer on BGG

[Tasan]

So I work at a small comics/toys/games shop in the Houston area. We get some very cool things in, but usually not many board games. That changed tonight. When I came in to work my normal Wednesday night shift, I found a box of classic board games that my boss had picked up at a yard sale. In the box were two games this board might be particularly interested in

Strat-o-matic football

Pro Football Franchise NFL Table Game

Now, we resell used stuff all the time in our store, but this stuff was amazing quality. It may have been opened before, but none of it has even been played with. There are a couple other games in the lot, Liftoff, Top Gun, Intern, Time, and a D&D adventure. None of those looked like they had even been played either. The Top Gun game pieces were still unpunched and the D&D dice bags were still sealed. I figured you guys might be interested.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Tasan

So I work at a small comics/toys/games shop in the Houston area. We get some very cool things in, but usually not many board games. That changed tonight. When I came in to work my normal Wednesday night shift, I found a box of classic board games that my boss had picked up at a yard sale. In the box were two games this board might be particularly interested in

Strat-o-matic football

Pro Football Franchise NFL Table Game

Now, we resell used stuff all the time in our store, but this stuff was amazing quality. It may have been opened before, but none of it has even been played with. There are a couple other games in the lot, Liftoff, Top Gun, Intern, Time, and a D&D adventure. None of those looked like they had even been played either. The Top Gun game pieces were still unpunched and the D&D dice bags were still sealed. I figured you guys might be interested.

Played the heck out of Pro Football Franchise as a kid, though I had a complete set of house rules as the base game is pretty bad.

What years are the cards in Strat-o-Matic. Doesn't say.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I always thought that was a heart.

lol

[Tasan]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Played the heck out of Pro Football Franchise as a kid, though I had a complete set of house rules as the base game is pretty bad.

What years are the cards in Strat-o-Matic. Doesn't say.

I'll call in tomorrow and get them to add that in. I didn't see when I looked at them, forgot to check.

[Tasan]

And I was never able to get a chance to call over there today due to kids and everything else. Sorry guys, best chance to find out might be to ask a question on the ebay page.

[Tasan]

Strat-o-matic looks to be for the 1991 season.

[Carman Bulldog]

So I recently picked up Mice & Mystics but haven't dove into it yet, as I'd like to paint the mini's first.

However...

I've never painted miniatures before so it's a little intimidating. I see the designer has a guide up on the website, although it seems a little overwhelming. I've looked into the Dip Method a bit as well as the Magic Wash.

Is there anyone here who has experience painting mini's and any tips for a beginner? I'm not looking to win any competitions and just looking to add some substance to the figures.

[tarcone]

I just pre-ordered Tomorrow. This caused a little bit of controversy over at BGG. But I think the game looks awesome. Dnny, couldnt hold out. Had the need to buy bug.

Tomorrow | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

So I recently picked up Mice & Mystics but haven't dove into it yet, as I'd like to paint the mini's first.

However...

I've never painted miniatures before so it's a little intimidating. I see the designer has a guide up on the website, although it seems a little overwhelming. I've looked into the Dip Method a bit as well as the Magic Wash.

Is there anyone here who has experience painting mini's and any tips for a beginner? I'm not looking to win any competitions and just looking to add some substance to the figures.

I used to paint Warhammer 40k minis back in the day. I was never any great shakes but I had a couple that I thought turned out pretty solid (you can see them here). I'm not sure what sort of advice to give as its been so long, and I don't remember anything about dips or magic washes.

I learned how by reading a few White Dwarf magazines as well as a small book that I picked up that was dedicated to painting miniatures. I also tried to get tips from the comments on various coolminiornot items that I would peruse. And finally the rest just came from lots of patience.

[Passacaglia]

This looks pretty cool.

Robot Turtles: The Board Game for Little Programmers by Dan Shapiro — Kickstarter

[Danny]

I am not artistic and fine motor isn't great but I used dip method on descent figures and they came out pretty good.

Dip method is spray on primer, paint, dip or brush on mine ax poly shades and then if wanted spray matte finish for extra protection / less shiny look

[ISiddiqui]

Forgot to mention that after I picked up Lords of Waterdeep on that great Amazon price, the girlfriend and I played a game on Saturday and LOVED it. We plan to play more - though the builder is obviously overpowered (though I got her in the game ). Maybe we'll be all semi-roleplaying the next game around.

[tarcone]

1775: Rebellion came in the mail today. I have been out all day, so tonight I wont be digging in to it. I think that will come tomorrow evening.

Im very excited about this one.

[Matthean]

The designer of Risk: Legacy is teaming up with Plaid Hat Games on a legacy style game. This time it drops the Risk aspects of it since the designer isn't with Hasbro so it is a seafaring themed 4x game.

Rob Daviau Announces Next Legacy Game | News | Plaid Hat Games

[RainRaven]

I need a few suggestions from the crowd. I am pondering starting a board game club at the school I teach at. What are the best games to engage the middle school age group that can be played in about a 60-75 min timeframe?

[tarcone]

I played a couple solo games of 1775: Rebellion. What an outstanding game. It is easy to learn and has very deep strategy. Check this one out if you get a chance.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Matthean

The designer of Risk: Legacy is teaming up with Plaid Hat Games on a legacy style game. This time it drops the Risk aspects of it since the designer isn't with Hasbro so it is a seafaring themed 4x game.

Rob Daviau Announces Next Legacy Game | News | Plaid Hat Games

This is awesome. Risk: Legacy is fantastic, and more games need to use that campaign style.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by RainRaven

I need a few suggestions from the crowd. I am pondering starting a board game club at the school I teach at. What are the best games to engage the middle school age group that can be played in about a 60-75 min timeframe?

What "type" of game are you looking for?

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by RainRaven

I need a few suggestions from the crowd. I am pondering starting a board game club at the school I teach at. What are the best games to engage the middle school age group that can be played in about a 60-75 min timeframe?

For this kind of thing, I think games like Saboteur(sleeve your cards) and Seven Wonders work great. King of Tokyo is another, though if you have more than three players I find there is a lot of dead time.

Others to consider
Kingdom Builder
Dominion- again sleeve the cards
Forbidden Island
Pandemic
Dice Town
Ticket to Ride
Shadows Over Camelot

If you want to up the complexity a bit
Alhambra - not more complex just more pure euro
Lords of Waterdeep
Alea Iacta Est
Alien Frontiers

Far from a complete list, but those are games that have fairly quick setup times, relatively easy rules to shorten the rules explanation period, and games that I've had a pretty good success introducing new and non gamers to.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'll highly recommend King of Tokyo, Dominion and Ticket to Ride for your purposes.

My group also picked up No Thanks! Recently and we are really enjoying it as a filler game while we wait or everyone to show up or even between games during the night. Quick, easy, simple, yet has a nice strategy component to it.

[ColtCrazy]

While stumbling through Geeklists last night, I discovered a solitaire block war game called Blocks in the West (there's also a Blocks in the East). I'm intrigued enough to make it my next purchase.

[ColtCrazy]

dola - The games I've played with 5th grade that have gone over well:

Conquest of the Empire
Settlers of Catan

Plan on doing Ticket to Ride this year and Blokus.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

...
Dice Town...

How is this? It looks appealing but the rating on the geek isn't great.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by RainRaven

I need a few suggestions from the crowd. I am pondering starting a board game club at the school I teach at. What are the best games to engage the middle school age group that can be played in about a 60-75 min timeframe?

I'll toss in one of the versions of The Resistance.

[RainRaven]

Thanks guys for all of the ideas, I will take a close look at each one. Sometimes I wish I had a local friend with some of these so I could take them for a spin myself in person before putting out cash. Ah, the limits of a busy life!

[Vince, Pt. II]

Watching episodes of Wil Wheaton's Table Top on YouTube is highly recommended. Almost as good as playing yourself, and they're entertaining.

[Carman Bulldog]

Survive: Escape from Atlantis could be good too, as long as no one takes it personally.

A lot of the games have apps you could check out for a few bucks. Or as mentioned, watch them on Tabletop (or Dice Tower reviews, Rahdo Runs Through, or Watch it Played),

[Carman Bulldog]

A few more...

Forbidden Desert
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Castle Panic (better with the expansion)

Are all co-op games.

Small World and Zooloretto could be good options as well. Females may like the Zoo theme more than some of the other games.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

How is this? It looks appealing but the rating on the geek isn't great.

I like Dice Town. The Boom Town expansion as well. I have found it to be a pretty fun and interesting filler. The games don't take long, and who doesn't like rolling dice for poker hands? I've found that even new gamers can comprehend the game quickly enough to implement a useful strategy in their first game. Even if you don't win, formulating a plan is a big part of having fun.

You roll the dice and the best hand wins the opportunity to take an action on the board. You can see your opponents' hands as they develop, so you can adjust your target if you don't look to win what you started to go for. There is a lot of luck, and that can kill a game on the geek. I think the variety of options available each turn out weighs the luck factor.

[bob]

Does anyone know much about Relic Runner?

Amazon.com: Days of Wonder Relic Runners: Toys & Games

[ColtCrazy]

Played my second War of the Roses themed game with a local gaming group. This one was "Crown of Roses". Like Richard III it's a card/block game, but Richard is more a 2 player game and Crown is definitely a four player game that ups the complexity.

Got my ass handed to me in round one as the Lancastarians. But I started to figure things out by Round 2. I stayed quiet and out of everyone's way, licking my wounds, then influenced the heck out of several nobles in the last phase and grabbed 3 nobles from a couple of different players. Since I'm the newbie, one of them took offense and went after me in Round 3, but I managed to trap him in a couple spots and came away relatively okay in our big battle. I didn't lose a noble while two of his died. Think I earned my stripes with the group. Damn fun game as well. With four, plenty of intrigue and treachery to be had.

[Glengoyne]

So this past weekend we had a game day. There is one guy who brings a bunch of newer games every visit to our house, and I asked him to skew his selection "light" as another newish but willing gamer was bringing his wife. The wife being more newish and a little less willing to dive into something like Trajan.


We kicked off the day with one of my offerings. My new copy of Circus Train. This is one of the Victory Point Games "Gold Banner" editions. The components are a huge step up from the original that came in a baggy with a folded paper board. I played this at GenCon in '12, and really enjoyed it, but I was waiting to get better components from the second edition. The wait was worth it, but I wish this title hadn't stalled on GMT's P500 list. I say that because while the Gold Banner components are better, they are still a good distance from what GMT has put out. That said, Circus Train's game play was great. It was a cut throat affair, sniping performances from each other hiring talent away on "drive bys". Everything a game inspired by prohibition era circus trains should deliver is there. This one is a lot of fun and a definite keeper.

Wow too much on that title, with a bunch more to go. Mascarade is a bluffing game where folks have a role card that provides them some powers, but those role cards are switched "under the table" and away from prying eyes. Once your role is taken by another player and held under the table a couple of times, you don't know what your role is. On your turn, you claim a role and execute its power. If someone else things they have that role, both of your roles are revealed. The player who is wrong pays a fine, and that could be both players. The player with the named role gets to execute the power and play continues. If your role is revealed, you must swap or appear to swap your role with another player on your next turn. Pretty fun little filler game. Was good with four, would be great with six or more.

The Rise of Augustus, otherwise known as "Gamer Bingo", was an SdJ nominee this year. Symbols are drawn from a bag, you use the symbols "bingo" style to complete objectives. The objectives give you abilities to improve your bingo efficiency or step you toward VP Goals. This one was ok for me, but my wife enjoyed it. I've since acquired it, so time will tell with varying audiences.

Sushi Go is a draft style game a la 7 wonders, where you select a card and immediately play it. Some cards are straight VP, other cards score in multiples, Wasabi multiplies Ngiri scores, and there a couple of other scoring mechanics in there as well. This one was quick, simple, and strangely satisfying.

Edit to add: Formula Motor Racing. This is a knizia racing game that really appealed to my nine year old. There is no track, you just lay the cars out from first to last, and play cards to adjust the order or potentially take guys out with crashes, spin outs, and blown
engines. The cards are most often applied to one of the cars by color. "advance a blue car 3 positions". That is a cool card if you're blue, or as it turns out if one of Blue's cars are in front of you because you can draft along with him. This one is simple, and strangely satisfying. I also picked this one up because my son really like it. It is a GMT title, and available on their site.


After the lighter gamers went home of off to bed, we broke out Bora Bora. I'm a fan of Feld's "point salad" type games, and this one was pretty cool. It is a lot more interactive than most euros, and I think it can be almost as cut throat as Vanuatu. Vanuatu is the meanest euro game I've ever played, and this one is close. Bora Bora is a little less mean because there a few in game mechanics that let you get around some of the blocking of other players. The game play is simple, you roll three dice each turn and have to apply the dice to "actions", sometime selecting available actions from a common pool. You can't play a die on an action unless it is lower than the other dice already on that action. This is where the blocking comes in. There are many one shot powers in game that let you over come this obstacle, but if you don't have one then you can easily miss out on sizable VPs. This primarily because you can complete a goal each turn. Goal selection is a free action every turn, and is performed in turn order. Turn order is also fought for every turn. There is a lot of interaction, and a lot of ways to score points here. This one is looking like a very solid offering by Feld.

[Matthean]

Watching Spellslingers(M:TG) on the Geek and Sundry channel and the one sided nature of some of the matches reminds me why I don't get back into the game. I'm still waiting for an actual strategic summoner type of game that really doesn't have the card draw or dice rolling issues.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Everything a game inspired by prohibition era circus trains should deliver is there.

This is one of my favorite sentences ever.

[Matthean]

Ricky Royal did a playthrough of Circus Train. Link

[tarcone]

Got a 4 player game day set up for Friday. Games to play include: Fortress America, Kemet, 1775: Rebellion, Empires of the Void.
Im going to push for a game of 1775: Rebellion and Fortress America. But I know the guys will want to play Kemet. We will have about 5 hours to play.
1775 will take around 1 to 2 hours depending on when the truce cards come out. Fortress America could take 3 hours. Kemet 2-3 hours. EotY 3 hours as well.

Oh, I wish we had more time. Ive really been itching to play FA. I may have to wait and play that solo. Which is doable, but not as fun. I dont think any of them have played it and that will add tot he time for instruction. Its not a hard game, but its been awhile since I played. My daughter has basketball practice, so I will take the rule book to freshen up. Its a fun game and they made additions to it.

Then we could play Game of Thrones (2nd ed.) with the feast for crows expansion. Thats a great expansion and makes it playable. Its a faster game, also.

2 of them have to leave after the 5 hours. One of the guys might hang around so we can get in a game of Twilight Struggle. Which is an outstanding game. So we make have a few adult beverages and play.

So many game, so little time.

Can you tell Im an AT guy?

And Im trying real hard to get into wargaming. The brain is saying yes, but the heart isnt so sure yet. They can be complex and time consuming. But Im ready to start a new hobby. The Supreme Commander is on my must buy list. Its a game about ww2. hex and counter, but not tactical. More strategic. GMT is producing it. And they had some minor fixes to do. This is something I think i would really enjoy.

[Matthean]

Marco just did a series on the Top 10 Wargamers for Beginners. It might be worth a look.

[Matthean]

Game Night ended up being the usual LoW but played twice, and yes, the person notoriously known for drawing the building lord drew it again. I finished twice both times. Both of the new players won once. The game seems to play far better with 4+ than 2-3 players despite people on BGG saying otherwise.

Game day at the LFGS had me play a game of Trains. I had unofficially killed Dominion, but I can officially do it. The addition of waste and the train aspect completely gives it a different feel to me. The game simply moves along at a brisk pace. You don't have the issue of simply drawing 5 cards, doing actions and buying, and various amounts of shuffling along the way. The ever changing board forces you to keep tabs on it and interact with it. Sometimes doing something that gives you points gives another player points as well. It's strategic and yet simple enough we were up and running in no time. The game is suppose to last 45 minutes, but it honestly felt like 30 minutes at most. Even three rounds in the board had changed enough to where it felt like a lot was going on. Out of the 26 new games I have played this year, this is easily looking at being in the Top 5. Oh, I misplaced something and gave the guy who won points as well, and if I had placed it at another spot I would have tied him for the lead. It might take Christmas or my birthday, but this will be had at some point.

Last game was Merkator. A solid textbook Euro in terms of being a rather pasted on trading game. I'm not 100% sure if there is much more to it than a fairly obvious strategy as that was what I kind of went with and ended up winning decently. Things fell into place for me and nobody really actively tried to counter what I was doing. Once I started to plan things out multiple rounds out, saw I could force the game end, and build an advantage towards end scoring, I went for it and left some other players scrabbling on the final round as it felt unexpected for them. I've been there before. It sucks.

[tarcone]

Ended up with 3 at game day.

We played 3 games of Race For The Galaxy. Fun game. There are different strategies to play. It was interesting.

1775: Rebellion was next. I played the British Regulars and the Loyalists against the other 2. Made a fatal error on the last round. Cost me the game. All enjoyed it.

2 games of King of Tokyo. I like this game. Light and fun. The other guys enjoyed it as well.

Then played Munchkin Spies. Or whatever it is called. Good way to end the day.

Lots of quick games. Good variety. Enjoyed the afternoon.

[Matthean]

I got a non-update from Amazon in regards to the LoW expansion. At this rate I likely won't get my copy until there is another print run and there's no real word on it.

[Umbrella]

I've been playing a new solitaire game a lot lately called Navajo Wars.

Navajo Wars | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

Because I am a geek, I also started a dynasty thread about my campaign in the other forum. It also gives some insight to how the game is played.

Survival of the Navajo - Front Office Football Central

[tarcone]

I am really interested in Navajo Wars. I am going to watch your dynasty.
Im really trying to get into the solo experience. In my shopping cart at CSI, I have 4 solo-playable games. Just waiting to make the purchase.

A couple Eastern front war games, a 1967 Israeli/Arab 6 day war game and Labyrinth: The War on Terror.

Trying to figure out I can sneak 4 games past my wife. Once I do that, They will be on the way.

Then Im having a TarcCon. A solitaire gaming convention. I have pre-purchased my ticket. So Im good to go. Im just waiting for a date. It looks like it will be in late December.

[Matthean]

Played Love Letter for the first time. It was very OK to me. I won decently in a 2-player game.

We played Flash Point: Fire Rescue which I have been wanting to play again for some time. We lost due to structural damage. I understood why the player putting out the fires played like he did, but one corner that was covered in flames was totally ignored until way late, and we started to roll heavily in that area, and it simply chained into a big mess.

Played LoW and won again. I changed up my strategy and won by two points. The player who usually is last got second. The thing that helped was as other players went for the big 25 point quests, I kept hammering the smaller stuff for my lord benefit and added in a couple that I got no bonus from but were plot quest that gave me added resources. I almost never build buildings unless I am countering the building lord. This time I built four because the tiles were good for what they gave, the ownership bonuses, and the amount of VP tokens piled on them. I still somehow literally thought the game ended one round earlier than it did so I had no real gameplan for it and patched together a solid round.

Played Survive and got my first win ever winning by a point. I got very lucky with some rolls and who I took out.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Got Kemet in the mail yesterday and Terra Mystica shipped last night. I'll give impressions when we get to them, hopefully Thursday.

[PurdueBrad]

After a local con in Rockford, IL I picked up a very quirky Rio Grande game titled "Fearsome Floors." The concept is pretty simply, you have three characters that are stuck in a dungeon with a monster. You need to be the first one to move two of your three characters safely out. The game actually has a pretty cool but simple rules set and forces you to do a lot of strategy for each of your turns. It plays fairly quickly (about 20 minutes for a four player game) and is a lot of fun. I would highly recommend this.

[terpkristin]

Dunno if any of you saw this Kickstarter, but it sounds kinda cool (and kinda perfect for someone like me who doesn't really have anybody locally to try to play some D&D-type stuff with): playsets — The future of social storytelling. by the playsets team — Kickstarter

I'm going to back it, looks like it could be cool.

/tk

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

After a local con in Rockford, IL I picked up a very quirky Rio Grande game titled "Fearsome Floors." The concept is pretty simply, you have three characters that are stuck in a dungeon with a monster. You need to be the first one to move two of your three characters safely out. The game actually has a pretty cool but simple rules set and forces you to do a lot of strategy for each of your turns. It plays fairly quickly (about 20 minutes for a four player game) and is a lot of fun. I would highly recommend this.

Made by the dude who did Power Grid.

Preordered Suburbia expansion and Chronicle. I don't really have a trick taking game outside of stuff done with a normal deck. It has cards with abilities, and you draw a card each round saying what is required to win the 1-2 tricks. Three tricks wins so it will be a quick game. I figure it was all of $7 at CSI so it would be worth trying out. People on BGG talked about it in a geek list so I started to look for it.

[tarcone]

Kemet is a great game. I imagine you will really like it.

Went up to the local brick and mortar OLGS. They have a dent and ding wall. They have 4 copies of Twilight Imperium (3rd ed.) on it for half off. Went with a friend and I think I talked him into buying it. He has to clear it with the wife. We have a game day scheduled for the 16th and that may be on the docket.

I have a question about shipping. Hope someone can help. When a company sends a shipping notice, but its not up on the shipping company, does that mean it hasnt been logged in at the shipping company yet? Even though you have a tracking number?

[Matthean]

LoW's expansion will be back in stock at Amazon on the 10th. Hopefully this is a reprint.