Finally managed to complete the "Journey down the Anduin" quest in LOTR LCG, with two decks - Leadership monosphere (definition learned from BGG) and Tactics+Lore. First try with this combo was failure, as usual, mainly due to two Hill Trolls hanging around together... but second try was more successful. I'd even say that great success it was. I'm not going to spoil how it was achieved... but it was memorable. Now I'd like to try the third quest as well from core set... this one has difficulty level 7 (not some lousy 4). Woohoo. And then to the Hobbit quests. Perhaps I should read the book first for better thematic experience. Anyway, 18 plays of LOTR already... I'd say it was good investment. Not many games from my collection reach this amount unfortunately. (Just checked - 11 out of 106)
And Combat Commander: Europe, what else. After 20 plays I raised my rating from 9 to 10. I just love this game. Yesterday we played "Paralyzed from the West Down" with me as Axis (defender). Americans tried to break through their left wing but luckily (or should I call it luck, Germans made their setup first and Americans definitely should've seen it coming) there were several squads with light MG-s, leader and a weapon team with heavy MG. When combining that firepower with some defender specific wire-placing actions - it was pretty devastating for Allies.
Tried yesterday also something new - Autokrator from Diachron Games. This one left me with some mixed feelings - it had some quite interesting mechanics incorporated (selecting combat venue/terrain, for example) but at the same time it had considerable downtime (playing with 4 players) and even at the end it was unclear about what could be the possible benefits of some actions. Also the distribution of battle cards (troops) was interesting - but it could also lead to massive AP when you start to think about all the possible outcomes - so it was all the same as selecting those cards at random :)
And no selfish ads this time about my ongoing/upcoming games and projects. There will be time for that :)
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Two recent addictions. First of them is... believe-it-or-not... Carcassonne. Played with my Android tablet. And, actually, I really suck in this game :) 18 wins from what... 100+ plays (all 4-players, vs AI). But it's still fun - even when playing casually like I do, not seeking for strategy optimization and such. Cheap to buy, quick to play, nice UI - what else would you like to get. Perfect, when you have 5 minutes to spare.
And another one is Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Started with core set and first mission was close to great success. Second one... (yeah, with the hill troll)... instead of "hit and run" tactic there is "get hit and die" tactic instead. /Solo or not, here they come, you can't hide... gonna find us and take it quickly./ If we manage to kill the troll, location gives us a finger (with threat 5 or something) or some nasty event. If we leave the troll alone... he won't be alone. He'll be with Beastmaster. Or with another troll... stomp-stomp-stomp. So, for beating this level I need correct cards in exact order both in encounter and hero draw decks.Or start with deckbuilding :) (Have played core sets so far.)
In my neverending quest to try out Wallace's different designs we had this time Tempus on table. And I must say it is truly fast to play light-civ. With 3 players 90 minutes. This is one of those games where setup is important... and also first couple of turns. But not essential - despite of my setup tile layout (Woohoo, let there be a lake. Just because I can!) and token placement (These look like friendly mountains. Let's settle there, we'll find out later if we have anything to eat) I managed to win the game by 1 point, thanks to the attack against city with my last action during last turn of game. The mechanics are very simple but I wouldn't say this is a bad game... it's just a civ-game so short that it needs some evaluation re-adjustment.
And a bit as well from the fancy life of unknown game designer. You know already, who I am talking about, right? Smart Investor was finally released to blind test this weekend. Yay. Let's see what the results will be. I even created a VASSAL module (with butt-ugly graphics, but hey! that's what the prototypes are) so all the lonely players (who like stock trading games) can PBEM this prototype all day long. If you are interested then ask nicely and I'll provide the link. Or just check the BGG forums. No reason to be nice.
And another one is Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Started with core set and first mission was close to great success. Second one... (yeah, with the hill troll)... instead of "hit and run" tactic there is "get hit and die" tactic instead. /Solo or not, here they come, you can't hide... gonna find us and take it quickly./ If we manage to kill the troll, location gives us a finger (with threat 5 or something) or some nasty event. If we leave the troll alone... he won't be alone. He'll be with Beastmaster. Or with another troll... stomp-stomp-stomp. So, for beating this level I need correct cards in exact order both in encounter and hero draw decks.Or start with deckbuilding :) (Have played core sets so far.)
In my neverending quest to try out Wallace's different designs we had this time Tempus on table. And I must say it is truly fast to play light-civ. With 3 players 90 minutes. This is one of those games where setup is important... and also first couple of turns. But not essential - despite of my setup tile layout (Woohoo, let there be a lake. Just because I can!) and token placement (These look like friendly mountains. Let's settle there, we'll find out later if we have anything to eat) I managed to win the game by 1 point, thanks to the attack against city with my last action during last turn of game. The mechanics are very simple but I wouldn't say this is a bad game... it's just a civ-game so short that it needs some evaluation re-adjustment.
And a bit as well from the fancy life of unknown game designer. You know already, who I am talking about, right? Smart Investor was finally released to blind test this weekend. Yay. Let's see what the results will be. I even created a VASSAL module (with butt-ugly graphics, but hey! that's what the prototypes are) so all the lonely players (who like stock trading games) can PBEM this prototype all day long. If you are interested then ask nicely and I'll provide the link. Or just check the BGG forums. No reason to be nice.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Something nice, really-really nice - one of my few "10" ratings in BGG: Maria. I got to play as Prussia/Pragmatic - and I have a feeling that this might be the most fun side to play. At the same time you're both ally and enemy of both Austria and France, so lots of opportunities all the time.
This time Prussia was very lucky in his conquest of Silesia - at the end of his actions during Turn 3 he was able to offer temporary truce to Austria already (and Austria accepted it). And as Austrian generals moved then to western front, to fight with France, northern Austria was left quite lightly protected. At the same time Pragmatic and Austria were making some offensive moves near France borderlands, while main Austrian and French forces were having maneuvers in western-Austria. Skirmishes during those maneuvers left Austria quite exhausted (in terms of battle cards), so after truce ended Prussia was able to give devastating blow, leaving Prussia with 20 men and 3 generals, opposed by 5 Austrian men with one general. Unfortunately we had to end the game at this point, due to time constraints, but it was excellent experience nevertheless.
About other games a bit as well. Last time I played Infiltration I suddenly discovered how... action-less should be the term I suppose... this game is. You move, you extract, move, extract. Use some card (to move more or extract more), then move or extract. It's not it's bad but... a bit repetitive. Boring.
Kingsburg, on the other hand, left me wanting some more after first play. And that's always a good sign, especially from VP-collecting worker placement eurogame, using dice as workers.
This time Prussia was very lucky in his conquest of Silesia - at the end of his actions during Turn 3 he was able to offer temporary truce to Austria already (and Austria accepted it). And as Austrian generals moved then to western front, to fight with France, northern Austria was left quite lightly protected. At the same time Pragmatic and Austria were making some offensive moves near France borderlands, while main Austrian and French forces were having maneuvers in western-Austria. Skirmishes during those maneuvers left Austria quite exhausted (in terms of battle cards), so after truce ended Prussia was able to give devastating blow, leaving Prussia with 20 men and 3 generals, opposed by 5 Austrian men with one general. Unfortunately we had to end the game at this point, due to time constraints, but it was excellent experience nevertheless.
About other games a bit as well. Last time I played Infiltration I suddenly discovered how... action-less should be the term I suppose... this game is. You move, you extract, move, extract. Use some card (to move more or extract more), then move or extract. It's not it's bad but... a bit repetitive. Boring.
Kingsburg, on the other hand, left me wanting some more after first play. And that's always a good sign, especially from VP-collecting worker placement eurogame, using dice as workers.
Monday, July 1, 2013
18OE: On the Rails of the Orient Express is doing well in Kickstarter... and it's really-really tempting. On one hand it is The Most Awesomest and Epic-est 18xx Game Evar (and it has Estonia on it, in 4 hexes or so - woohoo)!!1!!one!!!eleven!!. On another hand it's friggin' 200$ - a bit too expensive for just collecting purposes. Especially as one copy will be bought by friend anyway. When I look at my currently "heaviest" 18-title, it's 1817... and I've managed to play it only 4 times in what... 1,5 years? Yeah, it's partly also my fault as I haven't been very keen play organizer - especially as the last experience here was quite devastating. Also, half of the 1817 plays (2 - to be more specific) have been in Finland... pelataanko 18OE:tä myös?
I haven't played publisher's other monster-18xx - 18C2C - but as much as I know, this has scared plenty of enthusiasts with massive playtime and major downtime. But this 18OE is tempting, despite of that :)
I haven't played publisher's other monster-18xx - 18C2C - but as much as I know, this has scared plenty of enthusiasts with massive playtime and major downtime. But this 18OE is tempting, despite of that :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)