Order Filler

OK, so I'm annoyed. I'd put Imperial, Twilight Struggle and Rails of Europe in the basket of my favourite internet retailer and then - stupidly - left it overnight. Next day Rails of Europe has sold out.

So I go to another shop with a copy of RoE and they also have TS but Imperial is out of stock. I end up ordering the two games. But now I need to go back to the original shop and buy some other stuff to make up the minimum order value.

Let this be a lesson to buy stuff when it's in stock and not sit on it.

Anyway, would like a bit of advice on what other game(s) to buy alongside Imperial. Here's the contenders, and the reason why they're not in the #1 rank of my wishlist. If any of these are OOP or about to go OOP let me know as I'll take the chance to snap it up.

Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
In no rush to buy this as it's not going to get played in a hurry, so I figure I might as well wait for a reprint with higher quality components.

Napoleon's Triumph
I like the look of this a lot, but will be mainly team play and not 2-player. Concerned whether my usual gaming group (who aren't wargamers, but will happily play conflict games) might find this too complex, simulationist and militaristic. Apparently there's a solo scenario which does look good.

Die Macher
My geekbuddies rate this very highly, and it's number one on my "personalised recommendations". However, reading reviews makes it sound like this is a game with a very complex decision tree. I don't usually like games of this nature - I prefer ones with simple trees but difficult decisions.

Arkham Horror - Dunwich Horror Expansion
Looks interesting, but I've only played AH multiplayer once - it's usually a solo session for me. So I'm not really sure how much this actually adds to the solo game which is tough enough as it is.

Attika
I've really enjoyed playing this on BSW, but I can't muster the same face-to-face enthusiasm for it, especially considering it'd be multiplayer. Wondering if it might work as a non-gamer /family game but I suspect it might be a tad complex for that.

American Megafauna
This is an outside shot. Can't see any of my usual players wanting to play this, but you never know and in the meantime I could play it solo.

Risk - Star Wars: Original Trilogy Edition
Another outside shot. This does look interesting, to be honest but I just can't seem to get really excited about the prospect of playing it. On the whole I've not been a fan of basic Risk variants (the base game, especially in it's current incarnation is okay) but that's probably unfair as this looks to be very different.

Opinions much appreciated. At the moment I'd favour Attika and/or Napoleons Triumph.

Cheers,
Matt

I actually really like ATTIKA for what it is...it's an abstract tile laying thing, but it has some fun gameplay and is relatively short. And I'm a fucking SHARK at it. I wouldn't be surprised if this went out of print sometime in the near future.

I have NAPOLEON'S TRIUMPH and I'm inclined to say that it's worth owning even if you never play it- I haven't myself. I love BaM and have played it a lot but somehow NT just hasn't made it to the table yet even as a solo thing. But it's a beautiful game, pictures don't do it justice. The team play rules look pretty cool, and BaM solo'd OK so it might be a good option. Be warned- the board is HUGE.

You'd probably play ATTIKA more, but NT is what I'd go for...of course, it's like three times more expensive, too.

MattDP wrote:

But now I need to go back to the original shop and buy some other stuff to make up the minimum order value.

There's a shop that has a minimum order value? Are you ordering direct from a distributor perhaps? If you mean to get free shipping, its not really free if you're buying more games to get it. Particularly ones you don't seem too excited about.

Mad Dog wrote:

MattDP wrote:

But now I need to go back to the original shop and buy some other stuff to make up the minimum order value.

There's a shop that has a minimum order value? Are you ordering direct from a distributor perhaps? If you mean to get free shipping, its not really free if you're buying more games to get it. Particularly ones you don't seem too excited about.

It's an online shop. It's not free shipping, it's just a setup whereby you have to spend £50 and in return they offer games at quite staggering discounts and cap the postage at £5. I realise the tradeoff isn't exactly "free" but I'd be saving a good £10 on the price of Imperial alone, plus I'd save more on the retail price *and* shipping if I order others.

I know myself well enough to realise I'm likely to buy these games sooner or later anyway. So might as well be now and save the money. It is a shame I couldn't get the order in as a whole, but serve me right for hesitating.

Thanks for the advice so far. At the moment I'm tempted to buy both attika and NT ... but I'm waiting for my previous order to arrive before I hit the button.

Cheers,
Matt

I would have said Die Macher--I love that game, my favorite euro. But the decision tree is pretty complex, so I don't think you would like it based on your personal assessment. I think it's great though... you're trying to prepare for elections 4 elections from now while at the same time not screwing up your current election chances. There's also a nice little nasty interpersonal element to it with coalitions and plenty of screwage there.

I think, based on what you said, I'd go with Napoleon's triumph. It's a wargame, so that biases me, but even beyond that it is a very unique diceless wargame that I think even many euro players could get excited about. I don't have a lot of experiences with it, having not played either game, but it seems like a very nice crossover game and I see a lot of positive stuff about it. The components are the type that euro and AT fans can even be happy with as well, which helps. As for the solo game, I don't know how that is in this game... but overall I think that's the game up there that stands out to be besides Die Macher.