What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Uboot -- how important a role does the big plastic sub serve on the table?

I'm very space concious at this point, so "big" games really need to pay off to get my attention. Is there a board version?

Realistically, it doesn't have to be 3D. However, there is no alternate board so it's kind of necessary.

Each compartment is a separate space and you need to have certain crew in certain areas to perform certain actions. For instance, to submerge you need engineer crew in both the E-Motor and Diesel engine rooms, and men at the helm.

The sub does break down into 3 big sections and does fit in the box. The box itself is slightly smaller than the FFG coffin boxes. Slightly taller but shorter.

We had a crazy moment where we ran into a single aircraft (think it was a Spitfire by it's shape) and it started raking us with fire. We instantly submerge in a crazy uncontrolled fashion, with the Navigator forgetting that he had spotters above deck (physically placed atop the sub). They all instantly perish if you don't move them down first. This was very bad for us and quite tragic.

It's a very neat, really singular design. I still do not like the action/fatigue system though and think it's unduly punishing to achieve a Euro-style resource management game. The actual action is in spurts between the crew management. Still, despite the flaws it's a very memorable and unique game that I'm glad I have the opportunity to play.

charlest wrote: The sub does break down into 3 big sections and does fit in the box. The box itself is slightly smaller than the FFG coffin boxes. Slightly taller but shorter.

That was my concern, thanks.

I appreciate that there's a bling factor to the game and that that was a specific part of their mix, but with the exception of a few titles I'm fitting everything into a Kalax-like storage system that doesn't fit games of this size. Given the price and the size it's pretty much off the list for me . . .

. . . although it would make a great gift for a friend. They'd feel obligated to play it with me. Or I could just talk the game up a lot and see if one of my buddies will fall for it and buy it themselves. So there's options.

So GW has released their first dud in recent memory. Aeronautica Imperialis: Wings of Vengeance isn't a bad game at all - I've actually quite enjoyed my plays of it - but it really struggles as an introductory release.

It uses hexes instead of free range movement, but it still relies on preplotting maneuvers which are templated out on a reference sheet. This works well enough and produces more precise gameplay than X-Wing since there's no "well, is that in range, the ruler is a millimeter off?"

The miniatures are maybe the best I've seen of models at this scale. The detail is off the hook. The aesthetic is absolutely wonderful blending WWII with 40k. Love the propaganda posters inside and artwork as well.

But the box set is lacking. It includes bombers which are only utilized for their primary function in expansion content. There's no actual rules for their bombs in this set, you need to buy an expansion book.

Also, there is a single scenario. It's a straight up dogfight.

This precisely focuses that the starter is all about getting those planes for a bundled price. But it also highlights that this game is going to be expensive and parcelled out like Necromunda (2019). I think it's a mistake as they're trying to copy X-Wing but are front-loading the cost as opposed to trickling it out and allowing you to spend your money for the planes you want. I think having a separate full expansion for bombers with miniatures would have been a much better idea and either reducing the price here or including another type of fighter for each side. This feels too minimalist for the price point, regardless of value in contents.

I do really enjoy the game, although I don't think it offers anything over X-Wing or Wings of Glory, which is the main challenge. Those who love the 40k setting or the swap to hexes would be the only people really benefiting from playing this over its competitors.

On to something more interesting - Lifeform. My solo plays of this have been fine, nothing spectacular but solid and enjoyable. However, we played a full multiplayer game last night and it was fantastic. Highlights include the android coming out late in the game and being totally hampered by a cascade of security doors appearing, the ship virtually going on lockdown. The alien poised to finish off a character and partially block the escape, but thwarted by a last ditch use of the mining laser which was shoved into its maw. Also, a fantastic moment where the lifeform attacked into a spiderweb of ventilated rooms, a character sacrificing themselves in order to open up an approach to the shuttle on the other side of the ship.

Really dig the narrative of this game, although it's rules heavy and very finnicky. I think the breadth of rules (many of which you may or may not even encounter or utilize) really buy this one a rich story and provide a needed variety in emergent narrative that would not exist otherwise. This isn't a highly strategic game, but it's a highly compelling one that plays very unique.

I'm jazzed to see how Nemesis compares when I get to play it in a month or two. I'm hopeful they don't compete too hard.

Time Chase, a trick taker from Renegade, continues to impress. It's a pretty simple game but introduces a very neat concept of going back in time to change the outcomes of previously won tricks. There's some overhead and table space dedicated to tracking old tricks, but it presents a very interesting and heady 30 minute game.

We also, totally independent of the recent buzz here, started up the Arkham Horror card game and tackled the first scenario in the three session core campaign. I had played this scenario before and enjoy the game. I think we'll finish up the next two and see if we want to approach Dunwich. I want to see if later scenarios are more interesting as this one's just a bit bland.

Also played our 9th session of Android: Netrunner - Terminal Directive. It was an extremely tense game where it came down to the Corp possessing 6 agenda points to my 5. He had a decent amount of ice up but I had all of my breakers. I ran very successfully early and mid-game but started to get into cash trouble. Emergency Shutdown and some other Criminal tricks allowed me to snag victory via a run on HQ.

I also had 33 pounds of Mythic Battles: Pantheon delivered this week and am totally excited to play it. Kind of buried in games and slowly getting ahead of it (Skulk Hollow and Vast: The Mysterious Manor are next up, along with a really quirky magazine game called Die Atombombe about WW2 German Scientists trying to develop an atomic bomb).

Lifeform sounds cool

Remember Power Grid? It used to be one of my all-time faves, but it got overplayed by my group and one player had become something of an annoying Human Calculator with it, so it rarely hit the table anymore.

Apparently the newest boxes of it feature a "recharged" ruleset with some minor rules changes. The lowest power plant now has its auction minimum set to 1, which is pretty interesting, and there are some rules involving that. Also the power plant deck now has plants 3-15 marked on the back so you can tell when a junk plant is coming up.

I altered my copy with a sharpie and we gave this ruleset a try. It works well, not changing too much, but freshening things up a little. It was nice to play this old classic again, and I remembered how much I enjoyed it. I'm hoping to get it to the table more often and play through some of this pile of maps I bought for it (I'm even now eyeing the new map coming out).

I finally got to try Wiz-War at a local con. I had been wanting to try that game out for years but I didn't want to buy it to do so. It was fun but we only managed to sneak one fast game in before closing time. I would have loved to play it a couple more rounds to get a hang of it but I didn't so I don't have much of an opinion on it.

I played with at least some of the recommendations (One deck, deadly treasures, no speed bosts) so I was covered in that front.

One of the reasons I would have liked to try it out more was to see if I wanted a copy or if it was going to be redudnant compared to more Cosmic Encounter ot other games.

charlest wrote: Also played our 9th session of Android: Netrunner - Terminal Directive. It was an extremely tense game where it came down to the Corp possessing 6 agenda points to my 5. He had a decent amount of ice up but I had all of my breakers. I ran very successfully early and mid-game but started to get into cash trouble. Emergency Shutdown and some other Criminal tricks allowed me to snag victory via a run on HQ.

Really glad you are enjoying it! Love that play, anything with Emergecy Shutdown is always fun.

Erik Twice wrote: I played with at least some of the recommendations (One deck, deadly treasures, no speed bosts) so I was covered in that front.

I’ve never had a problem with speed boosts, it’s the number of blocks and counters in the deck that I can’t stand. I remove most of them. One deck and deadly treasures are musts though!

Do the counters really make much of a difference? I have been keeping them in.

Josh is right, the counter spells suck. I took out all but one or two. They suck because of two main reasons:

1. They prolong the game by diminishing violence
2. They essentially cancel the attacker's turn, which is not fun.

I want to say it’s the generic bock and counters I take out? It’s been awhile since I’ve played. I keep stuff like Wall of Sand (IIRC, that’s what it’s called) and other more flavorful ones in.

Played a game of Spirit Island this morning. What a complete success that game is on every level. Barely lost to a level 3 France... I could go on and on but I'll stop there. One of those "why do I play other games?" moments after the game.

I'm assuming that by "one deck" that means you're all playing Giant Book of Spells. FFS, Wiz-War is a game about chaos. Everything needs to be in there. We even toss in the Black Cantrip deck. I usually don't play with Deadly Treasures with newbs, because it takes a game to get a handle on the chaos and getting knocked out because you didn't remember that rule and two people ganged up on you is lame. We also play with Permanent Creations which, by default, means we're playing with Uncluttered Minds. Chaos, I tell you! Chaos! If the Rosebush ends up present permanently, that might be a problem for you as much as it is your opponents at some point. Take your chances, mage! Admittedly, Uncluttered Minds does get a bit crazy if someone manages to find more than a couple Spellstones, but it also makes them target #1 for anyone with a fire spell, so there it is.

As for counters/defense, I took out 2 Full Shield, 2 Shield, 1 Featherweight, 2 Wall of Earth, 5 Negate Neutral, and 1 Invisibility. I believe that leaves one of each of them in the whole, combined deck, which is good enough with the two expansions thrown in. A little defense, but only as a surprise here and there. I also took out 3 Planar Call from the second expansion. It's a pain in the ass waiting for someone to look through the massive deck for a creature. It means we don't find creatures as often, but that's fine. Something to look forward to. Now, and always, one of the greatest games ever.

Just played this yesterday.
I keep meaning to remove some of the counters, but, then I play it with my boy, and one of his favourite things in life is chucking down a counter at me, so, they're still all in there. Seriously, it's a sight to behold. As he suspects I', lining him up he just goes into a fit of ecstasy. I have an urge to try and teach him poker face but it's too much fun.

jackwraith is right though. We play pretty much the way he describes, just the counters are still in there.

Our battle yesterday was a great ding dong affair with me chasing him around trying to whack him because I thought I had a good hand for it. I got him with the slow death as well, it was looking good, but he made me throw acid at myself with one of the aforementioned counters and then hit me with successive fire spells - he had 1 health left when he finished me off. Good times.

Played a couple of 4 player co-ops last night:

Village Attacks - this was my second time being exposed to this game, and my opinion is the same as before... a beautiful production that ends up feeling extremely procedural. Each player is a different monster. We all live together in the castle, and the villagers have decided that now is the time to take us on... you roll dice, allocating symbols to different powers. Kill villagers, rinse repeat. Due to some lucky card draws, only one "powerful" villager ever showed up. We won with my character never even taking damage. This game is just...."fine." The word I really want to use is "boring." The minis, on the other hand... those are great.

Next up we played Brook City. I was the only one who had played before, but it had been a while and I wasn't prepared. We decided to try a case involving some murders down by the river, while the Flavor Town gang sprang drug dealers all over town.

We got off to a slow start due to not quite figuring out how the case worked for a while. I also messed up the enemy's movement card so he spent a lot of time not going anywhere. By the time we got on track, we were 20% victorious but 40% losing and it was almost 2:30 AM. We called it. I think everyone enjoyed it. I like it a great deal, myself.