What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Played D&D Adventure Begins for the second time. This game started off very poorly, with a host of d20 rolls not exceeding 5.... but once we got off the first of four dungeon boards, we got some momentum and started steamrolling.

We actually ran out of item cards, we had so many.

I like this game enough to buy more of it, if that "more" is different than what is in the box.

Gary Sax wrote: last ditch campaign by Sornars (now dubbed "The Bully") to win the game, having already stolen my grand scepter early in the game!

It occurred to me afterwards that if I hadn’t squandered my Nomad defenders (halve the red dice) in the midgame then I could have forced Sornars to roll a grand total of zero dice in his final battle! The motive reason for putting it out there i the first place was precisely to provide protection in the event of last-ditch power grabs; another reminder that you’ve got to hold to your plan even if it means taking a few lumps along the way. I was also amused to see that there were very few advisers being played face up until toward the late game, resulting in lots of surprise power-moves that were swinging the balance of power.

Yeah, the exiles had like 3-4 advisors face down, and sornars had no advisors for a large part of the game.

It was Friday the 13th, so I had to play Camp Grizzly. This time I chose the default normal difficulty scenario and drew four random counselors. I got the swimmer, Tracy the scream queen, the mean girl, and the dude who looks like the overalls guy from Dazed and Confused.

Short game. Zero cameos showed up, and just one camper. Mean girl got cornered a couple of times by Otis and whacked. The rest of the group quickly put together the set of items needed for the Ranger Tower escape. One minor hitch was that a fire broke out near that exit, so each counselor got wounded by the fire getting to the staging area for the escape. Literally one turn before they could escape, Otis shows up again.

Between the three counselors, they had a single pocket knife. The swimmer tried to knife Otis and lost, so all three counselors were wounded and driven off in a panic. In a cruel twist, the panic movement forced all three to run through the fire again, and they all rolled badly, dying from fire damage. The total body count was six, but Otis didn't even kill half of them.

Shellhead wrote: Between the three counselors, they had a single pocket knife. The swimmer tried to knife Otis and lost, so all three counselors were wounded and driven off in a panic. In a cruel twist, the panic movement forced all three to run through the fire again, and they all rolled badly, dying from fire damage. The total body count was six, but Otis didn't even kill half of them.

I picture that scene LOTR only it is
Jason telling Otis "Thst only counts as 3"

Gary Sax wrote: Yeah, the exiles had like 3-4 advisors face down, and sornars had no advisors for a large part of the game.

In my case some of of the facedown advisors were because I was using People's Favor to get rid of shit I didn't like at sites. So I'd wind up carrying cards until I could make a play in the right region.

But my late-game advisors were definitely defensive, since I was setting up to absorb battles. No sense in telegraphing those until I needed them either.

Speaking of Camp Grizzly, I saw someone posting a copy on one of the Facebook boardgame sale/trade groups for $350 and people didn't even blink. So, if anyone who has one is in need of some quick coin...

I odered Pax Porfiriana in August. Looked at the rules and those atrocious card designs and shelved it. In September I watched a video on how to play. Meh. Yesterday I reread the rules and played a 3 player game solitaire... Wow! This is an awesome game once the rules gel and the flavor text fades away.

bendgar wrote: I odered Pax Porfiriana in August. Looked at the rules and those atrocious card designs and shelved it. In September I watched a video on how to play. Meh. Yesterday I reread the rules and played a 3 player game solitaire... Wow! This is an awesome game once the rules gel and the flavor text fades away.

The YUCATE.DE website has an excellent implementation for online play.

I feel that with better card layout (maybe by Cole Wehrle) that game would sing. It went from trade pile to 5-year-shelf in one solitaire play.

I don't even think about the layout anymore, with one or two exceptions (the slave plantation's, I think, which have the prestige point in the middle of the freaking card, so tucking neatly it is not possible). But as you say, most of it just fades away, once you've got it down. The great thing is that the narrative of what's happening doesn't fade away, it's just the barrier of the info that goes (at least, that's what happens for me).

+1 to Yucata being great too (and on the interface, the cards are simplified so it's far easier to parse).

Not sure what solitaire variant you played (Edit: - oh wait, you said, never mind ) but the one with the bots gives you a much better sense of what it's like to play than the other ones that just make Diaz do random stuff.

I am "casualcasual" over at yucata if you want an asynch game (open invite to anyone).

Caesar Rome vs Gaul

Played this yesterday. My opponent had choice of sides and took the Romans so I put on my animal hides and took the Gauls. While the rules are fairly atraightforward, there are some nuances to be aware of - for instance, end of turn sequencing of phases - my opponent operated thinking he got the free PC marker placemen under friendly CU before checking for province control, but it's AFTER.

Overall I liked it - despite its appearance to Hannibal, it has mechanics lifted from SUCCESSORS as well. There is more of a learning curve to the Romans than Gual I think - the former have to be pretty aggressive and willing to take risks. You need 12 VP to win and Rome only got 7 in our game. He didn't go for the one time VP awards of Germany/Britain or Caesars Pass, which I think you need probably 2 out of 3. Governance alone ( Having more provinces controlled than Gaul in Celtica/Belgium ) only gets you so far each turn - if you maxed it out all 6 turns you'd win, but no Gaul will let this happen.

Playing time dragged to about 3.5 hours , but considering it was our first game and my opponent hadn't read the rules, not a surprise. I think once you get the hang of it, its akin to Wilderness War, 2-3 hours should do it.

Is that the Simonitch game, Msample?

Gary Sax wrote: Is that the Simonitch game, Msample?

Yes.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/276386/caesar-rome-vs-gaul