Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35165 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20836 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7428 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3981 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3506 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2079 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2587 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2257 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2499 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3021 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3696 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2626 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2462 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2291 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2509 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Use the stickied threads for short updates.

Please consider adding your quick impressions and your rating to the game entry in our Board Game Directory after you post your thoughts so others can find them!

Please start new threads in the appropriate category for mini-session reports, discussions of specific games or other discussion starting posts.

What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

More
10 May 2014 12:55 #177851 by Gary Sax
It happens... I would go do some other hobby. I bet you'll be back to boardgaming in a few months or a year.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 May 2014 19:40 #177859 by charlest
Been playing a lot of Rogue Agent lately in preparation for a review. It's a good game, that plays much better with cut-throat players than passive ones. The game affords ample opportunity to move against other players in subtle, non-obvious ways. Otherwise, you mostly move around the board apprehending criminals and disarming bombs. Lots of dice rolling. Good Ameritrash/Euro blend though.

Also got in another game of X-wing. Two weeks in a row, unfortunately I couldn't replicate the results from my last game. I was Rebels and went A-Wing (Tycho with PTL), B-Wing, X-Wing, Y-Wing (with Ion turret). Opponent had a decked out Imperial Shuttle and 4 TIEs. He one-shotted Tycho with a Heavy Blaster cannon shot from the Shuttle in the first turn of engagement. It was downhill from there as all I could manage was a single Academy TIE kill. The dice hated me all game as I had 3 point blank shots from X-Wing and B-Wing and never managed more than a single point of damage.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 May 2014 20:31 #177860 by repoman
Just got back from a micro Heroscape tournament run by a friend of mine. What an awesome and fun day.

There were 5 of us. He had 2 two player maps and 2 three player maps. It was a round robin thing played over 5 rounds. 450 point armies.

I assembled mine from all four medium sized elementals, the large ice elemental, the elementalist summoner guy and a squad of samurai included to fill out the points.

I did pretty well until the lava map. The guy I was playing was using 3 squads of Massachusetts Minute Men and he started on the side near a glyph that gave +4 range. It was a wide open map and the extra range meant his guys could hit just about anywhere. The second I moved anybody out from behind the protective wall in the set up area the were instantly gunned down long before they could come to grips with that damn infantry.

In the end I came in third but I had a blast.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 May 2014 20:31 #177861 by Michael Barnes
Rogue Agent has unfortunately been thrown under the bus by BGG...sub-7 rating, a Tom Vasel kiss of death negative review...which is unfortunate, because it's pretty good and it's really more of a Blade Runner game than Android was, in some ways. The first game though was awful because a) I was playing with folks that were way too passive and didn't try to hijack bounties and b) it's a David Ausloos rulebook.

I've played a few more times and it's definitely worth looking at. Fairly fast, fun theme, some cool bits like the bomb defusing (which isn't very Blade Runner at all)

The Rick Deckard minis rule.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 May 2014 21:32 #177864 by Hatchling
Broke out Cave Evil the other night (3 players). I stupidly mistook the carrying ability icon on my cards for digging ability, and so I thought I had an immediate excavating/collapsing squad. I was fucking other squads up all over the place, collapsing cave on them, blocking Necromancer squads off from their lairs, etc, before I realized my mistake. Oh well, it was a fun fantasy of power while it lasted. We undid as much of the gaff as possible, so my game was a bit scrambled and disjointed. The game ender was Darkest Evil Bitch, who killed me first. The winner crushed his opponents dark crystal. Great game!

Another night I played a couple of games of Scripts and Scribes (aka Biblios) with the spouse. What a neat game that is, with a nice balance of gamble and control.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 01:50 #177868 by Gary Sax
Good game of Clash of Cultures, 3 players. I taught the game. For such an involved game, it is VERY easy to teach.

Funny game, because it ended in total military victory. Othe player realized he was 3 areas from my undefended cities (I was planning on going trade routes, ships) and he just marched his dudes over and took over my major city. He lucked out, since he managed to draw an unexplored tile with two adjacent non-impediment terrains... but it was kind of hilarious since the teacher of the game was completely knocked out in turn 4 and hung around to help with rules and whatnot for the rest of the game after a stab---such is the life of a boardgame enthusiast, I suppose.

Fun game. Still great, I don't know how the new players felt. One player being very experienced in civ PC was a HUGE help in learning the game, however.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 08:30 #177874 by Legomancer
Nice session, yesterday. Started off with Triumvirate, a quasi-trick-taking game for two players that was on my Ultimatum list. I like it a bunch. It's subtle but pretty easy to learn, and it's not just a Spades variant. Other player isn't crazy about those games, so I didn't push for a full match, but one game was enough to make me feel happy I bought it. I think my wife may actually enjoy it, which is a plus.

We were still waiting on someone else, so a quick Ra: The Dice Game followed. It came out at the same time as a bunch of other similar games -- Roll Through the Ages, To Court the King, a couple others -- but I think it's the best of the bunch. Unlike so many other games of its type, the presence of other players actually matters.

Another guy showed up exactly as RtDG ended, and we got in a game of Nations which, once I played it correctly, has rocketed up in my esteem, from a 6 to an 8, and possibly higher to go. I started out strong in this game, but the card reveals crippled my strategy and I was too slow in pivoting to something else.

Then someone else arrived and we did Side Meier's Civ with both expansions. This was my first time playing the second expansion (I think the first one is really good). I got England for my civ, and it's pretty good, but unfocused. It does a lot of things well, but no one thing REALLY well, and I couldn't focus myself on any one victory path enough to make any tracks. I do a little better with civs that start you out with a gentle push in a specific direction. So I did terribly, but had a good time with it. It's a really good one, and I think I much prefer it to Clash of Cultures, despite its length.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 10:43 #177880 by Grudunza
Played a 4p game of Terra Mystica last night. It's the new hotness on BGG (top 10 already), and though I was skeptical, I liked it quite a bit. It reminds me in a very general sense of the more interactive Euro of the 90's, but with some modern touches, and it's the kind of middle-weight Euro that I typically like. There's a lot going on, but pretty easy to grasp and get into. The theme is weak, but there are some thematic elements to what happens and the different race powers. It wouldn't be in my personal top 10, but I can see why it's there on TOS.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 13:29 #177883 by Sagrilarus

Michael Barnes wrote: Rogue Agent has unfortunately been thrown under the bus by BGG...sub-7 rating, a Tom Vasel kiss of death negative review...which is unfortunate, because it's pretty good and it's really more of a Blade Runner game than Android was, in some ways. The first game though was awful because a) I was playing with folks that were way too passive and didn't try to hijack bounties and b) it's a David Ausloos rulebook.

I've played a few more times and it's definitely worth looking at. Fairly fast, fun theme, some cool bits like the bomb defusing (which isn't very Blade Runner at all)

The Rick Deckard minis rule.


Auloos' rulebook went through a major revision process on this one. I'll be curious to see the result.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 14:30 #177885 by charlest

Sagrilarus wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: Rogue Agent has unfortunately been thrown under the bus by BGG...sub-7 rating, a Tom Vasel kiss of death negative review...which is unfortunate, because it's pretty good and it's really more of a Blade Runner game than Android was, in some ways. The first game though was awful because a) I was playing with folks that were way too passive and didn't try to hijack bounties and b) it's a David Ausloos rulebook.

I've played a few more times and it's definitely worth looking at. Fairly fast, fun theme, some cool bits like the bomb defusing (which isn't very Blade Runner at all)

The Rick Deckard minis rule.


Auloos' rulebook went through a major revision process on this one. I'll be curious to see the result.


I actually think its a decent rulebook. Not complicated or confusing at all. The only issue is that a couple rules are actually missing (they appear in te FAQ).

I think the games a keeper though. Not amazing, but solid and intense. I love games when a game includes room for the players to interact in clever ways, which Rogue Agent has in spades.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 14:38 #177887 by mikecl
Finally got some free time and managed to get in a little gaming for the first time in awhile. I'm late to the party but have been playing Sentintels of the Multiverse. I liked it enough to go out and get the expansion pack combining Infernal Relics and Rook City.

It's wildly unbalanced but you can fix that by how you match up the heroes and villains. It's not rocket science, but it's a lot of fun.

Also got in a few plays of Lewis and Clark which I also like. Un-historically thematic race game with screwy cards coming out on a Through the Ages, Pax style sliding expense display.

It's a bit of a brain burner but the card artwork is good and the cards really mix the game up a lot which is also fun.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 15:00 - 11 May 2014 15:35 #177888 by scissors
Sag, Barnes,

so is that rules rewrites for three games now? Panic Station... Dark, Darker, Darkest... this? This is one unlucky designer. Thrown under the bus isn't entirely true, Drive thru Joel Eddy (who postshere) gave Rogue Agent a fairly positive review.

But after the rules mess that were PS and DDD I am not surprised if some are avoiding this title. it may be too bad but it's not like the designer hasn't had a chance to bring some high profile projects ro market. If he got a bad Vasel review, thems the breaks., it shouldnt be the kiss of death but It'll take some pretty positive reviews without caveats like 'it needs a specific group' to counter it. I don't think this is a case of those mainstreamTOS dorks just don't get it. That's bullshit.
Last edit: 11 May 2014 15:35 by scissors.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 15:23 #177889 by Erik Twice
I attended the Madrid Android:Netrunner Regional Tournament and it was way too intense! I placed 4th, taking home not just a really cool cyberpunk playmat depicting a Pawn but also some tokens, a double identity card (Andromeda/Cerebral Imaging) and two alternate-art copies of the really badass Corporate Troubleshooter, which shows him walking down a hallway full of servers, followed by two goofy interns tasked with carrying his papers and his coffee. Really cool stuff!

I thought that with the release of the Honor and Profit expansion everyone was going to play Criminal and we would see more Jinteki than usual but since most players got it only a couple days before the day of the tournament, nobody was confident in their new decks and brought well-worn lists.

This seemed to spell doom for me, I had built an extremely defensive HB Superserver deck with lots of economy cards to support a ludicrous amount of ICE and only 7 agendas and now everyone was playing Magnum Opus decks, which is the single most powerful economic engine in the game (Hence the name).

Seeing how any kind of economic battle was against me, I aggressively dropped assets on my remote, dropping them every single turn and abusing GRNDL Refinery to either cause a run or gain such an incredibly amount of credits that Ash 2X could keep my remote safe to score an agenda or two. They couldn't know if I was crazy, was playing with 10 copies of GRNDL Refinery or I was just baiting them to die against an Aggressive Secretary but they didn't want to find out and tried to win through R&D, which proved unsuccessful.

On the Runner side, I took one of my favourite decks, an ICE-destruction deck that is, well, Parasite Kit. Three copies of Parasite, three of Datasucker and a single Yog backed by three Atmans and a bunch of R&D attack cards. It's very versatile and very fun to play and while I lost a game because three Indexing and three Maker's Eye weren't enough to win (lol), I thought I did very well with it. I even beat a very nasty NBN that packed Shinobi through sheer luck so I was very happy.

My victories ended when I reached the elimination rounds. Poor planning made me lose against a fairly standard HB deck and while I absolutely crushed a poor Andromeda who was so beyond salvation she was forced to use Femme Fatale on Archives (!), I had to face one of the Magnum Opus decks I played on the Swiss rounds again and this time the guy was having none of it, he just took money and waited until he could run my remote. I thought it was going to be an extremely dull game and I was not going to win so I conceded.

All in all, really, really fun. I already thought Netrunner was one of the best games ever made but it just keeps getting more and more fun and variety just increases. It's also getting more popular around here, I remember last years Nationals were huge and had...42 players. Now we have had 32 just in Madrid and not all the regulars made it in. :)
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 May 2014 15:37 #177890 by Shellhead
Went to a rooftop BBQ with boardgames, because I knew there was a strong possibility of rain driving us indoors into the party room. Diverse group of gamers, geeks, and hipsters, 90% strangers to me. On a hunch, I brought Slasher, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the excellent Milton Bradley version). People voted on playing Betrayal at House on the Hill.

A complete stranger at the table had played once before, so we quickly set it up and taught people to play. As always, people really enjoyed exploring the house, especially when one guy got trapped alone in the basement and got hammered by a couple of basement-specific event cards. Finally, the haunting took place, and the total non-gamer at the table was the traitor. Scenario #11, with the madman and the spectres coming in the windows. I helped guide her through the secret instructions, and she did pretty well at harassing and attacking the other players. However, the rest of us were fortunate to have 3 characters with high sanity or knowledge, and access to enough relevant rooms and items to pull of the exorcism after four more turns. Betrayal is unreliably entertaining, often ending in a rapid curbstomp by one side or the other, but this was a reasonably fun time.

Then we played a marathon game of Apples to Apples, which the host brought, with various people wandering in and out of the game over the course of the next four (!) hours. Normally, a light game of Apples to Apples would totally overstay its welcome after just a couple of hours, but this game got better after a while, due to a combination of alcohol and fatigue generating some funny outcomes. Also, because it was Mother's Day after midnight, we decided that any blank green cards would be treated as "Your Mom" cards. One particular Your Mom round, the second-funniest answer was "zucchini." But I brought down the house by playing "My First Kiss." Good times.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
12 May 2014 09:07 #177903 by Black Barney
The most fun I had with Apples to Apples is when I paired up "Holocaust" with "Hilarious" cuz my uncle was judge/runner and I knew he'd dig it. I won the round to the shock of everyone.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Erik Twice

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 2.774 seconds