Confirmed it works. Bought Castles of Burgundy and Dominant Species, the only top BGG games we haven't played and don't own with the single exception of Mage Knight Board Game.
And Netrunner? Which is rated higher than both of those games you mentioned, at 15.
There has been a lot of chatter about how that hot lava birth shot out at #15. I haven't played it myself yet, but I know it's based on a dead CCG with a very loyal and dedicated fan base. This makes me skeptical that it is actual the 15th best game in the BGG database.
Same with Mage Knight. I've played it, it's good, but is it really #9?
BGG Rankings pissing matches usually end with all parties putting less stock in the rankings and just agreeing to disagree. Did you guys realize that it starts to toss out rankings once they are a year old? That's why they show the date you rated a game just underneath the rating. You are supposed to go through and update your opinions each year.
So in effect, they really are more of a snapshot than an "of all time" list. When we talk about things in those terms, I'm totally OK with games like Mage Knight and Netrunner popping up. They're hot right now because they're new. If they don't stand the test of time, they will fall like rocks.
I don't know if Netrunner really deserves its spot, but I can say this. On paper, it is the game I have been asking for for many years. One of those unfulfilled potentials we always complain about may have been fulfilled.
It's a customizable card game, like M:TG, but without any collecting. It's not deck building, like Dominion. It's also asymmetric, one player is offense and one is defense.
Going to have to play it a bunch more to figure it out.
The asymmetric play is definitely a big part of the appeal. I do want to play it at some point.
What you're describing is a "Living Card Game" and Fantasy Flight has been putting them out since around 2008. They rescued the Game of Thrones CCG which was about to die and made it non-collectible. Also a Call of Cthulhu LCG around the same time (not sure which one came first). They release different sized packs fairly frequently, usually 3 copies of each card, just depends on how many new cards whether its little-medium-large box.
The asymmetric play is definitely a big part of the appeal. I do want to play it at some point.
What you're describing is a "Living Card Game" and Fantasy Flight has been putting they out since around 2008. They rescued the Game of Thrones CCG which was about to die and made it non-collectible. Also a Call of Cthulhu LCG around the same time (not sure which one came first). They release different sized packs fairly frequently, usually 3 copies of each card, just depends on how many new cards whether its little-medium-large box.
One, I never heard of a living card game before this one. I discovered the other ones on the Fantasy Flight site afterwards. Two, I'm pretty sure those other ones suck.
Wouldn't surprise me, I haven't touched any of them. After spending way too much money on CCGs in my youth I make an effort to avoid these types of games. Even though the LCGs aren't collectible, I'd still have the urger to get all the cards and make the absolute best possible deck, and that's a huge time sink.
Speaking of witch, they've already released the first set of 20 cards for Netrunner (3 copies of each in a 60 card pack) and have two more coming out very soon. They waste no time.
Wouldn't surprise me, I haven't touched any of them. After spending way too much money on CCGs in my youth I make an effort to avoid these types of games. Even though the LCGs aren't collectible, I'd still have the urger to get all the cards and make the absolute best possible deck, and that's a huge time sink.
Speaking of witch, they've already released the first set of 20 cards for Netrunner (3 copies of each in a 60 card pack) and have two more coming out very soon. They waste no time.
Last I checked the Netrunner expansions were not available yet.
The Netrunner expansion is out. I have it in my grubby little hands and it's awesome. The new Wayland agenda is ridiculous.
Also, all of the Fantasy Flight LCG's are good, none of them actually suck. A Game of Thrones might be the best multiplayer CCG out there, Cthulhu is pretty deep and fun to play, and Warhammer Invasion is like Magic, but with more strategy involved. I've never played the Lord of the Rings LCG, but I've heard very good things and it plays completely differently than all the others because it's a co-op/solo game where you play against the deck. The Star Wars LCG should be out any week now as well...
I signed up for an Amazon rewards card to use that coupon, no reason not to since I don't use any other credit cards. Amazon's prices are already lower than MSRP, and I got $30 for signing up for the card, so I got $130 of board games for $50. 7 Wonders, Rex (re-themed Dune), No Thanks! and Spot It.
Castles of Burgandy is a great game. My friends and I classify it as a "victory points cornucopia" type game. The base game is terrific, and once you get good at it and really understand the game, using the player-specific starting boards just adds to the strategies and replay-ability.
I love Castles of Burgundy. You really need to come up with not just a primary focus when it comes to a type of tile you want to collect, but also a secondary and even a tertiary focus in order to compete with someone who knows the game well. My early strategies involved ignoring all of the pasture tiles, which are raw victory points, in favor of the other tiles that gave you extra actions or bonuses. But this rarely worked - you really need to get at least a cursory animal combo to be competitive.
My favorite part is finding combinations of the yellow research tiles to set it up so that my die rolls are practically irrelevant.
I should probably apply for an Amazon card. I have no credit card right now, which is kind of a double-edged sword: My credit is great, but I have no credit card.
Went to a comic shop yesterday to play in an X-Wing Miniatures Game tournament. Friend and I showed up and it wast just 3 guys from the local 501st Division, 2 playing and 1 running the tournament. I wonder if we ruined their plan to just get all of the free tournament swag Fantasy Flight was providing?
I was a bit rusty, forgetting to activate tons of special abilities and such during my first game, but I still squeaked out enough points in my matches to make the 3rd swiss round be a make-or-break entry into the finals round.
I have a long and bitter tale of defeat. I lost when I never should have, and it was all my fault.
First off, the guy I was playing with had a very loose understanding of the game's rules. I basically played his side for him, helping him out numerous times when he would have not taken major portions of his turn b/c he thought he couldn't for some reason or another (and also enforcing the rules when he often tried to break them). This did not make my defeat easy to swallow.
We got into a bit of a firefight, but wound up in a very lopsided 1-vs-1 battle with my most powerful ship versus his one crappy ship. All I needed to do was run out the clock even and I would have won on points. Instead, I chase him around the board a bit. At one point, he picks the wrong move on his dial to turn left instead of turn right. I pointed it out and he didn't make a big deal of it, so he turns out to the board edge, putting him right in my sights. I probably should have just been a gentleman and let it slide, and I'd never have put myself in the position to lose.
I point out how funny it would be if one of us went off the board edge.
I get right behind him and deal 6 out of the 7 damage I need to finish him off over two turns. Then he banks hard, and I start to do the same on a softer angle because I'm further back. Next turn, he does a 180. Fully knowing I am going to get shot with the ion cannon, I completely forget about the board edge and continue the soft angle to avoid an asteroid (which might not even cost any damage). The ion cannon hits, I miss my defense roll, and it carries me right off the board. Harder turn angle would kept me safe and it was obvious. Fuck. Me.
He felt bad about winning when he obviously lost but I really try to be the honest and friendly player, so I let it go. Still I was really pissed for a good few minutes as I thought the game over. The shop didn't have tables the correct size so we were playing on smaller than regulation maps, and it turns out I'd been rolling one attack die fewer than I should have on one weapon for the entire tournament.
Fantasy Flight pulled all of the new ships (coming out in February) off of the factory line and airshipped them to the tournaments, so the finalists got to play with (and take home) Slave I and Millennium Falcon. I was 3rd place so I got a free TIE Interceptor, which took off the sting of being a complete idiot during the end of that game.
In general, I really still don't know how I feel about tournament gaming. I always play to win (and have no problem winning), in casual settings, but there's just something about my personality that makes a tournament setting very stressful, and I have a history of letting the stress-out cause me to forget things and make dumb moves.
I don't really have a problem in a tournament setting, I have a problem with shoddily run tournaments. For example, yours did not have regulation size maps. That's fucking bullshit. Imagine showing up to a basketball tournament, and they've got nets 7' high instead of 10'. Or maybe you go to a fighting game tournament, and they don't have proper no-lag televisions. It's a total replacement ref situation. If the competition at my own game night is more fair and serious than your tournament, you fucked up.
I am working on a tournament setup where multiple games are played to find who is the best overall player is when it comes to game types. I am still working out the deal (tiebreakers, time issues, etc.) but I hope I could go and run this at a gen con, WBC, or some other pro board gaming place.
Eclipse expansion is out on Amazon and other places now. I hadn't been paying attention to it. Reading up on some of the variants now (simultaneous turns, power grid style visible research for next turn, second pass determines play order direction).
Eclipse expansion is out on Amazon and other places now. I hadn't been paying attention to it. Reading up on some of the variants now (simultaneous turns, power grid style visible research for next turn, second pass determines play order direction).
Eclipse expansion is out on Amazon and other places now. I hadn't been paying attention to it. Reading up on some of the variants now (simultaneous turns, power grid style visible research for next turn, second pass determines play order direction).
So it appears that I may start to get a complete TtR collection, since I got the 2nd map pack as a gift. This leaves me with getting the US Map, Nordic Countries, Map pack 3, and those stupid Pumpkin Trains.
It appears those Pumpkin trains are pointless huzzah!
Comments
Same with Mage Knight. I've played it, it's good, but is it really #9?
BGG Rankings pissing matches usually end with all parties putting less stock in the rankings and just agreeing to disagree. Did you guys realize that it starts to toss out rankings once they are a year old? That's why they show the date you rated a game just underneath the rating. You are supposed to go through and update your opinions each year.
So in effect, they really are more of a snapshot than an "of all time" list. When we talk about things in those terms, I'm totally OK with games like Mage Knight and Netrunner popping up. They're hot right now because they're new. If they don't stand the test of time, they will fall like rocks.
It's a customizable card game, like M:TG, but without any collecting. It's not deck building, like Dominion. It's also asymmetric, one player is offense and one is defense.
Going to have to play it a bunch more to figure it out.
What you're describing is a "Living Card Game" and Fantasy Flight has been putting them out since around 2008. They rescued the Game of Thrones CCG which was about to die and made it non-collectible. Also a Call of Cthulhu LCG around the same time (not sure which one came first). They release different sized packs fairly frequently, usually 3 copies of each card, just depends on how many new cards whether its little-medium-large box.
Speaking of witch, they've already released the first set of 20 cards for Netrunner (3 copies of each in a 60 card pack) and have two more coming out very soon. They waste no time.
Also, all of the Fantasy Flight LCG's are good, none of them actually suck. A Game of Thrones might be the best multiplayer CCG out there, Cthulhu is pretty deep and fun to play, and Warhammer Invasion is like Magic, but with more strategy involved. I've never played the Lord of the Rings LCG, but I've heard very good things and it plays completely differently than all the others because it's a co-op/solo game where you play against the deck. The Star Wars LCG should be out any week now as well...
Don't know what to make of Burgundy. Just gotta play it.
Dominant Species seems like El Grande and Reef Encounter had a baby.
My favorite part is finding combinations of the yellow research tiles to set it up so that my die rolls are practically irrelevant.
I was a bit rusty, forgetting to activate tons of special abilities and such during my first game, but I still squeaked out enough points in my matches to make the 3rd swiss round be a make-or-break entry into the finals round.
I have a long and bitter tale of defeat. I lost when I never should have, and it was all my fault.
First off, the guy I was playing with had a very loose understanding of the game's rules. I basically played his side for him, helping him out numerous times when he would have not taken major portions of his turn b/c he thought he couldn't for some reason or another (and also enforcing the rules when he often tried to break them). This did not make my defeat easy to swallow.
We got into a bit of a firefight, but wound up in a very lopsided 1-vs-1 battle with my most powerful ship versus his one crappy ship. All I needed to do was run out the clock even and I would have won on points. Instead, I chase him around the board a bit. At one point, he picks the wrong move on his dial to turn left instead of turn right. I pointed it out and he didn't make a big deal of it, so he turns out to the board edge, putting him right in my sights. I probably should have just been a gentleman and let it slide, and I'd never have put myself in the position to lose.
I point out how funny it would be if one of us went off the board edge.
I get right behind him and deal 6 out of the 7 damage I need to finish him off over two turns. Then he banks hard, and I start to do the same on a softer angle because I'm further back. Next turn, he does a 180. Fully knowing I am going to get shot with the ion cannon, I completely forget about the board edge and continue the soft angle to avoid an asteroid (which might not even cost any damage). The ion cannon hits, I miss my defense roll, and it carries me right off the board. Harder turn angle would kept me safe and it was obvious. Fuck. Me.
He felt bad about winning when he obviously lost but I really try to be the honest and friendly player, so I let it go. Still I was really pissed for a good few minutes as I thought the game over. The shop didn't have tables the correct size so we were playing on smaller than regulation maps, and it turns out I'd been rolling one attack die fewer than I should have on one weapon for the entire tournament.
Fantasy Flight pulled all of the new ships (coming out in February) off of the factory line and airshipped them to the tournaments, so the finalists got to play with (and take home) Slave I and Millennium Falcon. I was 3rd place so I got a free TIE Interceptor, which took off the sting of being a complete idiot during the end of that game.
In general, I really still don't know how I feel about tournament gaming. I always play to win (and have no problem winning), in casual settings, but there's just something about my personality that makes a tournament setting very stressful, and I have a history of letting the stress-out cause me to forget things and make dumb moves.
Android Netrunner Lcg: What Lies Ahead Data Pack
I know it's a popularity contest, but still, Dominion?
It appears those Pumpkin trains are pointless huzzah!