The Thread Where We Are Board Game Geeks

that reminds me -- if anyone knows of a youtube video that shows an Arkham Horror demonstration game, plz post it here. I've played 4 games already and I still barely understand it.

you using the BGG forums/videos?
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15987/arkham-horror

Arkham horror - the major things that I have seen new players having trouble with are:

1) Combat. It's tricky to remember what all the icons mean, and what order things happen, especially if the player fails to kill on their swing. Possible confusions: there's no second horror check, monster heals fully each round, player can attack again or flee but exhausted equipment/spells remain exhausted, Resistances/Immunities do not apply to basic damage from Fight.

It might be worth going through some trial combats for each player before the game starts, both to ensure everyone gets it, and to help people be realistic about what they can and can't kill.

2) Turn order. Mythos happens at the end of the turn, even though it feels like the beginning. Someone needs to be absolutely on top of the cycle of upkeep-movement-ark enc-oth world enc-mythos, and ensure it's kept to. You *do* get an Other World Encounter the turn you enter a gate, *unless* it opens on your head.

3) "Exhaust" - this is probably easier for your players if they're experienced and you can just say that it means "tap", rather than discard.

4) Monster limit, terror, and the outskirts. This is fine if you have an experienced player, but if not, someone needs to make this their job and do it well, so that everyone else can safely ignore it.

Some other common misconceptions it might be worth clearing up before starting play are: closing vs sealing gates, how focus works, the difference between fight checks and combat checks and sneak vs evade.

It's a good game (maybe a great game!) but the expansions ruin it - one is okay, any more than that and it becomes far different and worse.

yeah one of the mistakes i think we made is in ~always~ playing with an expansion (dunwich iirc) which just makes the game both too long and too complex to get right away.

like i think we keep getting one vital think wrong each time, like whether you can seal a gate as soon as you return through it or have to wait a turn or the effects of some of the mythos cards, making sure everyone is adjusting their stats at the correct time &c &c

This is a very comprehensive flowchart for Arkham Horror turn sequence that really helped me wrap my head around all the specific details when I first started playing.

Is it ever possible to win before the monster appears? It seems like there's always more monsters/gates opening than players to kill + close them.

before the monster boss whatever appears

my relatively new roommate is a big board game fan and we play pretty often.

sean gramophone didn't them, i guess, i guess, but we're big fans of power grid, race for the galaxy AND 7 wonders. 7 wonders in particular is good fun because you can play in only 30 minutes or so (good for super cool guys like me who need to finish the game so they can make some fucking animated gifs). besides that, we also play

dominion
pandemic
merchants and marauders
tigris & euphrates

there's a new one we're getting in the mail in a month or two. apparently it's one of the top-rated games on boardgamegeek, but it's been out of print for some time. the reprint should be complete soon. it's called Twilight Struggle, and it's about the COLD WAR, YESSSSS

i understand Twilight Struggle to be like 1960, but Cold War-themed instead of Nixon vs Kennedy.

I'm actually really surprised to see it's now #1 on BGG. I bought 1960 and have been disappointed with it - just isn't as much um... FUN as i wish it were.

This was a boardgame at one time and was converted into a single player PC game. Probably my favorite. The AI is outstanding.

http://forcedmarchgames.com/

http://forcedmarchgames.com/graphics/tool_area_screenshot.jpg

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble is kinda a single player board game, tho also PC

just spent a couple weeks playing tons of dominion, reallly fun at first but i think you need the expansion packs--Jeff was saying upthread that he hates settlers because of the trading but, jeez, thats the best part of the game; unless you have attack cards in dominion there's almost no player-to-player interaction which makes the game super boring and not a fun social activity that ends in hurt feelings and spilled wine

my roommate is reaaaaaaaaaaally into dominion so i try to avoid it when i can, even though it's fun (otherwise i will be playing 3-7 games of dominion every night for many months).

but you should know of this: http://dominion.isotropic.org/
online dominion. it includes all of the expansion packs, i believe, otherwise plays just like dominion. there's handy mouseover explanations for each of the cards.

we stopped using the cards a long time ago and now we bust out the computers to play. if you ever see "KARL MALONE" on there, that's me.

i think pandemic is a great game btw zs

I've only played it twice, but yeah I lie it too! I'd be interested to hear recommendations for co-op style games. There was a print-and-play game that I used to play with my old hometown friends that involved defending a building from hordes of zombies, but the name escapes me.

LIKE it

Pandemic is brilliant.

Anyone played Genoa? Pretty difficult to get one's head round on first playing. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has persevered with it.

Is it ever possible to win before the monster appears? It seems like there's always more monsters/gates opening than players to kill + close them.

It's honestly a big problem with AH that after a while it gets far too easy!

My thing for the last year has been SPACE ALERT - for me it's been revelatory in how it joins up the strengths of Arkham, Pandemic and Camelot* into one super-satisfying and glorious 25 minute co-operate game.

*:(I'm not actually sure Shadows Over Camelot has any strengths, I'm just listing it for completeness)

Thread in which we are also CCG geeks. Was going to post this in the stuff worth reading about video games thread but probably a better fit here (also feel like this thread needs more action). About sexism in the CCG (partic MTG) community: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/22786_To_My_Someday_Daughter.html

when boardgames meet art:

http://www.imma.ie/en/page_212423.htm

I got to play a game of this, but as is the way of these things we were chucked out of the gallery after initial setup and playing one move. I was nevertheless clearly going to win.

a drunken late night purchase of Panzer General: Allied Assault on Xbox Live led to a decision by me and my roommate to purchase some sort of war game, boardgame style. He's the expert on this shit, and has narrowed down the options to:

Memoir '44
Wilderness War
Combat Commandeer: Europe

anyone have any opinions on those three, or other suggestions?

I've played card driven games like Wilderness War and they are imo the must fun due to the tough decision making that has to be done every turn. My favorite game in that style is http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/234/hannibal-rome-vs-carthage. If WW is anything like Hannibal then I'd recommend it.

gonna pick up death angel & citadels

Citadels was fun but it takes at least 3 players. Four is probably better.

I got Thunderstone: Dragonspire for xmas. That game is awesome and more interesting than Dominion which has similar mechanics but lacks story because it feels too much like a speedy card game. Thunderstone can take a while to put away and it can be difficult for newbs but it's more interesting.

ZS did you pick up memoir 44 in the end?

i recently got command and colors: napoleonics (also a richard borg game) and it's crazy fun. simple enough that i think i could maybe browbeat someone i know irl into learning/playing.

also just got a battered old copy of avalon hill's the arab-israeli wars. read the rules last night, gonna fuck around w/ it tonight. the weapon effectiveness chart is a thing of beauty.

xpost, a few weeks after i posted that my life blew up and i had to move out. i'm not sure if my old roommate ever got a physical copy of Memoir 44 or not. we still play online on occasion, though. it's good, relatively lightweight (compared to a game like Combat Commandeer, at least) fun.

Have been waiting the better part of a decade for the computer version of World in Flames. All my actual board games are hiding in my Dad's garage.

i check the world in flames forum every now and then and the computer version has been put back at least a year iirc. kinda done with ww2 tbh

i recently got command and colors: napoleonics

i had the Ancients version of this, fun. Completely routed the Roman center in Zama but couldn't finish them. ended up losing

avalon hill's the arab-israeli wars

i had this as well! The Jordanians had their Centurion tanks which were a straight up match against the Israelis. Bar-Lev was a pretty great game on the '73 war.

what you playing y'all

7 wonders

is it good? I've picked it up/put it back a half dozen times in teh past month.

wiz war & the resistance for me

Just got Carcassonne big box for my birthday, played with my son a bit, but can't convince my wife to join in.

I have played a lot of 7 Wonders. It's better with the Leaders expansion, though. Resistance can suck it.

why u haet resistance

It's unbalanced. If you don't play with the power cards, the spies always win (unless there's some meta-BS going). If you do play with them, it gives the resistance an advantage. Plus the games always seem to devolve into people shouting over each other, and that just gives me a headache.

no-one playing risk: legacy?

should we expect the legacy concept to be applied to other franchises?

anyone following wil wheaton's high production value youtube series, tabletop?

Yeah, it's pretty good. I'm surprised by the games that I find myself watching all the way through (Settlers of Catan, Railroad), and the ones I get bored with quickly (Castle Panic). Most of all it shows that the people you play games with are at least as important as the game itself.

Link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9QtdiRJYro

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4F80C7D2DC8D9B6C&feature=plcp

http://tabletop.geekandsundry.com/

I wish there was an iOS OGRE app.

did you kickstart ogre, spencer

that vid makes small world look like so much fun! should i buy it??

has anyone played 7 wonders? it's really fun and pretty fast - you can play a game in 30-45 mins, so you can do a few rounds in one sitting. good times.

^my next purchase I think