What War or Boardgame are you playing?

[Parzival]

Last night my face-to-face gaming group got together for the first time since last year. At the request of the host, we played a four-person game of Risk, using the OOP variant Risk: Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition.
We played twice… well, sorta. We started by using the “Hunt for the Ring” variant in the rules which allows the Evil side to “Find the Ring” when it enters a territory Evil controls and the Evil player rolls a modified result of 12 or higher on 2d6… and on the second player’s turn that happened, ending the game immediately with an Evil victory. So we decided to wave that away and continue without that rule.

In any case, we had a lot of fun, and in the final long-play game Good triumphed— though after huge swings for either side that kept the outcome in question ‘til the end.

Fun game, and I’m glad to bring it out, as normally we have too many players present— it’s strictly a four-person game. If you can find (and afford) a copy, I highly recommend it for Risk fans. Just enough difference to make it a stand out, and nicely thematic to the source as well.

[skars]

I recently painted a full original set of MB HeroQuest and first expansion for my brother and I along with our kids to play. It has been a blast. Not sure how to post photos specifically but I used a simple contrast paint method to get them done pretty quickly.

[stevemitchell]

I went back to 1862 for a game of The Seven Days Battles from Worthington. This is part of their Civil War battle series set at the brigade level. The game includes maps and counters for four separate battles, plus two games that use two maps and two days for larger battles. I played one of the latter--the combined Beaver Dam Creek and Gaines Mill scenario. The Rebs eventually won, but it was a close fight.

[stevemitchell]

More from Worthington. I played 1944: D-Day to the Rhine, which covers the Allied campaign in Northwest Europe at an army-corps level. The Allies started out great, capturing Caen in June and Paris in July, but then bogged down as they got closer to the borders of Germany. Didn't get close to the Rhine, so, a German victory.

[Parzival]

So I finally got back around to trying the app-run Kellar’s Keep expansion for Heroquest, and this time the app killed my dwarf on the second turn— and I had deliberately positioned him in a spot where that should not have happened. With my suspicions aroused, I checked the Kellar’s Keep Quest Book for the scenario, and found that there was nothing which should have killed a character outright under the conditions set. AHA!
So I went to the App Store and discovered there has been an update to the HeroQuest app to “fix” unspecified bugs. Did the update, and ran the scenario again— no problems at all this time.

[owlorbs]

I am reading "Bad Mexicans" and soloing Lords of the Sierra Madre (1995 version). With any luck, I'll get a multiplayer session this spring.

[Parzival]

Played Horrified again with a young college friend. It was her second time playing, so we bumped it up from novice (two monsters) to standard (three monsters). Rolling randomly, we took on The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. We opted to use three heroes, again randomly producing The Inspector, The Courier, and the Explorer— very powerful heroes who can all essentially teleport around the board. We thought that put us in solid shape, and we were looking at a challenging but eventual win.

We got slaughtered.

And it was the Villagers’ fault.

We were spread out to take advantage of the teleport abilities to gather items and get them to the Precinct to advance the Invisible Man defeat path. And that was working. But the monster cards kept adding Villagers to the board— and every time they wound up either in or next to the Creature. And as by this point the Creature was the “frenzied” monster (and every Villager card triggers the Frenzy monster), the Creature would promptly attack the undefended Villager, advancing the Horrified marker.
We did manage to knock off The Invisible Man, but that was it. Professor Pearson, Lucy, Maria, Renfield and Fritz all succumbed to the Creature in rapid succession, and added to two early Hero defeats (before we had Items for defense), their destruction brought about ours.

It was brutal, but also hilarious. We’d take a carefully planned action, pleased that we were moving towards victory, and I’d flip a monster card and it would be a Villager, next to the Creature, and trigger the attack. Tick. Tick. Tick. At one point we used a Perk card to move the Creature away from the main village (and the Heroes), sticking him in the Dungeon, safely tucked away from further ability to hinder us… and then the next monster card put Fritz in the Tower, one move away from the Creature!

So we lost spectacularly— and if you’re gonna lose this game, that’s the way to do it!

[Malchor]

Participated in a playlets, 12 hours of fun in a six player game. Since I could not go to Gary Con for the 3rd year in a row, this game really helped hit a spot. It was a global geo-policatical game, that is about all I can share about it, other than lots of nail biting and would definitely play again.

[terrex]

Last weekend I did a lot of gaming:

Friday:
I played original Axis & Allies 2e with Gamer's Paradise Expansion I and II. These expanded rules include enhanced naval rules, escorts, destroyer, anti-sub sonar patrol, air search communications, paratroopers, brit commandos, german S.S., U.S. marines, jpn pill boxes, enhanced bombing rules, trucks, a larger pacific, and more... We use a giant map and painted lead GHQ naval miniatures.
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98/axis-allies
boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/22927/world-war-ii-expansion
boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/22952/world-war-ii-expansion-2

Saturday:
War of the Ring Anniversary version
boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/22952/world-war-ii-expansion-2


Sunday:
2 games of my homebrew baseball simulation game

It was a good weekend!

[Parzival]

Played Horrified again, in an installment we titled Revenge on the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This time we faced the Creature, the Mummy, and their new allies, Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride (from henceforth known as “Frankie and the Bride”, hummed to the tune of Pinky & the Brain). We concentrated on defeating the Unhappy Couple, followed by the Mummy, followed by the Creature. This time we had the Courier and the Investigator again, but as a wingman, the Mayor in her zippy wheel chair (5 actions). And we were VERY careful to use “Move a monster” perk cards and careful Hero positioning to keep the Frenzied monsters away from the Villagers— this time, we lost only Fritz when he popped up on a card which also moves The Bride— and she was one step away from him. It was still a close game— we were at 5 on the terror track and down to only three Monster cards remaining when we finally caught and stuffed the Creature. Hooray for the heroes!

I’ve played this game multiple times now, and it never ceases to entertain— and the win is never a given.

[tkdco2]

I played Micro Macro Crime City on Tabletop Simulator today. It's like a cross between Where's Waldo and a murder mystery. Here's a review of the game.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR0LDj1Jcfo

[Parzival]

Introduced Survive! (aka: Survive: Escape from Atlantis) to my grand niece and nephew (ages 9 and 11). Survive! is a surprisingly challenging and cut-throat strategy game, despite the simplicity of its structure. The board is a large hex grid with a central island made up of hex tiles (similar to Catan), surrounded by ocean. At the corners of the board are four islands. Each player has 10 figures representing different numbers of people (concealed from all players), which are placed on the island to start the game. The object of the game is to move your figures from the central island to any of the four corner islands, either by swimming or on a limited number of boats, before the island’s volcano erupts. Meanwhile, the island is also sinking; at the end of a player’s turn, they remove an island hex tile, dumping any figures on it into the sea and revealing either sharks or whales, or gaining a special one-time ability to use on that player’s turn. Sharks, whales, and sea serpents move about the ocean, consuming swimmers, capsizing boats, or consuming both boats and swimmers whenever they land on one. A die roll determines which of these move, and the movement is decided by the die roller, so it gets bloody fast! This thing is the opposite of co-op, though alliances can form (usually very temporary). The winner, of course, is whichever player gets the most points worth of figures onto the corner islands (where doesn’t matter— just safely to shore!). Plays quickly, and generates rapid rivalries but without the sense of betrayal— you know everybody is out to get you, and that you’re out to get everybody else, so it’s not upsetting when it happens— just inevitable. Fun for adults as well as kids, and a great filler-game.

[tkdco2]

Survive! is a fun game. My friends and I had several fun sessions. I tried introducing it to my family, but they're not very interested in board games at this time.

[Parzival]

My mother-in-law (sadly no longer with us) used to love the game. She was not a gamer by any means, but you could get her to eagerly sit down for Survive! And then this quiet, kind, peace-loving church organist would tear you to SHREDS, in the sweetest way possible. “Oh, look. ‘Sea Serpent moves to any vacant space.’” Tap tap. “Oh, I rolled a Sea Serpent. Chomp, chomp!” . She was a delight, but she showed no mercy in Survive!

[hamurai]

Last weekend we played Blood Bowl. My Norse team had some trouble stopping the jumping and running Skaven at first and they scored 2 touchdowns in the first half, but by the start of the second half I had taken out one of their Blitzers, a Lineman and the Rat Ogre. Since they had no players in reserve (I lost a Lineman, but had 1 in reserve) my full team crushed them in the 2nd half.

Now we're hyped for more, I already ordered some ridiculously cheap Chaos Dwarf and Nurgle teams from Etsy, plus some big ones and star players. Soon(ish), we'll start a local league. I love it!

[Parzival]

I’ve never played Blood Bowl, but I picked up the first edition of Blitz Bowl on clearance about a year ago (or so). Built the models and played out a few rounds solo to learn the game. Interesting system. I gather it’s sort of a “lighter and faster” edition of Blood Bowl— I guess the “Arena League,” as it were. Don’t really think I’ll go farther than this starter set, but I’d like to try it against an opponent.

Have you ever tried the OOP Hasbro board game, Battle Ball? It’s got some neat concepts (and great miniatures), though it needs…something… to push it further— it’s just a little too simple. (I found an “Advanced Battle Ball” homebrew rules set which is a step in the right direction.)

[ochrejelly]

Mordheim is my true love wargaming wise. Love the campaign system in it.

[hamurai]

Apr 15, 2023 16:58:10 GMT -6 Parzival said:

I’ve never played Blood Bowl, but I picked up the first edition of Blitz Bowl on clearance about a year ago (or so). Built the models and played out a few rounds solo to learn the game. Interesting system. I gather it’s sort of a “lighter and faster” edition of Blood Bowl— I guess the “Arena League,” as it were. Don’t really think I’ll go farther than this starter set, but I’d like to try it against an opponent.

I actually started with Blitz Bowl 2 back when it came out and was happy with it for a long time. I also got the latest ("ultimate") edition, although the changes are rather small apart from the cards.
The game was great fun, so I decided to get Blood Bowl, and I really enjoyed it, too. It's a totally different gameplay, though, so both games can exist in their own right. I know several people who like the one, but hate the other.

Blitz Bowl is great for really quick plays with sometimes weird tactics to fulfill the card challenges, which is not present in Blood Bowl.

If you're looking for something in between Blood Bowl and Blitz Bowl, there's Blood Bowl Sevens (just 7 players per team on a smaller field), Street Bowl, Beach Bowl, and several other ideas involving smaller teams and play fields.

Apr 15, 2023 16:58:10 GMT -6 Parzival said:

Have you ever tried the OOP Hasbro board game, Battle Ball? It’s got some neat concepts (and great miniatures), though it needs…something… to push it further— it’s just a little too simple. (I found an “Advanced Battle Ball” homebrew rules set which is a step in the right direction.)

I've never tried Battle Ball and was just vaguely aware it existed. I've never heard anyone mention it where I live. I think some folks here had played some Guild Ball some years ago, but that's abandoned.

[Parzival]

Apr 18, 2023 8:23:47 GMT -6 hamurai said:

Apr 15, 2023 16:58:10 GMT -6 Parzival said:

I’ve never played Blood Bowl, but I picked up the first edition of Blitz Bowl on clearance about a year ago (or so). Built the models and played out a few rounds solo to learn the game. Interesting system. I gather it’s sort of a “lighter and faster” edition of Blood Bowl— I guess the “Arena League,” as it were. Don’t really think I’ll go farther than this starter set, but I’d like to try it against an opponent.

I actually started with Blitz Bowl 2 back when it came out and was happy with it for a long time. I also got the latest ("ultimate") edition, although the changes are rather small apart from the cards.
The game was great fun, so I decided to get Blood Bowl, and I really enjoyed it, too. It's a totally different gameplay, though, so both games can exist in their own right. I know several people who like the one, but hate the other.

Blitz Bowl is great for really quick plays with sometimes weird tactics to fulfill the card challenges, which is not present in Blood Bowl.

If you're looking for something in between Blood Bowl and Blitz Bowl, there's Blood Bowl Sevens (just 7 players per team on a smaller field), Street Bowl, Beach Bowl, and several other ideas involving smaller teams and play fields.

Apr 15, 2023 16:58:10 GMT -6 Parzival said:

Have you ever tried the OOP Hasbro board game, Battle Ball? It’s got some neat concepts (and great miniatures), though it needs…something… to push it further— it’s just a little too simple. (I found an “Advanced Battle Ball” homebrew rules set which is a step in the right direction.)

I've never tried Battle Ball and was just vaguely aware it existed. I've never heard anyone mention it where I live. I think some folks here had played some Guild Ball some years ago, but that's abandoned.

Found the rules I use for Battle Ball posted on BoardGameGeek. Here’s the game listing: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6795/battleball
The “Advanced” rules are in the file section (scroll down). Of course, you need the game itself, though it could be played on any sufficient hex grid* and with any figures. All but the “passing” die are standard polyhedral dice, and since the “passing” die is just a 1-6 cylinder shaped like a football it can be replaced with a standard d6.

The original game has teams divided as follows: 3 running backs (d20 move and “tackle”), 2 offensive tackles (iirc) (d12), 2 linemen (d10), 2 linebackers (d8), 1 tackle (d6) and 1 heavy tackle (double-sized base, 2d6 choose best result, but ties=malfunction).
The player declares which figure will move, rolls the die to find its maximum for that move. If two opposing figures contact each other (whether carrying the ball or not), a “tackle” occurs. Both figures roll dice and the lowest roll wins; the loser is removed from the field and replaced with a “carnage” token that blocks movement through its space. On a 1, the losing figure is “seriously injured” and cannot return to the game in a subsequent “half.” Passing involves rolling the passing die and the intended receiver’s die; if the total meets or exceeds the distance between the passer and the receiver, the ball is caught. If not, the pass is incomplete and “fumbled” at a random distance from the passer. Any figure from any side can recover a fumbled ball simply by landing on it. Tackles can also initiate either a ball exchange, or if the figures tie, a fumble. Handoffs are possible, but have that fumble risk. Get the ball in the opponent’s endzone and win a point (and the “half”). Reset and play a second half, and if tied, one overtime. A slightly “expert” version introduces special abilities for certain players on each of the included teams.

It’s a bit more blood-bath rugby/soccer than American football— more “Kill the man with the ball, and maybe a few of his buddies”—but the core is there. The Advanced rules in the link offer a more tactical game (not much more) and suggest various “formations” to try, enhancing the tactical thinking. One thing I like about the Advanced rules is that a player moves any three figures, not just one, which allows you to create running blockers to protect and open a path for the ball carrier. The one thing I wish it had was a “down” structure, but that would certainly slow the game considerably. (As some wag once said, American football is a brawl interrupted by committee meetings.)

So if you can find it, it’s good for a quick hour or less of play, and is easy enough for any kid to pick up in one go.

I will say that while I enjoyed Blitz Bowl, in some ways Battle Ball wins out for me, just for its rapid play. Plus the original minis are great.

*The “official” field is made up of offset rectangles, but the pattern is identical to a hex grid.

[hamurai]

Thanks for the info, I'll check the rules out!

If you like the more tactical game, Blood Bowl might be right for you. When it's your turn you activate your players one after the other, either until your luck runs out and you botch an action (so it's really important to get the order of activations right for your tactics), or until all your players have activated. What I like is how differently many teams play - you've got the agile teams like elves and Skaven who can mostly outrun the other teams, but they're more fragile too. Other teams rely on "blocking", attempting to take out the other team's players, so they even get a chance to score a touchdown.

Some matches with the wee and squishy teams are a wild and often random match of running after the ball and trying not to hurt yourselves, other matches with the strong and tough teams are more like a mass brawl in the first half and the second half is a mix of tactics and brawling, depending on who came out better in the first.

[skars]

Apr 19, 2023 14:07:25 GMT -6 hamurai said:

Thanks for the info, I'll check the rules out!

If you like the more tactical game, Blood Bowl might be right for you. When it's your turn you activate your players one after the other, either until your luck runs out and you botch an action (so it's really important to get the order of activations right for your tactics), or until all your players have activated. What I like is how differently many teams play - you've got the agile teams like elves and Skaven who can mostly outrun the other teams, but they're more fragile too. Other teams rely on "blocking", attempting to take out the other team's players, so they even get a chance to score a touchdown.

Some matches with the wee and squishy teams are a wild and often random match of running after the ball and trying not to hurt yourselves, other matches with the strong and tough teams are more like a mass brawl in the first half and the second half is a mix of tactics and brawling, depending on who came out better in the first.

A game I have played on multiple continents and one of my favorites. Also Blitz Bowl is a fun lightweight rendition

[tkdco2]

I got my best friend The Bloody Inn for his birthday. We played a few games.

[owlorbs]

Root and Pax Porfiriana have been my most played lately.

[stevemitchell]

I've played several scenarios from Screaming Eagles, part of Worthington's "Band of Brothers" series of squad-level WWII games. Screaming Eagles follows the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Market Garden to the Bulge. A good system that definitely has its own approach to squad-level gaming.

And recently, with some of my non-wargaming family members, I've played Pandemic and Horrified. First time with each--I enjoyed them, and will likely seek out the Universal Monsters expansion for Horrified.

[stevemitchell]

Aces of Valor from Legion Games. This covers aerial warfare in WWI; you command a squadron of American, British, French, or German planes, while the solitaire system takes care of the other side. In three eight-mission campaigns, the Americans managed a minor victory, a minor defeat, and a major victory. A fun game, and definitely one I would play again.

[ochrejelly]

I had an absolutely jam packed long weekend of gaming featuring games of Space Hulk, Heroquest, Mordheim, Rogue Trader, Warhammer Skirmish, warhammer fantasy battle 3rd edition and Planet 28. It was very fun.

[hamurai]

I played Blood Bowl yesterday, start of our new local league. I had the worst dice throws of my life in this game. The other player got away with rookie mistakes because he kept rolling perfectly and I, despite re-rolls, kept rolling pure crap.

I lost the first two players on turn one. On turn 5 I had lost 4 players already (for the rest of the game and some for the next game). At the end of the first half I only had 5 players on the field. Enough recovered to field 7 players at the start of the second half. First turn, my Valkyrie gets the ball, runs, everything looked great. The enemy Trained Troll throws a Goblin, perfect throw, the Goblin hits my Valkyrie and against all odds not only succeeds in taking away the ball, but he also kills her outright. At that time my Yeti I fielded for the first time had spend most of his time lying on the grass because I kept rolling 1s when I wanted him to get up and block.
When only 2 turns were left to play, I had only 5 players on the field, the other team had lost an Ork (killed by one of my Linemen) and one Goblin was KO. Due to some cunning and my enemy's bloodlust my remaining Valkyrie managed to take the ball and perfectly throw it to a Lineman who scored a touchdown on the next turn. That was one single epic moment in a match dominated by pure dumb luck of the other player, and some pure dumb bad luck on my part.

My Norsca Beerserkers lost 1:3 against the Black Orks.

In the end, we both felt that the game dragged on too long after the first half. It was no longer interesting enough to make us jump up. I was used to failing every important roll (towards the end, I KO'ed my Yeti because he tripped...), while the other player was more interested in trying how many Goblins he'd need to kill my other Valkyrie.

Apart from about 4 turns, I think this match was Blood Bowl at its worst, and the reason why many first-time players don't come back to it.

Still, I'm looking forward towards my next match. Hopefully the Wood Elves will not be so lucky...

[stevemitchell]

A couple of solitaire games from Worthington: Archie's War (Guadalcanal), with two wins for the Marines (me) and one for the Japanese; and 414 BC: The Siege of Syracuse, with two wins for the Athenians (me).

A couple of magazine games from Decision: Balkans 1944, with the Germans and Soviets battling to a tie (historical result), and Chaco War 1932-1935, with Paraguay winning a sudden-death victory.

[Parzival]

Played Risk: Star Wars, The Original Trilogy with the gang Friday night. One of my buddies and I were the Evil Empire, and we lived up to the name. Two planets destroyed, we rebuilt the Death Star after some kid got lucky, and generally kicked the Rebels all over the galaxy.

BUT I also was introduced to a new game (to me)— actually an old game from 1964– called Phalanx. It’s a two-person abstract strategy game which uses geometric shapes that move along a square grid further divided into triangles. The object of the game is to eliminate the opponent by placing two of your pieces against two sides of an opposing piece. However:

1. You can only move one piece on your turn… so when you move a piece next to an opponent to set up an elimination, you’ve also set up a potential elimination against your piece!

2. Pieces cannot change orientation, and most are triangles, placed at the start in specific orientations. Since they can’t ever be flipped, they can only be moved to a grid triangle which matches their original orientation.

3. While there is no limitation to the number of places or direction a piece can move, the movement must always be in a straight line from the piece’s current location. (Like a queen in chess, there is no “turning.”)

4. Also, the path of intended movement must be clear. Imagine the pieces being slid along the grid lines; if they would contact another piece, regardless of its orientation, before reaching the destination, that move cannot be made.

It’s one of those games that appear simple at first, but become quite challenging as soon as you begin to play.

Alas, it’s OOP, but you can find used copies online for about $20. Of course, you can also easily make your own— the original is just cardboard anyway. A little time with a printer, scissors and glue (for a heavy backing) and you’ve got a nifty little game.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4554/phalanx

[skars]

Jun 11, 2023 15:17:50 GMT -6 hamurai said:

I played Blood Bowl yesterday, start of our new local league. I had the worst dice throws of my life in this game. The other player got away with rookie mistakes because he kept rolling perfectly and I, despite re-rolls, kept rolling pure crap.

I lost the first two players on turn one. On turn 5 I had lost 4 players already (for the rest of the game and some for the next game). At the end of the first half I only had 5 players on the field. Enough recovered to field 7 players at the start of the second half. First turn, my Valkyrie gets the ball, runs, everything looked great. The enemy Trained Troll throws a Goblin, perfect throw, the Goblin hits my Valkyrie and against all odds not only succeeds in taking away the ball, but he also kills her outright. At that time my Yeti I fielded for the first time had spend most of his time lying on the grass because I kept rolling 1s when I wanted him to get up and block.
When only 2 turns were left to play, I had only 5 players on the field, the other team had lost an Ork (killed by one of my Linemen) and one Goblin was KO. Due to some cunning and my enemy's bloodlust my remaining Valkyrie managed to take the ball and perfectly throw it to a Lineman who scored a touchdown on the next turn. That was one single epic moment in a match dominated by pure dumb luck of the other player, and some pure dumb bad luck on my part.

My Norsca Beerserkers lost 1:3 against the Black Orks.

In the end, we both felt that the game dragged on too long after the first half. It was no longer interesting enough to make us jump up. I was used to failing every important roll (towards the end, I KO'ed my Yeti because he tripped...), while the other player was more interested in trying how many Goblins he'd need to kill my other Valkyrie.

Apart from about 4 turns, I think this match was Blood Bowl at its worst, and the reason why many first-time players don't come back to it.

Still, I'm looking forward towards my next match. Hopefully the Wood Elves will not be so lucky...

The challenge for Norse players in a league has always been that they are paper tigers and succumb to injury. They simply don't have the armor to stand toe to toe with bash teams with equal access to block, big guys, and improved armor. Orcs, Lizardmen, and Dwarves in particular. Chaos dwarves, nurgle, and Chaos to a lesser extent. That being said resurrection tournaments they shine much like amazons.