Played Recently

[anarchy]

So, what have people been playing recently that is worth talking about?

My short list:

A Study in Emerald
Devious scoring. Team game with one winner, but the team with the player with the least points automatically loses. Deck-building and area control. All mixed up with a Sherlock Holmes/Cthulhu mashup. It shouldn't work, but it does.

Heroes of Might & Magic
A Polish import based on the computer series. Heroes run around the world, killing monsters for loot and resources, earning skills. But heroes need armies and troops, which cost money. And you need all the money and resources to improve your citadel with new buildings and upgrades. I found the limited number of actions per turn really, really limiting.

Rise of Augustus
Literally bingo. With a Roman theme. Long filler, playable with all sorts of gamers. My mom enjoys it, so do my gamer buddies. Has a slight mean streak as some cards have attack abilities. BUT IT'S BINGO.

Thebes
Old-classic, but new to me. It had an archeological digging theme. You do some research and then hunt for artifacts to put on museum shows. Digging is done by pulling tiles from various bags, with most bags filled with dirt. Enjoyed this quite a bit. I can see why it is well-regarded.

[kira1y]

Was playing La Bataille d'Orthez solo, but had to take it down recently. Other than that a whole lot of nothing for the most part.

[Calandale]

High Frontier: Colonization.

It's not a 'must have' like the first expansion was. It really does feel more
like an actual expansion. Adds richness to the game, and corrects some flaws
in the realism of time handling; also makes it drag out a little more - which seems
good, as the original game felt like it ended just as things were getting interesting.

But, there's more to keep track of and handle, which makes it more painful.

[usrlocal]

I currently have a VASSAL/PBEM game of 'Mr. Madison's War' going. This is about my fifth play of the game. We're still in the pre-game phase drawing from the DoW deck. Some maneuvers along the border near Detroit.

[rstites25]

Soloing through Unconditional Surrender.

I played about a year, starting out going east like Calandale did in his video before realizing that I had been storing production from one turn to another--which gave the Germans a huge offensive in the spring that they would not have been able to do otherwise.

I started over playing that rule correctly (and a couple of other minor rules errors) and started more historically by turning to France first.

The diplomacy system seems to be much more interesting when going west first. A lot of the dip system just doesn't seem to come into play if you go East first and the choices seem to be pretty straight forward. Going west, though, really opens up the system and makes it interesting. But maybe that was just because I actually had a grasp of what I was doing the second time around.

I really like the system. It has a very smooth/elegant feel to it. Nothing seems forced. I'm not sure how good the full campaign would be for three players. Whichever of USSR/Western allies doesn't get attacked first doesn't seem to have much to do until the Axis attacks them as well.

[ermj1986]

Blood and Iron (Command 21) on Konnigratz 1866

[revmidni]

Hoplite and Berlin to Barborossa

[stemcider]

I've been a bad boardgamer 

[Rockhopper]

I've got Germantown on the solo table now.

Got some friends coming over tonight for steaks and gaming. We'll probably do some Battlestar Galactica.

[ermj1986]

Invasion Norway (GMT)

Blood and Roses (GMT)

[kira1y]

Played a seven player game of Thunder Alley last night with some of the boys from the AAC guild. The VASSAL module had some issues with keeping everyone synced up, but it was more of a minor annoyance than a real problem.

Neat little game!

[jezarik]

Played a seven player game of Thunder Alley last night with some of the boys from the AAC guild. The VASSAL module had some issues with keeping everyone synced up, but it was more of a minor annoyance than a real problem.

Neat little game!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.  I'm not a racing fan at all, but I'll definitely be adding this game to my collection and I predict it will get a lot of play with my family.  I love knocking cars out of a draft line. 

[kira1y]

There are definitely some cool things about the game and ripping apart draft lines is one of them. I hadn't played with the optional starting line-up and pit rules before but I think those will become standard in future games I play. Go Team Yellow!!

[egg_salad]

I have been setting up, clipping, and starting to push counters for S&T 89, Sicily.

It is an antecedent for the VCS Salerno game MMP has on preorder, if I'm not mistaken.  "Victory in the West" system => Variable Combat System.  For certain units, you do not know their combat strength until they are in combat.  Seems like a cool concept.

Long ago, I played a wargame about Sicily on the Intellivision (I think), so I have a soft spot for Sicily wargames.  Does anyone remember this game?  I've never found it despite some googling efforts.

So far, the S&T version looks very cool.

[kira1y]

Long ago, I played a wargame about Sicily on the Intellivision (I think), so I have a soft spot for Sicily wargames.  Does anyone remember this game?  I've never found it despite some googling efforts.

That one I don't recall. The only wargame I remember on any of those type of systems (well, ok the Atari 8-bits weren't consolse, but...) was Eastern Front, which was on a cassette tape when we first got it.