The Board Game Thread - What have you Played recently?

[Smith]

Inspired by the Video Game thread, I thought it might be interesting to have a similarly themed thread based on people's board gaming experiences recently.

What have been playing?

Yesterday my kickstarter copy of Pax Pamir 2nd Edition arrived, and so my wife and I did a simple 2 player game so I could teach her the mechanics. I was loyal to the Ruskis, whilst she was loyal to my native Brits - we set about building armies and roads but I was able to battle her down to no British pieces - realising that fighting that fight was pointless, my wife switched tactics and joined the Ruskis - then stormed ahead in proving herself most influential with them! A court game was then afoot - which ultimately I lost, she had many more spies than I. I think that the moment she saw she was not only able to capitalise on my efforts to promote the Russian coalition, but leapfrog me in the process showed her the fun this game provides.

This game is beautiful not only in it's aesthetics but also in the flow of the game. It really is quite simple in concept but the decision space it creates is quite deep. You have only two actions a turn but if you are able to create a court that utilises the current favoured 'climate' you can get away with much more. The clay pieces truly are a treat to handle, too.

 

[Gabriel]

The partner and I have been on a Games Workshop kick the past few weeks. Most recently we've played:

Crypt Hunters = It plays quickly and is somewhat addictive. Turns out it's a reskin and rules modification of a previous 40K themed game called Lost Patrol.

Blackstone Fortress = I bought this game at launch. It sat forever before I assembled it. Then it sat forever until just recently we finished punching the cardboard, learning the game, and playing. Now I wish I had been playing it all along and had picked up some of the other supplements while they were available for reasonable prices. Anyway, it doesn't play so much like a dungeon crawler, but more like a boardgame version of a console tactical RPG, and for us that's a good thing.

40K = Yeah, tabletop miniatures instead of an actual boardgame. But I finally got the partner through all the tutorials and we had our first games that actually resembled "real" 40K games. We're still on starter box stuff and know absolutely nothing about the psyker step, but now we are playing at a very basic level.

 

[TristramEvans]

Kingdom Death is the only boardgame I've played since Covid hit

 

[zarion]

I have been playing a lot of Ticket to Ride with my niece. The newest expansion featuring Japan and Italy is quite fun.

 

[Bunch]

Tigris and Euphrates on Tuesday. Via Vassal. Worked well and it is a good game

 

[Voros]

Played some Memoir 44' with my wife before starting our move, once we're back together I'll want to crack open some games like Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective; Thunder and Lightning; Onitama and others!

 

[Smith]

Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective

My wife and I haven't finished our box yet, but this is so much fun! We make some immediate theories and it's so satisfying to get 'em right! (ish)

 

[E-Rocker]

I have and enjoy the game Zombies!!! and its many expansions. Been thinking of getting that out for a little solo Halloween-season board game action. I don't recall if any of the expansions have official solo rules, but I know Zombies!!! Deadtime Stories has co-op rules, and it's usually easy to use co-op rules as solo rules.

 

[Nemesis]

My partner and I are obsessed with Race to the Galaxy.

 

[under_score]

Got to play a couple more battles of C&C Napoleonics this weekend. My brother and I are working through the scenarios in order with him playing the British/coalition and me the French.
The game does a good job of playing the strengths of the respective armies and I feel like we're both getting a lot better at the strategies that compliment our respective sides with each battle. Once we get to the end we'll flip sides and see how bad we are playing the other army.

 

[Bunch]

My partner and I are obsessed with Race to the Galaxy.

A good game. Have you tried the dice version Roll for the Galaxy?

 

[Nemesis]

A good game. Have you tried the dice version Roll for the Galaxy?

I have not. How does it compare? What I love about Race is the less reliance on luck and more focus on strategy through cards.

 

[Bunch]

I have not. How does it compare? What I love about Race is the less reliance on luck and more focus on strategy through cards.

So the Dice aren't as random as they might first seem. You have a default way to swap one die for whatever you want and the tech you build often also allows you to swap dice. Also some of the die faces are wild cards.

At this point it's been so long since I played Race that I can't exactly compare it to Roll other than to say Roll sees more table time.

 

[Nemesis]

At this point it's been so long since I played Race that I can't exactly compare it to Roll other than to say Roll sees more table time.

That's quite the development. I'd be willing to give it a shot, if the game goes on sale.

 

[TristramEvans]

 

[Lofgeornost]

A week or two ago, I played several rounds of Thurn and Taxis with my wife. It's one of my favorite games: a nice balance of cards vs. mapboard and of strategy vs. luck. It's also not cut-throat, at least the way we play it.

 

[Bunch]

A week or two ago, I played several rounds of Thurn and Taxis with my wife. It's one of my favorite games: a nice balance of cards vs. mapboard and of strategy vs. luck. It's also not cut-throat, at least the way we play it.

My wife loves it too. Her preferred board games are Ticket to Ride Europe and Then and Taxis. She hated with venom coop games. There must be a winner and she's going to do her damned best to make sure it's her

 

[Lofgeornost]

My wife loves it too. Her preferred board games are Ticket to Ride Europe and Then and Taxis. She hated with venom coop games. There must be a winner and she's going to do her damned best to make sure it's her

That's interesting. We've not tried Ticket to Ride, since I'd heard it was not so good with only two players. Nor have we tried the coop games yet, though that's about to change--we're buying each other Pandemic: Fall of Rome as a joint Christmas present.

I find playing with a spouse somewhat different than playing with other people. My wife doesn't mind straight-out competition, in games like Chess (which we play from time to time), but she really dislikes games where you are basically doing your own thing (building routes in Thurn & Taxis, or placing tiles in Carcassone, etc.) but you can also make moves that simply screw over your opponent without otherwise helping you directly. So in games where you can do that, we generally don't. For instance, there is a special tile in Carcassone: Hunters and Gatherers that doesn't give you points, it just decreases your opponent's total; we don't use it when we play.

 

[zarion]

That's interesting. We've not tried Ticket to Ride, since I'd heard it was not so good with only two players. Nor have we tried the coop games yet, though that's about to change--we're buying each other Pandemic: Fall of Rome as a joint Christmas present.

I find playing with a spouse somewhat different than playing with other people. My wife doesn't mind straight-out competition, in games like Chess (which we play from time to time), but she really dislikes games where you are basically doing your own thing (building routes in Thurn & Taxis, or placing tiles in Carcassone, etc.) but you can also make moves that simply screw over your opponent without otherwise helping you directly. So in games where you can do that, we generally don't. For instance, there is a special tile in Carcassone: Hunters and Gatherers that doesn't give you points, it just decreases your opponent's total; we don't use it when we play.

Have you tried co-op games, they can be quite fun, and are usually pretty tough when played with only two players. I would also recommend the small scale Ticket to Rides for two players. My neice and I play TTR London when the rest of the family doesn't want to join in and it is absolutely brutal with only two players!

 

[Bunch]

That's interesting. We've not tried Ticket to Ride, since I'd heard it was not so good with only two players. Nor have we tried the coop games yet, though that's about to change--we're buying each other Pandemic: Fall of Rome as a joint Christmas present.

I find playing with a spouse somewhat different than playing with other people. My wife doesn't mind straight-out competition, in games like Chess (which we play from time to time), but she really dislikes games where you are basically doing your own thing (building routes in Thurn & Taxis, or placing tiles in Carcassone, etc.) but you can also make moves that simply screw over your opponent without otherwise helping you directly. So in games where you can do that, we generally don't. For instance, there is a special tile in Carcassone: Hunters and Gatherers that doesn't give you points, it just decreases your opponent's total; we don't use it when we play.

Screwing over your partner generally doesn't go over well. That said I have found it is a fairly rare game where the optimal move is to screw over your partner unless it ties in to an almost optimal move. So in something like Ticket to Ride the main way you screw over your opponent is taking a route they were planning on. I only do that when taking that route would be very beneficial to me as well or a no op. Let's say a route takes all red or all white trains and I see her collect a bunch of white. If I have sufficient red and white trains to complete a route I would probably choose to use the whites so she's behind in potentially useful cards. But even then I better have a good use for my red trains or I haven't really done myself any favors


My wife hates with a passion co-op.

 

[zarion]

Screwing over your partner generally doesn't go over well. That said I have found it is a fairly rare game where the optimal move is to screw over your partner unless it ties in to an almost optimal move. So in something like Ticket to Ride the main way you screw over your opponent is taking a route they were planning on. I only do that when taking that route would be very beneficial to me as well or a no op. Let's say a route takes all red or all white trains and I see her collect a bunch of white. If I have sufficient red and white trains to complete a route I would probably choose to use the whites so she's behind in potentially useful cards. But even then I better have a good use for my red trains or I haven't really done myself any favors

TTR rarely results in a player not being able to complete a route, they just got to go a different way.

This is a pic of TTR London. My niece beat me by one point! Seriously try it out, the mini versions are cheaper too so if she really doesn't like it you won't be out much.

My wife hates with a passion co-op.

That's too bad, there are some awesome co-op games out there.

 

[Nemesis]

Ticket To Ride is legendary. I've always wanted a version that includes the entire world.

 

[Tommy Brownell]

Primarily, Marvel Legendary with a bit of Marvel Champions thrown in. My kid and I have also been working on Zombie Kids.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Have you tried co-op games, they can be quite fun, and are usually pretty tough when played with only two players. I would also recommend the small scale Ticket to Rides for two players. My neice and I play TTR London when the rest of the family doesn't want to join in and it is absolutely brutal with only two players!

We've not tried co-op yet, but are about to take the plunge with Pandemic: Fall of Rome. Ticket to Ride London looks interesting--we may have to pick it up.

 

[zarion]

Ticket To Ride is legendary. I've always wanted a version that includes the entire world.

TTR Rails & Sails.

Can't tell you how it plays as I haven't got it yet cause it's more expensive and my neice wants to finish collecting the expansions for the base game. It does look fantastic though!

 

[Nemesis]

TTR Rails & Sails.

I saw this, and while it kind of meets my criteria, I'm thinking of one "mega map" with each continent's rail system.

 

[Bunch]

I saw this, and while it kind of meets my criteria, I'm thinking of one "mega map" with each continent's rail system.

Ticket to Risk? The game of Axis and Allies?

 

[Nemesis]

Ticket to Risk? The game of Axis and Allies?

Something like that! The biggest possible TTR map.

 

[Bunch]

Something like that! The biggest possible TTR map.

It fails to be a euro game at that size though. Usually a pretty hard upper limit of 90 mins for euros

 

[Nemesis]

It fails to be a euro game at that size though. Usually a pretty hard upper limit of 90 mins for euros

You could give players a maximum amount of tickets. And when a player finishes his set of tickets, he moves on to the next map. Kind of like a staged TTR game. This is all off the top of my head though. I'm not thinking about individual mechanics.

 

[Smith]

I got Inis and it's expansion before the hols - not had chance to break it out though! Love the art and it seems to be a much faster variant on dudes-on-a-map game.

 

[under_score]

Spent a few hours yesterday with Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain. The game is pretty high on complexity but includes a very good tutorial that sets up a sequence of events and walks you through a dozen turns with all factions. In three hours, I made it through setup and two turns, but I think it'll go a lot faster now. I'm starting to comprehend it.
The game really feels like it captures the history very well. Decisions are very difficult, especially for the Britain factions, which start the game with the most power and are really just trying to stop the decay wherever they can. Having to do stuff like bringing in Saxon mercenaries to fight off the Scotti raiders is a tough decision, but the game sets up the situation that explains why the British would take that chance.
Haven't gotten to the point of using the flowcharts to run the non-player factions, but they look pretty complex so I'm curious to play the game through solo.

 

[Smith]

Spent a few hours yesterday with Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain. The game is pretty high on complexity but includes a very good tutorial that sets up a sequence of events and walks you through a dozen turns with all factions. In three hours, I made it through setup and two turns, but I think it'll go a lot faster now. I'm starting to comprehend it.
The game really feels like it captures the history very well. Decisions are very difficult, especially for the Britain factions, which start the game with the most power and are really just trying to stop the decay wherever they can. Having to do stuff like bringing in Saxon mercenaries to fight off the Scotti raiders is a tough decision, but the game sets up the situation that explains why the British would take that chance.
Haven't gotten to the point of using the flowcharts to run the non-player factions, but they look pretty complex so I'm curious to play the game through solo.

I own Fire in the Lake - the COIN variant set during the Vietnam war and I found it fascinating as a system - there is so much push and pull and it really evokes the feeling of moving pieces around in a war room, weighing up options and taking this very distanced view of a very real insurgency you are incapable of stamping out.

 

[zarion]

Spent a few hours yesterday with Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain. The game is pretty high on complexity but includes a very good tutorial that sets up a sequence of events and walks you through a dozen turns with all factions. In three hours, I made it through setup and two turns, but I think it'll go a lot faster now. I'm starting to comprehend it.
The game really feels like it captures the history very well. Decisions are very difficult, especially for the Britain factions, which start the game with the most power and are really just trying to stop the decay wherever they can. Having to do stuff like bringing in Saxon mercenaries to fight off the Scotti raiders is a tough decision, but the game sets up the situation that explains why the British would take that chance.
Haven't gotten to the point of using the flowcharts to run the non-player factions, but they look pretty complex so I'm curious to play the game through solo.

I own Fire in the Lake - the COIN variant set during the Vietnam war and I found it fascinating as a system - there is so much push and pull and it really evokes the feeling of moving pieces around in a war room, weighing up options and taking this very distanced view of a very real insurgency you are incapable of stamping out.

GMT's COIN series is awesome!

 

[Skywalker]

I got Inis and it's expansion before the hols - not had chance to break it out though! Love the art and it seems to be a much faster variant on dudes-on-a-map game.

Inis is a great game. I am in two minds about the expansion though and more often than not choose not to use it.

 

[Skywalker]

I recently purchased Infinity Gauntlet: A Love Letter Game and Marvel United. Both are excellent light weight games with the Marvel IP.

 

[Necrozius]

Massive Darkness

As a Zombicide: Black Plague and Green Horde fan (who has collected everything available outside of those elite asshole Kickstarter folks), I was pretty excited about this one.

It's pretty fun, but I find some of the rules kind of kludgy. Specifically, the levelling system and setup. Basically, each dungeon is split into levels (tile 1 is level 1, tile 2 is level 2 etc...). You are not allowed to use skills and treasure items of a higher level than the current dungeon tile you are on. I find that kind of ridiculous, honestly. The rulebook is all over the place on this.

Still reading a few FAQs for further clarifications...

Anyone else have any experiences with this game?

 

[Voros]

Picked up Watergate for me and the Mrs. A quick two person game that gets really positive reviews.

 

[Skywalker]

If you like Watergate, I recommend Blitzkrieg. A 2 player WW2 game that plays in 15 minutes.

 

[Bunch]

Massive Darkness

As a Zombicide: Black Plague and Green Horde fan (who has collected everything available outside of those elite asshole Kickstarter folks), I was pretty excited about this one.

It's pretty fun, but I find some of the rules kind of kludgy. Specifically, the levelling system and setup. Basically, each dungeon is split into levels (tile 1 is level 1, tile 2 is level 2 etc...). You are not allowed to use skills and treasure items of a higher level than the current dungeon tile you are on. I find that kind of ridiculous, honestly. The rulebook is all over the place on this.

Still reading a few FAQs for further clarifications...

Anyone else have any experiences with this game?

I played it once. Probably no more knowledgeable than you.