Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
Friday Night Shots – Reviews vs First Impressions
It’s a Friday night and the rain has stopped!
Until overnight, then it’s supposed to rain all weekend.
Welcome to Vancouver!
Thanks for coming into the bar, even with the Canucks game on.
Sorry, I don’t have a TV. Just a jukebox that plays nothing but the greatest hits of Donny Osmond.
You’ll notice there’s nobody else in here?
Maybe I should get a TV.
But you’re not here to listen to “music” or talk about hockey.
You’re here to talk about board games!
So let me grab you a beverage of your choice and let’s get started.
Tonight, I’d like to talk about review posts and first impressions posts.
Read MoreReview – Villages of Valeria
There’s a certain attraction to families of games out there, though it’s funny how there aren’t as many as you would think there are.
When I say “families,” I’m speaking of games that are based in the same universe, though the mechanics and style of each individual game is different.
There are the Garphill trilogies (I won’t use my usual gif there), and I’m sure there are others out there that I’m not thinking of.
These games use the same artist, ostensibly take place in the same type of world (or same section of it if we’re talking about the real world), and are generally related in some way, even if only by background.
One of the most obvious family of games is the Valeria family from Daily Magic Games, of which I have now played only four but there are many more out there to be tried.
There is, of course, Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria, which I have reviewed and really enjoyed, and two others that I haven’t played enough to review yet.
And then comes a perfect filler game that totally meets the needs of a worker with only an hour for lunch.
Villages of Valeria is a relatively quick card game of building up a new village in the Valeria kingdom in order to hopefully have it become the new capital city (which would be a huge shock to the inhabitants used to peaceful village life, I would think!)
It was designed by Rick Holzgrafe and Isaias Vallejo with artwork by Mihajlo Dimitrievski (who is also the only artist for the Garphill games trilogies…coincidence?). It was published by Daily Magic Games in 2017.
That’s the cool thing about the Valeria series of games: many of them are designed by different designers. It’s not all just the same two people.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that either, but the different perspectives in the Valeria series can make them seem really fresh.
What I really like about these games, or at least the four that I’ve played, is how different they are. Two of them are dice-drafting euros while the other two (including Villages) are card games, but with different mechanics that are quite interesting.
Villages gives a bit of a twist to the time-honoured “multi-use cards” mechanic that differentiates it a bit from others that I’ve played.
What do I mean?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreKickstarter Review – Like Cain and Abel
I like card games a lot.
Short, punchy 2-player card games are even better, as you don’t need a lot of time and they work in almost any circumstance.
Even better is when they do some innovative things with the whole genre.
Like Cain and Abel is an 18-card, 2-player trick-taking game designed by, with artwork by, and published by J.L. Reid. It’s going to Kickstarter on April 30 and the campaign is running until May 23.
J.L. graciously offered me a prototype copy of the game in exchange for a fair an honest review, and I jumped at the chance.
Keep in mind, though, that since this is a prototype, the components will change some, especially from a quality perspective. The pictures below don’t represent the final product.
How is Like Cain and Abel innovative and how does it get in its own way, at least a bit?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreFriday Night Shots – Update and Rules Mistakes
Welcome back!
I know it’s been a little while since my last post, and that was after me saying how proud I was that I haven’t had more than a week in between posts in a long time.
Then I go and let 10 days go by.
It’s not from being sick, which is usually the case.
No, this was a full mental health and just not feeling up to writing issue. I did not feel like writing at all, and once again started wondering if it was worth it to continue this blog.
Not only did Grant give me the side eye again (that can be terrifying), but I also just thought about it.
Seven years of work, why would I stop now when I do ultimately enjoy it?
So I gave myself a bit of a rest, playing the Marvel/2K Midnight Suns video game instead, and just trying to relax.
It’s been a stressful month.
But that part’s been fun!
It’s an interesting game.
Anyway, I’m back and hopefully recharged, with a few posts that I really want to get done.
The bar is reopened!
Here, have some cool, delicious milk.
Wait, come back!
Let’s get back to chatting about board games.
Read MoreCombat Commander – After Action Report – Scenario LoM #12 – Red Sector A
What’s this?
Two months in a row where I actually do my Combat Commander ladder game report early?
That’s unheard of!
There must be something in the water.
It’s time for another tale from the ladder! The ladder is a Combat Commander monthly tournament run by the unshakeable Patrick Pence, he of Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials Youtube fame.
You should really go and check that channel out! Especially if you like exciting VASSAL wargaming content.
And tutorials!
If you’re new to Combat Commander, definitely check out Patrick’s tutorials on it.
Before I go any further, allow me to welcome Kai Jensen to the ladder. Kai has been intimately involved with Combat Commander since it’s inception and is playing (or maybe already has played) her first ladder game this month!
It’s an honour to have you as part of our group, Kai.
This month’s scenario is from the Leader of Men battle pack of tournament scenarios.
Red Sector A has the American army trying to breach the Siegfried Line by taking the city of Aachen. The scenario has a group of Americans trying to break through German lines on the outskirts of the city.
My opponent this month was another rematch! Dave D and I last played a ladder game in December 2022, where he defeated me quite handily.
Would I get my vengeance?
Or get pummeled again?
(Don’t forget you can click on an image to enlarge it)
The German defenders (grey, me) are arrayed in the two objective buildings (circled), trying to prevent the Americans (green, Dave) from exiting off one of the three road hexes (red arrows).
Needless to say, all three road exits were mined.
However, one of the special rules in the scenario is that the Americans have two Engineer squads.
If they enter a Minefield hex, if the mine attack roll is doubles, then the roll is multiplied by 2 before being applied.
But if it’s not doubles, then the mines are gone and have no effect!
The other special rule is that the German satchel charges are actually panzerfausts (helpfully already showing as panzerfausts in VASSAL, but they didn’t actually adjust the range to 2 hexes). They can only target units in at least +1 cover.
Finally, the Americans can only exit through the road hexes, as mentioned, and the Germans can exit but get no points for them (as opposed to some scenarios that don’t allow exiting, where anybody leaving the map is just eliminated).
These scenarios are known for being light on the special rules, and that’s all we have!
So let’s begin and see what happened, shall we?
Read MoreFriday Night Shots (Saturday Edition) – Auction Games
Apologies for the bar being closed last night!
It’s been a bit of a struggle the last couple of weeks getting stuff written as I’ve been suffering from a bit of imposter syndrome, wondering again what the heck I’m doing with this thing.
I’m already sensing Grant giving me the side-eye.
I’ve managed to not miss a complete week, though, which I’m happy with.
So now the bar is open again (even though we have no customers) and I’d be happy to serve you up a drink while we chat about boardgames!
I’ve made you this!
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve heard it’s good.
On the Internet, don’t you know.
Let me turn down the jukebox. I’m not sure how the collected works of William Shatner got on there, but there will be words with the technician in the morning.
I have been able to get some Sunday gaming in recently, and March ended on a great note with four games played, including one new to me!
One great old standby, though, and what prompted tonight’s post, was another play of the brand new edition of Reiner Knizia’s age-old auction game, Ra.
It made me want to talk about more auctions.
Read MoreMarch 2024 Gaming
February was a very slow month for gaming, but that was ok after a really fast January.
However, March actually beat January like a rented mule!
Ok, actually, there were fewer games played in January, but more plays (because I played a few games so many times in January).
March was an awesome month with the Terminal City Tabletop Convention garnering a number of plays, plus some lunchtime games at work and not missing a Sunday at all (except for the convention, which of course really added to the plays!).
Let’s take a look at what I actually played.
And here are the games in grid form!
Though I actually played 26 games, but only 25 fit on the grid.
The odd one out was Surfosaurus Max.
That’s right. Twenty-six games played in March!
That was amazing.
Not only that, but the quality of games played was really up there too.
Sure, some of the Terminal City games were a bit meh, but overall, I really loved most of the games I played in March.
Why don’t we take a look at some of those highlights?
Read MoreNew to Me – March 2024
Aloha! (Saying this for my friend who’s out on a cruise, even though she’s not technically going to Hawaii but somewhere just as warm).
You may be wondering.
“Dave, why are you wearing socks with sandals?”
I would say that you should just keep your damned opinions to yourself, you young whippersnapper.
You may also be wondering why it’s been almost 2 months since a “New to Me Games” post.
That’s because I played nothing new in February!
I did note that…were you paying attention?
Anyway, with a convention in March, I knew that things would take a drastic change for the better this month.
Lots of games to talk about!
While it wasn’t as bad as OrcaCon in regards to making this post super-long, it was still a great month for them.
So, without further ado (all of my ado was used to seal the joints of a Viking warship anyway), let’s begin!
Read MoreReview – Shipwrights of the North Sea – Redux
What do you do if you love ships but you’re afraid of being out on the water so you can’t actually go sailing?
Especially if you’re a Viking?
You get a job building them instead of sailing them!
That’s the premise of Shipwrights of the North Sea – Redux (ok, maybe without the “I’m afraid to be out on the water” part; I might have extrapolated too much there).
Shipwrights of the North Sea – Redux (from now on, just assume I’m talking about the the new Redux version and not the original that has a really bad reputation, ok?) was designed by Shem Phillips way back in 2014, but the new updated (and supposedly much better) version came out in 2024.
It has art from Mihajlo Dimitrievski and was published by Garphill Games and Renegade Game Studios.
It’s a card-drafting, simultaneous action game that plays in an hour or so once players know what they are doing, which makes it a perfect lunchtime game, or “filler” game at the beginning or end of a game night, especially if you have 5 players.
We all know about 5 players, right?
But you can with Shipwrights!
Does it play well, though?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreFriday Night Shots – Player Aids
Welcome to another end-of-week social gathering where it’s just you and me!
I’d say I’m enough to make it social. Wouldn’t you?
Well, anyway, hop on a seat at the bar and let’s chat!
I do have to say first, though, that you are running up quite the bar tab here.
Are you going to pay it tonight?
You do have a week still…
I kid!!!
For you, everything’s free.
But only you. Don’t tell anybody else.
Let me turn the music down because it’s kind of echoing in the emptiness.
I apologize for whoever the heck remade that upbeat Beatles song into a dirge.
I will have to fire the jukebox guy.
What shall we talk about today?
How about player aids in games!
Are they necessary? Unnecessary? A murderable offense if they’re not included?
Read More
Dude! Take Your Turn! 