Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
November 2021 Monthly Update From GMT Games
It’s good to see the Players’ Aid back to doing some posts!
They’re still just interviews right now (or they were, until they posted something non-interviewish this morning after I had written all of this last night!) so I’m going to continue doing a GMT Games update based on their monthly email.
I’ll be doing that until I’m assured that Grant and Alexander are back to posting to the blog regularly.
October’s went over really well. I was very pleased to see that! Thank you for stopping by.
November’s email just came in yesterday, so let’s see what this update brings.
Click on the link to the update as there is tons more stuff in it than I could ever talk about here.
First, a couple of housekeeping items.
Sadly, I had to cancel my P500 orders for the latest standalone expansion for The Last Hundred Yards, The Last Hundred Yards: The Solomon Islands.
There was one main reason for this, though it branches into two reasons (kind of).
The main reason was that three of my games are charging on Monday, November 29 (including the Solomon Islands expansion) and I realized after thinking about it that I will not get this played for a very long time, if ever. As much as the system seems very intriguing, I just can’t really justify spending the money on it.
Especially because I already have two games that I really want also charging on November 29. I couldn’t justify spending $130 US (after shipping) on three games where one of the games I won’t be playing for a number of years, if at all.
Maybe I’ll get it on the next reprint?
So I cancelled that order.
Secondly, I don’t have the energy to go through my entire P500 list and talk about them this month.
So I’m only going to mention those whose statuses have changed (which appears to be only one, sadly).
That being said, let’s get to November’s update!
Read MoreExpansion Review – Roll Player: Fiends & Familiars
Roll Player has been one of the greatest purchases I made during the pandemic lockdown in 2020-21, when I was trying to buy some games I could play at home. My wife and I played it a bunch of times!
As part of buying the game, I had to get both expansions, especially when we realized the base game itself was so good.
The first expansion, Monsters & Minions, added a bunch of stuff that was so needed: a reason for creating this character, dice that were colorless but added higher values, things like that.
What does the second expansion, Fiends & Familiars, add?
Some interesting stuff, but it doesn’t have nearly the effect that the first expansion did.
This expansion was designed by Keith Matejka with art by JJ Ariosa, Luis Francisco and Lucas Ribeiro. It’s published by Thunderworks Games
I think it’s very cool that it also adds more monsters and minions, and rules for them in case you’re not playing with the first expansion. This way, you’re still getting at least a reason to be creating this character, even if you’re not also getting the boost dice and stuff.
But the unique stuff?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreReview – TEN
Feeling a little grey?
Suffering from a lack of colour in your life?
Have I got the game for you.
TEN is the new card game published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) and it is bright!
Just look at that box.
The game was designed by Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankewich and Robert Melvin with artwork by Shawn Stankewich and it was just released a few weeks ago (in 2021 for those of you reading this review 5 years from now).
It can take 1-5 players.
TEN is a push-your luck game as well, so those of you who don’t like that sort of thing may just want to bow out now (though you will miss some great jokes!).
There aren’t a lot of rules to the game and it takes about 30 minutes to play (often less), which makes it the perfect lunchtime game or game to play before everybody has arrived (or after many people have left) your game day.
How does it play and is it any good?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreStorm Above the Reich – After Action Report – Mission #6
It was do or die time for Staffel Roy as they were attempting to defend the Third Reich from Allied B-24 bombers in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.
The final mission of the first “season” in the campaign game for Storm Above the Reich, the Luftwaffe pilots were getting a little antsy.
Would they be disbanded due to poor performance?
Or would they live to carry on?
Well, some of them would live, anyway.
It was early 1943 and the stakes were high. The claxon rang and our brave pilots scrambled to their fighters.
This was it.
Would they be able to do it?
Let’s take a look.
(Reminder, you can always click on a picture to see it full size. Also, for the specific rules of what I’m talking about, see the Mission #1 & #2 report)
Read MoreCombat Commander – After Action Report – Scenario 35 – Spartakovka Salient
After two months in the jungles of the Pacific Ocean, November’s Combat Commander Ladder scenario takes us back to the Eastern Front in Europe, namely the Stalingrad Battle Pack for Combat Commander: Europe.
This is my sixth month of playing in the Combat Commander Ladder run by the extremely talented Patrick Pence of Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials fame (and you really should check out his videos).
When you hear “Stalingrad,” you would think of tense (and dense) city fighting with no holds barred and ultimate savagery.
Scenario #35, Spartakovka Salient, is only one of those, unfortunately.
It’s savage, but being the first scenario in the Battle Pack, it actually takes place as the Germans are approaching Stalingrad.
I’m #8 on the Ladder after a 4-1 record and this month I was facing off against Mark V from Boston.
We spent a nice Friday night on the fields of Soviet Russia just outside a city that would feel carnage and desolation over the next six months.
Mark was the attacking Germans (grey) and I was the defending Russians (brown).
In this scenario, points for exiting units are doubled, so the Germans really want to get units off the board. The Russians can score points that way too, but with their limited movement and only two leaders, that’s not really a possibility.
Here’s the setup. The main Russian strongpoint is the building (Objective 5) in the center by the pond. It has the Russian Medium Machine-Gun (MMG) and a squad along with their best leader.
The Russians are hampered by having to set up a squad in each of the four objectives controlled by the Russians. Thus many squads are outside the leadership radius of the minimal leaders the Russians have.
They are also stuck with only having one Order until the first Time Event hits. That can be quite limiting.
The Germans not only have a Light Mortar that they’re carting around to start, but on Round 2, one of the best German leaders along with some elite infantry and a Heavy Machine-Gun will be entering!
It’s up to the initial German forces to break through and make things easier for the reinforcements.
Did that happen?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreThoughts on Ultimate, Deluxe, & Collector’s Editions
Back in January 2021, there was a blog post on Boardgame Geek about a new complete set of the “Railroads” game coming this year.
This would be the classic Russian Railroads, the German Railroads expansion and the American Railroads expansion.
I made a note of this and was going to do a blog post about this type of thing, but it fell victim to COVID disinterest.
However, recent talk about the Ultimate Railroads edition has brought this back into my mind, so I thought I would do a post about it.
Not just the Railroads game, but more “Deluxe Editions” in general.
The reason this is an issue, and what has garnered some complaints, is that the Ultimate Railroads conglomeration of the base game and all expansions is going to include another expansion as well.
Some owners of all of the “Railroads” games are somewhat understandably annoyed.
Because getting this deluxe edition of the game appears to be the only way to get the expansion.
Cue the outrage!
Read MoreReview – Crave
I’m not sure if Vampires will ever go out of style.
Is it the exotic nature of them that can sometimes turn erotic?
(Please, nobody bring up Twilight….crap, too late)
Whatever it is, vampires are all over pop culture, and even in a few board games (though not as many as I would have thought, or maybe I’m just ignorant)
But there is one vampire game that I came across during the pandemic lockdown that I’m going to be talking about today.
That is a 2-player deck-building card game called Crave.
I guess that’s because vampires crave blood? And it’s up to the Hunters to stop them?
Whatever.
This is a game designed by Bryan Sloan with art by Randis Albion, Aaron Griffin, Artur Jag and Daria Rashevskaya. It was published by Black Forest Studio in 2019.
Deckbuilding games (especially the 2-player variety) seem to have two ways to end: either eat up all the points tokens or VP cards (see Ascension or Dominion) or attack the other player(s) and try to get their health/authority/fashion sense down to zero.
Crave is an example of the latter (but not of fashion sense).
How does it play?
Let’s take a look.
(But seriously, if you like vampires, you should check out Barbara Hambly’s “James Asher” series of books. They are MAGNIFICENT)
Ok, last aside. Let’s talk about Crave.
Read MoreStorm Above the Reich – After Action Report – Missions #4 & #5
This is another combined report of Staffel Roy’s campaign in Storm Above the Reich with two missions in it, mainly because Mission #4 basically had nothing happen.
I mean, things happened, but at the end of the day, nothing was shot down, no bombers fell out of formation, none of my pilots got any experience, and none of my pilots were killed or wounded.
Since I didn’t want a report of basically “nothing happened,” I waited until I played Mission #5.
A lot more happened on this one, though. It wasn’t a barn-burner and I think I realized some mistakes I’ve been making (tactical mistakes, not rules), but that’s why we play the game!
So click on the “more” below and see whether the fortunes of Staffel Roy have changed at all or not.
(You can also click on any picture to see it at full size)
If you want to see more about how the game works, check out my report about Mission #1 & #2.
Sadly, Mission #6 is really going to have to be awesome if I’m going to save everything.
Read MoreGarphill Games Announces the “South” Trilogy of Upcoming Games
(Edit: 4/26/22) – The Kickstarter’s live! Go here to back it.
If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you know how much I love Garphill Games and their trilogies.
Architects of the West Kingdom is one of my favourite games ever. Raiders of the North Sea and Paladins of the West Kingdom are up there too. I’m sure Viscounts of the West Kingdom will be up there as soon as I get it played.
So when Shem Phillips and SJ MacDonald went live to announce the next trilogy of games, I really wish I could have been there.
Sadly, I was out when the livestream went live, but you can actually watch the video announcement here!
The next trilogy of games takes Garphill Games to the South Tigris with some really interesting-sounding games.
The first game, coming in 2022, is called Wayfarers of the South Tigris.
This game actually uses dice!
I know MacDonald did dice with Circadians: First Light, but this is the first of the “trilogy” games that will use dice.
Read MoreNew to Me – October 2021
Now this is more like it.
October was a great month for gaming, with me playing 19 different games in the month.
This included six new to me games and two new to me expansions!
What a cornucopia of games!
Well, those aren’t games, but at least there’s a pumpkin for Halloween.
Given the publish date for these games and expansions, though, the Cult of the New to Me was giving me a bit of the side-eye this month.
They think I’m getting perilously close to “Cult of the New” status, which they can’t have!
I may have a rebellion on my hands soon.
Maybe next month I’ll play some older ones.
That may placate them for a month or two.
Anyway, without further ado (all of my ado was stolen by some tinpot Scythian warlord anyway), let’s get started!
Read More
Dude! Take Your Turn! 