Super Dungeon Explore

This mash-up of board gaming, the Gauntlet video game, and excellent visual design make it a very attractive option. Of course, I don’t even have enough time to get around to check out the game, so I doubt I’m going to have the time to assemble, prime, and paint all the lovely minis. Sorry Super Dungeon Explore, maybe we’ll meet in 2012.

Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game

To illustrate just how far behind I am, this game came out in 2010. I enjoyed the mechanics of 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons when it first came out and thought a slimmed down version could make a for a fine board game. Well, apparently Wizards of the Coast have mind reading spells, because they too that thought and acted on it. And did it again and again. Of course, I have a spot for Ravenloft’s Gothic horror ever since fighting off worgs and dealing with gypsies as a youth at the computer in Strahd’s Possession so there’s only one option of the three games for me.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

There’s just something about the feel of a deck of cards that I love, so I’m a sucker for card games. Whether it is the trying not to be sucked too deeply into Magic: The Gathering or shuffling Dominion expansions (which despite claiming to be not collectible game nearly is now), I’m always looking for something new to give a try. The LotR’s game is cooperative, which gives in an interesting twists compared to the other card game I play (although, when I first heard of it I was hoping to run a Sauran’s army deck and crush my enemies with a burning eye). I got a chance to play a few turns of the game once and it was enough to make me interested.

Quarriors!

This looks like a light fun game to pull out and play with friends between other games or as a warm up. With all the different colored dice and rolling, it’s probably not to bad for kids either.

Mansions of Madness

With about 50,000 Fantasy Flight Games quality parts, this box probably weighs 1.2 metric tons. In a lot ways, this is the game I want Arkham Horror to be, a focus on a single mystery and location, a touch of roleplaying (done in the right way), and some clever puzzles. A two (maybe more?) hour play time makes it a little on the long side for what it delivers and has kept me from jumping at it.

7 Wonders

John’s been raving about this game and I finally got a chance to play it over the holidays. My little sister received it as a Christmas gift and after one play, I loved it. The drafting mechanic is a whole lot of fun and being able to score victory points in a variety of ways makes for a number of different strategies. It’s a game I’d really like to dig into more and try to do some analysis to see if science is overpowered or if the wonders are really balanced.

• 25 minutes allotted to each player
• Pauses are allowed for rules clarification
• Your timer will run during your entire turn (including resolving battles, etc.)
• The penalty for going over your allotted time is 1 “nightfall point” for additional 30 seconds you need
• Be gentlemanly/ladylike: no hemming and hawing during your opponent’s turn to run down his/her time

Sara was a real sport about trying this out, as she usually takes much longer than I do during her turns. By the time we finished, however, she stated that it was a lot of fun and she’d try it again. (I think winning 8 to 7 in nightfall may have had something to do with this!) While neither of us felt that the addition of the clock had a huge effect on the game, knowing that the clock was running did put a bit of pressure on each of us. It also made this very abstract game feel just a little bit more like a war game. I will admit I did think, “Gosh, I need to get my objectives quick…I’m running out of time.” The clock also meant that each of us had to use the other person’s turn wisely, planning out discards, potential moves, etc.

This addition of the chess clock may have been a bit redundant, especially when you consider that the rules about deck reshuffling and the endgame already act as a time constraint of sorts. At the same time, I do believe that in friendly competition, it might provide a bit of added excitement.

(Note: There are many chess clock apps available for smart phones and laptops. We used this site.)

Game does not come with Wifey, baby bump, laptop, or fireplace.

We just used a simple online chess clock application.

Four minutes into our game.

I lost at nightfall, 7 to 8.

Games played: 121 (down from 145 in 2010, a 17% drop)
Wins: 51 (42%, down 7% from 2010)
Losses: 70

Average time between games: 3 days
Best game month: July with 23 games played (mainly due to some new games arriving at home via Amazon)
Worst game month: November with 1 game played (due to work and family obligations)

Two player games: 75 (61% of all games played)
Two player wins: 40  (54%, a 15% drop from last year!)
Multiplayer games: 46 (39% of all games played)
Multiplayer wins: 11 (23%, an 11% drop from last year)
Multiplayer second place finishes: 18 (39% of all multiplayer games)

Most regular two player opponents
1. Sara (20 plays, 9 wins)
2. Rick (11 plays, 6 wins)
3. Russ (10 plays, 9 wins)
4. Joe (5 plays, 1 win)

Most popular games of the year
1. Manoeuvre (13 plays, 9 wins–absolutely loved the Toeurnament this year)
2. 7 Wonders (12 plays, 2 wins)
3. Cribbage (11 plays, 4 wins)
4. Hive (10 plays, 5 wins)
5. Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (6 plays, 4 wins)

Games played for the first time: 12 (9%)

Most of these statistics came out as expected. Joe continues to crush all opponents, especially me. I will take this opportunity to point out that Russ often narrowly loses games, and I am always surprised that my win/loss record against him is so good. And, as I expected, my wife is now my most regular opponent and continues to be a very challenging adversary in our favorite games like Manoeuvre, 7 Wonders, and Hive.

As I stated in an earlier post, I’m less concerned with winning than I used to be, though I will still be keeping up the yearly retrospective. My new year’s gaming resolution is simple: get recently unloved games to the table in 2012. Twilight Struggle, I’m looking at you. Come here, buddy. How about a hug?

Happy New Year! I’d love to hear about your slightly less obsessive personal gaming retrospectives in the combox.

I am desperate to play a board game with you. 
I pine for the moment when I hear my brother scream, “Don’t touch my men!”
I wish so badly to see Dad’s Lex Luthor plans come to naught. 
I want to win (or lose) Power Grid to my sister-in-law by a margin of no cities and $1. 
I desire to lose to the Wifey in Man-ovaries. [Editor's note: this is code for Manoeuvre]
I need to hear Mom call someone “an ass” in the heat of the moment.

By and large, my gaming plans were realized with both my family and my in-laws. My wife and I ended up participating in seven games Dec. 23-27. Here are some of the highlights:

Funglish: We got my mom this game for her birthday but no one had yet had a chance to play it. Five minutes of reading the rules and we were off and running. This game is fast and furious, especially with great guessers like my sister-in-law. I also like that you play with a partner when you are the clue-givers, but in the end your score is your own. (I beat my sister-in-law out by one point.)

Manoeuvre: My wife, Sara, and I played this the afternoon of December 23 against each other. As our last bout was in late August, we were both a little rusty. Sara played the doughty Americans, while I took the wily Spanish. However, I was beaten in a nightfall victory. Sara outmatched me early on and took out some of my units, but played cautiously and went for the long game. (I lost by 1 point.) All in all, this was fun game, and it reminded me that I need to play Manoeuvre more often to keep up my game. Also, we’re thinking of playing with chess clocks next time!

Power Grid: My family started this at 8:30 PM on the 23rd and ended at 11:45. Phew, what a meatgrinder! We had a lot of fun though. Again, I reviewed the rules with everyone and we were off and running. We played on the Germany map but blocked off the easiest starting region in the west, which made this game a bit expensive for each company. My brother quickly cordoned his wife’s territory off, and hilarity ensued as she stewed! After a slow start, I got my company’s “engine” running and expanded in the northeast, winning by a margin of two cities with plenty of cash left over.

After a short Christmas Eve drive to my in-laws’ new house, it was time for…

Dirty Clubs: I don’t know why, but we all love this card game, a variation on bid euchre. It’s a simple trick-taking game that I am terrible at. Yes, you, dear reader, can bear digital witness to my three last-place finishes at a table of seven people. Ouch. And no, I will not blame the lateness of the hour or the fine craft beer that may or may not have been involved. As always, hilarity ensued whenever we entered the last round of play, in which each player draws a card and sticks it to his or her head, “Indian poker” style, before bidding.

Best of Tribond: We started this game late, and it took hours to play, but that’s probably because my sister-in-law and I, dubbed “Team Beer Face,” were causing too much mayhem. Although we didn’t win, we had a blast and came in second. I love this game and the style of the questions: “What do an arrow, stairs, and an airline have in common?” “Answer: they all have flights.” However, it was older entertainment questions which did us in, as my partner and I are both in our 20s and don’t know a lot about older TV shows and the like.

All in all, it was a great way to end the year with some laid back gaming. Next week, look for my 2011 retrospective–it’s good, bad, and ugly!

From the Romans and Carthaginians in C&C: Ancients to the Blue vs. the Gray in Battle Cry to the U.S. forces storming the beaches at Normandy in Memoir ’44 the system has been adapted to various types of combat very well. The system also crossed over to the fantasy realm with BattleLore which took the framework of the Hundred Years War and added goblins, orcs, dragons and magic. The latest C&C game, Napoleonics, is just as popular as the rest and may be my colleague’s favorite of this system so far.

These games rank among some of the highest over at BoardGameGeek:
Overall Rank / War Game Rank / Game
20 / 7 / C&C: Ancients
55 / 41 / Memoir ’44
66 / 42 / BattleLore
200 / 15 / C&C: Napoleonics
204 / 74 / Battle Cry
(Don’t ask me how those War Game Rankings work. Also, Battle of Westeros could be added here as it uses a very similar system, but is not designed by Mr. Borg.)

So what is the next in line in the C&C family? What historical war were you hoping to trample your opponents in?

How about the “cold depths of space”?

Wait…what?

It’s not exactly what I was expecting. I’m sure most weren’t. I came across the next in the C&C family: Abaddon. Here’s the description from ToyVault’s website:

In an exciting team-up certain to rock the cosmos, Toy Vault, Inc. and legendary game designer Richard Borg (Memoir’44, Battle Cry) have joined forces to take you on a new action-packed adventure through the cold depths of space in ABADDON!

It’s the distant future and mankind has taken a galactic leap forward through space, time, and technology. Life as we know it struggles to endure on the ABADDON. Once the home of a mysterious, non-human civilization, the planet is now a desolate wasteland bearing one immensely precious resource: Feronium power crystals. The unimaginable energy contained within the crystals is coveted by two groups of humans: the Satellite City-States and the Commonwealth Alliance. Using giant bio-mech suits called Links, made from modified military vehicles and alien technology; the warring factions fight a weary battle for territorial control of the ABADDON.

At your disposal is a huge, 28” x 19” battlefield game board with 32 highly-detailed mech figurines, 18 free-standing landscape terrain features, over 100 game-changing Wild Fire and Weapon System cards, dozens of tokens, battle dice and a Battle Manual containing over 15 mission scenarios.

Choose your allegiance and lead your army in non-stop excitement as you forge through unforgiving terrain, fight to overcome random and bizarre technological glitches, and battle your enemies in never-ending war. The fate of the future is in your hands as you race to survive and conquer the ABADDON!

So what do you think? Another hit game from the C&C series or will this one be a dud? I’m really excited to see and read more about this game, but I’m not so sure it’ll rise to the level of its predecessors. Will it falter due to the lack of any historical relevance? Or will the fantastic C&C system carry this game to greatness? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Year: 1778
British Hand: Major Campaign, 1 op, 1 op, 3 op, 2 op, Hortelez,  Thomas Paine

Hm, this looks like a slightly better hand for moving troops around the board, but I still have to deal with American events. I open with Major Campaign, execute a landing party in Baltimore, and move Clinton down from Canada to Baltimore. Meanwhile Cornwallis and company move to attack Gates’ force in Alexandria, VA, where they win easily. Rick raises a decently sized American army in Delaware, so I bring more reinforcements into Baltimore (it’s now my central supply depot…). After some PC placement in Virginia, Cornwallis moves through Baltimore to get reinforcements, and proceeds to boot Lee’s army out of Delaware. After a few more PC placements, I am in control of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Canada. And as the year comes to a close, Maryland is soon to fall into my hands…

The end of 1778/start of 1779.

Year: 1779
British Hand: Minor Campaign, 1 op, 1 op, 1 op, Marblehead Regiment,  Thaddeus Kosciuszko Constructs Engineering Works, War Ends in 1779

Finally we see a “War Ends” card. Now I just need to time things correctly and victory should be mine. I take the initiative with a Minor Campaign and knock out the Continental Congress right away. Howe and his large army finally move out of Boston and take Rhode Island easily. Okay, 1 more colony in my hands and Rick has no easy way to place PC markers. Things are looking good. Rick raises troops in South Carolina, but I’m pretty sure he can’t do too much damage down there at this point in the game. So I begin placing PC markers in New Hampshire to distract him. He reinforces his New England armies and I start worrying Howe might get attacked, but I decide to keep him off balance by going on the offensive once again. General Burgoyne moves deeper into Maryland and knocks out Gates–at the end of the turn Maryland will now flip to British control.

As the turn is coming to a close, Rick comments “Where are all the ‘War Ends’ cards?” “Funny you should say that,” I reply, and play at long last The War Ends in 1779. The final tally is 8 British colonies to 5 American colonies. Rick probably summed it up best: “Poor America. Back to tea at 4pm, driving on the left side of the road, horse races run clockwise, and erasers called rubbers…”

This Washington’s War match was strange for several reasons. We never saw a single “War Ends” card until turn five, there were very few American attacks, and the British were very aggressive. Maybe this just goes to show us how replayable this game really is. We did have a lot of fun doing this, and hope that you, dear readers, found it to be a lot of fun too. Feel free to tell us all about our many sub-optimal moves in the comments. And look for more PBEM action to come!

The war ends. Victory!

Year: 1778
American Hand: 3op, 1op, 1op, Nathan Hale, American Martyr, Lord George Germaine Offers Royal Amnesty, Jane McCrea Indian Atrocity Sparks Outrage, Joseph Brant Indian Leads an Iroquois Raid
I end up with several event cards this turn. That’s probably good since it looks like I may be without the Continental Congress this turn.

And the British start their advance with a Major Campaign. John moves his forces into Baltimore and takes out Arnold. I’m a bit confused why John didn’t just move straight into Delaware. So I take advantage and bring in some reinforcements there. But then the British advance slows. I use my events and the rest of my ops trying to add more American control to the board and reverse some of the British gains in the South. With no end to the war in sight and the British poised to pounce next turn, things aren’t looking good.

The start of 1779

Year: 1779
American Hand: 3op, 2op, 1op, 1op, Hessian Infantry Bayonet Charge, Lord North Offers a Royal Amnesty, Don Bernardo Galvez Captures Pensacola
Dang… three worthless event cards. I’ll have to be careful about how I get rid of the Lord North card I really don’t want to see that played against me. I’m still surprised we haven’t seen any the War Ends cards.

John is able to strike right away again starting with a Minor Campaign that targets Philly and the Continental Congress as well as Rhode Island. The Congress is dispersed and I’ve lost more colonies. The only silver lining is that I am able to discard the British events during the battles. Although, in hindsight I probably should have considered using them.

I then focus on a counter attack for next turn. I don’t have the strength this turn but I may be able to turn things around then next. My Generals are positioned to flip afew more PC markers at the end of the turn. The South is one turn away from really getting turned around. Hopefully I can turn it around in the next turn because right now it’s not looking so good.

Year: 1776
British Hand: 2 op, 2 op, 1 op, 1 op, Minor Campaign, Hortelez et Cie, Josiah Martin Rallies Loyalists

As the British player, this is an okay hand. I really like the Minor Campaign, but the lack of 3 op cards is getting a bit frustrating. As Rick mentioned, he had forgotten to move Mr. Washington to winter quarters and thus has to spend his first card getting his army reinforced. I decide to move aggressively and send Burgoyne and company to Charleston, SC to kick out the pesky rebels. This is pretty easily done. After flipping and placing markers in both SC and MA to keep General Rick guessing, I land Cornwallis in New Bern, NC. Eventually this force moves to Norfolk, VA to kick Gates and his force out. Meanwhile, Rick is placing markers as quickly as he can in VA. He sees that I’ve locked up the South and is trying to set up a barrier of PC markers in VA to slow me down. But I will not be stopped!

The end of the 1776.

Year: 1777
3 op, 3 op, 2 op, 2 op, 1 op, 1 op, Light Infantry (discarded and picked up The Gamecock)

This is a hand on par with last time, and I’m happy about getting a fun British battle card too! It’s tempting to use the 3 op cards to move around some of my slower generals, but I think that Howe is best kept in Boston as an “army in being” and there’s not a lot of damage that Carleton can do up in Canada. So I use two consecutive plays of 3 ops cards to drop PC markers all over the place. Some of these are immediately countered (like my play in Genessee, NY), but Rick is countering by moving armies onto the spaces and letting them sit there. That just means fewer armies coming south to deal with my heavy hitters.

I move Burgoyne and his small army to Charlottsville, VA, hoping Rick will attack, and attack he does! We both lay down combat cards, but I get the better of him. Then it is time to move Cornwallis further north. The year ends with an American army popping up behind me in SC, but I can at least bring in reinforcements down there to deal with it.

At the end of the year, I feel like the game is starting to swing in my favor…

The end of 1777.

Year: 1776
American Hand: 3op, 3op, 3op, 2op, 1op, 1op, Minor Campaign
This time my hand is much better operations point-wise.  I again opt to go first to continue to act and hopefully force John to react.  But my first move is to put 3cu with Washingtonto try and recover from my big first turn mistake.  If I don’t reinforce Washington I risk Howe taking him out.  The mistake is quite costly.  I use the rest of my turn to place PC markers.

Near the end of the turn I move Lafayette and his 3cu to Fort Detroit to score an easy American victory.  The French alliance marker is now at 5.  The British meanwhile continue to slowly creep up from the south and take out Arnold on the way.  I’m not too worried about that though as the American troops just act as speed bumps in this game.

Year: 1777
American Hand: 3op, 2op, 2op, 1op, 1op, Minor Campaign, “Mad” Anthony Wayne, 2op
The Americans usually do better off when they aren’t aggressive militarily.  Just use the American forces to slow down the British advance.  However, with the French Alliance at 5 and the +2 drm battle card, all I am thinking is where is my next battle going to be!  I start by reinforcing the south by moving Arnold back into Virginia.

Then John starts hitting me with 2 consective plays of placing PC markers in 6 locations.  The board is getting red.  I start to look for ways to isolate those markers.  I see two spots and take one with a one op card.  Moving Lafayette to Genesee, NY, cuts off one British PC marker and it’s bait to set a trap for Carlton.

John doesn’t bite and instead sets his own by moving Burgoyne into Virginia.  I take my chances and attack with the help of “Mad” Anthony Wayne.  However, the British bring their Light Cavalry so it turns into a straight up die roll and I lose.  Losses are minimal though.  John continues to press north so I bring in Lincoln and 2cu into South Carolina to try to shake things up a bit and reclaim parts of the south.  The distraction seems to work as John brings in his reinforcements into the south.

With my last plays I try to position my armies to avoid too much isolation but it’s not looking good. But then The Gamecock: Thomas Sumter is discarded and I grab that to shore up any isolated PC markers in the south. I’m still feeling OK, but I think the tide is turning.

I’ve played the Americans far more than the British (6 v.s. 3), so I decide to play against type and choose the forces of the grand 18th century empire. Rule Britannia, down with the rebels!

British Initial Marker Placement (For the King!):
Wake, NC
Fort Niagra, NY

My strategy here was to open up the backcountry a bit up north, and to force Rick to keep spending points in North Carolina to keep up with me.

Year: 1775
British Hand: 2 ops, 2 ops, 2 ops, 1 ops, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Line Mutinies, Nathan Hale: American Martyr, Benjamin Franklin Appointed Minister to France

Ick, ick, ick! Already I have no good way to move generals Carleton (Quebec) and Howe (Boston). This means Clinton will likely stay in the leader box too. Also, I’ve got to deal with two American event cards. The Mutiny card is a godsend, however. I’ll wait until near the end of the turn to ditch Nathan Hale and hope Rick doesn’t have an ops card to snatch it up.

I’m a little surprised that Rick’s first play is to raise an army in VA; this is usually the time to start plunking down political control (PC) markers right away. I adopt the southern strategy and bring General Burgoyne and 3 combat units (CUs) into St. Mary’s, GA. My plan is to lock up the larger southern states first, then strike north from a position of strength. I spend the next few card plays locking up all of Georgia and linking up to the Loyalist backwater towns in South Carolina. (In hindsight, it would have been better for me to cause Rick’s lines to Mutiny first…this was a misstep on my part.)

By the end of the first turn, I’ve got a pretty strong position, holding GA, SC, NC, and Canada. While it isn’t enough to win the game at the end of 1775, it’s about what I hoped for. And Washington’s failure to move into winter quarters just makes me smile a bit. The only downside is that the French Alliance track is moving in the wrong direction…

The end of turn one...