The Board Game Thread

[TordelBack]

I was involved in helping do some design/artwork for a game called "Prisma Arena" -

That looks great - the physical customisation aspect is amazing, a big hook for the Gacha-obsessed and a great way to move past the abstraction of CCG-style arenas. Was Santa's sack not already filled due to premature retail anxiety, I'd be sorely tempted. Indeed I may yet crumble if I can get some cash in over the next week.

[I, Cosh]

I know there's nothing more boring than other people's D&D stories, but I wanted to highlight how there really is nothing like a tabletop RPG: even in this day and age of realistic multi-player computer games. A gaggle of complete noob teenagers sitting in their own homes can take a simple commercial rescue-a-dwarf introductory adventure and not-enough pre-gen characters and spin it up into over 2 months (so far) of completely unpredictable free fun.

Nah. Maybe it's just the way you tell them but that was fun AND heart-warming.

I've had loads of different RPG boxes and books over the years but have only very rarely ever played any of them. And not at all since I was a teenager. Definitely feel I've missed out a bit there.

Azul continues to be our goto game at home. Easy to pick up, looks lovely and a nice strategic element emerges once you've played a few times.

[Barrington Boots]

I was given the deck builder Dragonfire for my birthday and it is just incredibly hard. We've yet to win a game after about a dozen attempts. It's not helped that there's only two of us running two hands of cards at once, as the game does rely on some playing out of turn, but we're at the stage now where it's not going to be easy to get my wife to try this again which means it's days look numbered. Checking online and hints seem to be that you have to get beaten a decent number of times to get anywhere anyway. Has anyone else attempted this absolute bastard of a game?

I rather like hearing other peoples D&D stories, but I'm not into watching other groups play online - I don't find it interesting in the slightest, and the flashier games seem pretty obviously scripted. Although I'd be tempted to ask my players to dress up.

Is there a D&D / TTRPG thread on here? Are many people playing? 

[sheridan]

I've not played D&D in about a year now - I'd be up for it if anybody wants to run a game?

[sheridan]

p.s. I have Moldvay, Mentzer, 3.5, 4th and 5th edition rules.

[Barrington Boots]

Since lockdown I'm now running two weekly games and occasionally playing in a third, so I'm not sure I could run one... I was more suggesting a thread to share stories and GM tips, but some kind of game based off this board is a cool idea..

[wedgeski]

It's been almost a year since I got Helter Skelter, the Dredd boardgame. Having played it a dozen times, I can safely recommend it.

The game is essentially a face-off between two decks of cards with some terrain, range, and line-of-sight elements baked into the board. Choose a team, and play to their strengths to cross the finish line before your opponent. Cycle cards through your hand that permit named team members to take actions or defend against attacks. Spend wisely: if you're left with an empty hand on your opponent's turn, they can easily wipe one of your guys off the board.

The team abilities could be better distinguished, and forced movement seems like an obvious omission from the rules, but the game is easily picked up and very fast to set up and play. Just what you need when you have a half-hour to fill. It also looks fantastic.

Disclaimer: we've only ever played with 2 people. I'd love to play with more as it would be utter carnage. There isn't much mobility built into the rules and you'll be hoping you deploy in advantageous zones.

We like this enough that we'll be getting the Dark Judges expansion as our next board game-adjacent purchase.

Next up for me in the miniature 2000AD department: the Warlord Dredd skirmish game. Look for a review of that in 12 months!

[Colin YNWA]

Okay so not boardgames but not many are these days (at least in our world) but boy child got Throw Throw Barrito and Pigasus for X-Mas and both are a triumph... though I can feel the arguements that TTB will generate in days to come!

Additional Beasts make Beasts of Balance an even better game.

[Leigh S]

Broke open my copy of Block and Mega Mania, then read a bit about it on Boardgamegeek... For some curious reason, I think I skipped this back in the day (have a copy now, but think that was ebayed?).  Certainly remember playing it back in the day, but not tht often... I feel that we probably lent it from my cousins friend who was also big into 2000AD at the time.  GW were churning out so much other stuff, 2000AD or otherwise, that I might not have prioritised it - Sorry Tharg!

Anyway, while I am een to try to play games as intended, the Happy Hour stuff seems slightly scarey balance wise (when an 80s game is warning you at the time of balance issues...!).

This seems easily fixable - let each block draw randomly from one of the secret weapons (Thermo Bombx2, Plasti-crete Virus, Nerve Gas).  They may forego their CP roll result to place the weapon in their armoury (thus allowing a poor roll to be used for something quite powerful instead). 

The only other thing that sounds super swingy is the CP roll... I'm tempted to try to do something about that using Happy Hour as well - Every block begins with the Jaeger squad and draw three more random (rather than 4 random).

CP is still a 2D6 roll, but you can never go over 12 CP in any one round, even with the use of Mania cards).

When you lose a Jaeger Squad, your CP maximum drops by 2 and for each Citi Def you lose your CP max drops by 1 (so if all 4 of your CitiDef are killed and your Jeager, then the max CP you can get is 6) - you can use some of the weirdly blank tiles from the happy Hour sheet to show that, or put your dead CitiDeffers onto the CP tracker (though they might be too big?)

Going to try this out with my daughter later this week to see how it goes - she loves Dungeonquest, so swingy is not a problem...

[The Bissler]

I'm sure you'll have a blast Leigh as they're great fun! I greatly enjoyed revisiting the game when I had a game just before Christmas!

[I, Cosh]

Additional Beasts make Beasts of Balance an even better game.

I was desperately trying to remember the name of this before Christmas but I couldn't find your old posts so o thought maybe if imagined it. Is it more of a kids game or will work for adults too?

[Colin YNWA]

Additional Beasts make Beasts of Balance an even better game.

I was desperately trying to remember the name of this before Christmas but I couldn't find your old posts so o thought maybe if imagined it. Is it more of a kids game or will work for adults too?

Falls into all ages I'd suggest. All the adults I know who have it bought it for kids but love it themselves.

These folks are really annoying but they sum it up really well.

https://youtu.be/qn9jEkcKc2U

One word of warning it ain't cheap! The game itself is over £100 (though you might as well go for the £140 extended edition?) and extras around £20. We got lucky as game 'changed hands' of similar over the last year and we picked it up cheap when the 'old' version was being sold off (it seems to be exactly the same?!?) and got it as a present for a friend at those prices. Since then its soared in price again and I picked up almost all the extras BUT for like x3 the price I paid for the game itself originally.

[Colin YNWA]

So the boy child has been watching me play Talisman on the Switch and got very excited and is now asking of we can get it 'for reals'. So I'm looking for advice. I'm thinking there are a couple of options.

1. Get Star Wars Talisman as that will be different to the version we have on the Switch , is an world we both like and looks cool - but is it any good? I mean it can't really go wrong can it, the game will be the same essential with I assume some cute differences (and i don't just mean porgs.

2. Get the original core set (is 4th edition significent different - I'll do some reading but doesn't look to be) BUT the core set seems a little ... limited now given all the expansions we've seen on the Switch version. So thinking might get a couple of those as well. I remember the City Expansion when I was a kid and play it in the Switch version and it now feels pretty essential. But what about some of the others?

From looking through the expansions on the Switch I'm thinking three look best (happy to be told I'm wrong) and like the look of one of Dragon Expansion - feels like it would provide a cohesive complete different feel to the game. Dungeon expansion - cos ya know Dungeons are cool and I like the look of some of the characters. Finally Woodland Expansion for much the same reason as the Dungeon one really - I like the feel of it and the characters seem cool?

Any recommendations? I know at least Enigmatic Doctor X is a big player - anyone else?

[Barrington Boots]

Talisman 2nd edition was a staple of my younger years, and although I've only played a little of the 4th edition it's a lot better in terms of gameplay. By modern standards 'classic' Talisman is a bit of a drag: clunky rules and games take about 900 hours to finish: the Fantasy Flight release tightens things up a little bit and I'd recommend that.
(You can still get the old GW second edition in places and the art is much better imo, but some of the expansions are almost impossible to get now)

Expansion-wise I wouldn't go in too heavy on these, as FFG will churn out expansion after expansion until they overwhelm the core games good points and the game collapses under it's own weight (Arkham Horror being a good example). The City I have heard can be a bit OP. I ran this by a friend of mine who has most of the 4th ed content and he suggested the best 'big' expansions were City & Woodland, and he also loves the Reaper expansion.

[Colin YNWA]

Talisman 2nd edition was a staple of my younger years, and although I've only played a little of the 4th edition it's a lot better in terms of gameplay. By modern standards 'classic' Talisman is a bit of a drag: clunky rules and games take about 900 hours to finish: the Fantasy Flight release tightens things up a little bit and I'd recommend that.
(You can still get the old GW second edition in places and the art is much better imo, but some of the expansions are almost impossible to get now)

Expansion-wise I wouldn't go in too heavy on these, as FFG will churn out expansion after expansion until they overwhelm the core games good points and the game collapses under it's own weight (Arkham Horror being a good example). The City I have heard can be a bit OP. I ran this by a friend of mine who has most of the 4th ed content and he suggested the best 'big' expansions were City & Woodland, and he also loves the Reaper expansion.

Fantastic - thanks Barrington Boots. It also feels like Woodland and City provide a nice counterpoint to each other.