Boardgames, non-tactical ilk

[Yama]

4 hours ago, Stargrunt6 said:

 I'm assuming the same name.  And yeah, more ww3 in Germany 1980s.

Here's the pic of the counters:

 

...these are non-tactical ilk?

[Stargrunt6]

1 hour ago, Yama said:

...these are non-tactical ilk?

Blame @Stuart Galbraith, he brought up the Team Yankee wargame and TTS. Hell I'll jump at any opportunity to talk hex and counter.

[Skywalkre]

Dominion - Have to second this game... but with a caveat.  Stick with just the original box.  Later expansions have far too many toxic cards in them.  It's possible with some of these later additions to literally deny your opponent their turn.  That's just bad game design, plain and simple.  The game is brilliant, though, when you remove these toxic elements.  You'll have competing strategies from the same deck and often the conversations with friends after the game take longer than the game itself as we discuss what strat was best, did it work just due to better draws, etc.

Samurai Swords (also known as Shogun and Ikusa) - The BEST strategy game ever... period.  It's pure perfection if you can ever get the fabled 5-person game going (I can count on one hand the number of times I've been this lucky).  What amazes me about it is ever facet of the game works.  When my friends and I were younger we were just about spending all resources to get the largest armies.  As I grew older I started experimenting with the other options in the game and they were just as successful but more nuanced.  Can't wait to sit down and play this again someday.

Munchkin - Hilarious card based game making fun of DnD.  You're playing against each other (but not in a toxic way like Dominion can get to above) while in a party exploring a dungeon.  First one to level to 10 wins so you're constantly helping monsters to kill players (make them start over, effectively) or run away (no level up, then).  The franchise is so popular they now have the game in every major genre (Star Trek, Horror, Superhero, etc.).

[Nobu]

I actually preferred Federation Space, despite its unbalanced, dice rolling simplicity. The SFB universe became unplayable after the first expansion Imho.

+1 for Shogun.

Did someone mention Imperium Romanum 2? Good multiplayer memories!

Edited December 4, 2020 by Nobu

[Sardaukar]

1 hour ago, Nobu said:

I actually preferred Federation Space, despite its unbalanced, dice rolling simplicity. The SFB universe became unplayable after the first expansion Imho.

+1 for Shogun.

Did someone mention Imperium Romanum 2? Good multiplayer memories!

In one game I accidentally crossed Rubicon with stack of Caesar, light infantry and baggage train...thought the stack had legion, didn't check...ooopps. Shortest  Roman Civil War ever...

[Nobu]

Those poor, unseasoned, 2-12 auxilia  

I don't think anyone in our group (ranging from 8th graders to adults) ever mastered the rules (fleets fighting on land? corn rebellions?), but that game was an entertaining multiplayer experience, particularly with many players.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Nobu

[Stargrunt6]

 

Has anyone here played Twilight Imperium / Avalon Hill's Dune (or the remake)?  What are your thoughts?

 

[Sardaukar]

9 hours ago, Nobu said:

Those poor, unseasoned, 2-12 auxilia  

I don't think anyone in our group (ranging from 8th graders to adults) ever mastered the rules (fleets fighting on land? corn rebellions?), but that game was an entertaining multiplayer experience, particularly with many players.

Only once got 4-player game, we had 4 persons in student flat. usually it was one-on-one. It took bit away from game of IR II that furthest player controlled "NPC" faction. Like e.g. me in Western area controlling Parthians and Eastern player controlling Germanic tribes etc. It was more fun to have e.g. Year of Four Emperors (obvious choice for 4 players).

We also modified rules allowing step losses, allowing units to be flipped on unseasoned side as losses, so battles were not usually total disasters...though often they were still.

Good times. 

Closest on computer to that I have had is Rome - Vae Victis. Rome:Total War with Rome Total Realism mod is way more complicated.

[Yama]

22 hours ago, Sardaukar said:

In one game I accidentally crossed Rubicon with stack of Caesar, light infantry and baggage train...thought the stack had legion, didn't check...ooopps. Shortest  Roman Civil War ever...

Bwahahaha! That reminds me of when my pals way back in time began a campaign of 2300AD (a scifi RPG with some tactical elements), they played a party of commandos who were dropped on a planet occupied by super dangerous militant aliens. They spent hours picking all possible weapons and gear from a LONG list of EQ available and diligently calculated everything to match their maximum load carrying ability, as it was an unsupported away mission. So with everyone armed to their teeth, they jump off the dropship, which roars away to the skies, they are now on their own for weeks. "Ok, lets sort our stuff, pick up our assault rifles and machineguns and go to quick patrol for perimeter check."

GM: "Very good. By the way keep up-to-date count of your ammo expenditure."

Players: "Right, ammo! Umm...where it is marked...who was in charge of adding all the ammo for our guns? -I didn't..." <loads of blank stares around>

Players: "We may have a slight problem..."

After they checked out their inventory,  they discovered that their bazooka/rocket launcher thingy was only weapon somebody had remembered to pack few rockets along, all their other guns were bingo from the start, making the mission that much more interesting right from the start...

[Stargrunt6]

4 hours ago, Yama said:

Bwahahaha! That reminds me of when my pals way back in time began a campaign of 2300AD (a scifi RPG with some tactical elements), they played a party of commandos who were dropped on a planet occupied by super dangerous militant aliens. They spent hours picking all possible weapons and gear from a LONG list of EQ available and diligently calculated everything to match their maximum load carrying ability, as it was an unsupported away mission. So with everyone armed to their teeth, they jump off the dropship, which roars away to the skies, they are now on their own for weeks. "Ok, lets sort our stuff, pick up our assault rifles and machineguns and go to quick patrol for perimeter check."

GM: "Very good. By the way keep up-to-date count of your ammo expenditure."

Players: "Right, ammo! Umm...where it is marked...who was in charge of adding all the ammo for our guns? -I didn't..." <loads of blank stares around>

Players: "We may have a slight problem..."

After they checked out their inventory,  they discovered that their bazooka/rocket launcher thingy was only weapon somebody had remembered to pack few rockets along, all their other guns were bingo from the start, making the mission that much more interesting right from the start...

  Too damn funny!

I've actually been developing a system of small arms ammo loadouts to avoid turning a game into Supply Sergeant Quest.

You have four tiers of loadout for a weapon that increases by amount.  I named them Civilian, Patrol, Combat (needs a better name) and Assault.

What happens is players keep track of the attacks they are doing with the weapon, single shot, 3 round  burst, 10 rounds rapid etc.  After every round, each player does a check vs the respective weapons skill, with the number of certain attacks corresponding with a penalty to the roll. If the player fails the roll, they drop down a tier.

Explosives would be individually counted and would not apply to this rule. 

[Sardaukar]

Some games that need few brave souls with lot of time and patience...and space to play...

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5622/pacific-war-struggle-against-japan-1941-1945

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(wargame)

[RETAC21]

On 12/6/2020 at 12:30 PM, Sardaukar said:

Some games that need few brave souls with lot of time and patience...and space to play...

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5622/pacific-war-struggle-against-japan-1941-1945

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(wargame)

I have the first one sleeping in my basement for The Day

[Michael Eastes]

On 12/3/2020 at 1:32 PM, Stargrunt6 said:

I have heard of that game. @Michael Eastes plays it.  so it's like Star trek combat but with Advanced Squad Leader levels of complexity?

They might have a module for it on tabletop simulator.

Yeah, the rules are incredibly Byzantine, but it’s still fun, and my friend and I have tried to keep things more playable by just ignoring some of the crazier details . I gather that there is a simplified version available, but I don’t have the resources to get it, so I don’t know how good it is.

Still, it’s a good detailed game, and worth the work to learn and play.

[Michael Eastes]

On 12/6/2020 at 3:30 AM, Sardaukar said:

Some games that need few brave souls with lot of time and patience...and space to play...

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5622/pacific-war-struggle-against-japan-1941-1945

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(wargame)

We played the Europa games when I was in Germany. The Russian front games occupied our group for several months of playing, and was really enjoyable. Unfortunately I loaned my DNO/Unentscheiden games to a friend, who promptly moved away, but I still have the Poland, Norway, and Battle of Britain games from the series.