Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
Review – Empire’s End
I would make a bad emperor, I think.
I’m not the quickest of thinkers, and when disasters happen (as they always seem to), sometimes you have to be quick on your feet, dealing with the situation at a moment’s notice.
The perks would be fun, though.
But the disasters thing is kind of a deal-breaker.
In Empire’s End, your empire is crumbling as disaster after disaster happens, though you can always bid to see if the disaster can maybe affect one of the other emperors out there instead.
The game was designed by John D. Clair (one of my faves) with artwork by Kwanchai Moriya. It was published (or the Kickstarter fulfilled, anyway) in 2023 by Brotherwise Games.
Near the end of all empires, as they fall into the ashes of history, disasters of all sorts can happen. Rebellions, outside invasions, earthquakes and massive fires, the works!
In the game, you have an empire that looks exactly the same as all of your opponents’, at least at the beginning.
How it morphs into something else, and how much of it is destroyed, is dependent on how the game goes.
Because disaster also brings innovation!
At least in other aspects of your empire.
What the hell am I talking about?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreCombat Commander After Action Report Supplemental No. 4 – Scenario 89 – Beneath a Steel Sky
Since my May Combat Commander ladder game isn’t until later this month, I thought I would share a previous supplemental adventure that I had back in February with a member of the ladder.
The March ladder scenario is always taken from the Sea Lion battle pack, and I thought it would be cool to try and guess what the next month’s scenario would be.
I was wrong, but it was still a fun scenario!
Eric and I finally hooked up for a game after numerous times of one of us not being available when the other posted in the Discord “Anybody up for a game?”
It was a nice and peaceful Friday night, which is always great.
For those who don’t know, the Sea Lion battle pack is a series of scenarios about the hypothetical German invasion of Great Britain in 1940 after the fall of France.
We decided to try Scenario 89, Beneath a Steel Sky, which portrays the German (Eric – blue) attack on the British (Me – tan) naval base of Portsmouth after establishing a beachhead on the coast.
(You can click on the pictures to blow them up)
The scenario has a couple of interesting special rules.
See that artillery marker in the 3 slot on the Time Track at the top?
Once the Time marker reaches there, there are no more Snipers. Instead, you resolve a 10 firepower fire attack from bombing raids against all units in the random hex drawn. Doesn’t matter if it’s yours or your opponent’s!
The bombing attack will add Wire (rubble) to the hex if it’s a building hex and add Foxholes to a non-building hex, both eliminating any fortifications that are already there.
Once Time 5 happens, Exit points become double (you can see it on the Time Track as well).
The British Molotov Cocktails go to the Time Track (any space I want) when used rather than being eliminated, coming back to a British unit when Time reaches that number. If the Germans eliminate a British unit holding one, they get to take possession of it rather than having it eliminated too.
Would I be able to beat back the merciless German onslaught?
Let’s find out.
Read MoreApril 2024 Gaming
After a really full March, where it seemed like I played one game a day (ok, that’s only if you average it out, but still), April was a wasteland for gaming, sadly.
Missing two Sundays, not as many games during lunch at work (if we hadn’t played some work games, though, it would have been even worse!), it just kind of sucked.
However, even though there were very few games played in total, the quality of the games was actually quite good!
Or at least the month allowed me to play some games I haven’t played in a very long time.
Let’s take a look at what was actually played.
And here all of that is in grid form.
There are a few games in there that haven’t been seen on this blog in a very long time!
Many thanks to BG Stats for all of this wonderful data.
If you have any interest in tracking your plays at all, you have to invest in this app.
Anyway, this is going to be a short post, but lets get to the meat of things.
Or the carrot of things for you vegetarians out there.
Read MoreNew to Me – April 2024
After a March that was a literal cornucopia of new games (yes, literal, they were all about fruit and veggies!), April was a really hard month for new to me games (and games in general, but that’s tomorrow’s post).
Until last Sunday, I only had one new to me game played in April, but that changed when Abi brought some of the new hotness to the day.
The one new to me game I had played earlier in the month was from 2013!
So the Cult of the New to Me was quite happy.
But last Sunday’s game was a 2024 game that has just arrived, and that dampened the mood.
I got a few stern looks, but overall they seemed ok.
It might have been because I spiked the punch with a sedative, though.
Sometimes when you’re a cult leader, you have to take drastic measures to quiet a rebellion.
Anyway, the writer in me is grateful that this post isn’t going to be that long!
So without further ado (all of my ado was used to construct my latest building anyway), let’s get started!
Read MoreFriday 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 More
Dude! Take Your Turn! 