What are you playing?

[Alexlotl]

I fixed up my old laptop the other day, and bought Twilight Struggle on Steam by way of celebration. I got the iPad version as a kickstarter reward years ago, but the AI was so bad I hadn’t played it much. Figured things would be much better on hardware with more clout…

 

Uh, no. I’ve played it twice on the laptop, and both times won on turn 2. First time I was USSR, and managed to get a points victory. Second time I was the US, and the AI did some smart looking moves, like realigning me out of South Africa and couping Panama on T2. I was about 6pts ahead towards the end of the turn, when they committed DEFCON suicide by playing CIA Created at DEFCON 2, letting me coup Panama and start nuclear war on their turn.

 

I get that it’s a complicated game, but there’s no excuse for the AI being that bad. It basically makes it unplayable single player.

[jonnyalpha]

3 hours ago, MalevolentPanda said:

Yeah Village is nice. I would really say it's that complex either, but it definitely has interesting decisions to make.

 

The expansions are good but I imagine not readily available any more. The Port one in particular is great as it completely overhauls the travelling section of the main board, which is the weakest part of the base game.

The new release scheduled for this year is a big box edition which includes both expansions as they've been long out of print. I've got it pre-ordered as I've been after the expansions for ages.

[Nathan Wind]

Frosthaven today! We just played through the learning scenario (pictured- no story spoilers, it’s very basic) a few times with all the available starting characters to get a feel for them. I’m liking the Drifter and Blink Blade. The former has a nice balance of movement, ranged and melee attacks, and the latter is a really dynamic little assassin that can fly around the board dealing big damage but can easily run out of cards if you don’t keep things in check. This is going to be our regular Sunday arvo campaign game for the foreseeable, starting tomorrow. I missed out on all the Gloomhaven hype having properly got back into the hobby a while after it came out, so it’s good to be involved right at the beginning on this one.

 

[Nathan Wind]

Holy shit it’s hard! Scenario one was scraped through by the skin of our teeth, with two of the three of us KO’d. Lots of fun, but it really doesn’t give you any breathing room to get used to the card synergies. 
 

Edit - I will say we had some terrible luck with modifier card draws. Looking back through mine after my KO, I’d had a -2, a couple of -1’s a null and a curse. Watching a play through on YT now and they’re having a way easier time of it.

[therearerules]

Any changes to base gloomhaven?

[Nathan Wind]

1 hour ago, therearerules said:

Any changes to base gloomhaven?

Not too much so far in terms of the way a scenario itself plays but it’s super early days. A few new conditions and a couple of new things on the character sheets, such as masteries. Loot is different. Enemies drop loot on death, which is so far mostly crafting resources. There’s quite a big base building element to it, I think - that’s next for us when we play again so I’ll have a bit more of an idea. I’ve avoided reviews and spoilers entirely but I have seen a headline on a video that was a build it/play it your way type thing, so I think the settlement stuff is going to be quite customisable and will no doubt have an impact on the scenario play.

[Rikku]

1 hour ago, Nathan Wind said:

Holy shit it’s hard! Scenario one was scraped through by the skin of our teeth, with two of the three of us KO’d. Lots of fun, but it really doesn’t give you any breathing room to get used to the card synergies. 
 

Edit - I will say we had some terrible luck with modifier card draws. Looking back through mine after my KO, I’d had a -2, a couple of -1’s a null and a curse. Watching a play through on YT now and they’re having a way easier time of it.

I don't think my ranged character with 6 health should have been the one to do a room reveal either 😅 I got absolutely battered and had to burn 4 or 5 cards to negate damage that would have otherwise killed me... but hey, ho, it's the first real scenario and we're learning new characters, synergies and capabilities!

 

I will absolutely be staying back next time, in the shadows, where I belong.

 

Excited for our outpost phase.  

[Mortis]

So today I’m teaching Arkwright to 2 new players - one I’m sure will manage (despite being new to the hobby) the other may need a bit of guidance. 
 Thankfully there are 2 of us that know the game to help out. 
 Fingers crossed it goes well as more folk willing to play this might mean it gets to the table more than twice a year. 

[therearerules]

Blood on the Clocktower. Love it, but it's extreme fragile to bad storytelling. I've a friend who's lovely, but after another wasted 2 hour session I'm going to have to stop playing when he storytells, because he always gets always something wrong, and never corrects it. A number of us just leave feeling pissed off.

[bobin]

Bought myself a copy of Dorfromantik.  It's kind of a hexagonal Carcassonne mixed with Kingdomino, but with ever-changing tasks to earn points based on contiguous areas of different terrains and a My City style campaign wherein you unlock new components.  Only played once so far, and got a pretty bad score, but it's quite a nice experience, and requires some thinking beyond "that looks pretty".

[bobin]

Played again and got a worse score. However, I did get to unlock a box of new components, and I think the contents will help me get a better score next time. It even gives you a card with some tips on it. 

[bobin]

Still playing Dorfromantik on a daily basis. Score has generally being going up and up, mainly thanks to the unlocked components offering more opportunities to maximise points.
 

There’s still an element of luck: one game I scored a measly 76, and the next I earned 175 points without dramatically changing my tactics. The main scoring option (tasks) was blocked due to needing railway tracks that just didn’t appear until much later. 
 

It’s very rare that I play a game nightly, especially one that needs a modicum of setup and tear down. It’s a nice way to end the day. 
 

Got my Final Girl series 2 Kickstarter delivered today, including The Thing, and Alien analogues. I imagine they will feel quite different to lazily placing forest tiles.