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Kevin Klemme
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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13 Nov 2018 06:28 #286050 by repoman
Please note that the MMP sale begins Nov. 16th and goes to the 19th. Angola is on the sale list for $38

Bunch of other stuff too at close to half off:

www.multimanpublishing.com/News/tabid/82/Default.aspx#news
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13 Nov 2018 09:04 - 13 Nov 2018 09:05 #286054 by charlest
I still love Fire in the Lake and find that complaint about little changing not exactly accurate. When you have NVA moving across the entire map via the Ho Chi Minh trail, U.S. air strikes destroying spaces, and terror spreading all across the Mekong Delta, it feels like significant shifts have been made.

I've seen Saigon fall and Arvn soldiers turned to ash. I've seen the entire United States Military pull out of Southeast Asia. I've also seen the DMZ obliterated by Arc Bombing.

Funny timing as I received my 2nd Ed upgrade kit last night.
Last edit: 13 Nov 2018 09:05 by charlest.
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13 Nov 2018 10:21 #286059 by Jackwraith

charlest wrote: I've seen Saigon fall and Arvn soldiers turned to ash. I've seen the entire United States Military pull out of Southeast Asia. I've also seen the DMZ obliterated by Arc Bombing.


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've seen C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.
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13 Nov 2018 10:21 #286060 by Josh Look
Two more games of War Chest with Al yesterday. I’m probably close to 20 games now? It’s holding up amd I’m still discovering cool combos and strategies. Easily my favorite game of 2018. Nothing else has gotten nor will get as much play.

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13 Nov 2018 11:10 #286068 by Vysetron

Josh Look wrote: Two more games of War Chest with Al yesterday. I’m probably close to 20 games now? It’s holding up amd I’m still discovering cool combos and strategies. Easily my favorite game of 2018. Nothing else has gotten nor will get as much play.


We quite enjoyed War Chest from our two plays so far but for some reason it keeps not making it back to the table. Need to fix that and draft some more, as well as try the team game.
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13 Nov 2018 13:43 #286080 by Josh Look
The draft is the way to go once you get a couple games in. I like taking 4 units and seeing what you can make out of them and I had thought that getting more control over what you take would hurt the game but that was not at all the case. Any game where we drafted was very close and very tense.
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13 Nov 2018 14:51 #286087 by the_jake_1973
I looked at that game, but I'm not sure it would replace The Duke for me. Do you see it as a replacement?
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13 Nov 2018 15:19 - 13 Nov 2018 15:21 #286091 by Josh Look
I think the deck/bag building element and how defined each units powers are really sets it apart. I never feel like I’m playing an abstract when I play War Chest. There’s always a dryness to abstracts, which is not necessarily a knock against them. I can’t really say that about any other abstract except for Theseus, which is debatable as to whether or not is is one.
Last edit: 13 Nov 2018 15:21 by Josh Look.

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13 Nov 2018 18:18 #286106 by WadeMonnig
Kemet: Seth Expansion Holy smokes, make sure you have firm grasp on the base Kemet rules before you add this expansion. If Kemet was the Delorean, This is the Flux Capacitor that is bolted to it. It's not super slick, it has some hiccups but damn, what a ride. I seduced my wife into playing this last night, so we ended up with the minimum requirement of players (3) with me being Seth. Forget that quick and tidy 90 minute game of Kemet, this was 3 hours of rule checking and learning the ropes of all the new powers..and I even left out Ta:Seti and the black power tiles for ease of play. (My wife has played Kemet about a half dozen times but it is not a game she specifically enjoys...She compared Seth to doing calculus, that she always had the feeling she had a general idea what was going on but felt she was doing something wrong). I (Seth) ended up victorious using the 8 VP "short" game and feel like we barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. The Alliance was nipping at my heals, having fulfilled 2 of the 3 Victory requirements.
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14 Nov 2018 09:25 #286125 by Erik Twice
I've been somewhat unhappy with Netrunner lately thanks to a gift from FFG that ended up being poisoned and a long-standing balance issue.

For the very last Worlds FFG decided it would be cute to release the previously unreleased "Winner champion" cards. And that's cool except for one thing: These cards were not playtested and are broken as hell. They are all, except one or two, awful designs that make the game worse or that have positively stupid numbers. They are a mistake.

The big issue is that most people don't seem to recognize that fact. The best players I know do, but the average folk of Jinteki is just happy they have Crowdfunding, which is Netrunner's own Skullclamp. And I don't see the newly formed Netrunner fan organization taking the bullet just after its creation and banning most of these cards, even though they should. To continue with Magic analogies, this is a Memory Jar situation.

The other issue is a card called Employee Strike. One of the differences between the original version of the game and Android: Netrunner is the introduction of identities that give you an ability from the start of each game. They have a large impact and lead to much of the variety in the game. Well, Employee Strike blanks them. And even though it's restricted, it's in most good Runner decks. It's a big mistake and a large driver of what is a viable deck and what isn't.

However, it has been around for very long and there's one Corporation identity that is brokena nd only kept in check by it. I don't see a multiple-card ban (or restriction) happening, which makes things difficult.
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14 Nov 2018 09:57 - 14 Nov 2018 10:04 #286130 by charlest
Timely Erik. I just bought a ton of Netrunner in MM's Black Friday sale. I feel like someone who just sabotaged a 5 year sobriety.

You think the game would hold up in a closed casual environment for years to come?

I got revised core, Terminal Directive, and a smattering of data packs from Lunar, SanSan, and some newer cycles. Got rid of data packs from the first couple of cycles when trying to whittle it down as I've already played with those years ago and wanted something different.

We played Black Hole Council, Fate of Fantos, Meeple Circus, That's Not Lemonade, and Wiz-War last night.

Black Hole Council was interesting. Not quite as good as Tiefe Taschen and in a similar vein, although it does have some distinct elements such as deducing objectives. We dug it but decided it'd probably be better with more players (we had the minimum of four).

Fate of Fantos was gnarly and quite fun, but it was also a bit slow and a bit too much downtime. Hoping that improves on the next play as everything else was pretty solid.

I also got in a play of Here's Negan, a new Mantic Walking Dead board game utilizing elements of their All Out War system. I'm a big fan of All Out War (Mark likes it too, I believe), so I was excited about this.

This is completely contained and doesn't expand upon the miniatures game in any way. The system is clearly similar but there are many differences.

Basically this is a Walking Dead dungeon crawl with some spice. The big limitation is that there's only one enemy type (walkers), but it does quite a bit to try and alleviate this. First off, it has an excellent exploration mechanism where you open rooms and draw a card to populate them and possibly trigger an environmental hazard (such as the room being flooded). You then need to secure rooms and clear a path for Negan to make it to the exit. I also dig that there are basically Space Hulk blips and you're not sure how many Walkers around the next corner.

You're trying to clear out what will become the Sanctuary, while also vying to be Negan's top lieutenant.

So an AI deck controls Negan, pushing him forward and acting erratically. If he can't progress he gets pissed and beats each nearby player with Lucille. So the game is effectively a haphazard crawl where you're pushing forward at all costs with a lunatic taking swipes at your rear.

While it's cooperative, you do track reputation and there is one player awarded the "top dog" at the end of the scenario. If players take this to heart it leads to some interesting moments of selfishness and betrayal.
Last edit: 14 Nov 2018 10:04 by charlest.

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14 Nov 2018 10:44 - 14 Nov 2018 11:13 #286132 by Erik Twice

charlest wrote: Timely Erik. I just bought a ton of Netrunner in MM's Black Friday sale. I feel like someone who just sabotaged a 5 year sobriety.

You think the game would hold up in a closed casual environment for years to come?

I got revised core, Terminal Directive, and a smattering of data packs from Lunar, SanSan, and some newer cycles. Got rid of data packs from the first couple of cycles when trying to whittle it down as I've already played with those years ago and wanted something different.

Oh yeah, it will hold up very well. And MM had some real good offers, I mean Terminal Directive was 15$, that's a steal. I was actually going to order from MM so I could get Sovereign Sight, but alas, there are not any more copies left.

I think this is just an issue if you use these cards. Which you won't have because they were basically promos. Also, Nisei (the fans) will apparently release a new Banned and Restricted list this friday. And two of the most egregious offenders will be gone 100% for sure. So yeah, I was glad to hear that.

I'm also writing a guide about how to play Netrunner online using Jinteki.net, which I hope is useful to people who want to play casually.

Also, if you don't mind getting Reign & Reverie I can't recommend it enough.
Last edit: 14 Nov 2018 11:13 by Erik Twice.
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14 Nov 2018 11:29 - 14 Nov 2018 11:31 #286139 by charlest

Erik Twice wrote: Also, if you don't mind getting Reign & Reverie I can't recommend it enough.


No way I'm paying the Ebay prices for that.

Also, I'd totally dig playing Netrunner online. Played on Octgn a bit a half decade ago. The work required to get into one of these systems though was always a huge turn off.
Last edit: 14 Nov 2018 11:31 by charlest.

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14 Nov 2018 11:38 #286141 by Da Bid Dabid
I am always up for some online Netrunner on Jinteki if anyone is around, it really is a great tool to play the game with. I've been playing it only against myself to do deck building with only cards from Core 2 through R & R. Its a fun format without a huge amount of crazy options to get a rookie (or like myself someone dipping back in) lost.

Not sure if there are friends lists or whatever but I'm Da Bid Dabid on there too.
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14 Nov 2018 11:40 #286142 by hotseatgames
Yes, I'm a fan of All Out War. I wish I played it more often. I was also tempted by the Black Friday sale to pick up some cheap games, but I just couldn't do it. I have too much just sitting there on the shelf. I need to play what I have, and in a few months I'll have some Kickstarters showing up, presumably.

I'm looking at you, Lords of Hellas.
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