Madness

I have fallen for the hype and bought a copy of Mansions of Madness. I like the Cthulhu setting and have Arkham Horror and Mansions looked quite interesting. It looked like it was going to play like Descent but with a slightly different feel.
Reviews were good although I suspected it had a bit of a fanboy following and the bits looked really nice. Cost was going to be a bit of an issue, yes its expensive but you get a lot in the box and currently the game is cheaper than a tank of petrol! (Don't get me started on that one)

On Monday we tried out the game, I played the role of the Keeper controlling the board and the monsters. The three investigators made there way into the house trying to find clues as to what had happened to its owner. It played along quite nicely, I made a couple of mistakes along the way but the game progressed along nicely. The game mechanics work quite well. The investigators need to listen to the narative and try to find and follow the clues. The team got a little waylayed after teh first clue not realising that the time was ticking.

The game ended in a draw, but we all agreed that it was fun and the mistakes made were due to it being the first time we played. I enjoyed being the keeper but could have been a little more evil, I was aware that I wanted everyone to enjoy the game. I forgot to spawn some monsters and left a zombie out in the garden instead of moving it into the house to cause more trouble.

I think the bigest downside to the game is the setup. It takes a while to put together the board and sort through all the cards. There are a lot of cards so this can take a while. I think next time I will sort out all teh cards I need before hand to speed things up but it does add time to the game.
Components are up to usual FFG standards, the minis are great and the abundance of cards and counters are overwhelming. I now need to decide wether or not to paint the minis.

I need to read the rules again and give it another play before it get a BGG rating from me. But so far I am not disapointed.

Blight of the Immortals

As well as playing board games I spend quite a bit of time playing on the Xbox and other web games. I was introduced to Blight of the Immortals by Jay, one of the designers of the game. Its an online strategy game that reminds me of Pandemic and Defenders of the Crown.

The world is becoming over run by zombie hoards and its up to you and your fellow players to rid the world of the zombie threat. When you log into your game you get to see the overview of the world and your troops, settlements and how the spread of the zombies has progressed. You then raise taxes once a day which is determined by some random dice rolling. Its then time to spend your coins on the different army types that you control. You can also spend your money of improving the defences of your towns or increasing the size of their markets. Markets provide coins so there is a balance of troops vs money.

The troop types are your standard fantasy fair but as everyone is against the zombies your army can consist of Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Centaurs ..... In fact the races are constantly evolving, Harpies were released this week. Each race has its own ability that will help against the zombies. Orc sorcerers with their flaming winds are my current favorite.

Combat is decided on the size of army, fortification levels and some random dice rolling. Its pretty easy to win, just make sure you have enough troops to outnumber the enemy and activate some special abilities. If you loose however, the dead become part of the zombie hoard.

I have been playing three consecutive games of blight and am now really enjoying it. At first I though it was a little basic, but once you start expanding and making a dent on the enemy it becomes more interesting. I find myself logging in a couple of times a day to check on the progress of things and to collect taxes.

Its a cooperative game, but there is a strength rating so you can see which player is currently leading. I haven't finished a game yet but I am doing ok in all but one game so far. I have noticed that there are quite a few players dropping out. If you don't take a turn within 4 days you are removed from the game.

So if you liked Pandemic or Defenders and have 10 mins spare a day, log in and join a game.

Note : I was given a free one month premier account by Jay.

Sleeves

Do you sleeve your games? I have a few games sleeved, and it really depends on how much use the game is going to get and how many cards need sleeving. My copy of Pandemic was quickly sleeved as it was getting played time and time again. While I have only sleeved the character cards in my copy of Citadels.

Dominion is a tricky one, it gets played quite a bit but I haven't sleeved it. I should, but I know its going to hurt now I have every expansion. Also I bet the cards won't fit back in the box properly.

Thunderstone was sleeved when I bought it. Mainly as I was going to take it to the monthly POB meet in the Pub and the tables are not always the cleanest. However I went cheap on Ebay and the sleeves were a little too big. So they fit back in the box at a bit of an angle. Not great but it was ok. Now I have the Doomgate expansion I have more cards to sleeve and went for a large bundle of sleeves from Mayday games. These fit perfectly but I need to re sleeve all the cards from the base game and the Elementals expansion. I have been putting this off even though there have been a few rainy days recently.

If you need card sleeves and are based in the UK then look over at BoardGameExtras. they have Mayday sleeves for most games as well as a few other game components such as draw bags and cubes.

Appart from sleeving cards there has been a bit of gaming going on and I am now beta testing a new online game called Blight of the Immortals. Its an online cooperative game in a fantasy world. I have only scratched the surface of the game so far and will probably write up something more indepth late this month.

This weekend War of the Ring has been proposed. Never played it before but I ams ure its going to be a great game.

Thunderstone Freebies

Quick post to point that AEG are giving away some free Thunderstone cards. Just hop over to

http://www.alderac.com/thunderstone/free-thunderstone-promo-pack/

Register and hopefully there are still enough to give out. First pack is free, if you want more you have to pay.

I am really enjoying Thunderstone as an alternative to Dominion. I think that although its not as "clean" a game the theme works really. well.

Epic, part 2

After last weeks Epic game of Command and Colours : Ancients, this week we decided to try Epic Battlelore. The table was set, commanders were chosen and cards were dealt. We used the same teams as before and started to play.

As everyone was familiar with how C&C works it didn't take long to explain the differences. We took the army of the King of Portugal. We had a reasonable plan but all of our cards were for the center and right sections of the board. Consequently we were immediately attacked on our Left flank.

We made a few foolhardy rushes in but didn't do enough damage and quickly became on the end of a few vicious attacks. Failing to keep our units supported lost us the opportunity of battle backs and we were slowly being pounded on the left flank.

The right flank fared better with a few cavalry charges and we slowly started to take the lead. The winner was the first to 7 flags and we made it to 5. Mainly due to a goblin lizard rider rush in the center that was beaten back. Our next round had some of the worst dice rolls and we knew we had lost. The other team quickly attacked on all fronts and managed to defeat 3 units ending the game.

It was a great game, we didn't learn from our mistakes in ancients. Support your troops!

I have now splashed out on some Memoir 44 expansions so we can try Memoir 44 Overloard. Rounding out the 3 C&C epic games. I am really looking forward to trying some of the scenarios. Tigers in the Snow and Operation Market Garden both look really good.

I need to start reading rules over the weekend.

Epic

This week it was Command and Colors Ancients turn to make use of the table and it did so in a big way. As there were 4 of us we had decided before hand to try an epic game. One of the expansions provides another board and a special deck of cards to allow multiple people to play.

We split into two teams with each side having one member who has played the game and one who hasn't. I was teamed up with Gornad and we had a quick chat about the strategy in the game.

The scenario picked was Cannae, one that I haven't managed to win in the past. We decided to play quite aggressively and push hard on both flanks while the warriors ran into the middle. It took a few turns until we had picked up how the game was playing and managed to get in the lead, mainly due to some heroic action by our heavy horse on the Left flank. The warriors in the middle were busy harassing while our light infantry and horse were trying to hit and run on the right flank.

We needed 3 blocks to win against the Romans 5 and we thought that was quite possible. However the dice were against us and we didn't hit anything. Unfortunately the Romans had the luck of Fortuna and came back strong and picked off enough units to win the game.

It was a really good game and playing with teams was really interesting. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough to do for the General after he handed out his orders. As there was only 2 per team the general controlled the center of the board which was good. Watching your commander interpret your orders was a bit stressful. I had plans of hit and run on the right flank drawing the enemy in towards some heavys but it didn't happen.

It was a very good and interesting game. It also looked awesome setup on the table, Ed did a great job of setting up the blocks and packing it away afterwards.


I am now tempted to get some Operation Overlord expansions for M44 and try that with more players.

We managed a game of Defenders of the Realm afterwards which was interesting, but as I am playing it again next week I will talk about it more then.

Release the Kraken!

I finally managed to play Cyclades this week. It's been brought to the game group a few times in the past but I have never been quick enough to get to the table. It always looked good from afar and Gamethyme has been raving about it for a while.

I managed to score the win, but I felt a bit deflated. Three of the four players had managed to build Metropoli and were working towards their second. My first was built by heavy use of Athena and trading in the 4 cards. I had managed to grab 2 more cards and was set to win. All I had to do was get Athena again, but even though I bid high I was outbid. I managed to move around the gods making sure everyone else bid high then ended up getting Apollo for a few extra coins.

As everyone had bid high there wasn't much for them to do and I knew if I could get Athena again I would have the win. I picked the god who wouldn't be available and the others were turned over. Athena was there, but the last of the three gods. Then the monster was turned over and it was the Pegasus. I knew I was in trouble here as it meant one of the others could send in their forces by air ignoring the need for boats. John went first and picked up the Pegasus, I had 1 guy in my Metropolis and he had 2 attacking so it was down to the dice. I won the first attack, then the second being 1 up. That was it, the others couldn't get near me and Athena brought home 2 more cards to win me the game.

I did enjoy the game, but I was expecting more to happen on the board. We all just expanded a little then hunkered down. There was only the 2 dice rolls in the game!
I liked the bidding mechanic, that was really nice and worked well. The components are lovely and the theme of Greek gods helping the players works really well.

I definitely want to give the game another go, but I think next time I will be a little bit more aggressive. Trying to capture islands from the others and building up my Metropoli in other ways rather than handing in white cards.

What is the plural for Metropolis anyway?

I also managed to give Dominion Prosperity a go, it been on the shelf since November unplayed which is a shame. The new cards and treasure mechanic worked really well. It was interesting that players were struggling to get to buy the 11 gold Colony cards when before you always ended up 1 short of being able to buy a province. Royal seal was one of my favorites. When played as a treasure it was worth 2 gold, but the card you used to buy it with end up on the top of your deck. Useful until another player plays a spy card.
But I expect there are better cards in the box somewhere....