Yesterday afternoon was the complete opposite of Tuesday.

My FLGS for starters was much much busier. MtG and games were going on as the owner was rushed off his feet unpacking and checking a delivery. A lot of new Pokemon stuff had arrived, plus that massive Armada Super Star Destroyer model (see yesterday’s post for a photo of it).

I started off playing some 1v1 Commander. My opponent was testing their new deck which was doing some graveyard shenanigans. My mono red deck was still deciding to play hide and seek with it’s lands. Which proved problematic and gave two relatively easy and predictable wins for my opponent. For the third game I pulled out my tweaked Elf deck. That proved too powerful for my opponent, especially when his elves helped power up my deck.

Afterwards I taught Penny Lane to a friend. Who despite losing loved the game. So much so they want to buy the game when it comes out.

I then had a three player game of Penny Lane, with my friend (shows how much he liked it) and the store owners assistant. I’d not played Penny Lane with more than 2 players since getting it. Despite a slow start, I ended up triggering the end of the game. But my friend managed to grab the win. However the assistant loved the game also, and told the store owner that they will be ordering some copies for the store.

I did point out to them the difference between my copy and the one they would get on release. Which apart from a single Kickstarter exclusive building card, the foiled coins were just cosmetic.

But I was chuffed and taken aback by the reaction from both. I like the game. And wasn’t expecting the reaction I got.

As for my thoughts on playing with 3 players. It’s a slightly different experience than a 2 player game. Your tactics have to change, especially if you are third in the turn order. It means you are most likely not going to get one of the actions to get money. So you either take the first player token, or buy a building (assuming there is one you can afford) and try and get a money engine going with completed coin icons and hopefully the building bought. And it was the later approach I took. But either way you are more or less writing off that turn or turns until you get that engine going and become less reliant on the money action. It’s a different problem to solve. But still really enjoyable.

I had a fun afternoon. A nice combo of MtG and playing a game. No stress. No drama. Playing with great people. Some banter with the owner. Some gossip about the games industry. What else could you want?

Well after seeing the Asmodee UK price sheet for the FFG stuff announced Wednesday, a stiff drink.

Here is a taster. The Marvel Champions Core set is £60. The Marvel Miniatures game £90. The expansions for the miniatures game £35 iirc.

Yeah not cheap. I may rant about this in a future post. Depends how I feel and if I want to waste my breathe shouting about something that won’t change. All I and others that don’t like it can do is vote with our wallets.

Games Played: Penny Lane