So this is my current thinking for games to take with me for this weekends trip to see Nath.
As I said in the previous post it's very possible the Thunderbirds board game by Matt Leacock may be with me in time to take also. So Nath's work shift permitting we will play a few of these.
Today there was an update from Modiphius about the Kickstarter Thunderbirds game.
“Hi all, Thunderbirds is right now unloading at the UK warehouse, I'm going to assume a day unpacking 13 pallets so expect boxes to start shipping out tomorrow!”
So touch wood, cross fingers and other good luck mumbo jumbo the game could be with me before I go visit Nath. But how cool would that be all new game weekend with Nath? Ok there are still a load of games we haven't played.
With less than eleven hours to completion The Others 7 Sins will be funding (just short of $1.3million raised so far). This Eric Lang game published by Cool Mini Or Not looks amazing. There are a shed load of stretch goal extras coming with the game. Backing this game has stopped me being able to pick up a Kickstarter copy of Blood Rage the current Eric Lang hit game from the Facebook trading and selling page I follow.
Plus if your pockets are deep enough a load of expansions can also be ordered at the same time. My pockets are just about able to stretch to getting the two Kickstarter exclusive expansions. Although I'm hoping that by the time they launch the pledge manager I'll have some extra cash to add one or two more expansions to my order.
So here is what you get for your money at the moment, if I remember there is more stuff not on this picture.
I wonder what's in side this box?
Oh yes finally Epic the card game from White Wizard has arrived. Another little love letter to myself from past me via Kickstarter.
Yep you counted them correctly I got four copies of the game. I only needed three copies! Having three copies of the game allows me to play all the different formats of the game. The fourth copy is important because that is being used for a trade to get a board to use with Ghost Stories.
Don't they look amazing?
And the nice thing these have arrived in time for my visit to see Nath at the weekend. So guess what I'm taking with me?
Plus the final bit of Nath's birthday present arrived too. I think this storage box with the promos and card sleeves is great value. Sadly I wasn't able to get a play mat for him as part of the present. But he has the base game, Gambit expansion, all four Crisis packs to sleeve and store in here also as his birthday present. Plus I pre-ordered the Colony Wars expansion and new Gambits pack too, so when they get sent out I'll forward them to him if it's not close to a visit.
Oh why have I got another copy of Sushi Go! I gave my copy away yesterday for my mums cousin to give to his eight year old grandson to play.
Yesterday I put the call out on social media to see if anyone wanted to meet up today at the local Costa to play Tiny Epic Galaxies. Luckily this time I wasn't Billy no mates, and Jo and Debbie said they would meet up with me to play the game.
I had managed to grab a table at the busy Costa ready for Debbie and Jo to arrive. I had my usual Costa tipple a Chai Latte. When the girls arrived I got them a hot chocolate. So technically the title of this blog isn't entirely accurate.
With our beverages sorted we set up Tiny Epic Galaxies. I explained the basics of the game and we started playing.
As we played we discussed options on each other's go. I think this helped with the learning curve.
Despite efforts to try and slow her down using one of the powers of a planet I had colonised, which was paying two power to move two enemy ships minus one position each, Jo still managed to get to the required 21 points to trigger the end of the game.
Thanks to Debbie and Jo for being great gaming companions. I had a great time playing the games in Costa , even with me not winning a single game!
Our first game was a learning game, with constant referencing to the rules as we both embarked on a steep learning curve. In the first game I played Aradel, while Jonathan played Noah.
Neither of us knew the cards in each deck, didn't know the combos, or how we should be playing them. What should our five starting cards have been?
Wow what a mismatch. Noah was all about reacting to the actions of the opposing Phoenixborn with the odd bit of direct damage from his allie character. While Aradel was all about the offensive building up her forces, clearing the opponents battlefield and swinging in for her damage.
It wasn't long before I had six mist spirits out on the battlefield, doing six points of damage in total to Noah each time they attacked. With Aradels spells, every time Jonathan got a unit on to his battlefield I was sending them straight back. I was starting to feel bad about doing this.
Aradel was certainly the much stronger Phoenixborn to be playing. It was easier and quicker to get units out on the battlefield, and much easier to control the opposing Phoenixborns battlefield.
It also seemed that Jonathan was getting through his thirty card deck a lot faster than I was.
Reflecting on Noah and the pre-constructed deck, I think the decks they suggest in the manual are there to teach/illustrate different playing styles/techniques. Noah's I believe is to teach about reaction and counter spells. But in doing so I believe the Noah pre-constructed deck is under powered. It will be interesting to see how he does against some of the other Phoenixborn.
I have to say that I owe Jonathan a really big thank you. This living card game/collectable card game format is not one of his favourite style of games. So I really appreciate the fact he tried the game.
First up the latest expansion for Machi Koro arrived Millionaires Row
The latest Love Letter, Love Letter Adventure Time also arrived but no photo, because that has gone straight out as a present for a friends daughter who seems to be a big fan of the show.
The Lego Star Wars Advent Calander also arrived and has gone straight into safe keeping until the start of December. Otherwise I would have opened it all up already. Yes for some things I have no self control.
So earlier today I just so happened to end up in Sainsburys and what did they have in? Yep the new minifig series from Lego, which this time has a Halloween theme. It would have been rude not to get the odd packet. Somehow at the same time a small box set of City Lego also somehow mysteriously ended up in the basket too.
Then this evening I ended up in my local Tesco, and somehow some more of the new Lego minifigs found their way into my shopping basket!
When I finally got home what was waiting for me? Yep even more minifigs. Two Batman figures (different torso designs, from two different sets) and a Joker polybag. Yes one of the Batmans was a double, but that was intentional, as was the Joker which I also have. The reason I got the doubles was because a group of my students for the digital media unit wanted to make a brick movie using Batman and the Joker. So these two doubles were got so they could be used for that.
I really like the new minifig series. The mad scientist and zombie businessman love them. I'm really looking forward to using the figures for the header image of this blog later in October when they will be appropriate.
At last the wait is over, the great historical deck building game Ages has finally hit Kickstarter.
This is really a good deckbuilder. You can find my previous posts on Ages where I look at the cards, the setup, and how to play HERE
You can back Ages HERE if you liked what I wrote previously on here, and think that it's a game you'd enjoy.
Well any old excuse will do to photograph minifig said holding coffee mugs.
In Sunday's post about the Memoir '44 games I played with Jonathan I mentioned that he bought along his newly arrived copy of Memoir '44 Tactics and Strategy Guide.
Well war is a terrible thing, as is the arms race it creates. So having looked at Jonathan's copy I decided I better get my own copy, just to keep things even.
My copy of this epic arrived yesterday. So the studying begins…
Oh nearly forgot these two little fellas also arrived today. Ok one was too late to celebrate his special day at the weekend. But better late than never.
Regular readers will know that I received the last data pack in the SanSan Cycle The Universe of Tomorrow last week.
So it's about time I looked at the cards or goodies that make up this cycle. Let's start with the cards that have been added to my beloved Anarchs.
I'm not too impressed with the “Power to the People” event card. I can see its use as an econ card but I can't see it making it into my Windy deck. Now the next two cards “Surfer” and “DDoS” they are different stories.
I love the flavour text of these two cards, especially the “DDoS” card. Plus the art is fabulous. For me “Surfer” is a card I may find myself using. But “DDoS” is going straight into Windy. The card is a constant threat to a Corp player, once trashed if they have been foolish enough to protect their servers with just single ice, I'm hitting them big time. I just love that ability of stopping the corps rezzing the first piece of ice on each of their servers for the whole of my turn. Anarch running havoc, love it.
Criminals get a new identity “Laramy Fisk” and he also has an event card “Fisk Investment Seminar”. It seems to me that this new identity and the event are aimed at getting the corp player to go through their R&D deck quickly, forcing them to discard cards from their hand that they would have otherwise have liked to have kept around. Maybe getting them to hold a handful of agendas in HQ!
Those do good ear white hat shaper runners also get two cards. A program that helps a little with the economy, allowing the shaper to install a card for free. I'm not sure how useful this would be for a shaper. But it's not a card that I would think about spending influence on. However their other card is something I would consider. “Bookmark” is hardware that when installed allows me to store cards face down from my grip. Then at a time of my choosing spend a click or trash the card put them back in my grip. This is awesome. Instead of discarding cards put them on “Bookmark” and pull them back when you need them.
For me this is far more useful version of the Anarch “Street Peddler” card. However it does continue a trend of runners being able to put cards out without the corp player knowing what they are. Now the runners are getting to have hidden information. Love it, love it.
The neutral “Wireless Net Pavilion” doesn't excite me at all, sorry.
Jinteki gets a new identity “Chronos Protocol”, plus a new agenda “Ancestral Imager” which seem to be meant for each other. Dealing net damage, and allowing the corp player to see the cards in the runners grip before trashing one. That could be very useful in stopping the runner from getting his rig setup, and force them to hunt for another copy of that card, or remove that “DDoS” before it can be played. The “Genetics Pavilion” could also be a thorn in the runners side. It certainly slows down their game when they are drawing trying to find a particular card.
HB get two nice assets, that I could see me spending influence on to use, especially “Team Sponsorship”.
My favourite corp NBN. I can see “Franchise City” making it into my deck. I do also like the neutral agenda “The Future Is Now”, score and get a card you want, very handy.
I like the new Weyland cards, definitely a little push on assets for them. They all work very nicely together.
This has been the first cycle that I have bought as it came out. Well I only started playing earlier in the year, so it it makes sense as this one started up just after I started playing.
I've really enjoyed opening the new data packs, discovering new cards. Looking at new interactions, loving the art work and flavour text.
I'm looking forward to the new Deluxe expansion and the Munbad cycle.
Posted by me using my iPad and the Blogsy app