Category Archives: pixel tactics

pixel tactics

Excelsior!

dice masters, marvel legendary, new arrivals, pixel tactics

What would a Marvel Cinematic Universe film be without the cameo from Stan Lee? A lesser movie that's what. So when I found out that there was a Stan Lee bystander card for Marvel Legendary, well I just had to have it. Guess what came today?

So now when I play Marvel Legendary I can simulate that cameo appearance from the Generalissimo himself by shuffling in these two bystander cards into the bystander deck.

And for me the awesome thing will be when I'm playing with some-one who doesn't know I have this card and it appears. I'm hoping for a little “OMG! That's awesome” moment.

Tomorrow im going to see Ant-man at The Luxe cinema, and hopefully before the film two or three of us will have a chance to be uber geeks and play a game of Marvel Legendary before hand with Stan Lee shuffled in the Bystander deck.

Also today the two Dice Tower Pixel Tactics promos arrived. I only got them yesterday off that UK Facebook trading page. So dam good service.

Finally the other day the rare Constantine dice masters card arrived. It appears to be a popular card especially in control teams I think. I'm not fully up on the current meta. It's changing again now that the Age of Ultron set has hit stores in the U.S. and any day now in the UK.

I've not played nearly enough dicemasters this year. I really enjoy the game. But this release schedule Wizkids has for sets is brutal. It's almost a new set every two months. Which if you want to be a completionist makes the game expensive. If you want to be competitive at tournaments (which I like to think I'm capable of being) then you need to be living this game, which makes it a life style game. And I have too many games in my collection that I enjoy playing that fall into this category. But I think this is a topic that I will explore in another post in the future.

 

Heinz 57 Post

lego minifigs, Munchkin, pixel tactics, star realms, tabletop

About Last Night

Last night Sam (a friend) messaged me via that NSA friendly site Facebook inviting me along to the Kings Head and to bring along Munchkin. The pub was a little busier than was expected, but Sam, Duncan and myself sat down to play a game of Munchkin.
As the photo above shows my Munchkin character was an Elven Thief dressed in leather armour. That's one of the things I love about the game the crazy race and class combos that paint such vivid pictures (greatly enabled by the great art work on the cards) that become more vivid when you start adding on the accessories like armour and weapons.
The game started slowly mainly due to work (Sam having to serve customers) and very few monsters turning up in the Door pile of cards to fight. Once we started fighting monsters and levelling up, it becomes the case of stockpiling cards to stop your nearest rival from stepping over the winning line.
That arms race finally happened in our game between Sam and myself. I used my salvo of cards to stop Sam crossing over the line, depleting my arsenal. Then it was Sam's turn to use up her arsenal to stop me crossing the winning line. Which she successfully did. But then all sides are wondering did the other person have anything left to stop them when their turn comes around again. Back to Sam's turn and she draws a curse. Then it's my turn I too draw a curse, but protected from its effects by some magic footwear. Back to Sam and still no monster for her to fight. Which was lucky for me, I had nothing to stop her with in my hand. My turn. A level one monster (I forget which one) I very easily had more than enough to defeat the monster. Phew Sam was in the same situation as myself nothing left to stop me winning. We had both used everything we had in our previous exchange of blows. I crawled across the finish line to win.

When Worlds Collide

In the world of Minecraft skeletons are a minor irritation. They don't have it easy especially when they are on the surface, as soon as it turns daylight they burn up. Well one skeleton had had enough of the status quo. He reached out for some help. A pan-dimensional portal opened up and four Stormtroopers turned up to help even the odds up for the skeleton.

Luckily for Steve two other figures followed the Stormtroopers through the pan-dimensional portal, Jedi Luke and Stormtrooper Han.
So I have a nice little minifig Stormtrooper army building up.

Competition My Arse

The Pixel Tactics playmat from Level 99 arrived today but only after I had to pick it up from its kidnappers the Royal Mail. They had taken it hostage and were demanding a ransom before they would release it.
The ransom exchange took place at the nearest sorting office. Not exactly neutral territory but when a gun is being held at your head you have to go along with the demands of the man with the gun in their hand.
The thing about this kidnapper is that they are meant to be working in a competitive market place (except the last mile where they have a monopoly) for delivery of mail. But I call shenanigans on that. There is no competition in reality. If there was competition then the ransom fee I had to pay today would be a lot lower than it was.
I don't mind paying the tax on the goods I bought from outside of the UK. That is fair. What I do object to paying is the ripoff fee that the Royal Mail charge. The “handling” fee is total bs. It's like the extortionate fees banks charge. There is no way that the costs to the Royal Mail is that much.
However the “competition” only match or go higher on the costs they charge. A competitive market should see these costs dropping not remain stagnant and at a profiteering price.
I'm really resentful of this exploitation of a situation that the Royal Mail use to unfairly profit at my expense.

The playmat itself from Level 99 is lovely. Similar material to all my other playmats, but thinner. The thinness did strike me at first, but it doesn't detract from what a nice playmat it is.

Some Light Reading

I really did enjoy the movie Snowpiercer starring Chris Evans. It's one of those films that snuck out last year and didn't get the exposure the movie really deserved. Just go rent the movie you won't regret it.

The film was based on a French graphic novel. So I finally caved and ordered the source material to read. The second volume is in the postal system somewhere.

Star Realms An Easter Miracle Happens

A couple of days back I decided to check what if any my ranking was in the Star Realms Leaderboards. Bloody hell how did I get that high? Surely something was wrong with their leaderboard? Ok it dropped down after a couple of loses, but even then it was way higher than I was expecting.
Another loss and a further drop. But I tell you I won't see this again me higher up in the rankings than TheCutter.

Naturally on the monthly and lifetime leaderboard I don't even make a dent. That was more like it. The natural order of things is at least restored on those two leaderboards.

 

Star Realms or Pixel Tactics?

pixel tactics, star realms, tabletop

Yesterday I noticed on the blog stats that some-one had come here looking to answer the age old question “Star Realms or Pixel Tactics?” Well I can't help but feel that whoever that person was that they didn't get an answer to the question that they were looking for. Heck I still haven't found what I'm looking for… Ok I'll stop with the inappropriate U2 reference.

Sure I've talked in a post very briefly about my first couple of games of playing Pixel Tactics. And rereading the post I do come to the conclusion that it won't replace Star Realms for me. However I did really enjoy the game, and two games isn't much compared to the number I've played of Star Realms to give a fair comparison between the two. But then Star Realms has an amazing app that allows me to play online against others, and Pixel Tactics doesn't have an app. So it is a lot easier for me to get a game of Star Realms.

Having said that it is possible to play Pixel Tactics online using a webcam and Google Hangouts. Which is a great bonus.

Both games are cheap. Both are two players and come with everything you need to play in the box. Both games can easily be played multiple times with games being different each time. Although both are card games, Star Realms is deck building from a common pool, while Pixel Tactics is preconstructed decks, both players have the same cards in their decks.

Both have expansions out for them Pixel Tactics has 2 and 3 out that can either be played as separate games or mixed in with the first game. Star realms has the Crisis expansions out, and the Gambit expansion about to hit stores. Also both games have further expansions coming out this year.

Accessory wise, Star Realms is better off with playmats, card sleeves, storage box, despite availability being an issue in the UK. Whilst Pixel Tactics only has a playmat only available from Level99. I'd like to see official sleeves and a storage box.

It's no secret how I feel about Star Realms, and what a cracking time I'm having playing it (win or lose). But for me Pixel Tactics is also a good game. So which to choose?

Personally I'd say get both, which is a bit of a cop out. But I don't think anyone who does will regret the decision. But if you only have money for one this month which one to get first?

If you want to play something that is more tactical go with Pixel Tactics. If you prefer deck building then go with Star Realms or want something that can be picked up very quickly and taught quickly.

Pixel Tactics has a few more rules and I think a little bit more complicated than Star Realms to learn, and to teach.

Go with Star Realms if you want to also play on your phone/tablet/PC/Mac. The app is awesome for Star Realms and great value. Plus it has a great enthusiastic online community.

You will eventually end up with both. I have and I don't regret it.

 

First Games of Pixel Tactics

pixel tactics

 

This evening I played my first couple of games of Pixel Tactics (the game came last week) with Freddy using the magic of Google Hangouts.
I lost the first game, and won the second. So broke even. It's an enjoyable game, and interesting. Both players are basically playing with decks that have the same cards. It all comes down to the cards you draw and how you play them. Decisions, decisions, decisions, with a bit of luck.
I like the mechanic of taking turns going first through out a game. It's a nice way of over coming a player having first turn advantage.
Pixel Tactics won't replace Star Realms as my current addiction. However it is certainly a game I want to play a lot more. There is a lot of depth and tactics I haven't explored yet or scratched the surface of. It's also a game I think Nath would also enjoy.
I'm looking forward to my next chance to play Pixel Tactics.