Five Tribes

Another game night with HanDan and this time they provided (really have converted them). Five Tribes is a game with multiple ways to score points and a genuine uncertainty as to the eventual winner. Initially it is a bit overwhelming with the various things that can be done and I seriously messed up my first turn through misunderstanding but hey-ho. Its happened the other way round plenty of times.

Having missed out on getting the genie (which gives you the opportunity to get more genies) I went for a strategy getting as many resources as possible. Again I misunderstood as I thought you couldn't get points beyond your first set. But hey-ho despite all this I got a semi respectable score and I can agree that it is a fun game which doesn't last too long.

My 8 Different Resources

The quality of everything is top notch and is comparable to the other Days of Wonder games we own (Ticket to Ride).

Also confirmed details for when we are playing D&D with us playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen. As such we shall have:

DB as a High Elf Wizard

JT as a Dwarf Paladin

HH as a Half-Elf Rogue

My back up character for when shit gets real is a Tiefling Monk armed with a Yari Spear.

Everything That's Happened

I've more models to show including the Prussian Army of Frederick the Great as well as a few more Frostgrave minis. These will be on here soon along with the below village tiles when completed.

In the meanwhile I haven't played many wargames but myself and JT have a got a new boardgame couple in HanDan. Been playing a few goodies which we haven't been able to just between us such as Battlestar Galactica - bit of a brain spin for JT. Game of Thrones as gone down well and the mechanics are good - only issue is that by trying to stay true to the books/series - its made an uneven game.

Finally last night we had a quick run through of Lobositz - removing a few models and shrinking the battlefield. AE played Austrians and DB assisted me running the Prussians. It was like hitting my head against a brick wall - sunken roads are really powerful and Alex just kept subbing units in whenever I caused a minor breakthrough. The historical set up shouldn't be so bad as I'd shrunk the battlefield significantly which allowed the Austrians to gather tight and be a very difficult force to break.

One query I have for anyone who's done V&B for Seven Years War - is most cavalry supposed to be Linear or massed - they seemed really weak last night - other than the Austrian Horse Grenadiers who destroyed everything in front of them.

To come, more pictures, hopefully a game of Rommel next week and some more board game adventures!

Oh So Close

So I genuinely am making progress and I have now just got 3 stands of cavalry left, as well as about 5 command bases. I've even cut the bases for the town sectors. Pictures will be available soon...

Also news about Morecambe Bay Storm, we finished the season 5-4-1, I've got to admit I was out injured for the last few games and in our play-off quarter final we lost to an excellent team in the Shropshire Revolution. All in all an excellent season and we hope to bounce back even stronger next year (albeit I personally need a lot of work still doing on my shoulder). If you want to give it a go then we have a rookie day on the 8th October - come try it out.

In other news I have also got arriving soon Flashpoint: Fire Rescue. This was recently on Tabletop (although they didn't seem to last very long?). SO I'll review this and show you pictures in action.

Finally (in this fast paced piece) I am also looking to buy Rommel by Sam Mustafa when it is released. I already have a good amount of 10mm WW2 models and if it works it could be possible to build up to some of the huge battles of WW2 including Operation Market Garden, Leningrad, D-Day or the Bulge! Already looking at a grid marked battlemat (although unsure which sized squares to buy).

Star Realms

Since seeing this on Tabletop, JT and I have been playing this 3 games at a time pretty much every other night. It's addictive. But last night something happened which I thought I'd quickly share:

Before I show you, let me tell you how Star Realms works. Starting with a basic deck you recruit new units to improve you deck so that you can defend yourself and attack with increasing ferocity. Each turn you draw 5 cards (this is the key point) and then recruit, attack and use any other abilities those cards my include. One of these abilities is to draw more cards, in some cases 2 cards.

Somehow JT ended up with the below as her hand on one turn:

Yes that is 16 cards 

I was on the verge of victory before this :(

In other news, I've completed the last Hussar base for the Austrians; now just got Dragoons and Kuirassiers. Hopefully will get somewhere with those tonight.

More Distractions

So I did it - supported my local games store and purchased Agricola. Its a hefty boardgame and seems to have plenty of variation with different occupations, minor improvements in the 100s!! Having said that we had a run through last night (on the family mode) and it played reasonably easy - in fact almost too quick to seem to do enough.

Agricola

In some ways it plays a lot like Lords of Waterdeep in terms of resource management etc except with scoring held to the end. Will definitely be playing this again but with all the rules included and give you a real review.

However blog posts may take a back seat, not only is American Football going really well but we've just got Series 5 of Game of Thrones (yes I know that we are a series behind and) and it may take up a lot of our time (restarting from Series 2 to extend the experience).

2 Player Games

So as my previous post stated, having to scale back dramatically on things but hopefully will get painting back on go once things settle down. Anyhoo I have just purchased my copy of the most recent Tabletop Gaming Magazine (a really well edited piece of work). I haven't read through it all but one article I was very interested in was Top 10 games for 2 players as this is mostly what I do with the missus. The biggest problem I have with 2 player games is that obviously you can't have a defector and backstabbing - either its 1 on 1 or fully co-operative and I really enjoy these games (think Battlestar Galactica, Diplomacy, Game of Thrones).

The article has rekindled my interest in getting Agricola and JT seems interested so I might look for a set. In meanwhile these are my top 5 based on what I have, what I like and what JT will play (so Wargames are out):

Elder Sign setup

1. Elder Sign: A cooperative battle against an Ancient One. Yes its the diddy one, yes its a bit easy if you're just playing on basic settings, but its a lot of fun and really good if you've had a break from gaming to get back up to speed. Really want to get a few expansions to increase difficulty but its so good. Especially if you actually read the room descriptions and get into the mood of things. Fantasy Flight Games
2. Lords of Waterdeep: European style boardgames are the best. As long as you explain the concept that just because you're losing doesn't mean you're actually learning. I am all about getting a game as close as possible so I will usually try and play a slow game when playing these games with new gamers but there are so many different ways of playing for such a simple game. Again expansions add to the game to add yet another layer of depth. Also they're not just cubes - you're sending adventurer's off on missions. Role-playing non role-playing games makes everything better. Wizards of the Coast

Lords of Waterdeep

3. Carcassonne: The king of European Style games. I don't think I need to explain why this is here. For me a great intro game which (I'm sorry for offending) blows Settlers of Catan out of the water. Also MEEPLES!!! Z-Man Games

Carcassonne

4. Pandemic. Another great co-op game and one that can infuriate. Just when you think that you can close off a disease, another outbreak flares in Santiago (just about the most out of the way place in the world it seems). Really tempted to give the Legacy version a go. Z-Man Games

Outbreak - Pandemic.

5. Magic The Gathering. I have a confession. I love blue - Izzet all the way, and I love big blue creatures and interactive Dragons (Hypersoar Dragon anyone?). I know I'm an awful person. Sorry Day 9. Wizards of The Coast.

So there is my Top 5 games that can be played by 2. If you agree/disagree - got other recommendations let me know. I'm always up for trying more.