Archive for the ‘Board Games’ Category

Conflict of Heroes

Posted: 3 July 2014 in Board Games
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I had my first 2 player game today of COH – Awaking of the bear and it was a blast. We just played the first mission and took our time and re checked rules etc. I tried to just use the reference card and it almost worked but I had to reference the rules a few times. The rules are very well written and easy to read and follow.

I think I have found my new favourite 2 player historical game. I am going to re read the whole rules and get ready for another mission soon.

This is a keeper and I have also purchased an expansion called Price of Honour to future proof the game. I am also looking forward to the solo expansion which is being released at Gencon 2014.

Gears of War

Posted: 18 May 2014 in Board Games
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Never played the video game but the board game is great! ok, I just got some new games from Amazon while they had the free global shipping offer. If you spent more than $150 USD you got free shipping to New Zealand. Cool especially when shipping would have probably cost $100. S0 I got Conflict of heroes “price of honour”, Sentinels of the mulitverse “Vengeance”, Mage night expansion and Gears of war the board game published by fantasy flight. Awesome deal but I am sad to say that they have rescinded the free global shipping to New Zealand.

I think it was published 2011 and it went under my gaming radar because of the title. Excellent components and the miniatures are extremely detailed and add to the game play. I even painted a couple up to make the game play more enjoyable. The AI is determined by a random card draw and the balance seems to be finely tuned so you have to make good decisions and have the dice go your way. So if you can pick this up for a steal like I did, you won’t be disappointed.

Mage Knight

Posted: 5 May 2014 in Board Games
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The recycling of old games that I don’t play continues and this has generated some much needed “Hobbie” funds for getting some new games. I had always wanted to give Mage Knight a go , but there is so much hype around about this game I thought I would give it a miss. After watching some videos and reading a few reviews I decided to get a copy. I have had a couple of solo games to learn the rules and it has been lots of fun. I think the solo play works very well and the puzzles are very challenging. The rules are smooth and easy to follow and I would advise to play through the walkthrough at your own pace and to double check any rule queries.. The cards and components are excellent and it is truly a pleasure to play. See the Wizkids site  or BGG for more information. I am looking forward to playing this a lot more and most likely will pick up the expansions.

 

Conflict of Heroes 2nd Edition. Awakening the Bear 1941 – Operation Barbarossa

Posted: 13 April 2014 in Board Games, Uncategorized
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I am not a historical war-game  player and for me to even consider playing a WWII game , it has to be something special. I found out about COH – Awakening the Bear when I was looking for another board game. The cover painting looked interesting and also that it was a Origins winner made me investigate even further. And I am very glad I did, what a great Board Game.

Made by Academy Games the Conflict of Heroes system represents squad level combat during WWII to modern day conflict.

Conflict of Heroes is a tactical war game of platoon-sized engagements, with each counter representing a squad of infantry, a crewed gun or a vehicle. The engagements are presented as firefights with different objectives. During a firefight players use their army’s units to fight for these objectives, which are worth victory points (VPs). The player with the most VPs at the end of the game wins.

Each firefight consists of several rounds. In each round, players alternate taking turns. During his turn, a player may take an action with one of his units, stall or pass. When a unit activates, it receives 7 action points (APs), which it spends to take actions. These APs are tracked on the green Unit Action Points Track on the player’s Track Sheet. Different actions can cost a different number of APs

Play continues with players alternating turns until both pass consecutively. At this point the round ends and the next round begins. Most games consist of five or fewer rounds.

Victory points are won during the game by destroying enemy units and taking objectives. Victory conditions are listed on each firefight sheet. A player can lose most of his command, but still win the game if he has met his victory conditions and has more victory points than his opponent.

The components are some of the best I have seen , the maps are fantastic, the counters big and easy to read (and very thick) and the rules are very well written. The box comes with a plastic insert for the counters 🙂 . You can download maps for planing moves, off board bombardments and of course the rules. Also an IPAD app exists for tracking Action Points. So a very well supported game and with lots of possible expansion available I think this will be getting plenty of attention. Also solo rules are being release soon which look very promising.

I have just worked through the first firefight and will go back and read the rules again to clarify some points. The fluff is very good e.g. ” Oct 17, 1941. Field Order: “Commander, this is a main supply route for the Germans. We will mine the road and ambush the next convoy. Destroy as many trucks as possible and then melt away to the east. We will rendezvous at camp” Partisan Leader Viktor S. The firefight outlines the forces, command action points and any option rules. The attention to detail is evident in the design and layout.

The soviets were getting pinned but still managed to control the supply point and ambush the the convoy. The Germans Pioneers were coming on from the NE side , behind the Soviets line. The Soviets only had to last a couple more turns.  So just an intro scenario to get used to actions, LOS and combat. I really like only controlling a few units , it feels more immersive. The rules are very similar to Nuklear Winter 68 with similar counter configuration.  Here you can see the soft and hard target fire power of 2 and 0 for the Rifle unit (red for soft and blue for hard). Also the front and flank defence of 12 and 11 and Action Points for Firing and moving or 3 and 1 respectively at the top of the counter.  The white triangle is for the facing to determine the front and flanking directions etc.

 

Nuklear Winter 68

Posted: 28 March 2014 in Board Games, Uncategorized
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I have just received “Nuklear Winter 68” and the first expansion “Heart of Darkness” from my FOGS (Friendly Overseas Games Store). NW68 was released in 2012 but I couldn’t get a copy. The theme has always been intriguing

The former German territory, transformed into a wasteland by the nuclear holocaust that ended the Second World War in 1946, is the hostile setting of a new conflict between old enemies clenched in a struggle for the future of mankind.

Surviving Nazi leaders and Wehrmacht forces resurface in 1968 from underground shelters to rebuild an empire from the ashes of the world. Oblivious of the climatic, technological and political changes inflicted by more than 20 years of nuclear winter, they are about to face the mysterious Black Hand – elusive, abhorrent masters of the wastes, and the combined might of the modern, highly mechanized and versatile NATO alliance.

Units represent platoons of vehicles like T64 or King Tiger tanks, infantry, or helicopters.

Activation is by chits, and better-trained, better-led units can activate more than once in a turn, moving, shooting, and fighting in each activation. On the flip side of a coin, there is no guarantee that a formation will activate even once. This adds an element of randomness that I like and have experienced in game systems before.

The components are of a high standard and the board depicts a nuclear winter landscape. The above picture shows the first scenario , with objectives bottom left and some units that have finished there activation. The counters a nice and bright with a glossy finish. They are well cut and easy to read. The rules are easy to read but the brown background is annoying and luckily you can download a white background version from BGG. The main section of the rules is only 6 pages long and the rest describes the units types and comprehensive campaign with 15 scenarios.

The expansion “Heart of Darkness” come with another nice board, counters and another 10 scenarios. Each rule book has a timeline that really set the scene for a great gaming experience.

In Magnificent Style – A VPG game

Posted: 17 March 2014 in Board Games
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I am playing “In Magnificent Style – Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg 3 July 1863″ a game by VPG. Its a 60 min game with low complexity (3 out of 9) . Its time to learn a bit of history 😉

is a solitaire game depicting the final desperate Confederate attack on 3 July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg, popularly known as Pickett’s Charge. As General Longstreet, you must decide how quickly to press your troops across this deadly open ground before allowing the men to regroup for another bound. But time is not on your side, and the longer your stalwart soldiers remain in this maelstrom of enemy fire, the more dangerous it becomes, and the less likely they will arrive with the verve and numbers required to carry the day.

With only five turns in which to reach your objective and attack, how far can you push your luck? Your options are simple: Death or Glory!

It is a VPG gold Banner product , which means the counters are laser cut out of 3mm dense card board or even MDF. The quality is very good and the graphics are crisp and and easy to read even when your getting a bit tired and the lights seem dim. Here you can see a “smoke cover” event chit which are cleverly designed to be union on one side and confederate on the other. Cool. The attention to detail is to be applauded , see the one bullet hole on the 9 and 2 on the 8. You start with strength of 10. Also the top down regiment counters which are all different ( I think). These little touches make all the difference to “getting” into the whole game experience. Very neat for such a low price game.

I got the poly bag version which does not include the mounted map but I find the card maps sit flat and actually prefer them to the jig saw style mounted boards. Here is my position after turn one. I have a long way to go and the Union have had some good luck.

You get a 2 sided summary card which is all you need once you have read the rules. The rules are formatted in the classic numbered paragraph format and with plenty of highlights and examples are an easy read.  The most helpful part is the detailed play through and the end of the rules.

So overall very pleased with this game and I must admit to really liking the VPG style of game. As VPG says “The Gameplay’s the Thing”.

Recycling old board games

Posted: 6 March 2014 in Board Games
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I have a “limit” of 100 odd board games in my collection. So when I want to buy a new game I have to recycle some odd games to get room for the new games. I recently got rid of a few games , Merchant and Marauders and Shadows over Camelot. Both are good games but never got played so it was time to recycle. So with some room in my collection I ordered Duel of Ages the master set and Imperial. Both arrived from CSI and I must admit the postage is expensive but the games are still heaps cheaper than buying in NZ and both of these games we not available from New Zealand retailers anyway. 

Europe in the age of imperialism. International investors try to achieve the greatest influence in Europe. With their bonds, they control the politics of the six imperial nations: Austria-Hungary, Italy, France, Great Britain, the German Empire, and Russia. The nations erect factories, build fleets, and deploy armies. The investors watch as their nations expand, wage wars, levy taxes, and collect the proceeds. Since the European nations are under the shifting influence of different investors, new strategic alliances and conflicts arise between them again and again!

Each player represents an international investor. Only he who succeeds in increasing his capital and gaining influence in the most powerful European nations will win the imperial competition.

Imperial is a varied strategy game without the luck of dice or cards. Two to six players, from about twelve years and up, take on the role of imperial investors. The duration of the game is about two to three hours.

Imperial always looked very inviting when I was browsing online as I like board games with maps of Europe. It reminds me of Diplomacy map and thats a good thing. Here is the setup for a game. All nations are used and for 2 players the following rules are used.

2 players:

Each player receives starting money amounting to 35 mil.(3x5mil,10x2mil)from the bank. The nation flag cards of Austria-Hungary and Italy are shuffled face down and dealt to the players in turn;each player gets one nation flag card.After  that,each player gets two more nation flag cards: France and Germany to Austria-Hungary Russia and Great Britain to Italy

There are not many components but they are of a high quality. The money is thick paper and the tokens are made of thick cardboard. So this game will last for ages.

Just started a two player game. Really like the process of building up a nation and then reaping the rewards  . The quick play sheet helps you get started and the rules are very easy to handle. It more about understanding the concepts the drive the game and how you get power points and etc. Awesome. Here Russia is in a bad way but Austria is looking strong but the bonds are worthless until the first taxation happens. France and England’s bonds are there value * 1 .

Zombicide PO

Posted: 12 February 2014 in Board Games
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I had a two player game of ZPO the other day. It was our first game and I had only skimmed read the rules. It didn’t look complicated 😉 We played the tutorial mission and   things went smoothly until we turned over a zombie spawn card . I had to look in rules and couldn’t quite work out what type of zombie to spawn. So we just used the grey plastic or normal ones. The card had a brown knife icon, which should have been a clue, but I couldn’t see any reference to the icon on the rules.

It turned out to be , spawn a ‘berserker’ zombie , which are made out of brown plastic. Obvious really but it was hard to see symbol on the card as well. The cards are numbered and I found a list of what cards do what on BGG. We also kept forgetting to spawn zombies when you opened a door. Oh well, we dont want the first game to be too hard. As the game progressed I could see that the zombies inside the prision basketball area where going to be a handful as we had to enter the prision through a door in the same area (The exit token). Because I had only skimmed rules I didn’t know about zombies breaking through the barb wire! They would have come straight at me or the three characters I was playing.

It ended up that we lost as my playing partner just opened the prison door and entered leaving me to fight against a somewhat MASSIVE horde of zombie. I died in one turn and we lost the game. Simple rules and the models are great and its a very themed game. Overall , I am keen to have another game or two as it is great fun killing zombies.

Zombicide season 2 and Robinson Crusoe

Posted: 7 February 2014 in Board Games
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I ordered a couple of games from Games Paradise in Australia and they arrived to day in perfect condition. There was a bit of concern after reading a thread on BGG re bad service but that is not what I experienced. They arrived outside my front door in less than 2 weeks. I got free postage combined with 10% GST and 20% sale made them about the same price as buying one of these games from good old NZ. I forgot to mention the NZD/AUD exchange rate was about 0.945 when I got charged as well.  In fact I don’t think you can even get these games in NZ at the moment with Robinson Crusoe not being released until the end of February.

    

The components are very nice for both games with Z man and Cool Mini or Not producing two very nice games.The models are very nice in Zombicide i.e. nicely sculpted, dynamic poses and the bases look wide enough to stop them tipping over. The boards are thick (all 9 of them) , doubled sided and look built to last. The cards are mini sized to fit onto the character stat card but you can’t have everything (not a big fan of mini cards)



Robinson Crusoe is a Portal Game but released in here (Australia and NZ) by Z Man games. I like portal ( I have the new era and winter card games, Neuroshima Hex and I backed Ignacy’s KS) The cards in Robinson are of a high quality and the board just looks fantastic. The reviews really rate this game and I can’t wait to have a game to see if they are true. To put the icing on the cake , it also has custom dice . Yeah.



I can’t wait to have a game to two 🙂

Hegemonic – Explore build fight plot

Posted: 16 January 2014 in Board Games
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I finally got a game of Hegemonic. We had a 2 player game. It was a lot of fun and a very close run result. It can be played quickly and the rules are very easy to follow with the online videos helping as well. I will reread the rules tonight to check we did it correctly and try and organise another game asap. Check it out on BGG and the publishers site at Minion Games.  This was a KS I backed and it was worth the wait and I would recommend it. I also backed the futurist coins which are coming soon as well.

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