Some new games

Posted: 19 March 2015 in Uncategorized
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I have been too busy renovating to post much but as the days get colder I will have more time to devote to my gaming hobbie. Also I finally have finished 1/2 of my gamers cave but need to get some carpet and curtains sorted to warm it up a bit. The natural light during the day is great and its a nice quiet area. I thought I would have plenty of storage but its already starting to full up 🙂 I need to get my minis out and in the display shelf I have but I need to fix the walls etc. My plan is to have a painting table under the large window (not in photo) for natural light. Hopefully soon…



I also got TI3 from the book depository today for a good price < $100. The box was a bit dented but who cares when it was a great deal. I have cut all the pieces from the sprues and punch the counters. Here is a 3 player set up but my table is not big enough. I need to get a board I can put onto the table for these “monster” type games. I need to try and organise a big game of this soon. I had TI2 and this seems to be a massive improvement in quality and game design. Bring it on!

Some other games that I have got recently are

and

both are from VPG and look very good. The Barbarossa Campaign is a solitaire game that I will keep setup for a while. So I need to get a sheet of plastic to help keep map flat and to make it easier to manage. The components are poor but since it will only be me playing its not such a big deal. Angels on Five components are very good (Gold Banner Game) and the rules look straight forward. It also has a scenario booklet.

I have also ordered a recent GMT release

which is supposed to be very good but appears to be selling out everywhere so before the first print has all been sold I got a copy from Amazon. The good GMT games seem to sell out quite quickly and their reprint schedule always seems to be full.  So I have lots of rules etc to learn before I can get some of these on the table.

On a lighter note gamewise I also ordered TED to go with TEK and TEG. Look like a nice little 30 minutes game.

Still Alive

Posted: 13 January 2015 in Uncategorized
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I have not been gaming for a while 😦 as I have moved to a new (120 year old) house and been too busy renovating.Plus I do not have any room for a table so hard to setup my games.

So stuff I have done. I did manage a quick game of “Tiny epic kingdoms” and I have backed the latest KS “Tiny epic galaxies”. See link

Also backed Bright Future card game because  I liked the art work. See  link which looks very good.

I will be making a games room asap as part of the renovation and it will have plenty of natural light from a skylight and heaps of storage room for my games and models. Its is in fact one of my priorities and it have given me the incentive to keep renovating even when I think I should be gaming. Oh well back to tiling the bathroom…

Cheers

Bruce

Sentinel Tactics – The Flame of Freedom

Posted: 30 August 2014 in Uncategorized
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I got my KS last week but due to house moving have not had a chance to play through. I think it is AWESOME and just love the graphic design, cards, mini and dice etc.

I will post some more once i have had a game or two

I need to do some more gaming but have packed away my stuff 😦 Bad planning

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”.

Kickstarter trials and tribulations

Posted: 7 March 2014 in News
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One of the most frustrating kick-starters I have been involved with was Futuristic Metal Coins or Victory Tokens by Minion games. One phrase sums it all up, “Short changed”. And I mean this quite literally as I was missing quite a few coins that I ordered. I also had previously KS a game of Hegemonic and this project had the same types of issues. To cut a long story short, I got most of what I ordered. The most frustrating thing is that the products are of a very high standard. Top notch in fact. The game of Hegemonic is great with awesome components and great game play. The coins are also very cool and I can’t wait to use them in the odd Sci Fi board game to bling it up.

So to the coins. Heavier than I thought, made out of some sort of metal not aluminium.  The colurs are etched on and won’t come off. They are all differently shaped and have different fronts and backs as shown. I really like the more coloured coins such as 20, 25, 50, 100 and 200. The 250,500,1000 and 5000 are a bit shiny for me but still nice.

and in summary 😉

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