Local game store was having a clearance sale for all the demo games they used to have downstairs for everyone to play. Picked up Spartacus: Blood in the Sand for $10! I remember hearing it was real good for a licensed game?
No guarantee though that all the components were in the box though
Like BSG and Homeland it is much better than a licensed game ever should be. The tactical combat but for the duels is weak (I can't remember if it's entirely broken or if there's just a degenerate strategy that renders the subsystem a formality)
It's a game I would happily play again though and I've not seen any of the series
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
I was turned off by Fury of Dracula simply for the cheesy and anti-climatic "wait out the clock at sea" mechanic. You can argue that it's a limited resource and the hunters should be closing on him enough that he can't afford it that much, but it's still an incredibly boring letdown of a way to play out your game.
And that's all exacerbated if you're playing with Dracula's powers, which are ridiculous. Being able to use Wolf form immediately upon landing at a port completely breaks the game.
It advertises itself as 2-5 player game where everyone can play a hunter, but really it's a 2 player game. The hunters have to totally be in sync to beat a decent Dracula, and near perfect play if he's using powers. Just ONE weak hunter and the net fails to close and you're probably going to lose. It's by far the biggest quarterback problem I've seen in a co-op, even moreso than Pandemic.
I dunno. It's just too long a time investment for "you had one bad player therefore you lose" or "you actually had 5 turns less than you thought because Drac is just waiting out the clock at sea". To the point I think I would rather just play oldschool Scotland Yard.
What's really weird though is companies deciding to give digital treatments to games that require a ton of communication and get by on roleplaying and table atmosphere. Fury of Dracula and Game of Thrones completely falls apart with internet strangers or no voice chat.
(and holy crap the cover art for the latest version is so much worse than the older ones. Even the original 1987 one! Just look)
I was turned off by Fury of Dracula simply for the cheesy and anti-climatic "wait out the clock at sea" mechanic. You can argue that it's a limited resource and the hunters should be closing on him enough that he can't afford it that much, but it's still an incredibly boring letdown of a way to play out your game.
And that's all exacerbated if you're playing with Dracula's powers, which are ridiculous. Being able to use Wolf form immediately upon landing at a port completely breaks the game.
It advertises itself as 2-5 player game where everyone can play a hunter, but really it's a 2 player game. The hunters have to totally be in sync to beat a decent Dracula, and near perfect play if he's using powers. Just ONE weak hunter and the net fails to close and you're probably going to lose. It's by far the biggest quarterback problem I've seen in a co-op, even moreso than Pandemic.
I dunno. It's just too long a time investment for "you had one bad player therefore you lose" or "you actually had 5 turns less than you thought because Drac is just waiting out the clock at sea". To the point I think I would rather just play oldschool Scotland Yard.
What's really weird though is companies deciding to give digital treatments to games that require a ton of communication and get by on roleplaying and table atmosphere. Fury of Dracula and Game of Thrones completely falls apart with internet strangers or no voice chat.
(and holy crap the cover art for the latest version is so much worse than the older ones. Even the original 1987 one! Just look)
After my first full digital playthrough as Dracula, I'm inclined to agree. Fury of Dracula feels like it would be a slog. Diehard fans of it will appreciate how the digital version takes the fiddly upkeep out of your hands. But if the digital version feels so slow I can only imagine how the real thing plays.
We were going to get 5 copies of Fury of Dracula, but found out it only supports 2 players. Kind of glad, as your reviews make it sound not that great.
We did pick up Tokaido for our group and played it tonight. The graphics are great but for a game 3 years old, it still has a ton of bugs (had 3 in one game where things didn't register) and weirdly missing things like resolution, sound volume and other sort of standard features. Guess the company put out the bare minimum and peaced out.
I think 3 is the best player count for fury of dracula, and I think it's a pretty great game at that count. Not sure how the digital version is, but once you know what the game is and how to play it's a great tense thematic game of cat and mouse and deduction.
Edit: it's definitely a long game, however you might feel about it.
It really feels like FFG is shrinking. I wonder if Asmodee is trying to get rid of the label? Star Wars Roleplaying has been hinted at being taken over by Edge Studios (where the L5R and other RPGs are going), so this is kind of their biggest cash cow getting reshuffled.
I know it's the same people, the same structure, all that in the background. But.. ugh.
Honestly I’m a little surprised that it didn’t happen sooner. Having a studio focus completely on the miniatures side of things makes a lot of sense, and having the FFG imprint focus on board and card games probably helps in the long run. Also probably helps out OP as well.
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tzeentchlingDoctor of RocksOaklandRegistered Userregular
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
What they should've done was implement rotation with the launch of 2.0 and rotate out the first wave of models. Re-setting all the models with 2.0 would've been a disaster, but they need something that makes people keep up other than power creep.
And before anyone asks "how can you have X-Wing if you're not allowed to play X-Wings and TIE Fighters?" the most recent release is a re-color of X-Wings and A-Wings and a slight re-design of the TIE Fighter.
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
What they should've done was implement rotation with the launch of 2.0 and rotate out the first wave of models. Re-setting all the models with 2.0 would've been a disaster, but they need something that makes people keep up other than power creep.
And before anyone asks "how can you have X-Wing if you're not allowed to play X-Wings and TIE Fighters?" the most recent release is a re-color of X-Wings and A-Wings and a slight re-design of the TIE Fighter.
I feel like this quickly gets into a weird territory between continuing to use the original models, them maybe not being legal, and where custom repaints fit into that ...
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
What they should've done was implement rotation with the launch of 2.0 and rotate out the first wave of models. Re-setting all the models with 2.0 would've been a disaster, but they need something that makes people keep up other than power creep.
And before anyone asks "how can you have X-Wing if you're not allowed to play X-Wings and TIE Fighters?" the most recent release is a re-color of X-Wings and A-Wings and a slight re-design of the TIE Fighter.
I feel like this quickly gets into a weird territory between continuing to use the original models, them maybe not being legal, and where custom repaints fit into that ...
You're right, but ultimately it doesn't matter because rotating the models is irrelevant compared to rotating the stat and gear cards that come with those models.
I guess Asmodee was taken over by a private equity firm earlier this year or last? So yeah, parceling off various properties is right in line with typical operating procedure. FFG likely a by-stander victim.
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
What they should've done was implement rotation with the launch of 2.0 and rotate out the first wave of models. Re-setting all the models with 2.0 would've been a disaster, but they need something that makes people keep up other than power creep.
And before anyone asks "how can you have X-Wing if you're not allowed to play X-Wings and TIE Fighters?" the most recent release is a re-color of X-Wings and A-Wings and a slight re-design of the TIE Fighter.
I feel like this quickly gets into a weird territory between continuing to use the original models, them maybe not being legal, and where custom repaints fit into that ...
You're right, but ultimately it doesn't matter because rotating the models is irrelevant compared to rotating the stat and gear cards that come with those models.
(I think it's also moot by what you said has already happened? Just musing on how rotation in miniatures-based games is a screwy concept)
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I've expressed my love before of Unstable Games - the gaming division of TeeTurtle. So far all of their games that I've played have been awesome. Unstable Unicorns is a nice gotcha game, Runes and Regulations is just a fun tableau builder, and Here to Slay is great artwork that I haven't played yet.
My gaming group houseruled extra damage for Dracula at sea and it's improved the game a lot for us.
I have no clue how FoD plays out at master pro level play, but houseruling sea movement has been mandatory from my experience.
Also: "Drac needs to set a destination port when he embarks and cannot alter travel path along the way"
If you really need similar gameplay, I would say just go with Letters to Whitechapel . The only real thing FoD offers over a lot of those kind of games is the combat, which I don't think is worth all the problems.
Or heck if you need combat in your one vs many hidden move games, go with Specter Ops.
My gaming group houseruled extra damage for Dracula at sea and it's improved the game a lot for us.
I have no clue how FoD plays out at master pro level play, but houseruling sea movement has been mandatory from my experience.
Also: "Drac needs to set a destination port when he embarks and cannot alter travel path along the way"
If you really need similar gameplay, I would say just go with Letters to Whitechapel . The only real thing FoD offers over a lot of those kind of games is the combat, which I don't think is worth all the problems.
Or heck if you need combat in your one vs many hidden move games, go with Specter Ops.
When I was still working at the lgs there was an announced metal gear solid game from the designer of specter ops and I got really excited for that because spec ops is pretty close to mgs anyway... But I've never heard anything about it ever again
My gaming group houseruled extra damage for Dracula at sea and it's improved the game a lot for us.
I have no clue how FoD plays out at master pro level play, but houseruling sea movement has been mandatory from my experience.
Also: "Drac needs to set a destination port when he embarks and cannot alter travel path along the way"
If you really need similar gameplay, I would say just go with Letters to Whitechapel . The only real thing FoD offers over a lot of those kind of games is the combat, which I don't think is worth all the problems.
Or heck if you need combat in your one vs many hidden move games, go with Specter Ops.
When I was still working at the lgs there was an announced metal gear solid game from the designer of specter ops and I got really excited for that because spec ops is pretty close to mgs anyway... But I've never heard anything about it ever again
It’s still theoretically on the horizon. They did a pseudo Kickstarter for it where you could preorder via a backerkit for another game, but it’s been repeatedly delayed and is currently slated for Summer 2021.
Quinn's enthusiasm for this, and the component quality, really kinda make me want to buy this game. I know, however, that I'd likely only ever get it to the table a few times. Really can't wait for this pandemic to be done so we can go back to a board game cafe and play it or conventions.
Quinn's enthusiasm for this, and the component quality, really kinda make me want to buy this game. I know, however, that I'd likely only ever get it to the table a few times. Really can't wait for this pandemic to be done so we can go back to a board game cafe and play it or conventions.
I also watched this this morning and was really surprised, but also kind of not. I don't think Quinns does enough in this one too suggest the kind of people who would really like Eclipse, because it is DEFINITELY not an everybody game.
I don't know the extent of the 2nd edition changes, but 1st edition was a lot more of an optimization euro than it was space opera. I commented on the video saying similar, but I think for most people TI4 is the better bet for getting the experience promised by the box.
No faulting that the production values on it are top notch, but sadly that doesn't make a game great. :P
Quinn's enthusiasm for this, and the component quality, really kinda make me want to buy this game. I know, however, that I'd likely only ever get it to the table a few times. Really can't wait for this pandemic to be done so we can go back to a board game cafe and play it or conventions.
I also watched this this morning and was really surprised, but also kind of not. I don't think Quinns does enough in this one too suggest the kind of people who would really like Eclipse, because it is DEFINITELY not an everybody game.
I don't know the extent of the 2nd edition changes, but 1st edition was a lot more of an optimization euro than it was space opera. I commented on the video saying similar, but I think for most people TI4 is the better bet for most people looking for the experience promised by the box.
No faulting that the production values on it are top notch, but sadly that doesn't make a game great. :P
Oh absolutely. I thought it was pretty clear, but maybe just because I instantly recognized a game that I would sink my teeth into, and would fall as flat as it could with the rest of my game group.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
By the end he does talk about how it is an immaculate set of systems versus... well, a game that has a decent amount of player interaction. It definitely feels like the tech tray and the custom ship battles are the big things.
Also of interesting note: TI4 is also $150. So technically these two are priced the same. I noticed that Eclipse 2nd has unique ships for each color/faction but only 4 types of ships. It also doesn't appear to have any cards? So the costs went elsewhere.. including those gorgeous game trays.
I've been wanting Eclipse 2E for forever, and that review pushed me over the edge. Here's the fun thing, though: there's US stock available straight from Lautapelit's storefront, but a Black Friday sale is coming in just over a week. Due to SUSD's influence, what are the odds of inventory lasting that long? The European warehouse copies are already sold out.
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
Going to ger Pear'd hard
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
Eclipse was the worst of both worlds with its Euro/Ameritrash combo. Boring engine optimization with randomness and die chucking that could and did ruin your entire game early on. Bad early tile draws or one bad die roll to lose your ship's fight with an ancient and you might as well concede.
Even if you got past that point, the Euro optimizing was a joke because your choices were "plasma missiles/bombs then sit in as many systems as you can" or "grab monoliths and turtle up". 3/4ths of the tech tree was never worth getting.
I'm quite curious to hear more critical takes on the new Eclipse, especially comparing directly things that were fixed from the original. Atm all I've seen are people gushing, but probably the only people who ponied up $150 are people who already loved the game and with covid I have to assume not many people who didn't buy the new version have played it yet.
Unrelated, I'm Really Excited about the new Friedman Friese game Faiyum that's coming out imminently. Basically it's the card play of Concordia mixed with Splottery communally owned infrastructure. It sounds super cool imo.
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Like BSG and Homeland it is much better than a licensed game ever should be. The tactical combat but for the duels is weak (I can't remember if it's entirely broken or if there's just a degenerate strategy that renders the subsystem a formality)
It's a game I would happily play again though and I've not seen any of the series
And that's all exacerbated if you're playing with Dracula's powers, which are ridiculous. Being able to use Wolf form immediately upon landing at a port completely breaks the game.
It advertises itself as 2-5 player game where everyone can play a hunter, but really it's a 2 player game. The hunters have to totally be in sync to beat a decent Dracula, and near perfect play if he's using powers. Just ONE weak hunter and the net fails to close and you're probably going to lose. It's by far the biggest quarterback problem I've seen in a co-op, even moreso than Pandemic.
I dunno. It's just too long a time investment for "you had one bad player therefore you lose" or "you actually had 5 turns less than you thought because Drac is just waiting out the clock at sea". To the point I think I would rather just play oldschool Scotland Yard.
What's really weird though is companies deciding to give digital treatments to games that require a ton of communication and get by on roleplaying and table atmosphere. Fury of Dracula and Game of Thrones completely falls apart with internet strangers or no voice chat.
(and holy crap the cover art for the latest version is so much worse than the older ones. Even the original 1987 one! Just look)
After my first full digital playthrough as Dracula, I'm inclined to agree. Fury of Dracula feels like it would be a slog. Diehard fans of it will appreciate how the digital version takes the fiddly upkeep out of your hands. But if the digital version feels so slow I can only imagine how the real thing plays.
That 1987 art is rad.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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We did pick up Tokaido for our group and played it tonight. The graphics are great but for a game 3 years old, it still has a ton of bugs (had 3 in one game where things didn't register) and weirdly missing things like resolution, sound volume and other sort of standard features. Guess the company put out the bare minimum and peaced out.
Edit: it's definitely a long game, however you might feel about it.
Production of X-Wing, Armada, and Legion are moving to Atomic Mass Games. You may know them as the studio that popped up out of no where to make the Marvel version of Legion.
It really feels like FFG is shrinking. I wonder if Asmodee is trying to get rid of the label? Star Wars Roleplaying has been hinted at being taken over by Edge Studios (where the L5R and other RPGs are going), so this is kind of their biggest cash cow getting reshuffled.
I know it's the same people, the same structure, all that in the background. But.. ugh.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
It's been.. rocky. Like there was a really good but speculative/rumor-filled article on how X-wing 2.0 was done prior to the private equity firm buyout, and while it was incredibly customer friendly, it deeply hurt in terms of being able to make money. Say what you will about the conversion kits -- forcing everyone to re-buy all the models would have made better financial sense for the company.
It's just weird to get a read on things. A lot of the higher up FFG people are now running Asmodee North America, but... who knows how much control they have?
I think Dom is going for cheap thrills considering they're going belly up.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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What they should've done was implement rotation with the launch of 2.0 and rotate out the first wave of models. Re-setting all the models with 2.0 would've been a disaster, but they need something that makes people keep up other than power creep.
And before anyone asks "how can you have X-Wing if you're not allowed to play X-Wings and TIE Fighters?" the most recent release is a re-color of X-Wings and A-Wings and a slight re-design of the TIE Fighter.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
You're right, but ultimately it doesn't matter because rotating the models is irrelevant compared to rotating the stat and gear cards that come with those models.
Hoping mine shows up soon!
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Today, they announced "2020: The Game."
Or, more precisely, Happy Little Dinosaurs.
https://www.unstablegames.com/site/happy-little-dinosaurs
Yeah. I love this company's art style and I do like that all the games are unique in some way. Cannot effin wait.
I totally agree.
But
um
link please
i have no idea what you're talking about
That's against the rules but I was looking at Bardsung at the time.
I have no clue how FoD plays out at master pro level play, but houseruling sea movement has been mandatory from my experience.
Also: "Drac needs to set a destination port when he embarks and cannot alter travel path along the way"
If you really need similar gameplay, I would say just go with Letters to Whitechapel . The only real thing FoD offers over a lot of those kind of games is the combat, which I don't think is worth all the problems.
Or heck if you need combat in your one vs many hidden move games, go with Specter Ops.
I KNEW IT
i wish it had more interesting characters
When I was still working at the lgs there was an announced metal gear solid game from the designer of specter ops and I got really excited for that because spec ops is pretty close to mgs anyway... But I've never heard anything about it ever again
It’s still theoretically on the horizon. They did a pseudo Kickstarter for it where you could preorder via a backerkit for another game, but it’s been repeatedly delayed and is currently slated for Summer 2021.
I don't know the extent of the 2nd edition changes, but 1st edition was a lot more of an optimization euro than it was space opera. I commented on the video saying similar, but I think for most people TI4 is the better bet for getting the experience promised by the box.
No faulting that the production values on it are top notch, but sadly that doesn't make a game great. :P
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Oh absolutely. I thought it was pretty clear, but maybe just because I instantly recognized a game that I would sink my teeth into, and would fall as flat as it could with the rest of my game group.
Also of interesting note: TI4 is also $150. So technically these two are priced the same. I noticed that Eclipse 2nd has unique ships for each color/faction but only 4 types of ships. It also doesn't appear to have any cards? So the costs went elsewhere.. including those gorgeous game trays.
Even if you got past that point, the Euro optimizing was a joke because your choices were "plasma missiles/bombs then sit in as many systems as you can" or "grab monoliths and turtle up". 3/4ths of the tech tree was never worth getting.