We played some 2-player Alien Frontiers, which we tried twice, and the randomness seems to overwhelm the game with only one opponent. Both games ended up with runaway victories. I still like the game but I don't think I'll be playing it again with less than 3 players.
It's interesting to me, as a nascent maths dork, that you think of that as random. Surely with all those repeated dice throws, the randomness must be very low? I guess it's chaotic - sensitive dependence on initial conditions and all that. Whoever is able to get an extra ship or whatever will win?
OK, not random in the mathematical definition of the word sense, which I admit to not being familiar with (but there aren't THAT many throws). The extra ships create an acceleration problem for sure, the first guy to get a bonus ship will more likely be the guy who gets the first colony and drops it on Burroughs Desert to get a second bonus ship. Some of it can be countered/mitigated by hunting through the Tech deck, but dice that you spend on that aren't getting you ships or colonies. It doesn't help that once one player has extra dice they can start punishing the other player with the Raiders and still have dice left to advance.
Well if the difference is between 2p and 3p (or 4p), I'd chalk it down to the natural tendency of multiplayer free-for-all games to balance out - with more players focusing on slowing down the leader, you get less runaway victories. Without that kind of player interaction, there will be less factors deciding a game between two equally skilled players - save for luck.
What's the general thought on Descent: Journeys in the Dark? I've been thinking about picking it up for a while, with either the Road to Legend or Sea of Blood campaign.
Solid game with the expansions, but the time commitment is severe. Its a LONG game even with the shorter scenarios.
Picked up Earth Reborn this past Friday. IT IS FANTASTIC. I can't recommend this game enough. Its probably the best modular scenario-based tactical mini's game I've played in years. Its incredibly deep, but they introduce you to the mechanics slowly so that you can get a firm grasp of how to play before throwing you off the deep end. Reminds me an exanded, deeper X-Com.
Yeah I had a game of TI3, only 4 people, that was supposed to go today. I had scheduled it two weeks in advance and everyone was OK to go as of yesterday.
Didn't happen.
There should be a word for it...twilight interruptus maybe...
I am sorry to hear that. Tomorrow will certainly be the last chance I have to play the game in a long time (I am moving away from my gaming group very soon), so I really hope that it pans out.
And also that the rest of the new expansion is more balanced than the Fall of the Empire variant. Despite myself, I'm pretty excited to try the flagships out.
has anyone tried playing it on VASSAL? I mean I am assuming that it would be a disaster but it sure can't be any harder than getting together a group irl.
there's also a BSG one. I think FFG doesn't care as long as it's gimped in some way. e.g. the BSG module doesn't have any text on the loyalty cards so that "in theory" you can't play unless someone owns a physical copy.
Well, of the three games of Twilight Imperium that have been run on the forums in play by post format, one has succeeded. But it requires an attentive host and an ability to corral and prod players to action. I've been thinking of running a game with the Fall of the Empire scenario once I get my hands on the new expansion (currently short on funds). Even if it will probably slow to a halt halfway through. So it goes.
The game I most wish would work on the forums is Republic of Rome. But paradoxically it seems like discussion/negotiation games peter out quicker than other kinds.
The game I most wish would work on the forums is Republic of Rome. But paradoxically it seems like discussion/negotiation games peter out quicker than other kinds.
My friend is writing an online version of RoR and has been hard at it for a couple of weeks. He's a professional coder and I've seen the things he's done before, so I have high hopes. I think he might be talking to the makers about semi-officialising it too.
poshniallo on
I figure I could take a bear.
0
Options
jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
edited June 2011
Republic of Rome! I just impulse-bought that the other day (suddenly having money after not having any for a long time). Probably not a wise decision. Even if I ever make it through the rule book, I'm not sure I can get anyone to play it, and I'm not quite convinced by the solitaire version. But ah well. Fingers crossed for my AP-prone friends being willing to use a few days of the holiday shouting at each other over land bills and corruption prosecutions. At the least my fellow high school Latin students should be up for it.
I'd e interested in Dungeon Lords. Either this thread or the PbP index thread are good places to mention potential new games. Would you be using the Cyberboard gamebox of it from BGG to generate the boards, or something you made yourself? (Or some other solution?)
Rules for Dungeon Lords are here if anyone wants to take a look.
Remember when I said Cyberboard wasn't difficult to use? Wow, do I totally take that back. What a gigantic pain in the ass. Nowhere close to user friendly, with a totally worthless manual. I couldn't get it to do anything I actually wanted to do until I read some tutorials on BGG. Anyway, I think I've got it down now, so basically all that's left is to figure out how to format the hosting and the OP. The OP is sorta tough because there isn't exactly a plethora of useful information I can steal. Any assistance I can get in any of those areas would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I guess I need players, too.
I'd be up to try this. The rulebook is truly a beauty to read.
Tmoiy on
0
Options
blahmcblahYou pick your side and you stick - you don't cut and run when things get ugly.Registered Userregular
edited June 2011
Cool, now we just need two more. This will kinda be like hosting CitOW, except with 6x the boards to manage, and instead of an easy-to-use webapp, there's a total piece of shit, migraine-inducing program that hates my guts. Also most actions will be taken by PM and the battle phase will probably take a year. I have no idea why I'm doing this to myself.
P.S.
Yes, the rulebook is awesome. Hopefully everyone reads it and then wants to play!
blahmcblah on
0
Options
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited June 2011
I'm reading the rules now, looks interesting, would give it a try.
Dungeon Lords is awesome. Just prepare to have your plans come crashing down at the end of the first game year.
For the OP the most important are obviously link to the rules and FAQ. Then a turn breakdown (I suggest elaborating from this) and reference list of the available orders, monsters, traps, and rooms.
XiV on
0
Options
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
edited June 2011
I'll play Dungeon Lords! I've played it a couple of times.
Cool, now we just need two more. This will kinda be like hosting CitOW, except with 6x the boards to manage, and instead of an easy-to-use webapp, there's a total piece of shit, migraine-inducing program that hates my guts. Also most actions will be taken by PM and the battle phase will probably take a year. I have no idea why I'm doing this to myself.
P.S.
Yes, the rulebook is awesome. Hopefully everyone reads it and then wants to play!
I'm always amazed when wargamers ask me to use Cyberboard instead of VASSAL. Not that VASSAL's interface is perfect, but it's pretty decent. Whereas Cyberboard is a gigantic turd.
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
Please, feel free to share! I hadn't even heard of that game until you posted and then I went and watched the Dice Tower review. I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though, other than the fact that the reviewer liked it
On a completely unrelated note, I've got a twice-played copy of Shadows Over Camelot sitting around collecting dust. It seems to be very lonely, so if anyone is interested in purchasing it and giving it a good home, please feel free to PM me.
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
Did I just stumble back into a college CS course?
Never have algorithms for calculating minimum weight spanning trees been more useful than when approaching a new Alan Moon game.
What's the general thought on Descent: Journeys in the Dark? I've been thinking about picking it up for a while, with either the Road to Legend or Sea of Blood campaign.
Great game, easily the best of the D&D boardgames. Please make sure that you have plenty of table space before you try to embark on DESCENT; there is a ton of crap in that box. I can't emphasize this enough. It takes up a lot of room.
So, I'm going to a convention next weekend and I imagine at times there is going to be a good amount of sitting around in lines. Any recommendations for a portable game (board, card, or otherwise) that can be transported easily (either tossed into a small back pack or in a pocket) and can be picked up and moved from time to time easily would be greatly appreciated.
Noise factor isn't really an issue. Things that are coming to mind for me are games like Aye Dark Overlord.
And I'm sure the battery on my iPhone is going to get torn through by people wanting to play Neuroshima Hex.
Ascension would probably move pretty easily, Inquisitor. You don't actually need the board or the cultist, and you could just keep the soldiers/mystics rubberbanded together, keep track of your points on pieces of paper.
Thanatos on
0
Options
TimmyRank: MajorFloating in my tin can.Registered Userregular
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
Did I just stumble back into a college CS course?
Never have algorithms for calculating minimum weight spanning trees been more useful than when approaching a new Alan Moon game.
I won't lie, you've left me behind a little bit. Let's go back and explain things a little slower, starting with basic arithmetic. I've always had trouble with that part.
Timmy on
0
Options
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Picked up Alan R Moon's Airlines: Europe on a whim.
Wow. Thats some good stuff there.
I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
Did I just stumble back into a college CS course?
Never have algorithms for calculating minimum weight spanning trees been more useful than when approaching a new Alan Moon game.
I won't lie, you've left me behind a little bit. Let's go back and explain things a little slower, starting with basic arithmetic. I've always had trouble with that part.
Posts
OK, not random in the mathematical definition of the word sense, which I admit to not being familiar with (but there aren't THAT many throws). The extra ships create an acceleration problem for sure, the first guy to get a bonus ship will more likely be the guy who gets the first colony and drops it on Burroughs Desert to get a second bonus ship. Some of it can be countered/mitigated by hunting through the Tech deck, but dice that you spend on that aren't getting you ships or colonies. It doesn't help that once one player has extra dice they can start punishing the other player with the Raiders and still have dice left to advance.
Solid game with the expansions, but the time commitment is severe. Its a LONG game even with the shorter scenarios.
White: 1721-3651-2720
White: 1721-3651-2720
I look forward to play playing precisely just a much as I did before this happened.
I figure a one's odds of playing a full game of Twilight Imperium are exactly equal for every member of the human species, at all times.
This includes people living in third world countries, and coma patients.
Yeah, you have to set aside a large block of time for it, and have a bunch of people into it, which can be a bitch, but it is a ton of fun.
It's a tiny miracle when I can get four people together for three hours.
... Of course, this stops most of our friends from even being considered for a game of TI...
Didn't happen.
There should be a word for it...twilight interruptus maybe...
And also that the rest of the new expansion is more balanced than the Fall of the Empire variant. Despite myself, I'm pretty excited to try the flagships out.
http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Twilight_Imperium_(Third_Edition):_Shattered_Empire
there's also a BSG one. I think FFG doesn't care as long as it's gimped in some way. e.g. the BSG module doesn't have any text on the loyalty cards so that "in theory" you can't play unless someone owns a physical copy.
My friend is writing an online version of RoR and has been hard at it for a couple of weeks. He's a professional coder and I've seen the things he's done before, so I have high hopes. I think he might be talking to the makers about semi-officialising it too.
And I haven't heard about an electronic version from Valley.
Remember when I said Cyberboard wasn't difficult to use? Wow, do I totally take that back. What a gigantic pain in the ass. Nowhere close to user friendly, with a totally worthless manual. I couldn't get it to do anything I actually wanted to do until I read some tutorials on BGG. Anyway, I think I've got it down now, so basically all that's left is to figure out how to format the hosting and the OP. The OP is sorta tough because there isn't exactly a plethora of useful information I can steal. Any assistance I can get in any of those areas would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I guess I need players, too.
P.S.
Yes, the rulebook is awesome. Hopefully everyone reads it and then wants to play!
For the OP the most important are obviously link to the rules and FAQ. Then a turn breakdown (I suggest elaborating from this) and reference list of the available orders, monsters, traps, and rooms.
I'm always amazed when wargamers ask me to use Cyberboard instead of VASSAL. Not that VASSAL's interface is perfect, but it's pretty decent. Whereas Cyberboard is a gigantic turd.
Please, feel free to share! I hadn't even heard of that game until you posted and then I went and watched the Dice Tower review. I didn't really get a good idea what it was like from the review though, other than the fact that the reviewer liked it
On a completely unrelated note, I've got a twice-played copy of Shadows Over Camelot sitting around collecting dust. It seems to be very lonely, so if anyone is interested in purchasing it and giving it a good home, please feel free to PM me.
It's an Alan Moon game, wait, wait, I'm getting something through. . .
I see a undirected graph. . . The edges have some kind of cost associated with them. . . The princile mechanics involves expending tokens that you collect to move things along those edges between nodes or to permanently claim them. . . High degree of abstraction. . .
As they say, once you've seen one Alan Moon graph traversal game you've seen them all. And I love Ticket To Ride and Elfenlands.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Did I just stumble back into a college CS course?
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Never have algorithms for calculating minimum weight spanning trees been more useful than when approaching a new Alan Moon game.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
Noise factor isn't really an issue. Things that are coming to mind for me are games like Aye Dark Overlord.
And I'm sure the battery on my iPhone is going to get torn through by people wanting to play Neuroshima Hex.
I won't lie, you've left me behind a little bit. Let's go back and explain things a little slower, starting with basic arithmetic. I've always had trouble with that part.
1+1=2