My Thoughts of No Interest on the BGG Top 50 (21-30)

Continuing on with games 21-30 from the BGG Top 50 and MHO...

21		The Princes of Florence (2000)	7.687	This is some people's favorite in the the Alea Big Box Series. Its an auction game of sorts where you are vying for (IIRC) the "help" of various builders to construct a palazzo. I might be completely wrong - its been years since I've played this. It is ok but I didn't love it enough to drag it out over and over again. Maybe I should...
22		Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage (1996)	7.671	This game was, for a long time, a hard to find and expensive older game originally done by Avalon Hill and one of the first "modern" card-driven games. Not quite a wargame, the mechanics of this one feel similar to Twilight Struggle. I highly recommend this, though it is a bit on the long side. The one thing I don't care for as much is the whole battle card system. It certainly doesn't ruin it, but it doesn't feel quite right to me either.
23		Stone Age (2008)	7.652	Hey look! A worker placement game. This one reads good on paper, but I'm pretty sure I'd play it and then wish I'd played something else instead.
24		Goa (2004)	7.649	Goa was somewhat played out by the local group right before I came along and started playing. I still haven't tried this and nothing I've read about this one makes me push to play it either. It doesn't sound like something I'd dislike, but it doesn't sound like I'd fall in love with it, so no big whoop if I don't.
25		Combat Commander: Europe (2006)	7.647	Readers of my blog already know how much I like this particular series. Combat Commander is as much a game as it is a story engine. It is like playing out episodes of Band of Brothers. I really love how the various armies play out differently and any scenario's flow can quickly change (much like war I'm sure).
26		War of the Ring Collector's Edition (2010)	7.637	At one time, I had a copy of War of the Ring, but wasn't all that interested in even trying it and traded it away. This particular edition isn't different, just glitzy. It looks cool as hell, but that doesn't really make me want to play it.
27		Twilight Imperium (Third Edition) (2005)	7.622	The original longer wargame from FFG. This space fight is a 6+ hour Ameritrash style game that I've never been that interested in playing. I think I got enough of this kind of gaming growing up - we used to play loads of Risk, Axis and Allies, Conquest of the Empire, Fortress America, etc.
28		Pandemic (2008)	7.611	Pandemic is a co-op game where the team is trying to irradicate a number of spreading diseases. The game is fairly fast paced and has a decent amount of tension in a short playing game. One of the better games in the team genre. I think the expansion makes this better, but the game is good by itself.
29		Runewars (2010)	7.606	Yet another longer wargame from FFG. I've read this one is a mish-mash of mechanics and this kind of game isn't ultimately a hit with my local group, so I haven't even seen this one played.
30		Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game (2010)	7.595	I have not tried this newer incarnation of boardgames trying to imitate the computer game of Civ. It sounded a little long and I've been playing a lot of Through the Ages so I'm burnt out enough on this theme/genre currently and don't know that I really want to try this one.

Dominant Species

Dominant Species got played. Dion Garner, Matthew Frederick, and Robert Bolan came over to try this out with me and none of us were disappointed. Dion was the reptiles, Matthew - amphibians, Robert - arachnids, and I was the lowly insects. Rules for the game are pretty straightforward and I was able to cover the rules in about 20 minutes. The first round was about what you'd expect from four players that hadn't seen the game and weren't sure what the flow would be like at all. For myself, I didn't want to run out of cubes later in the game, so I didn't plan to expand like a crazy man. I wanted to diversify my insects to survive on more than just grass-type lands, and chose to grab a sun element. Stupidly though, I chose to speciate (that's a word, I swear) from a spot on the board where I'd be sending my insects to immediate extinction (speciation is where you get to place your animals out into the world as a way to grow your influence). Given I had little to no adaptability for those areas the first turn, I scaled back my approach immediately. By the end of the second turn, I wasn't sure that was a great plan as I had one creature on about 4-5 spots and things looked poor for me. I had 1 point and while Dion wasn't far ahead of me, Matthew was way out in front and Robert was doing ok. I turned things around mid-game position wise, but was still WAY back in the points. Matthew still had a commanding points lead, though it looked like the glaciers were going to slow him down shortly (thanks to Robert). Dion made a few smart moves and appeared to be in a position to shoot ahead. At one point he caught Matthew. Unfortunately for him, we realized the glaciers had killed a few resources on the board and after adjusting the populations with some extinction, Dion's bonus points for Survival on tundra were dramatically reduced. At this point, I had clawed my way back in and though I was still behind, I liked my position heading into what looked like the last couple turns. Unfortunately for me, Dion used migration (and the fact that he ruled the food chain - ie tie breaker) to basically take away 80% of my major scoring. When we got to the last turn, the scores had tightened up considerably and it looked like it might be anyone's game but mine. Robert was doing well and I figured he might be the serious threat - I used the Glacier action to knock a lot of his population and his big scoring tile out of the picture. During the last round, the domination cards had a couple of seriously good powers for the last round. I took an early scoring opportunity to clear out a lot of cubes from the board. I took the Biomass card, which let me eliminate species on tiles where there where more species than resource tokens. This let me regain control on the places Dion had invaded as well as knock Matthew out of contention on a lot of places. As we started tallying final scoring, things were looking good for me as I was scoring a lot of points. Dion however had managed to get the Hibernation card, which allowed him to retrieve 5 species from out of the game and place them anywhere on the board AND then ignore extinction for them for one round. Dion essentially stole a sea tile from Robert and won the game.
My initial impressions on this game are good. Each species is unique enough to make things different without being quite as different as say the sides in Chaos in the Old World. The rules are not all that hard, but understanding the flow of the game is where things become really interesting. And while we each saw mistakes being made by the other players, there is also enough going on that there is usually a lot of "correct moves". That makes it engaging nearly the whole time you are playing. This isn't a game for people that don't like conflict - the whole game is one bash each other fight for survival. The biggest knock on the game is that the game is long. We ended up at about 70 min a player, in part due to this being the first game for all of us and rules and partially due to my slowing down the middle of the game to help my wife with our son who wasn't feeling well. With a couple of players knowing the game, I'd guess this is about 45 minutes a player (60 if you are Nathan Winchester). I've read that people think the cards are overpowered. It is true that they are not equal - you just have to play your turns keeping in mind the things that are going to occur at the end of the round - in other words, the cards are very manageable. I'm actually looking forward to how much tighter the game becomes with 5 or 6 players and I'm looking forward to playing again.

My Thoughts of No Interest on the BGG Top 50 (31-40)

Continuing on with more games and MHO...

31		Shogun (2006)	7.592	I've played neither this nor Wallenstein. Yes, I own a copy and yes it is unopened. One of these days...
32		Die Macher (Valley Games Edition) (2006)	7.574	I've only played this once. I really enjoyed the experience, but I have to admit, it really sucked all the brain energy I had out of me. After 7 rounds, I was ready for the game to be done. A really good game, but you have to be ready for this (mentally and physically, but mostly mentally).
33		Railroad Tycoon (2005)	7.573	My affinity for Age of Steam kept me away from the watered down version of the game. After playing the streamlined version in Steam, I've had even less reason to need to try this game.
34		Imperial (2006)	7.571	I've had this one in my collection forever and still haven't learned to play it. I understand it to be a decent stock type roundel game, so I'm not sure why it hasn't seen any play.
35		Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery (2007)	7.568	AoEIII sits somewhere in the bottom half of my Top 10. I really like this game and the various ways you can approach the game. There is a good amount of tactical play and player interactions. My only quibble is the randomness of the exploration tiles / cards - they can really swing the game away from you.
36		Ra (1999)	7.567	Ra is an excellent auction game / push your luck game. I don't know that this one has great legs and though easy enough to pick up for beginners (with a play mat) it is decent enough for gamers as a lighter end of the night kind of game.
37		Tichu (1991)	7.566	Though not a trick taking game (technically it is a "climbing game"), this is one of my favorite games - not just favorite card games. Partnership trick taking games are a load of fun and this is one of those games I'll rarely if ever pass up playing.
38		Dominant Species (2011)	7.563	This one is new to me - as in I'll play it for the first time tomorrow night. Though it is a "worker placement" game, it doesn't quite fit the mold of Le Havre, Agricola, or Fresco (to name a few) because instead of placing workers to gather resources or to convert resources into other resources, you are vying to dominate the earth as the species that adapted to the environment better than your fellow players. I don't know what that means, but I will soon.
39		Crokinole (1867)	7.558	My loving wife got me a Hilinski board for my birthday a few years back. This is a great dexterity/flicking game of skill that is a riot with four people playing in teams. I really hope my kids learn to love this as much as I have and fight over their Dad's board when I'm long gone :)
40		Here I Stand (2006)	7.557	I really like card driven games (CDG) and here is one that plays 6 players (and two with a special deck). There is a group that plays this at the Geekway and it seems to be a great event. The problem is - it is crazy long. I've also read that the end game can be ruined by luck of the draw determining the winner.

My Thoughts of No Interest on the BGG Top 50 (41-50)

Just some random thoughts about the games ranked in the top 50 of the BGG...

Rank			BGG Rating	My Take
41		Chaos in the Old World (2009)	7.548	I really enjoy this asymetrical Euro-trash game. The four sides play rather differently and the game really isn't long enough to dislike, even when you are getting killed. FFG did a great job and this ended up being a game that came out of left field and became an instant hit with me.
42		Go (-2200)	7.547	I am not good at this game. I've played through various tutorials, but still wouldn't feel comfortable playing without a computer telling me if I'm playing it wrong. I can see where this is an amazing abstract, but I just haven't grok'd it yet.
43		Small World (2009)	7.527	I am a fan of the original - Vinci. Sorry, not a fan of this remake. The art is SOO garish that I can't hardly look at the board. I've peeked at games in progress, and I can't tell what's going on. This game isn't that complicated - it should be really easy to glance at the board and assess your situation.
44		1960: The Making of the President (2007)	7.522	Steve Bauer was the "guy with the most recorded plays" for this one a year or so ago. His remarks about how this is an also-ran compared to Twilight Struggle (one of my favorites) took out any enthusiasm for wanting to even try this one. I don't play TS enough, why would I want to play the lesser version? Its not like it is any shorter.
45		Dungeon Lords (2009)	7.506	I have a number of friends that are fans. So why do I refuse to try this? I think it is because I really don't enjoy worker placement games ala Agricola. They are ok, but I'm not going out of my way to play them anymore. This one always seems to run really long to top things off, so I have avoided it.
46		Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! Russia 1941-1942 (2008)	7.504	Truth be told, I'd probably like this one. I tried to trade for it for a while. I've finally decided that I have Combat Commander and I'm not sure I need another squad level WWII game. What itch could this game scratch that CC doesn't? I'd be willing to play it, but don't need to own it right now.
47		Endeavor (2009)	7.490	JAE - Just another Euro. People said it was a decent little Euro game that borrowed a few mechanics from other games. And it got played a lot right after it came out. I haven't seen it since. I'd like to try it, but won't cry if I never play it.
48		Advanced Squad Leader (1985)	7.475	Um, no. I've heard the stories about the crazy-ass rules and charts and the rules and frankly it sounds like too much work. Again, what itch does this scratch that Combat Commander doesn't (and what does it do better than CC AND do it simpler)? I'm not inclined to even look twice in this direction.
49		Hansa Teutonica (2009)	7.470	I know nothing about this game. Nothing. Guess what? I didn't even go look when I wrote that. Unless told I HAVE to play this game, I probably won't play unless that's my choice for the night. I just don't care.
50		Memoir '44 (2004)	7.464	Ah Memoir. Jason Maxwell and I played through the entire base set and the first expansion set (all through VASSAL). I enjoyed the quick little battles (I think the games ended up running about 9-11 turns each). However, the game got a little stale and all started to feel "samey". I finally traded it away after BattleLore came out. Now that I have Battles of Westeros, I think Memoir is my LEAST favorite of the whole Command and Colors set of games. Having said that, playing this game in Overlord fashion is a riot.

Ravenloft with my Son

After playing Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game yesterday, I still wanted to play this some more, so I talked my son into joining me for a bit of game. Since this was his first game, I went ahead and played the cleric so I could try and keep us alive while I gave my son the fighter so he could bash everything. Unfortunately for us, we had similar issues as the gang had last night - namely a trap or two took us out. At one point, Ashton got frustrated with the die and went and found a different one so that we could get a die that didn't "stink". It was sad but true. We ended up dying one tile short of the one we needed to win the game.

A Whole Lot of Losing (Unless You Are Matt)

Erik Von Burg and Nathan Winchester stopped by Friday night for a bit of gaming. We started the night playing a little Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game. I enjoy this little co-op game with its dungeon romp theme and light gameplay and I'm glad Erik suggested it. Of course, we started off on the wrong foot as Erik's dwarf cleric started getting hammered on (no pun intended). We settled down and started kicking butt and exploring, but we eventually grouped our guys together to try and take advantage of the cleric's healing powers and some room traps got the better of us. Ah well - now I need to try and get my son interested in this again so we can play through some of it.

We finished picking up and Nathan got a call that Matt Longieliere was on his way over. We thought he'd be a short while, so I pulled out the game of titanic battles and high stakes - Colossal Arena. It has been years since I've played this, but I'll have to admit I'm glad I've kept this one. This is a fun little gambling game with a cool theme - mythological creatures battling it out! We went through the rules for Nathan and then Matt arrived, so we simply dealt him in and re-explained the rules. Matt started the game betting on the Amazons and secretly betting on them as well. We revealed this, and yet the rest of us spent our time killing each other's baddies off and it was pretty obvious Matt was going to win. Unfortunately, we ran out of cards in the last round before we could rid ourselves of Matt's crew and he walked away with an easy win.

We finished the night playing Ra. Unlike last weekend, I made some pretty poor choices. I went for monuments and some civs, but in the last round I didn't get a civ and was really far behind the others in points. The game ended with drawing Ra's and most of us were really off from Matt, who had scored huge draws with his good suns. So Matt walked away from the night as the only winner. The rest of us were winless for the evening. Ah well.

Got Me Some ASS

I like racing games. I especially enjoy the ones where you get to screw someone by cutting them off (Ave Caesar, Powerboats, etc). So after I played Top Race for the first time, I knew I'd eventually add this to the collection. Not only is it a fun 6-player game with plenty of screwage, there is betting at multiple points in each race to add to the fun. Now of course, the version I played was the ASS edition. The name alone meant I'd have to acquire this particular version (the game has been redone in other versions as well as reprinted, just never as an ASS edition). I mean come on, the money says ASS on it (sue me, I have the brain of an 11 year old). So, I finally made a trade for this. The best part is - I'm trading a game I picked up at a garage sale for $1.25. Kick Ass.

That's Enough Ages For A While

Robert Bolan, Matthew Frederick, Nathan Winchester and I finished up another game of Through the Ages (online). After so many games, I wanted to see if the expansion set of wonders and leaders they offer changed the game. They do, but not enough. I've dropped my rating quite a bit on this one. As fun and interesting as this one is, it is just too brutal. There is already so much rich-get-richer that it is nearly impossible to slow down or stop someone when they get ahead. Couple that with the fact that if you get slapped once, everyone is likely to join in on stomping you into submission. With no chance to catch up and a strong likelihood of being beaten if you fall off the pack and you have a really long game that starts becoming less and less interesting. I really liked this game, but the more I understand it the less I want to play it. This last game, I felt I had made a mistake in the first couple of turns that was going to cost me (I took a stupid wonder). I ended up trying to focus a bit on military, which helped me to get to second place, but I wasn't even close to Nathan who killed us all again. In order to even be competitive in this game, I had to bash on Matthew at least twice and then on Robert at the end of the game.

$20 Poorly Spent

Now, one could argue that any money is well spent if it means getting your child's attention for a couple hours. That being said, this particular $20 probably could have been better spent. I picked up the Island of Dread Runebound expansion last year and this was the first chance that Ashton and I had to play it. Basically, this expansion changes the game with a new board, new set of encounter cards and new endgame. There are also a set of heroes and a few item cards that can be used interchangeably with the main game. For the most part, you use the items, allies, etc deck from the base (and/or expansions you have) in conjunction with this expansion. Thematically, this isn't a terrible expansion (though the number of cards makes it very likely you'd be bored with it with a couple of plays). But, beyond the theme and such, this expansion has some issues. First off, it is much harder than the original. There are very few * spots that refill adventure spots. With just my son and I playing, it took us almost no time at all to get to the point where we had killed all the easy encounters and were stuck on the starting island. The choices were: fight the next harder stuff (very iffy), or travel by sea to another spot (also iffy as the sea encounters looked as hard as the medium stuff for sure). Once you break into the second level of encounters, you sort of skip a step (there are no 3rd level encounters). I guess for this game, they made the 4th level the 3rd, but the cards didn't seem to match this - they were hard as the end game ones in the base game. To top that off, to beat the end bad guy, you have to "find" the Island of Dread (easy-ish), and then beat a possible gauntlet of bad guys. If you survive long enough, you might get a shot at the Arch Villian (who is a reject from Arkham Horror), who first tries to make your allies encounters you have to beat first. After a couple hours, we gave up and both conceded defeat. Even with all the special items, my son said - "I'll never beat that guy". I'd be willing to play again, but only if we refilled EVERY spot on the board. As the expansion stands, one death (and the corresponding loss that accompanies it) makes it nearly unplayable and definitely less fun.