For FRIDAY

[Anguille]

Mostly:

- Horizon
- Star Trek infinite
- Stellaris

And I am giving a new attempt at Fields of Glory Empire with Carthage. I wish I wasn't that lazy to read the manual.

[Destraex]

Board gaming - finishing off an excellent game of Colonial Twilight then the difficult choice of whether to establish Great Britain as a republic with Cruel Necessity or just blow shit up with Panzer Command. Decisions, decisions...

Are these all solo games or are you attending a home to play with a group of friends?

[bobarossa]

Shadow Empire.  If I can assimilate two nearby large minors (90k pop each) I may be able to put up a fight against the giant major that is currently friendly with me but is theocratic.  Who knows when their god will demand my head.

[Tanaka]

Dominions 6 MP game. I think Asphodel is my favorite nation now they are a lot of fun after the changes made finally. They used to suck so bad.

Also SCACW for my ACW fix...Need more practice after the Colonel gave me a lot of trouble:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHhEIZlmXo4&list=PLNFRq_HE2d_Xt6WKtOe71T9dz20IYWL8t&index=1

[Phantom]

Board gaming - finishing off an excellent game of Colonial Twilight then the difficult choice of whether to establish Great Britain as a republic with Cruel Necessity or just blow shit up with Panzer Command. Decisions, decisions...

Are these all solo games or are you attending a home to play with a group of friends?

All solo (though Cruel Necessity is the only designed as a solo game) - there is a game group fairly nearby but they tend to play mainly Euros. I enjoy playing games solo as much to explore the history as anything else - they all play well solo (CT has an AI Bot, though I tend not to use it, and Panzer Command is chit pull which always works well) - I'm lucky in that I have a dedicated game room so can leave a game set up & go back to it as & when I get the opportunity - I think my Colonial Twilight game has been spread over about 4 weeks.

[Destraex]

Board gaming - finishing off an excellent game of Colonial Twilight then the difficult choice of whether to establish Great Britain as a republic with Cruel Necessity or just blow shit up with Panzer Command. Decisions, decisions...

Are these all solo games or are you attending a home to play with a group of friends?

All solo (though Cruel Necessity is the only designed as a solo game) - there is a game group fairly nearby but they tend to play mainly Euros. I enjoy playing games solo as much to explore the history as anything else - they all play well solo (CT has an AI Bot, though I tend not to use it, and Panzer Command is chit pull which always works well) - I'm lucky in that I have a dedicated game room so can leave a game set up & go back to it as & when I get the opportunity - I think my Colonial Twilight game has been spread over about 4 weeks.

Nice.

[solops]

Shadow Empire.  If I can assimilate two nearby large minors (90k pop each) I may be able to put up a fight against the giant major that is currently friendly with me but is theocratic.  Who knows when their god will demand my head.

Blasted theocratic major just popped up and attacked me on the only peaceful front I had. Metal! Metal! I need Metal!

And OIL! I have NO OIL! My tanks and trucks are running on peanut butter!

[Tripoli]

Shadow Empire.  If I can assimilate two nearby large minors (90k pop each) I may be able to put up a fight against the giant major that is currently friendly with me but is theocratic.  Who knows when their god will demand my head.

Blasted theocratic major just popped up and attacked me on the only peaceful front I had. Metal! Metal! I need Metal!

And OIL! I have NO OIL! My tanks and trucks are running on peanut butter!

You have to do an AAR on this play through.   

[bobarossa]

Was a long time before I realized there in no oil on planets without plant life!  I bribed my giant theocratic major a couple times and they started befriending me. But they have about 20 units stacked in 5 hexes on my borders.

[Destraex]

I looked at Manor Lords, but it seems so similar to Farthest Frontier (great game) that I could not get excited about it. What is the difference?

I've not played Farthest Frontier and have only dabbled in ML, but you're right, they do seem very similar (also Foundation, which I've played a fair amount of).  ML offers a Total War-style tactical battle system to resolve encounters with bandits and other factions.  Not a particular selling point for me (if I want to play Total War-style tactical battles, I'll play, er, Total War), but some might like it.  The other thing ML has is the option to plonk your avatar down and walk about in your creation, which I do find pretty cool.

About manor lords. I have to ask whether they tell you where the people that wander in and join your village are from. My understanding of fuedalism is that a family would have to get permission from their lord to leave the land. I guess given families miraculously learn trades it's not that deep.