What's on your table right now?

bob48 · June 20, 2015, 03:57:22 PM

I've got 'Bitter Woods' sitting here looking at me. Must get to grips with it soon.

Cyrano · June 28, 2015, 09:52:42 AM

Specter Ops -- Remarkably simple rules in this one. The complexity comes from the interplay between the Agent (good guy) and the Hunters. The pad is used by the Agent to track his secret movement over the board as he tries to accomplish missions. He's only placed on the board if he enters the LoS of the Hunters...at which point his lifespan can safely be measured in seconds if he doesn't get hid...

Cornered by my wife...didn't make it to 20 of the allotted 40 turns.

Certainly not the groggiest thing I've ever played, but folks have raved to me about "Love Letter" and I figured this would be a more manly way to try the system. A classic, "hey, it is what it is game", I like it. Contract Bridge it ain't, but there's a fair bit of strategy tucked in with all the luck of the draw and, with a deck of only 16 cards, it plays quickly. Plus, they updated the bits to be more Batman.

Nefaro · June 28, 2015, 11:29:05 AM

I realize they were aiming for brand recognition, but I still think they should've renamed the Love Letter series when they started making hordes of them with other themes than the original. Wouldn't be surprised to see something like Love Letter: Conan or Love Letter: Judge Dredd next. :P

I've read good things about Spectre Ops. Not sure it's something I'd play a lot (partly due to all the hidden movement?) but I've watched some vids and it looks fun. I've actually been waiting to see how the upcoming Rise Of The Kage game turns out, despite it's price, as that's rather similar in intent but it's look & theme are more appealing to me for some reason.

Cyrano · June 28, 2015, 12:32:42 PM

The Dice Tower (and others) went after the folks at Cryptozoic re: "Love Letter" this and that and my understanding is that future brandings will lower the prominence of the name.

And since we're on the branding topic, I find it curious that they went with Specter rather than Spectre. I would have thought the latter cooler...

That said, it's a good game, but I think it really wants the full five players it envisions in which one player is an agent, three players are hunters, and one player is a hunter-traitor who is trying to assist the agent. If (when) the traitor is caught not reporting the agent while in LoS, the traitor is handed a secret movement sheet, is given a free movement, and is thereafter counted as another agent. The two-player version is a reasonable intro, but limited as the hunter player plays both hunters eliminating the problems of coordination that I think are supposed to be baked into this particular cake.

Arctic Blast · June 28, 2015, 04:43:42 PM

Specter Ops is a terrific game. It avoids the 'masses of minutiae' problem that often afflicts hidden movement games, keeps things very component light, and avoids clutter. And it's still fantastic.

panzerde · June 29, 2015, 07:39:47 PM

My copy of Fading Glory arrived today. Already punched and on the table. Really looking forward to giving this a try.

GroggyGrognard · June 29, 2015, 11:23:02 PM

Quote from: panzerde on June 29, 2015, 07:39:47 PM
My copy of Fading Glory arrived today. Already punched and on the table. Really looking forward to giving this a try.

You won't be disappointed. I think the maps could have been slightly larger for more maneuvering room, but this is just my own niggle. Otherwise, it is one of my favorite Napoleonic wargames in my collection--right up there with C&C: Napoleonics and Field Commander: Napoleon.

Groggy

GJK · June 30, 2015, 05:23:11 AM

Does CC:N give a good period feel? It just seems like the battles are very generic to me.

TacticalWargames · June 30, 2015, 06:14:33 AM

JD how do you think CC will play solo? I like the look of the upcoming Greta War game but unsure about it's solo playability.

JudgeDredd · June 30, 2015, 07:04:38 AM

I'm still finishing off the tutorial. The tutorial only takes you so far and then lets you continue to the end - so my knowledge of it's solitaire playability is limited.

I basically look at the cards I'm about to play and select one. I then look at the other hand and select the card to play. Essentially - if I was going to play a card (like MOVE) when the "enemy" has a good action card (Op Fire) then I just think "Would I still have played that card if I didn't know the other player had their "counter" card.

It kind of keeps me out of taking sides and all I'm focused on is getting each of the units to their objectives.

As for any special rules for single player (having the hidden objective for each player)...I don't know yet. Someone over at BGG has a "solution".

I'm really enjoying it though. The cards determine your actions available and you can use as many as you want. Not having any die to roll is weird - but the system in place seems to cope fairly well.

Cyrano · June 30, 2015, 08:47:13 AM

"Fading Glory" -- and, really, Napoleonic 20 in general -- is a fun operational system that gives you a lot of the same choices confronted by commanders in the era. Not all of the games are created equal, but the four in FG are well-chosen. The component upgrade courtesy of GMT is a nice touch and it's a pity that "Rising Glory" never made the P500 cut. Brant, any chance VPG wants to hang with us at Origins? ;)

I really like CC:N for what it is. Richard Borg will tell you it's the game he wanted to make when he invented the C&C system and I'm very surprised it's taken this long for both the commanders' expansion and the epic version to come out. The real limitation is the board. Mr. Borg has tried everything to fit a much deeper board into the box because he knows that's where the Napoleonic system really starts to differentiate itself from its ancient and other cousins. The problem is that the logistics prevent it; the stories he tells about trying to fold a mounted board different ways and have it fit into a GMT box would be funny if they weren't a bit sad. Heck, even the mighty Memoir wound up having to do the biggest boards (D-Day Landings) in paper. The system modifications -- notably that losing blocks costs you firepower and the forming square mechanic -- are simple and elegant. It is assuredly not La Bataille, but it feels quite different from "Battle Cry", Memoir, and Ancients.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

TacticalWargames · June 30, 2015, 02:35:53 PM

Thanks! Sounds great. Great War Commander goes on my to buy list.

Quote from: JudgeDredd on June 30, 2015, 07:04:38 AM
I'm still finishing off the tutorial. The tutorial only takes you so far and then lets you continue to the end - so my knowledge of it's solitaire playability is limited.

I basically look at the cards I'm about to play and select one. I then look at the other hand and select the card to play. Essentially - if I was going to play a card (like MOVE) when the "enemy" has a good action card (Op Fire) then I just think "Would I still have played that card if I didn't know the other player had their "counter" card.

It kind of keeps me out of taking sides and all I'm focused on is getting each of the units to their objectives.

As for any special rules for single player (having the hidden objective for each player)...I don't know yet. Someone over at BGG has a "solution".

I'm really enjoying it though. The cards determine your actions available and you can use as many as you want. Not having any die to roll is weird - but the system in place seems to cope fairly well.

panzerde · June 30, 2015, 03:53:23 PM

Quote from: Cyrano on June 30, 2015, 08:47:13 AM
"Fading Glory" -- and, really, Napoleonic 20 in general -- is a fun operational system that gives you a lot of the same choices confronted by commanders in the era. Not all of the games are created equal, but the four in FG are well-chosen. The component upgrade courtesy of GMT is a nice touch and it's a pity that "Rising Glory" never made the P500 cut. Brant, any chance VPG wants to hang with us at Origins? ;)

Now that I've actually played some of the Napoleonic 20 system, I'm even more convinced that this would be a great system for introducing the basics of wargaming to people. It's fast to set up and play, the rules are easy to understand, but most importantly it's really fun while being true to what it's trying to depict. It's pretty impressive that the systems gets the "rock, paper, scissors" aspect of Napoleonic warfare while only having around 20 counters on the map, total. The morale system is pure genius.

Victory Point has also upped the production values on their latest offerings in the series, too. The newer stuff is close to Fading Glory it looks like.

I can only hope we can entice them into Origins next year!

Nefaro · July 02, 2015, 02:50:01 AM

Quote from: TacticalWargames on June 30, 2015, 06:14:33 AM
JD how do you think CC will play solo? I like the look of the upcoming Greta War game but unsure about it's solo playability.

I've read numerous people say they play the CC series solo by just drawing two (or three?) cards each turn for the opposing player and plays the most ideal one given the situation. Discards every turn. So the player doesn't know what card orders the other side has when he's choosing his own order.

The player still uses a hand as in the regular rules. A side effect of this is that the non-player side will also tend to cycle more cards through it's hand over the course of the game, so can also provide more of a challenge since it has a better chance of getting the good orders more often.

weateallthepies · July 05, 2015, 01:47:41 PM

Working through some Hoplite scenarios with MengJiao on VASSAL. He's been patient with my learning the rules on the fly and they are starting to stick now so that I can get the turns done more easily. Hopefully it'lll help speed it up a little.

Really, really like the GBoH system now though I'm now learning how not to use my units. It really is as the intro says, all about knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your units. Making some bad choices but it's a good learning experience.