What's on your table right now?

[Barthheart]

I wonder if it ever made it into the mail...

have you seen the postage rates to Canada?!?!?

I'm paying the postage!

[Nefaro]

I picked up Fortune & Glory over a year ago.  That's one big damn box.  Even gave some of the hero minis quick paint jobs.  But still haven't played yet.  :))  Judging by the vids, it plays a bit like Eldritch Horror albeit with the Relic-hunting Indie Jones cliffhanger theme.

There is a user-created set of Encounter cards (or equivalently named) that received a lot of praise for adding more variability to the base game.  I think that was the main complaint about it.  The files are on BGG, IIRC, and there are probably links to card printing sites which offer them for purchase.

There are a few expansions out that also add more cards.  The one with the added Crimson Hand cultist faction looks most appealing to me, but I wasn't going to spring for a $40 expansion without playing the core game some.  Fortunately it has the co-op option so perfectly suitable for solitaire play whenever the urge strikes.

[Arctic Blast]

I will warn you, Banzai : That game will take over every inch of table space that you have. So...many...decks...of...cards... :o

[BanzaiCat]

@ Nef - thanks for the heads-up on the cards at BGG. Holy crap there's a lot of user-made expansions for it. I think I'll start with the base game though and go from there. If you guys think it's lacking though I'm certain I'll think the same thing.

What's sad is I still haven't gotten Shadows of Brimstone to the table. I've had it for a year and it hasn't been out to see the light of day since I finished gluing all those buggers together.

Also, Nef, that Crimson Hand expansion doesn't really appeal to me. Dudes with dick masks on their faces don't seem nearly as threatening as Nazis or even mobsters...they're more like a depraved orgy sect seeking ancient sex toys that nobody else cares about, so they got pissy and started stealing real treasures to get recognition. (I watched a playthrough on YouTube and the guy was using the Crimson Hand expansion and several others.) I might end up adding the Treasure Hunters expansion at some point (I really like the look of that), but before I try to save any money for future purchases (and this won't happen until next Spring when I get my next acting gig check), I need to play this a few times and love it to death. I love the Indy movies, so I'm really hoping that translates well here.

@ AB - I figured it might. I think one of the reasons I haven't gotten SoB to the table is, it takes up a ton of room too. Although you can technically remove cave pieces as your characters move along, that doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather see the mine in all its glory. Looks like this will be the same, but bigger.

[BanzaiCat]

I know that a lot of people use a game's initials to refer to it, instead of typing out the entire game name.

I just realized THIS game's initials are FaG.

I'm such a juvenile for laughing at that. 

(Yes, yes, I know, the kids say "FANG"...exactly for that reason. Still, lulz are had.)

[Barthheart]

[BanzaiCat]

^ I'm surprised someone hasn't created a 20-hour-long version of that.

[Cyrano]

My KS "Tiny Epic Galaxies" showed up in the mail yesterday.  In between trying out the new CS game (awesome!!) and quick bites of "Heroes of Normandie" (more awesome), I got in a game with beloved and child.

It's very much in the TE mold, vis.:  small footprint, nice bits, stripped-down rules, and light, but fun, theme.

At the moment, all of us agreed that it falls above the original TEK, but below TED, largely because the latter is cooperative, but, at least in my case, I like the whole game a bit better.

[bayonetbrant]

mine is waiting at a friend's house for me to pick up this weekend

[Nefaro]

I think one of the reasons I haven't gotten SoB to the table is, it takes up a ton of room too. Although you can technically remove cave pieces as your characters move along, that doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather see the mine in all its glory. Looks like this will be the same, but bigger.

SoBS takes up ridiculous amounts of space.  Not just the tile pieces and vast array of card decks, but having to keep all the extra map tiles & pieces handy for sorting through when exploring. 

I bought one of those Hold-It card organizers primarily for SoBS, although it will help with others with many decks (other Fantasy Flight and Flying Frog stuff for example).  It's rather pricey IMO but the biggest business card holders probably aren't wide enough to fit some of the decks.  :-\   Saves some table space by holding the decks vertically.

[BanzaiCat]

Wow, that's cool, Nef, thanks for sharing. I might have to get one if either of these games are going to see the light before I die.

[nht]

I'm soloing the "Back to Russia" scenario from "Fighting Formations" in VASSAL right now and trying to decide what to play next.

[panzerde]

I'm soloing the "Back to Russia" scenario from "Fighting Formations" in VASSAL right now and trying to decide what to play next.

That sounds interesting. Can you post a couple of screenshots?

[nht]

Here's one. Nothing too exciting. Very start of the second turn. Three grenadier platoons, an MG-34 platoon, and the StuG have advanced towards the village. Most of the Soviet units have stayed hidden, but the M37 and the DShK opted to reveal themselves and fire at the advancing troops. The Soviet squads on the objective hexes and the platoon at L5 were visible from the start, but the platoon at J6 (which is sitting in some entrenchments, which aren't visible in this screenshot) was revealed when the one of the grenadier squads moved into I7.

It op-fired at each of the grenadiers when they moved into I7, but caused them no damage. The grenadiers were moving using an "assault" order, which lets them move and fire (albeit with a penalty). Unfortunately for the Soviets, both grenadiers got good die rolls, and a squad got eliminated.

Also not visible here is the MG-34 unit, which lost a squad to the DShK, and the third grenadier, which got pinned by the DShK. The M37 was op-firing the whole time, but doing absolutely nothing useful. In retrospect, I placed the Soviet command marker poorly. The DShK was doing a lot more damage, but was giving up 2 initiative every time it op-fired, whereas the M37, since it was under mission command, was op-firing for free but not doing any damage (again, this is turn 2, which is why the command marker has been flipped to tactical command). K5 might've been a better place for the command marker, since it would've given the MG free reign to fire and would've still allowed the rifle platoon to react. C'est la vie. I could also have placed the second Soviet command marker, but I wanted to conserve it for a later turn.

The ZIS-3 at the edge of the field is there as a result of a special rule that lets you place it at will at any time that a German unit uses a "move" or "assault" order. It then gets 3 free shots. I played it after the StuG performed an assault order and moved from G7 to H6. As you can see, though, it didn't really do much damage. Only one of the 3 shots had any effect, and the StuG wasn't disabled.

Now, in the second turn, a couple of halftracks, along with grenadier squads, have entered at the south edge of the map.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what the Soviet counters down at the bottom right are -- they're the hidden units. I just add a label to them indicating which hex they're supposed to be in, so that when they get revealed, I know which "hidden unit" counter to remove. It's the best way I've figured out so far for dealing with the problem of knowing where I've set up the hidden units in a solo game. Basically, after awhile I mostly forget which "hidden unit" counters are actual units and which ones are "false sighting" counters :)

Oh, and I haven't re-seeded the order matrix yet, so it's empty at this point.

[panzerde]

That's pretty cool looking. I've not played that. Of course, I need another WW2 tactical system like I need another hole in my head...  ;) So many games, so little time.

I find the same thing with hidden units when playing solo. It doesn't take too long before I forget what they are!