Star Wars Gaming Notes from 10/25/2011

With little backstory, the party is thrown together on a ship headed for Alderaan to claim the bounty on an assassin droid sent to kill Senator Ilan Tah. Only problem? We have no idea what this droid looks like. As a cover, we're suppose to pick up some wine. Should be simple enough. I'm playing a Wookie bounty hunter so I've practiced my grunts and growls all week.

We land on Alderaan and they immediately lock up all of our weapons. Seems Alderaan is a peaceful planet. We begin our investigation by setting up appointments with the Senator and the winery (separately, of course). In the meanwhile, we start spitballing ideas on how to identify and stop this assassin droid. We search databases for droids recently entering the system, try to establish underworld contacts, and eventually try to tail the Senator to establish likely ambush points.

It seems that our tailing attracted some attention, however, because we were stopped by the police and detained. All of this fit into my Wookie's plan. I hoped that news of my arrest in connection with the Senator would lure out the elements who had hired the assassin droid. Unfortunately, no such luck.

When it came time to go to the winery, the wine snobs wouldn't sell us their precious wine called "Alderaan Blue Fury". So my wookie had intimidate the shop employees into selling him the wine. Once they saw his credits were good they complied with our *ahem* gentle request. We safely loaded the cargo and waited to meet with the Senator the next day.

Finally, the day arrived and we were greeted by a protocol droid. Something didn't seem right, however, when the droid took a translation device in with us to see the Senator. When we accused the droid of trying to kill the senator, he fled. Some of us pursued and apprehended the droid while the rest defused the device which turned out to be a bomb and guarded the Senator.

We collected our bounty, earned the thanks of the Senator, and headed off to deliver our wine cargo. Unfortunately, before we could leave the system, a large moon appeared around Alderaan. Tie fighters swarmed us and forced us onto what we now realized wasn't a moon at all but a fully operational battle station.

It's ALWAYS great to roleplay in the Star Wars universe... To be continued...
(originally posted by Scott on his One Long Road blog)

Star Trek Fleet Captain's, first game impressions

At a pivotal point in our Deathwatch game Ken and Steve  couldn’t make it. Rather than letting the rest of the party suffer torture and death at the hands of the Khorne possessed Space Marine Commander without their friends we decided to play Star Trek Fleet Captains instead.


We borrowed the store copy seeing that none of us had yet coughed up the $99.00 it cost to buy the game. Setup for the four player game was pretty quick and easy with the most time consuming part  being sorting out the massive bag of tokens and then after that the Command cards.
Chris and I played the Federation while Dave and Elliot played the Klingon’s. Right as we started to draw for our ship’s Steve wonders in to join us. Dave and Steve decided to share command of their half of the Klingon side.


Before I go any farther I should probably tell everyone that I like Star Trek. I’ve seen most of the episodes of most of the series. I’ve even been to Shore Leave a few times with some friends to marvel at the Trekky’ness of it all.  My favorite episode is that one where Captain Kirk is about to marry two crew members and before the ceremony they beam down to a planet and the groom is the red shirt of the away team. He dies, cause that’s what red shirts do, and at the end of the episode Kirk stops to see the ex-bride and basically say ‘This stuff happen all the time, get over it and get back to work.’ And then the next few minutes are him walking alone around the halls of his ship. I’ve always loved the symbolism of the solitude of his command , a great cinematic effect. Now that I’ve said all that you trekky’s know the name of the episode I mean but I have no clue what it’s called. Ask me about Dr. Who though….


Now that you know about me let me say that Dave, Steve, Chris and Elliot are pretty big Star Trek fans, much bigger than me. I think their reaction tells allot more about how close Whiz Kids came to making a great game then mine would. I didn’t hear one complaint, sure they complained about me looking up rules or not knowing how to do this or that but not once did I hear the “That could never happen ‘cause a Klingon bird of prey has two dorsal venting ports that….”.  Don’t pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about, you know him and you might even be him!


As out game played out us with the Federation jumped right out there and started collecting Victory Points right away. We we’re up around 10 (we we’re playing to the recommended 16pts) when the Klingon’s finally started completing missions. Need I say that it seemed, and rightfully so, that most of their mission involved hunting us down and inflicting some kind of damage on us.


One of the many nice parts of the game is that each turn you can discard a mission and draw a new one if you think you’ll never be able to fulfill it. I had one that I held onto for ¾ of the game that would get me 2 Victor Points if I destroyed a Klingon Starbase. Knowing that they we so slow at expanding their empire I discarded it for a new card only to have them build a Starbase the next round!


We played for about 2 ½ hours and with the store closing soon ended the game a turn before we of the Federation would have scored one more Victory Point and won anyway.
In the end we all decided that we really liked that game and that we’re going to have to play again soon. It sounded like Dave, Chris and I will end up buying the game at some point especially when more races come out (that was the teaser that Brett gave us ½ way through the game). Elliot though he loved it as much and maybe a tiny bit more than his new copy of Dread Fleet, that he keeps under his pillow. Steve said he’d defiantly buy a copy if it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t get anyone else but us to play it with him. Brett, keep 4 on hand and someday we’ll pick them up, honestly!


The game is designed to be a 2 player game expandable to 4 players, we all felt that after playing it as a 4(5) player game the 2 players would not be as much fun. With how fluidly the game plays we see no reason you couldn’t combine 2 sets and play with 6 or 8 players as long as you we’re mindful of play area size and how many actions each person could take a turn.


I think this is a great game; I’d give it a 5 out of 6. Once I get to play more and more races come out this games going to move up to a 6 for me. If you could get non-Star Trek fans to look past the theme and play the game I think they’d find a fun game that is quick to learn and easy to play.

Role Playing games Are Good For Kids (CNN Article)

CNN has a really good article about why role playing games are good for kids.
Link

JUST PLAYED - King of Tokyo

We played King of Tokyo for the first time tonight and LOVED IT.

We played with the EXCLUSIVE promo cards from boardgamegeek.com which are pictured above.

A full review and podcast will probably be coming next week because we all want to play it some more !!!

NEW GAME - Harry Potter House Cup Challenge

Ok, I'm spending too much money on games.  My order for this new Harry Potter Game came in today so that's like 8 new games in the past 6 weeks. 

There will not be a review or box opening of this game until sometime after the holidays because this is a gift for my kids at Christmas.  Sorry folks you will need to wait until at least the 12/26 for a review.

It looks like a great game, and my kids love Harry Potter so I'm sure it will be a big hit.



NEW GAME - Duel In The Dark

The other day I told you about one of the two new games I just bought.
Today I will tell you about the other.

DUEL IN THE DARK

Description:

Duel in the Dark is a World War 2 air combat game depicting the nighttime air raids of British bombers hitting German cities.

As the head of the British Bomber Command, you plan the attacks on Germany in order to undermine the morale of the civilian population. Or as a General of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), you defend using your ace squadrons and organizing an effective civil defense.

The gameboard enables you to set up countless variations of these historic events. You play as many nights as you wish - each night takes 30-45 minutes to resolve.

Immerse yourself in the strategic and tactical thinking needed to survive in those dark times.

Gameplay allows for easy entry into the action with some advanced rules for the hearty wargamer. The game rules include weather conditions, full moon/new moon bonuses and penalties, clouds and thunderclouds, fog, flak, searchlights, balloon barriers, target markers, and much more.

The British player secretly plots the course of the bomber while the Mosquito acts as escort or decoy. The German player tries to figure out where the bomber is going, making sure to efficiently use the fuel to get as many hits on the bomber as possible.

NEW GAME - Bloodsuckers

I just picked up two new board games.
The first one I got because Halloween is coming and KGS will be sponsoring some games at the annual ZombieFest held at Comic Store West in York PA.

This game is called BLOODSUCKERS.

Description:

The once quiet small town of Blackwood has become a battleground. A coven of vampires has crept in under the cover of darkness to drain the very life from its helpless citizens. As powerful as these creatures of legend are, they do not prowl the streets unchallenged. A team of skilled vampire hunters with an arsenal of modern weapons has tracked these bloodsuckers down and the battle for the soul of Blackwood is about to begin.

Play as either vampire or hunter, using Attack cards to battle for the citizens of Blackwood, Impact cards to enhance your powers, and deadly Strike cards to destroy your opponent. Unleash powerful combos and use Blood or Adrenaline as you fight, alone or with a teammate, through both night and day. Win battles to recruit the innocent bystanders at the Nightclub, Church, Graveyard, Police Station, and Hospital. Claim the most locations to win control of the town.

Save the town of Blackwood, or drain it dry.
The choice is yours.

Bloodsuckers is a highly thematic strategy card game for 2 to 4 players ages 13 and up.

- Players can choose to fight as either vampires or hunters with different abilities for each side.
- Time of day is tracked using the Clockdial with day and night having special effects on gameplay.
- Multiple ways to combine cards gives players exciting strategic options.
- Four-player games focus on unique team-based gameplay.

Batman Vs Captain America - Who Would Win?

Captain America's Fighting knowledge:
American Boxing, Judo, Aikido, and Jujutsu are the only revealed disciplines, but he has utilized various different techniques and methods from multiple others. Among these are various Gong fu (or Kung fu) such as Taijiquan, Wing Chun, various Shaolin arm methods which he incorporates for his shield, Chin na, and northern kicking methods, Capoeira, Muay Thai, Karate, Eskrima, and hand techniques used in Ninjutsu. (for more info visit the Marvel wiki)

Batman's Fighting knowledge:
Has mastered 127 different fighting styles (Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight)

Let's approach this 2 different ways.

Arena #1 - Standard MMA Octagon (32ft across, 750 square feet)
Rules - No gadgets or shield, both fighters in standard fighting shorts

How the fight would go:

Cap is gonna land some good punches on the bat, and probably even try and get a grab in. But Batman is going to be able to counter most techniques used and eventually get Cap in some kind of lock and get him to tap out.

I think this is a long fight which is usually in Cap's favor because of his conditioning.  But Batman is patient not using much energy, he weights for the one small mistake Cap makes and then counters and forces a tap out.

Winner - Batman

Arena #2 - typical dark city alley
Rules - none

How the fight would go:

Yes Cap has his shield, but guess what Batman is strong and agile enough to catch the shield if thrown at him. Batman would spray Cap with knockout gas from the utility belt and fight is over.

This fight is very quick.

Winner - Batman


Check back soon for our next Marvel vs DC throwdown.

Tales of a Female Gamer

So.............it's been awhile since I posted anything...........ahem, and I think I might be getting the hang of gaming. MIGHT BE. Thank God for d10! As some of you know from listening to the podcast ( and if your not downloading it, WHY NOT?). I'm not a very good counter, or adder, or anything with numbers, so the easier the game the better. Remember, me dumb girl can't count die. As the role playing has progressed, I sort of start to get it. If only I can count. My fellow gamers have actually added for me in some cases when it was evident that my eyes have glazed over, and my brain is shut down. Again, thank God for d10 systems. At least it is fairly simple. Introduce a charting system and I'm almost happy. The problem is my lack of any attention span when someone is explaining rules to me. After about the third or fourth sentence it starts sounding like the teacher from a peanuts cartoon. I have to just forge ahead and play the game, understanding as I go. This creates a bit of frustration with my fellow gamers. I don't blame them really, but someone reading rules out of a book just turns me off.

Let's give the example of tonight's game we are playing. As a filler between RPG's, we are playing a board game called "King of Tokyo". My lovely husband, Old Brian, starts reading off the rules for the game. It simple enough, maybe even a little fun. Even a special guest little boy was playing. After about a third of the way through, I got board, stopped listening and didn't hear a word he said. Resulting in me losing, and the 4 year old winning the first game. Comical really. I never win at games though so I'm used to the humiliation.

Case in point, everyone is still playing while I'm posting.....

Maybe I should take speed before I play, that way I might pay attention

JUST PLAYED - Gears of War - The Board Game

My friend Art and I played the new Gears of War Board Game this past Saturday.
We SUCK.  We couldn't get out of the starting tile on the introduction mission.

It's a pretty cool game.  Look for the KGS to play in the upcoming weeks.

KGS VideoCast - Gears of War Boardgame Box Opening

What You Get:

KGS Podcast - Episode 00030 - Lone Wolf RPG Review

KEYSTONE GAMING SOCIETY REVIEW
GAME:	LONE WOLF RPG
PUBLISHER:	MONGOOSE
THE RATINGS:
SCOTT:
OLD BRIAN:
YOUNG BRYAN:
DAVE:
TISHA:
SAM: