no ticket

actually, i'm lucky in that i do have a ticket...  a ticket to ride that is!

ticket to ride is a quick to learn card management game where your hand of cards help you build train routes across all of north america.  the challenge comes in that taking time to build a better collection of cards to claim routes gives your opponents the opportunity to claim the very route you want!

playing this one with me was adam, dave, jacob, and jeff. we got a bit of a late start due to a wedding i couldn't miss (congrats mike and mikey!) but wound up rollicking along pretty quickly.  unfortunately, that meant that i couldn't post this until the next day (as we wound up playing games from 9:30pm until about 3 in the morning!).  so there should be two posts for 03 april!

here we are after the first few rounds.  dave (red), jeff (blue), and adam (black) have started working the middle american routes, while jacob and i watch...

this is early in the middle game.  i'm still not on the map very much (i'm playing yellow), but notice that dave and jeff have started battling for the midwest, adam is working a midwest north/south route and claiming a nice long route from sault st. marie to montreal.  meanwhile, jacob (green) has started an unopposed run up the west coast. 

here are jeff and jacob looking so serious as they consider their next few moves...

...and here is dave mugging for the camera looking like he's caught a face full of cinders and dirty steam from a smokestack!

 

here's the end of the game.  it was a close run thing thing up until the end, with most everyone thinking they had a victory, but it was my last two routes (duluth to toronto and charleston to miami) and the fact that I had all of my destination tickets completed that put me over the top for the win and the longest route.  

all-in-all, it was a great game, and fun was had by all.  the general consensus is that ticket to ride is a great, lighthearted game that is easy to learn, challenging to play, and just cutthroat enough.  

next game up is rio grande games' race for the galaxy, a card game that chronicles your efforts as one of earth's colonies to settle the galaxy and build your galactic empire!

indiana jones and the last crusade is property of paramount pictures.  ticket to ride is property of days of wonder.  all other images are mine! 

this may the most foolish idea I’ve had in a while…

kicking off the first ever “little mens 30 games in 30 days” event is rio grande games' power grid.  one of friedmann friese’s most popular games, power grid allows the player to enter the exciting world of power generation!   

yep, that’s right.  you get to be the electric company.  trust me it's a lot more exciting than it sounds, and it's also funny to see how fast your friends become profit driven corporate power mongers...

at the heart of the game, you balance resources (your power grid, power plants, fuels, and cash) better than your opponents all while trying to provide service to a growing area on the map.  

for this game we used the benelux (belgium, netherlands, and luxemburg) map.

one thing i find refreshing about power grid is that one person taking the lead early in the game doesn’t automatically translate into victory at the end, and actually being in the last place can provide some pretty good advantages. 

here is jeff making sure his corporate profits dwarf those of exxon, while abi looks  a little concerned about her early map position.

thanks to jacob, jeff, and abi dubs for helping me out with kicking off “30 games in 30 days”!  you guys rock!  and congrats to jacob for winning the first game played!

tomorrow's game will be day's of wonder's ticket to ride, played in the evening at my place!

all images are mine save for that first one of the box cover, that's property of rio grande game.

who's the biggest fool of all?

that might just be me.  in order to push myself to post more, and to include some of my favorite board games, i've decided to document my descent into madness, aka "30 games in 30 days"


starting on 01 april, i will play a different boardgame everyday and post the evidence here for the world to see!  the schedule for the imminent insanity is below:

01 april:  power grid
02 april:  ticket to ride
03 april:  race for the galaxy
04 april:  factory manager
05 april:  dominion
06 april:  agricola
07 april:  beowulf:  the movie board game
08 april:  the settlers of cataan
09 april:  cold war:  cia versus kgb
10 april:  albion
11 april:  roborally
12 april:  alhambra
13 april:  fearsome floors
14 april:  chaos in the old world
15 april:  beowulf:  the legend
16 april:  red november
17 april:  carcassone
18 april:  puerto rico
19 april:  cartagena
20 april:  pirate's cove
21 april:  chinatown
22 april:  pandemic
23 april:  citadels
24 april:  mystery of the abbey
25 april:  colosseum
26 april:  memoir '44
27 april:  space hulk:  death angel
28 april:  clue
29 april:  mansions of madness
30 april:  tigris & euphrates

as i post the results daily, i'll also go ahead and include where the next game will be played (my apartment, black sun games, northside chicago game night, etc.)  if you want to be a part of the madness feel free to show up!

electralux in the 41st millennium?

the advance orders for the blood angel stormraven gunship went live today.

as far as i'm concerned the jury is still out on this one.  personally, i think it looks like someone added wings to a vacuum cleaner, but blocky is the style for space marines.

 

regardless, gw is getting really good at these second wave releases.

now if only they could perfect their pricing...

+edit/update+

thanks to xenite for his link to this image:

which correctly identifies the aerodynamic inspiration for pretty much all space marine vehicles.  of course, any suitably inebriated rocket scientist will inform you that even a brick will fly provided you strap enough engines to it...


all images property of games workshop except for that last one which is all xenite, baby!

take a moment...

...and thank a veteran for their service today.

i'd say "just like a rat"...

 ...only the ship's not sinking.

i am, however, jumping ship.  i've been a little bored with the stuff i've been working on for games workshop for a while now.  that doesn't mean that i won't pick it back up later, but right now i've got to do something new.

so i've decided to build a force for privateer press' warmachine.

even though bad guy (insert air quotes) armies don't usually appeal to me, i picked up the new plastic cryx battlegroup,

one of the new plastic helljacks,

and the rulebook. 

i've already got the battlegroup painted and ready to play.  and i'm going to make a vow with this game:

"i do solemnly affirm that i will not purchase more warmachine products until i have what i currently own fully painted and have played at least 5 games."

here are pics of my cryx battlegroup thus far:

the battlegroup cleaned and assembled:

here is the warwitch deneghra and a couple of deathripper bonejacks:

here are the reaper and slayer helljacks.  i did a bit of extra work to the brass "hood" around the head to give each a bit of a different appearance:

the funny thing is that i was able to pump these out pretty quickly, but it's not like the paint scheme is too difficult.

keep an eye out here for future warmachine updates!

is that a space hulk in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

i didn't go to gencon.  everyone of my friends rave about how awesome it was.  it's kinda annoying really, but i'll probably wind up going next year.  even though all the footage online show huge lines of fat bastards wheezing over copies of games that no one else can buy yet.

and i can only image the magnitude of gamer funk and steampunk costume desperation...

but one good thing did come of it.  i had a friend (thanks mike!) pick up a copy of fantasy flight games' death angel.

the game is a cooperative endeavor for 1 to 6 players, who take on the role of imperial space marines tasked with clearing a xenos infestation from the space hulk sin of damnation.

folks familiar with the games workshop property that inspired this little silverline game will know all about marines versus genestealers (or 'stealers).  for the rest of you, imagine this:  space men fight nasty aliens in a derelict ship.  sold yet?  you should be.

i tried two solo games today, and i have to admit it's a helluva challenge and a lot of fun!

here are my thoughts broken down:

pros:

• small and portable like the rest of the silverline.  great quality in the printing of the cards and all components.  as usual. 
• nice length of game (about an hour to play)
• gets the environment of space hulk right.  great atmosphere, art, and very tense gameplay.  unlike the board game, the card game has location cards that are marked to illustrate areas where 'stealers are more likely to appear than others, but this doesn't reduce the amount of tension, and as you start to lose marines, it really does become harder and harder to manage your fire lanes and kill the 'stealers before they eat your face.
• simple gameplay that is pretty straightforward and easy once you learn the way the cards work.
• a nice cooperative mechanic that allows for a variety of choices for actions that are resolved in a particular order.  fail to be a good team member, and you could be killing not only yourself, but the rest of the squad as well. 
• nice variety between the various marines allowing a team that is good at shooting and close combat. 

cons:

• the rules booklet.  the layout is awkward and requires some flipping back and forth in the booklet to get a grip on the way the various cards work within the rule system.
• would like to have either a small zip top bag or tuck box for the components included. 
• would like the marines have more than a 50% chance of killing something when attacking.  imperial space marines are genetically engineered killing machines.  i would probably suggest having the kill pip (a skull) on 4 of the 6 faces (taking it to 66%) of the die.  to compensate for this the blip piles could contain more 'stealers and each location could "spawn" an additional 'stealer during the event phase.    

overall, it's a lot of fun, and definitely worth your hard earned gaming dollar!