Is it me or does the description sound a lot like Risk?
I want this to be good but...
6 hours ago, debiant said:Is it me or does the description sound a lot like Risk?
L5R Risk? I'd buy that.
Yep, a mix of Game of Thrones, Risk, and a striking similarity to Erik M. Lang's 'Rising Sun', which is currently on kickstarter.
At first I thought it looked like Samurai or Britannia, but then I saw it's just like Game of Thrones. It wouldn't be FFG if they weren't rehashing their own games or "borrowing" mechanics from other licenses.
I got a risk vibe when I read it but I think there'll be much more to it than that. My concern now is it sounds like it might be a little overcomplicated, so looking forward to seeing more, and hopefully a review!
So it's just a board and some tokens? What year is this?
It is listed at "1+ hours" (contrast with "2-4 hours" for Rebellion and GoT2E). Given it is a pure 5-round conquest game, it will certainly be simpler than those games. But it's also only $40.
This looks like a cool idea. I am a little saddened that it does not use miniatures for the armies and actions. I was hoping that FFG would use miniatures in their other L5R games with the purchase of the L5R franchise. Well, I guess we will have to wait and see
On 1.9.2017 at 4:58 PM, Libero03 said:So it's just a board and some tokens? What year is this?
Imho, adding minis to a game doesn't necessarily result in a better game. Unless there's an actual reason why minis would work better than tokens or wooden bits, I prefer games to not have minis. All they typically do is drive up the price.
3 hours ago, jhaelen said:Imho, adding minis to a game doesn't necessarily result in a better game. Unless there's an actual reason why minis would work better than tokens or wooden bits, I prefer games to not have minis. All they typically do is drive up the price.
Minis bring table presence and wow factor to a game. They are a good way to get players invested at an early stage, and give a more visceral connection. Lose a token so what but lose a guy and OMG I'll get you for that! Even if those minis represent whole forces.
Now I'm not just saying finely sculpted figures like CMoN does, but even the little guys like in risk can make a big difference in the feel of a game. I admit I prefer factions to have their own flavour (again helps buy in). But for me any mini helps.
On 6.9.2017 at 1:22 PM, Vixen Icaza said:
Minis bring table presence and wow factor to a game.
I agree about this part, and it's the main factor why minis are typically included in games, especially kickstarter games. This 'wow factor' tries to appeal to potential customers by giving them a favorable first impression. Many will back a kickstarter simply because of cool-looking minis. However, a wow-factor is short-lived. After the first game, it's mostly already gone, and the game's mechanics quickly become the most important aspect of the game: It will decide whether the game makes it to the table regularly or not. And at that point, you might as well use tokens or meeples.
As I said, there are games that truly benefit from minis: E.g. games where the facing of a mini is important, or the difference in size. For games with many different types of units, minis can also be a boon, since it's harder to tell the difference between tokens. But there's a ton of games where minis don't add anything, and may in fact even be detrimental. 'Blood Rage', imho is an example for this: It features different sculpts for identical units, and all minis are made from the same grey material. It would have made a lot more sense and eased gameplay to use meeples in different colors.
Don't get me wrong: I think Blood Rage is a great game, but it's not because of the minis. It's because of the clever card drafting mechanism.
On 6-9-2017 at 1:22 PM, Vixen Icaza said:Now I'm not just saying finely sculpted figures like CMoN does, but even the little guys like in risk can make a big difference in the feel of a game.
My experience with CMoN is that the miniatures hide a lot of poor game mechanics.
2 hours ago, cheapmate said:My experience with CMoN is that the miniatures hide a lot of poor game mechanics.
Well, after all the company is named after "Cool Minis or Not", not "Cool Boardgames or Not". So, they promise minis and they deliver minis...
Looks an awful lot like Game if Thrones. Hope they fixed it so one faction doesn't start at a loss like Lannister does in that game.
On 10/14/2017 at 5:24 PM, cheapmate said:My experience with CMoN is that the miniatures hide a lot of poor game mechanics.
Really?? I enjoy Zombiecide, Arcadia Quest, The Others and Massive Darkness. I am really looking forward to receiving Rising Sun (a game arguably this one's direct competitor).
A lot of my CMoN games are simple I would say, but poor mechanics? Only thing I think is poorly done from the above games was targeting in the Origional Zombiecide. That was fixed in Black Plague.
Oh and FFG has some poor mechanics too. Don't believe me take a look @ Fireborn.
10 hours ago, Vixen Icaza said:Really?? I enjoy Zombiecide, Arcadia Quest, The Others and Massive Darkness. I am really looking forward to receiving Rising Sun (a game arguably this one's direct competitor).
A lot of my CMoN games are simple I would say, but poor mechanics? Only thing I think is poorly done from the above games was targeting in the Origional Zombiecide. That was fixed in Black Plague.
Oh and FFG has some poor mechanics too. Don't believe me take a look @ Fireborn.
I actually liked the original Zombicide better than Black Plague.
Kaosball, B-Sieged and Rum & Bones were all poor games (in my opinion), that relied heavily on miniatures, especially during the Kickstarter.
Arcadia Quest is nearly identical to Super Dungeon Explore in look, just lacking the better mechanics.
I have never played Fireborn, just thought the setting was interesting. What made it poor in your opinion?
Was overly complex in its mechanics where skills let you swap around stats. Also the story requirement of flashbacks made writing for the system incredibly awkward. The setting was indeed a great idea, and something I have considered redoing with a WoD type rule set.
I really like Arcadia Quest. I like the competing guilds aspect of it. A friend has SDE and it has never seen the table. She and a couple of others have looked at it and cannot fathom the game. I do wanna try it but probably would give buying it a miss partially because of that. As a side note i am part of a facebook boardgame sales group and i only saw AQ kickstarters on there (buy 2 sell 1 etc), where as SDE comes up quite often.
13 hours ago, Vixen Icaza said:Zombiecide
You close the room, you keep drawing cards from a deck until you find out what you need, and then you try to win the game knowing that all your buddies suffer from Stockholm syndrome so that as soon as there's an enemy and they can get caught in the crossfire they go for it? C'mon...
On 10/14/2017 at 11:24 AM, cheapmate said:My experience with CMoN is that the miniatures hide a lot of poor game mechanics.
CMoN has come a long way. Doubly since they pulled Eric Lang from FFG.
On 8/30/2017 at 9:37 PM, debiant said:Is it me or does the description sound a lot like Risk?
I doubt this will feel much like risk. 1+ hours is a bit shorter than a typical Risk game.
This is the same price point Android: Mainframe ( https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/android-mainframe/ ) which is a really enjoyable game. I'm hoping it'll be like that - by which I mean a really good product which is set in an existing IP, but there is no required knowledge of the original IP to play or enjoy it.
And, if I never play the Game of Thrones board game again, it'll be too soon. That game drags on (my whole group knows how to play it), and people get locked into corners of the map and can't really do anything about it.
It looks like GoT2E without the bidding part so it's faster?
On 10/15/2017 at 10:56 PM, Vixen Icaza said:Really?? I enjoy Zombiecide, Arcadia Quest, The Others and Massive Darkness. I am really looking forward to receiving Rising Sun (a game arguably this one's direct competitor).
A lot of my CMoN games are simple I would say, but poor mechanics? Only thing I think is poorly done from the above games was targeting in the Origional Zombiecide. That was fixed in Black Plague.
Oh and FFG has some poor mechanics too. Don't believe me take a look @ Fireborn.
Zombicide was done by Guillotine Games and published by CMON. Don't know about the rest. I do know the only Cmon game I've ever kept is Zombicie. Everything from Rum & Bones to Massive Darkness were a bit of a disappointment.
All game companies have stinkers, but for a big company CMON has more than its fair share.
Awesome mini's tho. Cant argue that.
did the playtesting on this and have to say it's a solid 9 out of 10 game, and all our play test group said they would be prepared to buy a copy
can't recommend this highly enough as a fun game that gives you a chance to banter with your friends, back stab them, forge alliances and generally run amok
ordering myself copy
New article, https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/11/8/lay-your-battle-plan/
THIS is why there are no minis. There are no standing units. Everything is done in secret during step 2. Then the blood goes flying in step 3. This looks fun.
On 9/6/2017 at 7:22 AM, Vixen Icaza said:
Minis bring table presence and wow factor to a game. They are a good way to get players invested at an early stage, and give a more visceral connection. Lose a token so what but lose a guy and OMG I'll get you for that! Even if those minis represent whole forces.
Wow. I sure paid a **** of a lot more for this game than it's worth. If you want to pay $80 for a $50-60 game, go nuts. I'm surprised the game is as inexpensive as it is, considering it's basically GoT the Board Game which is $60.
On 10/16/2017 at 1:56 AM, Vixen Icaza said:Really?? I enjoy Zombiecide, Arcadia Quest, The Others and Massive Darkness. I am really looking forward to receiving Rising Sun (a game arguably this one's direct competitor).
A lot of my CMoN games are simple I would say, but poor mechanics? Only thing I think is poorly done from the above games was targeting in the Origional Zombiecide. That was fixed in Black Plague.
Oh and FFG has some poor mechanics too. Don't believe me take a look @ Fireborn.
You bring up a game from FFG that maybe 5 people played as your example?
CMON is not without it's foibles. Simple and surface level experiences are probably better criticisms. You're paying $80-100 and 75% of that is the minis.
On 10/16/2017 at 1:33 PM, Vixen Icaza said:I really like Arcadia Quest. I like the competing guilds aspect of it. A friend has SDE and it has never seen the table. She and a couple of others have looked at it and cannot fathom the game. I do wanna try it but probably would give buying it a miss partially because of that. As a side note i am part of a facebook boardgame sales group and i only saw AQ kickstarters on there (buy 2 sell 1 etc), where as SDE comes up quite often.
Arcadia Quest is the GoBot to Super Dungeon Explore's Transformer. That's the easiest way to describe it. SDE suffers from a couple of things IMO; self-indulgent rules writing and required assembly. Having played both games, I think SDE is superior in its tactical options and variable player powers while AQ was more like "It's my turn, guess I'll do the thing". That said, I've owned both and sold both! To each his/her own. Have you tried Wiz-War?
34 minutes ago, qwertyuiop said:Wow. I sure paid a **** of a lot more for this game than it's worth. If you want to pay $80 for a $50-60 game, go nuts. I'm surprised the game is as inexpensive as it is, considering it's basically GoT the Board Game which is $60.
You bring up a game from FFG that maybe 5 people played as your example?
Arcadia Quest is the GoBot to Super Dungeon Explore's Transformer. That's the easiest way to describe it. SDE suffers from a couple of things IMO; self-indulgent rules writing and required assembly. Having played both games, I think SDE is superior in its tactical options and variable player powers while AQ was more like "It's my turn, guess I'll do the thing". That said, I've owned both and sold both! To each his/her own. Have you tried Wiz-War?
Game worth is relative. Without minis my reaction is along the lines of "That much for a bit of cardboard!" But then I can't really talk I played MTG for a long while :D.
To be honest I loved the idea of Fireborn but the rules were nearly incomprehensible. I am looking at running a similar background under Genesys, and it is not the only RPG to suffer from this.
Sometimes I like simple and fun, what you are refering to as superficial I think here. I have more than enough more complex games, TI2, Starcraft and Decent to name a few. being able to grab a simple take that dice chucker (AQ) or easy non campaign dungeon crawler (Massive Darkness) also has its uses. I havent tried WizWar, but am really enjoying the new L5R LCG and AH LCG at the moment. And i cannot wait to get my TI4!!!!!!!!