Gaming Articles

A Guide To Battletech – Part II

In the last article we have covered the basics of battletech and if you have followed the guide you have a firm understanding of the rules of the game, you have a fair amount of context about the setting and you have a source book that covers the Succession Wars era of play including all of the Mechs from that era to use in your miniature battles. This should be enough to create some very memorable and varied games for you and your friends.

At this point you may have already reached out beyond this guide and began exploring some of the material and resources available in Battletech, I’m sure it’s all very tempting. That’s the wonderful thing about Battletech, it inspires the imagination and gets us thinking in grandiose scales as we envision playing out epic long running campaigns on huge battlefield in the historical context of a rich science-fiction setting. Well if that is where your brain is at there is plenty of great stuff waiting for you but as this guide endeavours to introduce the game slowly and in a logical manner, I don’t believe we are quite far enough along to start digging quite that deep into the game as tempting as it may be.

Creating some variety

Battletech is a great game, but once you have played it a few times, you will note that there really isn’t much of a balancing mechanic in the game. If you simply choose “the best 4 mechs” for your lance and play games that have the basic “kill everything” winning condition, you will start running into balance issues even if you use some of the basic balancing features like tonnage of mechs for example. Not all 50 ton mechs for example are created equal, in fact if you read your Succession War Technical Readout a bit more thoroughly you will realize that this book covers a pretty wide range of mechs ranging from some of the most effective, to historical duds. Battletech is a living breathing world and its filled with engineering success stories as it is with failures.

Battletech doesn’t really try to be a balanced game in the classic sense, in a way, its more of a role-playing game in that its intended to be run with unique stories and in the context of a tactical game, using unique scenarios based on historical events. To get some interesting variety for your games you really need to reach out to some of these stories on which scenarios are based which will give you both some interesting tactical challenges as well as some great historical story context for your matches.

Unfortunately most of the resource for Battletech make the assumption that you are using some or all of the core resource books that really expand the ruleset and push the game away from just straight mech on mech action and into the combined warefare rules which are found in the Battletech: Total Warfare rule set. It’s a great book and we will get to it in this guide, but now is not the time. This ruleset complicates the living shit out of the game and if you take it on too early you will find yourself confused and frustrated. Besides you didn’t get into Battletech to push infantile troops around, you got into it to have giant robot fights.. am I right?

That said there are a couple of books, though not based on the Succession Wars, but that come close enough that they can be used and since the point of moving through the content is to keep increasing options and variety, its ok that you don’t match the eras of play exactly to the sources you currently have. Especially with these two great books that I recommend which are The Sword and Dragon starter book and The Wolf and Blake Starter Book. Both are self contained starter books that give you everything you need to run the story-mini-campaign in your home game within the historical context of the periods they represent and both are exclusively focused scenarios on Mech versus Mech, Lance versus Lance action.

It’s not the best cover art I have ever seen, but the content of this self contained book is fantastic and its tailor made to produce a great scenario campaign experience for your first endeavor into the world of campaign play.

Now there are two caveats here, these starter sets were designed with selling specific miniature sets which are not the Box Core Set. Catalyst Game Labs is clever that way, but as already mentioned a couple of times, the miniatures are just place holders, the characters sheets are the mechs and so its as simple as using your miniatures as proxies and printing out the included Battlemech sheets for these campaign scenarios.

In these scenarios you will be using a designated force, with designated pilots all balance to create some very challenging and fun scenarios. Of course the best part is you get to experience the battletech universe from the drivers seat, giving you a chance to re-write a piece of Battletech history. In these mini-campaigns you will manage your forces, make campaign decisions and battle it out in key moments of the conflicts. It’s great fun!

Reading through this material you will be introduced to the basics of Battletechs campaign systems, new mechs, special mechwarrior abilities, some new weapons and in both cases new eras of play. Both books ease you into these new eras of play so the complexity is limited, while connected to future resources you may be interested and will seem familiar after playing through these two stories. I recommend doing them in order, starting with The Sword and Dragon.

Moving into the deep end

If you play one or both campaign scenarios you will have gotten a basic understanding of the campaign rules for Battletech and may start looking towards both building your own force and testing that force in the context of other campaigns. In fact if you played Battletech the PC game published by Paradox Interactive, you may have found these two campaign scenario rules familiar and that’s because there is a lot of connection with how campaign rules for the boardgame and the PC game work.

Still I think it’s still best to stick to exclusively Battletech combat, but you may at this point be comfortable enough with the existing rulesets to start imagining the construction, customization and design of your own Battlemechs and your own Battlemech forces with their own backstory, history and with a desire to run them in a campaign either of your own creation or one of the challenging campaigns that Catalyst Game Labs has come up with. And so you should.

From this point I can recommend a couple of the core rulebooks that work in unison and are dynamic enough to be used in part or as a whole. The first is the Battlemech Techmanual. With this book you will have detailed rules for constructing or customizing Battlemechs first and foremost which is kind of one of the more fun things you can do with Battletech. Creating your own mechs or customizing existing mechs is really the starting point of creating a piece of Battletech history of your own. Now this book also gives you the rules for creating all of the other types of mixed units of the game and at some point you may use those as well, but this book is well worth just the content that applies to Battlemechs.

The Techmanual is one of my favorite books as its the key to customization and creation of your own mechs. Think your smarter than the engineers of the 31st century, here is your chance to prove it by building your own mech!

Next you may want to consider Battletech Campaign Operations, after all once you start creating and customizing your own mechs you will no doubt want to put them to the test and or combine them into their own lance or even add them as part of larger force in a campaign. The content of Campaign Operations you will already be somewhat familiar with as you have already used parts of the rules in the Starter Book campaign scenarios assuming you are following along with this guide. This expands campaign rules to completion and gives you the rules for force creation and the many details around getting ready for a campaign either of your own creation or one of the many published ones. This book includes many custom rules that you can start including in your game like special mechwarrior abilities, featured in the core box sets (see mechwarrior cards). Having the core rules for running campaigns really is getting into the advanced form of the game, while you can still maintain that Lance versus Lance core gameplay.

You probably won’t use all of the content of this book all at once, but it offers you key rule system and become a quintessential book for using other campaign/scenario books. It’s really a must have for your collection.

After acquiring, reading and applying these books for the game you are no doubt going to be looking to exercise the many available options to actual gameplay. By the time your through here you will likely have customized mechs, created some of your own, created a force, unique Mechwarriors, maybe even defined some core narratives about your force like what house they work for, or perhaps they are pirates or mercenaries. This is all well and good, but now you want to start using what you have constructed as much of what is in these two books is prep work.

This is where my final recommendation of Part II of this guide comes in and that book is Battletech: Total Chaos.  

Battletech: Total Chaos is a two prong book. First it is a review of some information you have already learned in the Starter Books and the Battletech Campaign Operations book. The information here is added here because strictly speaking you could just use this book in the same way you did the Starter Book, in many ways its self contained but with the Techmanual and Campaign Operations book, you can tackle the many campaign scenarios available here with your own created forces and manage them throughout the campaign. Which brings me to the second prong of this book, the campaign scenarios.

Its best described as a campaign scenario book, populated with some tough challenges even veterans would struggle to rise to. It’s a great book that you can get a lot of hours of entertainment out of.

There are several here and really its really a pure gold mine of content designed to provide you with hundreds of hours of gameplay in unique battles populated by some of Battletechs greatest hits of history. This book is like a dozen starter books in one, though the scenarios are more challenging, more dynamic and in many ways more complex.

Buy, print out and collect as many maps for Battletech you can. There are is a literal crap ton of official ones as well as fan made ones.

One issue with this book and really with most Battletech books that deal with campaigns and scenarios is that they make a lot of assumptions about what sort of other content you might have in your possession. For example maps. Maps is something you really want to acquire as those 2-3 that you have that came with the starter and core set are not going to be enough to replicate the scenarios present in this book. You will want to acquire more maps and really map acquisition is something of a thing with Battletech. They aren’t readily available and there are many of them that you need so often you will have to proxy or use estimated (similar) maps as the ones called for in scenarios. Suffice to say you want variety. Thankfully paper maps work just fine with Battletech, in fact, most players will eventually prefer them simply because they take up less space on your shelf. Acquire as many as you can get your hands on and try to get a variety of locals and regions so you have variations. There are many fan created maps, google is your friend in this case.

Ok that concludes part II of our guide, I hope it has been helpful. In part III, we will continue our guided tour of Battletech into more complex and higher level play, as well as explore some setting books to fill out your collection.

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A GUide To Battletech – Part I

I have developed a great love-hate relationship with Battletech The Game of Armored Warefare. On the one hand its an amazing tactical simulation of giant robots fighting it out in a science-fiction future (what could possibly be more awesome than that). On the other hand it is miniatures board game franchise that can only be described as a complete cluster-fuck of jumbled information, literally stacks of books with little to guide you through the material you might want or need to play the games countless levels of complexity. Now blaming a game for having a lot of content is not something I want to do, I love content, but it’s quite tough to know how to navigate it all and its to this order of acquisition and absorption of material this guide is dedicated to. I want to help new players come to terms not just with what the material is, but what is a good order in which to acquire and read it.

In short, once you get your starter set or your box set, you will begin to explore the games option as all good gamers do and there is much to explore, 35 years of books, miniatures and content. You will get very little instruction or guidance from Catalyst Game Lab the current overseer of the franchise. There are some basic overviews, but very few quest arrows if you get my drift.

As I have recently gone through the very painful process of deciphering the games very cryptic codex of books and content, I thought I would use the white space on my blog to pass on that knowledge in hopes that the next person to come along trying to figure out how Battletech works beyond the basic sets might find the experience a little less painful.

The Starter and Box Sets

The first place any new gamer should start when it comes to entering the world of Battletech is the Starter and Box set for the game. There really is NO OTHER OPTION. If you can’t get the box set due to unavailability (a very likely scenario), do yourself a favor and wait for a reprint. Entering the world of Battletech in any other way will be an infuriating and very disappointing experience. In fact, one of the key issues with the franchise is that aside from the starter box and core set, everything else in the entire codex library is made for not expert players, but veteran masters. There is very little in the way of intermediate entry points between the box set and the remaining line of books. In essence you go from elementary school football on the playgrounds, to the NFL Superbowl.

That said, the Core Box sets of which there is currently two (Starter and Core), will teach you to play the game on the most basic level possible, which in the case of Battletech is the Mech vs. Mech or Lance vs. Lance (4 mechs vs. 4 mechs) game. This gives you the foundation you need to understand Battletech and by playing these sets of scenarios you will get a taste of what is possible as well as the general groove of the game. It should be enough to come to the conclusion as to whether or not Battletech is for you, but it should be noted that the core set is to Battletech, what finger painting is to art. A humble beginning, just the tip of the iceberg if you will. This rabbit hole goes very deep.

In Battletech the ERA in which you play (The time period in the game world) makes a huge difference to the game. The current core set is based in the year 3025, a period known as “The Succession Wars”, the Third Succession War to be exact. This is important if you care about cannon plot, but it’s also critical to the balance of the game.

One thing that is not really mentioned anywhere is that the Succession Wars in which the core box is set, is a time period when the technology level is relatively low which means the mechs have basic types of weapons. As the Era’s progress, so do the types of mechs and weapons available, which means that a Heavy Mech in the succession wars era is a very different beast than one in some future era.

When you are starting, that is just something you want to keep in the back of your mind and is also a consideration when choosing which expanded products you will purchase to support your game.

Its also important to note that the miniatures of the game are “rough estimations” and not exact units. Another words, they are playing pieces and while there are specific miniatures you can buy to represent specific battlemechs, generally this is a hobby preference and not a requirement. In reality in the game of Battletech there are literally hundreds if not thousands of unique units, Battletechs and much more and as you progress to higher tiers of play you will realize that unlike other miniatures, its not possible to collect “the set” or “be a completionist”. What mech you have is on your Battlesheet more than what miniature is on the table representing that mech. Think of it more like a role-playing game. If you have a mage elf, any mage elf miniature will do as a representation.

As such a Locust and a Jenner are similar enough that they are interchangeable mini’s and you will find that even if you collect miniatures you will very often resort to using proxies like this or more often cardboard stand ups or for convenience which notably come with your box set and you will likely find yourself printing out or acquiring more to facilitate your game. I guess the point here is that Battletech is a boardgame first and a miniature game second, the miniatures are fun 3d representation on the board but, this is a tactical game and you will spend far more time reviewing your battlesheet (your battlemechs character sheet).

Taking Your First Steps Beyond The Box Set

The Battletech universe is an extraordinary and rich setting with countless unique events, wars, people and places represented by 35 years of books that have been written for the game. Taking your first step outside of the core set can be daunting, but in effect you have two main paths. Rules or Story.

The Rules path which I will talk about a bit later is defiantly worth considering as the expanded rules for Battletech are exponentially expansive driving deeper and deeper, to a point of extreme excess, yet resulting in a very fulfilling enrichment of the game.

That said, I strongly advise you go the path of story first and the reason is simple. All of the rules material generally assumes that you have a strong working knowledge of the Battletech universe and I really wish someone had told me that when I started. You won’t find a word printed in any manual that doesn’t make a lot of assumptions about your understanding the setting, in fact, Battletech has a crap ton of terminology and concepts, without the background of the setting its increasingly difficult to decipher the material so as a first step I strongly recommend exploring and absorbing the Battletech universe first.

For that I recommend you start with the Battletech: Universe core book. This roughly 50 page book will take you through the history of humanity in the stars from their humble beginnings as explorers of space to the year 3067. It will explain core concepts, technology, the organizations and much of the terminology of the game. This is not a complete history of the Battletech universe (far from it) but it will catch you up and give you the necessary background to take the first steps into what is a much larger world. More importantly it will bring you to where you are with your box set history wise in great detail which I think will both enrich your experience for the games you are playing and make choosing where you go from here much easier.

This book covers a great deal of the history of the Battletech Universe, aptly name I think before you consider buying more rulebooks to expand your game, you should really consider reading this first.

If you want to go further down the story rabbit hole, I would recommend the individual house books though I would consider this a luxury and not really a necessity. The material in the core set and that of the Universe book give you a fairly good feel for the houses, these house books really are just icing on the cake. These books give additional details on the history of the Battletech universe, but they do so from the perspective of the different major factions of the game world which includes some of the key conflicts of the game involving the houses. Many of these conflicts are further detailed out in focused resources so if you find one you like, odds are you could play through that conflict in a campaign using one of these focused books (more on these focused resources later).

House books also bring in some rules, which if you have followed this guide so far should largely be ignored for now, but may become handy if you decide to for example represent one of the houses in a campaign. You will also find a lot of information about the preferences and structure of the different kind of units house uses, which plays more to the tone and cannon of armies you might be constructing later if and when you get into running campaigns.

For the miniature hobbyist, the house books always include insignia and give you direction for color schemes and for the role-players, their is ample information for generating back stories for characters from a particular house. Really great, albeit very specific resource.

Taking The Next Step

Once you have played a few matches with the core rulebook you may start to envision the creation of your own mechs, making alterations to weapons systems for your favorite or looking for some unique scenarios, perhaps even getting into running the game in campaign mode as the quick rulesbook from the core set talks about briefly. In Battletech there is a book for everything and the detail on any given subject is extensive and while you might see it as a fork in the road from this point, I don’t believe it really is.

The goal of your battletech experience should be that of a gradual layering of content, rules and expansion so that you can get your head around the games extended material, but if you take the wrong fork you will find yourself reading books that reference material from other books you haven’t read yet (a common practice in Battletech) and making the assumption that you have. This, in a way, is part of the problem with the Battletech franchise as a whole, it makes a lot of assumptions about what you may have read so far.

The next real step to take is to get the Battletech Manual. You might be tempted by other core rulebooks, most notably Battletech: Total Warefare but as you have just learned how to play Battletech with Battlemechs, dragging the rainbow of other units from Protomechs, to Aerospace units and all the rules weight that comes with these combined arms rulesets works under the assumption that you are already crystal clear on the advanced rules of the game. Total Warefare presents these rules to you, but in my opinion, it does so with equal measure, giving as much weight to less exciting units like ground forces and tanks as it does to the unit that made the game famous, Battemechs. To me, Total Warefare is something for consideration later down the line and may indeed never make it on your plate. The Battletech manual on the other hand, I would consider an essential book to playing the core game.

The Battletech Manual is focused on the rules of the game and specifically as they apply to Battlemechs, its a natural next step after getting to know the Battletech setting and wishing to expand the rule set in a gradual way.

The Battletech Manual is really just an extension of and the complete rulebook for Battlemechs you have already learned and as such I think its the next logical step.

Battletech Total Warefare and The Battletech Manual cover much of the same ground, though the Total Warefare books gives equal letter count to other types of units like ground forces and tanks as it does to mechs, where the Battletech Manual focuses exclusively on Battlemechs.

In the Battletech Manual you will find complete rules as they exist for running Battlemech scenarios & fights, including all of the expanded equipment from the large array of Eras as well as more thorough and exhaustive rules for the game as a whole. After familiarizing yourself with this book and playing it using the full rules a few times you will have leaped into the larger world that is Battletech from a logical point and much of what you might read after this book will make a lot more sense.

I don’t think its unfair to say however that once you have the Battletech manual and the Universe Book, you may already have everything you will ever need to enjoy the game. All books from this point are generally very advanced and work towards creating larger and more grandiose experiences, but simultaneously pulls away from the core of the game that you have learned to play with the core set and this book (Battletech Manual) as well as the star of the show, Battlemechs.

Its really a question of how much complexity and detail you really need to enjoy the game and how far you want to expand your experiance. For most people I would say the adventure from here isn’t one of exploring the rules, but rather exploring the setting which coincidentally would continue to add optional rules, but would not necessarily change the feel and track of the game as you have learned it to this point. I guess what I’m saying is that, for a couple of friends who want to get together and have robot fights and that is exciting, adding anymore of the core rulebooks is really not going to improve that type of experience any further. Enhancing that experience might come in the form of finding interesting scenarios and battle situations instead or perhaps more relevant would be to add more story and setting information to your table to give the fights some relevance and context in the scope of the worlds setting.

Expanding Your Horizons

After getting the Battletech Manual and getting even more intimate with the core rules of the game you will have probably generated a few questions. One I’m certain off is trying to come to grips with the difference between “The Boardgame” and “Alpha Strike”. After all you got those Alpha Strike cards in the core set and you don’t use them in the board game.

I don’t think it’s a decision point as you could very well play both, but there are two conceptual differences between the board game and the Alpha Strike way to play the game of Battletech and a plethora of rules differences.

The first is that Alpha Strike does not use a hex grid map and is instead played on custom terrain like a more traditional miniature game. Secondly Alpha Strike allows for larger forces to be used in a game of Battletech while not increasing the time needed to play. The Boardgame is typically a Lance vs. Lance (4 vs. 4) fight, while Alpha Strike can handle a lot more in the same time scope. The sacrifice here is some of the details of tactical combat, things are a bit more abstracted.

Alpha Strike turns Battletech into a more traditional miniature game, creating more abstracted rules for Battlemech combat so that you can field more units without extending the time to play the game. It does of course require considerable effort in setting up the terrain and requires more space to play.

For the remainder of this article I will work under the assumption that you want to play the boardgame given that I have no experience with Alpha Strike, I can’t comment one way or the other on its qualty. What I do know is that I enjoy the detail and smaller focus of the boardgame and this is how I choose to play it and as such, its what I feel comfortable offering advice on.

None the less should you choose to play using Alpha Strike rules, I would imagine much of the advice up to this point would apply just the same and potentially moving forward it may very well continue to do so.

Some creative players combine the 3-dimensional terrain with the hexagon grid allowing them to play the standard board game while gaining the benefits of a highly visual table top of classic miniature games enhancing their experience.

To me the next logical step for exploring Battletech is to create some context for the fights you are having. Scenarios and one shots are fun, but given enough of them you are eventually going to find that they feel a bit repetitive and in a way the entire Battletech franchise is built around the idea that players will be exploring new challenges on a regular basis. Many of the books created for Battletech make this assumption and as such offer unique challenges and experiences. The only real question is where to start.

Personally I think before seeking out scenarios and unique source books there is one additional stop that should not be missed. I strongly suggest picking up a Technical Readout Book, in this case The Succession Wars: Technical Readout which will introduce you to a whole bunch of new Battlemechs in the era your box set is based as well as giving you more narrative food for the mechs you have already been playing with. The Succession War Technical Readout book is a great resource that really does nothing to add rules weight, yet it offers many new options and lots of narrative flavor, aka context.

Technical Readout books are generally just a list of all the different types of military units, mainly Battlemechs that are available in a given era or period of Battletech history. The Succession Wars covers the era in which the box set is set in as such you should find all of the mechs you received in the box set in this book, as well as alternative models for them.

You will no doubt find new mechs you want to try as well as alternative versions of mechs you already have and so naturally the next thing you will be asking yourself is “hey, where do I get the record sheets for these mechs”.

The answer is simple. You can simply photocopy and print the blank mech sheet that comes with your box-set and copy the information from the Technical Readout or you can pick up a 3rd party tool designed to provide you with every record sheet for every mech ever released as well as the ability to create your own. Sounds good right. You can download the tool and I highly recommend it as a major time saver. What I don’t recommend is buying record sheets, this is just pointless, its like paying for someone else to fill in a character sheet for you, its madness! Save your money for something more useful.

That concludes the first part of this article. Look for part II coming to you soon where we will tackle some more advanced topics and resources available for Battletech the game of armored combat.

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Battletech: The Game of Armored Combat

The word “Battletech” for anyone who has been a gamer anytime between the early 80’s and today, in any genre or platform should be a household name conjuring up images of giant robots fighting it out in a grim dark future where it seems there is nothing to do but wage war. While there have been countless games that have been released over the years for this franchise, oddly enough the one that started it all, the Battletech Board game is the least likely one that most gamers have been exposed to.

In 2018 we got the latest addition to a long and illustrious series of Battletech PC games. It has been PC games and not the boardgame that has kept the franchise in the minds of gamers over the years.

Recently however Catalyst Game Labs has released their latest iteration of the boardgame version of Battletech with the release of a starter box and the official core set for the game and I thought since I’m a huge fan of giant robots beating the crap out of each other I would draw some attention with my blog to this wonderful game.

In the most simplest terms, Battletech is a quasi miniatures game and in many ways its a white elephant in the gaming world. Where most miniature games and really games in general try to simplify the nitty gritty details of combat, Battletech has a way of zooming into the game to try to give you a sense of the weight of the monstrous machines as well as a kind of a focus on the details of a battle.

While the new Beginner’s Box and Core set along with new Battletech Manuals are refreshed, this is not a “new edition”, its largely a re-edited game that has changed very little for 35 years. Why? Because its fucking awesome just the way it is, that’s why!

Where most games will have basic statistics like “firepower” and “health”, which is used for attack and defense, Battletech zooms in on the giant robots giving you something akin to a character sheet that defines details like your external and internal armor, the locations of your weapons and equipment, even your very cockpit where the driver sits. When battlemechs fight, everything is tracked more like a role-playing game, the heat of your mech, the specific location of armor damage and critical hits, the piloting and driving skills of the mechwarrior (the pilot) and countless other very focused details. It’s also extremely dynamic with many modifiers and adjustments based on position, distance and line of site, giving the game a heavy helping of detailed tactical gameplay on a level not typically seen in miniature games.

This really makes Battletech a very unique game because battles play out closer to what they might look like when playing Dungeons and Dragons, where each individual character is unique and the details of the actions and events of the battle are personalized on a character sheet.

The Battletech character sheet has changed very little in 35 years, everything you need to know about your machine is found here.

The rules of the game fall somewhere in-between simple and super complex, which is an odd statement in what I can only describe as a novel experience. Basically when you first start playing Battletech you will feel overwhelmed as the rules appear to be so intricate and complex, you wonder how you will ever get it straight in your head. However after a match or two, while the game remains deep and tactical, you discover that this game has a very deceptive simplicity to it. For all intense and purposes, its a game with a steep learning curve, yet is actually beneath the surface an extremely simple game to play. Its a lot of dice rolling and special circumstances, but laid out in a logical and referable way that results in very thematic and visual battles. It paints a picture in your mind that is definitive and clear and the rules require virtually not judgmental calls which is rare for miniature games.

Now Battletech has always had and continues to have quite a few issues, problems less related to the game and more related to the management of the franchise which may very well be why many gamers myself included, despite a interest from a distance haven’t taken the plunge. It’s sad really but while the game is fantastic, everything around it that would ordinarily attract modern gamers to it acts like a deterrent.

For one, the miniature line itself relies on third party companies like Iron Wind Metals to provide you with the gaming pieces outside of the starter sets that Catalyst Game Lab provides. Now this shouldn’t be an issue but unfortunately the quality of the sculpts coming from IWM range from atrociously horrible to just really terrible. We know that Battletech originated in the 80’s but since its launch 35 years ago the look of the miniatures produced for the game has not changed, resulting in a game that very much looks like it still belongs in the 80’s.

I spent about 20 minutes looking through hundreds of mini’s at IWM to find one I didn’t hate. This looks pretty damn cool, unfortunately great sculpts like this are rare at IWM.
This is more in line with the kind of quality you will get from IWM and I’m not joking when I say this is not even close to the worst example.

Now I will say that the new box set is amazing and from a boardgame perspective is more than sufficient to have a lot of fun with the game, but if you’re like me and want to expand your collection you will find little but disappointment. Simply put, the box set is not the standard for the game, its an exception to the rule, most miniatures for Battletech are really shitty and that is not going to motivate players to get into the game any deeper than the box set if at all. For me personally 100% of the reason I picked up Battletech after not playing it for 30+ years is because of this new box set and specifically because of the amazing miniatures within. From here however their really is nowhere to go to expand your collection, Iron Wind Metals is not even close to good enough to spend your hard earned dollar on and to add insult to injury these crappy miniatures are severely overpriced weighing in around 15+ dollars per sculpt. You get the 1980’s fashioned miniatures but a 2050 price tag.

The problems however do not stop with the miniatures, the books themselves, namely the availability of them is also a major snag. As of this writing, just a few months after the box set released, most of the core books for the game are already out of print or out of stock, including the book you actually need to play the full game, The Battletech Manual. This is a major blow for the game that begs to be expanded and expanded it has been with countless I can only imagine great books. Now I will say that the entire product line is very schizophrenic and you will find yourself struggling to even fully understand what each of the hundreds of books printed for the game are, but since virtually none of them are available to buy it won’t make much difference other than being yet another factor to turn you off from the game. If you don’t mind dropping some dough on the PDF’s, at least those are available. I picked up a few and truth is that they are really amazing, which only makes me want the hard-copies even more and makes the whole experience of not being able to get your hands on them that much more frustrating. That said, most of the books in the line are very setting/theme focused and as such, not absolutely vital to gameplay.

The core set comes with a basic manual for the game, but most gamers will very quickly realize that its just a taste of what this great rule-set has to offer and you will want to pick up this book. Unfortunately you will find it has been out of stock everywhere for quite sometime and there is no telling when the book will be reprinted.

The nail in the coffin however has to be the binding contractual arrangement for Battletech, I have confirmed with several sources that Catalyst Game Lab is actually not allowed to make miniatures for Battletech beyond the core sets and their seems to be no prospects for a future in which they will be able to even if they wanted or could afford to. What that means is that the current situation for the franchise is here to stay. I have talked to several long time Battletech fans and they have all confirmed that this is all status quo, it would seem that Catalyst is either unwilling or unable to do anything about the current state of the franchise licensing arrangements. I would venture to guess unable, as they seem to be very dedicated to the product line and I can only imagine that they would love to make it far more than it is. Still, the lack of prospects that anything will change in the future does have a very deflating effect to the whole experience.

Not to beat a dead horse, but seriously, what the shit is this? Its almost as if there is no quality control or effort made here and this shitty mini that does not come with a base will cost you a clean 15+tax. Catalyst Game Lab should be embarrassed by something like this representing their game.

Now that was a very long and mostly negative outlook on the game, for those that read my blog, you know I don’t sugar coat. That said, I’m still very excited about the game going forward. My hope is that this box set that was released will be successful enough to fund and make Catalyst Game Labs realize that they are sitting on a potentially very lucrative game that could become a lot more than it is today. In that light, I will offer some advice to Catalyst Game Labs for whatever its worth.

Call it 5 steps to making the game better.

Step 1 “Kick-starter”

Work with Iron Wind Metals to create a kick starter to fun new miniatures for Battletech. Help them make it happen, let them make the money, but do it anyway. Why? Because even if you don’t earn money from the sales of the miniatures, you will earn money from a growing and excited audience. Kick-Starter is the place to make unfunded dreams become reality and if you can’t find a way out of the contract, or can’t find a way to fun the games miniatures then let the community do the work for you.

Step 2 “Clean up The Catalog”

The “Keep it for eternity” approach to product lines is the kiss of death in the gaming industry. Your product should always have a public face as a game that looks like it was released yesterday. Art is everything, presentation is everything.

Any book that wasn’t printed in the last two years should be removed from the catalog into some archive section or irrelevance. If you want to make it relevant, create a revised version, even if you don’t change a blood word and just update the format and art, every book in the catalog should look like it belongs in the year 2019 and not the year 1985.

“Step 3 “Create Clarity”

The biggest and most important thing for the health of a gaming franchise, in particular a miniature game is to ensure that its crystal clear what everything is and what it is for. The game in its current state it’s not even entirely clear what the books are and while the community is certainly helpful in creating some of that clarity for you, your website should be a focused machine of clarity. A person with zero experience should know what products are available and what they are for inside of 2 minutes of visiting the site.

Today Battletech books are a cluster fuck of confusion, you can spend weeks deciphering what books are for which aspect of the game, their is a total lack of explanation about how eras work and what the difference between a technical readout, historical book, starter book and core book is and even how you identify them. It’s a mess and it should be clear as crystal.

Step 4 “Fix the availability issues”

Visit your business model and make sure that if the game is in print, the game is available. Nothing kills a game faster than players being unable to find the books and material they want for their collection and there is no excuse for not having the basic starter, box set and core manuals available. If it’s unavailable, your losing business and the community is shrinking, it’s that simple. It’s better to have an overstock of box sets and core books on the bargain bin then it is to have them unavailable and out of stock.

Step 5 “Modernize The Mini’s”

Whatever contractual obligation and licensing issues or finance problems are preventing the modernization of the miniature line, fix it. Quite literally without this resolved Battletech has no future other than the one in which they live in obscurity.

Set the highest standard you can afford and raise it each time you make a miniature.

Best of List

Top 10 Board Games July 2018 Edition

Its time once again to update my top 10 list of best board games ever, its been quite a while since the last one and this year I’m determined to be bold.

One aspect of a top 10 list like this is that its the one thing I do on this blog that I don’t really put through any filters, another words, its just my gut that I rely on.  However looking at my list from last year I realized two things.

First, some of the games on that list while I love them I don’t play much anymore, which is not a reflection on what I think about it, but rather a reflection on my gaming groups preferences and the impact of that classic discussion ”what are we going to play”.  I think games on this list should not only be popular with me, but popular with the various gaming friends I have.  After all, if I love a game no one wants to play, does it belong on the list?  Its a tough question, which I have tackled when making this list.

Secondly, I think some games may be here more out of nostalgia then anything.  Nostalgia goggles are a thing, it can be hard to push games off a ”my favorites list” because of how much fun I had with them 5 years ago, but if I have no interest in playing them anymore do they really still belong on the list?  This is another tough question which I have tackled when making this years list.

First lets look at the list from last time I updated it.

1. Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization
2. Star Wars: Armada
3. Lord of the Rings: The Living Card Game
4. War of The Rings
5. Blood Rage
6. Game of Thrones: The Living Card Game 2nd Edition
7. Game of Thrones: The Board Game
8. Star Wars: X-Wing
9. Empires: Age of Discovery
10. Shogun (Queens Games Version)

Last years list to me still represents some of the best board games around without question.  It’s clear to me that when I made the list last time, I was really doing it without any filters, for example X-Wing and War of The Rings are both on here, yet I have not played either of these games in about 2 years at this point and probobly several years since I played it with any regularity.  There are also some games on here I was really hot and heavy on at the time, for example Empires: Age of Discovery I was playing quite a bit at the time, amazing game but I really had to review whether or not it belonged on this years list.

This year I’m going to do this in reverse order starting with number 10… and here we go.

10) Great Western Trail

Dubbed a heavy Euro game, while there is a lot going on and the strategy goes deep, its surprisingly easy to get into.

Putting Great Western Trail on my top 10 list is a bit of a quandary for me.  Considering how much shit I have given to games like Russian Railroads, Terra Mystica, Voyage of Marco Polo and other heavy Euro victory point smorgasbord games, putting one on my top 10 list that is very much in line mechanically with those types of games is contradictory if nothing else.

In my defense however, I’m not a gaming snob, I will play anything and not be ashamed of liking anything when I do, so if I like a Euro victory point smorgasbord game, even if its not typical of me, so bloody be it!

Great Western Trail to me is among the best Euro Games I have played from a mechanical perspective.  Like most Euro games that shamelessly either just copy/paste existing mechanics and add another theme or re-use slightly altered versions of already existing mechanics, Great Western Trail does considerably less of that while  squeezing in a considerable amount of unique flavor of it’s own.  I think the theme, though light in application fits the game perfectly and the game is really very re-playable with a lot of cool dynamic elements that will have you re-thinking your strategies from game to game.  I also really love the fact that its an entirely different game at 2 players, 3 players and 4 players, yet each player count is as fantastic as the next.  Its really almost like Great Western Trail is 3 different gaming experiences depending on player count.

As far as I’m concerned this one earns its stripes for this list, its a pretty a-typical game compared to what I usually go for, but if a game is great, its great, I don’t care what genre or style it is.

9) New Angeles

Simply the best of the cooperative-betrayer genre of games.

There are 3 games that have dropped off the list this year opening the door to new arrivals, Great Western Trail was one, New Angeles is the other.  In the last year, board gaming hasn’t really been at the top of our gaming groups agenda.  I have spent a great deal of time playing living card games, namely Lord of the Rings, while simultaneously my gaming group has been very focused on RPG’s and to a smaller degree miniature games. Still there were some gems I discovered this year and New Angeles was without question the big surprise this year.

This game was a hit with my group like no game has in years, we were like moths to a flame to this take on the cooperative betrayer genre, the only real shock to me is how little attention it gets.  There are many competitors in this genre, Dead of Winter and Shadows Over Camelot just to name a couple, but to me this blows them all out of the water.  Hands down the best in its class, New Angeles is the rising star in my list and I fully expect that it may rise further in the future.

8) Shogun (Queens Games Version)

Most of Dirk Henns games are in the “not my thing” category, but Shogun is about as me as you can get.

This is a game that has consistently hung on in my top 10 list since I started it and while all the games on this list earn their stripes, this is without question my most consistantly loved and played game.  It gets pulled out a couple of times each and every year like clockwork, it always fires on all cylinders and I can’t imagine making this list without Shogun on it.

It’s also the one game on this list where people are often like ”Shogun?  Really?”, as if they are understanding why I might like it, but calling it best of all time is a bit much.  To me understanding why this game is on the list is all about your attitude towards gaming.  What is it that you are looking for.  Some might say strategy, clever mechanics, theme and I would agree, but to me above all else is the fun factor.  How much do I enjoy playing the game, how much fun do I have and Shogun to me represents everything I love about board gaming.  It has strategic, thinky, contemplative moments, burst out and cheer moments and laugh out loud moments all built into a single game using one of my absolute favorite themes, Medieval Japan.  I can’t think of a game that is more complete as a gaming experience than Shogun.  It’s a staple of my collection and a staple of this list, earning it’s ranking with pride.

7) Blood Rage

The only 5 out of 5 stars game I have reviewed for this blog, a review I stand by, its an amazing game.

Dropping from the number 5 spot, Blood Rage remains firmly the only game at Gamersdungeon.net to ever receive a perfect review score, its a design masterpiece in my humble opinion.    So why is it not number 1 on my top 10 best board games of all time.  Well, because this is my list, it’s not about what is best, its about what is my best, my favorite.  My relationship with Blood Rage is one of respect, appreciation for design, art, theme and it’s general near perfection, but that doesn’t make it the first game I want to play every time board games get pulled out.  It’s an amazing game, it has its place in this list because its earned it, but I can think of at least 6 games I rather play over this one.

Still it’s worth pointing out that in my humble opinion, if your a game designer and you want to learn how to do it right, you will never find a better example.  Eric Langs Blood Rage is nothing short of a masterpiece in board game design, it’s our Mona Lisa.

6) Twilight Imperium: 4th Edition

The ultimate 4x science-fiction epic, it is the king of the genre by a margin so wide, I wouldn’t insult it by naming any names.

Twilight Imperium returns to my top 10 list after it’s 3rd edition finally dropped off after not only being on my list since I started it, but for several years being in the top spot.  3rd editions departure stemmed from the fact that, after nearly a decade of playing the game, spending hundreds of hours on it, it finally sort of played itself out.  When it fell off the list it was not seeing any table time years at a time and its general weight, size and complexity no longer had me reaching for it in anticipation.

The resurgence here is largely do in part to evolution of Twilight Imperium in 4th edition, the streamlining that went into the new edition, the amazing art and perfections of the original mechanics all prompted me be to buy and play this one again.  Of all the games on this list, I think at this moment I want to play this one more often than I get the opportunity to, it even prompted me to attempt to create an entire separate gaming group around it.  Because it still suffers from the weight, size and complexity as did 3rd edition, it makes it difficult to get to the table.  Still I think its earned this spot on the list, Twilight Imperium is to me the ultimate 4x board gaming experience, nothing else comes even close and while its a very niche game, because of it’s depth of play and sheer epic gaming experience I have brought it back from obscurity into my top 10 list of best games.

I caution anyone considering buying it to really research it and make sure you have the player group for it, their is no worse feeling than having this amazing game collecting dust on your shelf, but given the opportunity, its an absolutely fantastic game, a vastly improved edition over the last one.  I can’t wait to play it again.

5) Star Wars: Armada

The fact that I don’t have to paint is just icing on the cake, Armada is without a doubt in my mind the best miniatures game on the market today.

Star Wars Armada has had a rather fluctuating history in my personal gaming preferences and on this top 10 list.  This is less a reflection of its quality and the simple fact that miniature gaming, while I love it, tends to be hot and cold over time.  One thing that separates Armada from all other miniature games that I have tried is that it comes back around, both for me personally and in my gaming group.  We go back to this one time and time again and while the time in-between cold time is always longer than the hot time when I’m actively playing it, it remains in my consciousness at all times.

Armada is a tough, complex and deep miniatures game, it has a way of exhausting me but I relish the periods of time when I’m heavily into it trying to build that perfect list or play that perfect match.  It’s also the game that has given me the greatest rewards for my commitment as I constantly improve at it and have managed to get several wins in what was once game I only ever lost.

For me personally, if you are going to spend the money on a miniature hobby, it should be a game that is deeply fulfilling and satisfying, Armada is that game for me.  It’s what I would call the perfect miniature game for a guy like me who isn’t exactly chomping at the bits to paint and assemble mini’s.  I want to play miniature games, but I’m not a hobbyist. I also want the game to have true depth and Armada does all that for me using the magical Star Wars franchise.

4. War of the Rings

The Asymmetrical 2 player epic is effectively Lord of the Rings in a box, if you love the books and movie, this is an amazing way the battle for Middle-Earth.

It’s a bit heartbreaking to watch this one collect dust on my shelf, especially since my opinion of this games quality is unchanged, it remains the single best two player gaming experience I have ever found.  A heavy, complex and involved 2 player game however is just not a filter that makes an appearance in my gaming schedule.  My gaming circles are growing not shrinking in size and as opportunities to game pop up its becoming rarer and rarer that there is just two players ready to spend 4 hours involved in a heavy game like War of the Rings.  The result is that I haven’t played this beast in well over three years at this point which makes it hard to justify keeping it this. high in this list.  Strictly speaking I questioned whether or not it should be removed from the list entirely but the truth is that, even though I haven’t played it in a long time, it changes absolutely nothing about the fact that I want to.

War of the Rings is not only an epic masterpiece for two players, it’s also without question one of the most unique gaming experience you can have.  Thematically rich, strategically deep, beautiful to look at and mechanic perfection.  Its nothing short of a tragedy that I don’t get to play this game more often.

3) Game of Thrones The Board Game

This rich fantasy setting comes to life, brutality, deceit, treachery and all.

Rising on the list, Game of Thrones is a game with raw, unfiltered, human emotion and infused energy.  This is a game that brings out the beast, it will have you feeling angry, frustrated, vengeful, wrathful and murderous and while some might associate that as negative energy, to me for a board game to draw that out of you is a beautiful thing.  You need to play this game in the safe space of friends who can quickly forgive you raising your voice and being spiteful but it’s a gaming experience unmatched by any other game I have ever played.

Like War of the Rings this is a deep, complex and heavy game, but because its a 6 player game the growing size of my gaming groups means it see’s more opportunities to hit the table.  Not as much as I would like of course, but still, it certainly earned the right to rise on the list.  Oh and one more thing, its crazy thematic to the point you actually feel like you are a character in the show and everyone at the table will eventually morph into the plight of this middle age world becoming the darker version of themselves.  Just awsome!

2) Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization

Through The Ages is to Civilization building games what Twilight Imperium is to science-fiction games. Its a game fit for a king.

I’m a sucker for civilization building games and Through The Ages, while to me technically not the most approachable (see Nations for something more reasonable), has that hard, heavy purist spirit, a game really made for fans.  It’s a slow methodical thinker, but thanks to its strong online support this last year coming to Steam and Ipads, I have played this civilization epic hundreds of times at this point and it just keeps getting better.  I wish I had more oppertunities to play it at the real table, but still, its such an amazing game and the digital implementation is so good, I can’t be anything but grateful.

Its slip to the number 2 spot was a hard call, I was really struggling deciding between this and my number one pick, but to me, every game in this top 10 list is, strictly speaking in the “amazing” category, so I had to go with my gut here.

Lord of the Rings: The Living Card Game

If I was to be stranded on an island and could only bring one game to play for the rest of my life, Lord of the Rings LCG would be that game.

Perhaps the biggest turn around of any game I have ever owned has to be Fantasy Flights, Lord of the Rings the living card game.  First time I played it I thought to myself, meh, its ok.  Today as I write this not only is it the most played game in my collection, it’s also the game I have sunk more money into than any other.

I absolutely love this game from top to bottom, it’s a rare week I don’t pull out any one of the dozens of expansions or quests in my collection.  This single game takes no less than two shelves for all the stuff I own for it and I’m constantly trying to scratch nickles together to get more stuff.

Easily one of the best collectible card games I have ever been involved in despite its less traditional cooperative genre footprints.  Between the amazing deck building options, seemingly impossible challenges and its fantastic art work this is without question in my mind the most rewarding game you can play on the market today.

Drop Outs

Inevitably everytime I make this list some games drop off the list and I feel obligated to explain why.

Star Wars: X-Wing is probably the most notable, once a holder of the number one spot, it has been slowly slipping down the list and finally falls of this year.  To me, at this point X-Wing has become too bloated and full of holes thanks mostly to some terrible expansions that brought in components and mechanics that derailed it from its original vision and the reason I loved this game so much.  I still enjoy playing it with certain house rules in place to fix some of the issues, but thankfully FFG agrees with my assessment and has announced that this year we will see X-Wing 2.0.  2.0 promises to return the game to its dog fighting roots and hopefully the new version will bring this one back to the table and perhaps even back to this top 10 list.  I loved my X-Wing when it was younger, but in its current state, I can’t bring myself to dust of the miniatures anymore.

Game of Thrones 2nd Edition (LCG) is another that falls off the list, this is largely due to two facts.  One is that it really wasn’t fully embraced by our gaming group so table time is rare.  This coupled with the fact that I never really took the plunge fully just means I don’t spend much time thinking about it or anticipating to play it.  I still think its a fantastic game, but a person can only collect so many collectible games and this year I found that both Arkham Horror LCG and Star Wars Destiny made it into my collection not to mention Star Wars: Legion and my always expanding Lord of the Rings LCG.  So GoT LCG has taken a back seat, but this is not a reflection on the games quality, I consider it a really great, thematic card game well worth your money.

Finally Empires: Age of Discovery.  I think if this was a top 11 list, it would firmly hold the number 11 spot.  This is an amazing game and it was a really struggle to pick between this and Great Western Trail.  On any given day I might swap this one back in, I gave it to Great Western trail almost on a coin toss between the two to be honest.

Board Game Reviews, Gaming Articles

Board Gaming Super Weekend III

This summer just like the last two my gaming group got together for a 2 day board gaming super weekend, no kids, no wives, just endless snacks, beer and board games. Its without question my favorite gaming event of the year, it inspired two of my favorite articles from previous events on this blog so I thought I would write one again this year.

Board gaming weekends like this are usually an opportunity for me to test out some new games, fodder for the blog articles but unfortunately this year we played it very safe with our picks playing mostly games we have played before. Still, there was some really great games on the Agenda, here are some of the highlights.

Hero Realms

My buddy and I got to the gaming cabin first and despite the sweltering summer heat while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive we went head to head in a game of Hero Realms.

Now while I have always loved the concept of deck builders, one aspect of a great deal of games in this genre is that they are often a rather benign competitive or sometimes cooperative experience, most deck builders are focused on scoring points rather being a direct duels, which leaves the game feeling a bit flat. I find games like Dominion have really fallen out of favor for me, in fact I culled Dominion from my collection a couple of years ago. Star Realms and now the fantasy version Hero Realms flips things in the genre a bit and lets you actually build decks designed to combat each other in a direct confrontation and to me this is a much more interesting and a lot more fun way to do deck builders. I think I prefer Hero Realms fantasy theme a great deal more than Star Realms, mostly for the theme but also because each player is represented in the game by a character with special powers if using the expansion which I think is the only way to play Hero Realms. Strictly speaking however Star Realms and Hero Realms are basically the same game with different themes, so this is just a matter of theme preference.

This is a pretty fantastic filler that works really well as a two player game, but actually works amazingly as a free for all multiplayer game with up to four players as well. Great art, simple mechanics, fast pace yet clever enough to offer a pretty wide range of strategies and approaches to winning. We played this one last year at our yearly meet up as a group as well and like last time this one fired on all pistons, it definitely deserves your shelf space. It’s a really tight card game and if you enjoy deck builders like Dominion or Thunderstone for example, this one is going to be right up your alley if you like games with a bit more take that, it may even prompt you to do as I did and replace those old point chasers games in this genre on your shelf.

Coup

While this game has been around for quite some time, this was the first time we ever played it in our group, in fact we unpackaged the shrink wrap right at the table for our first game. We were told that it was something akin to a Love Letter or Avalon The Resistance during the introduction, two games I personally love so I was pretty excited to give this one a try.

After a single game we were all hooked and we ended up playing several rounds back to back, it ended up being the only game that got cleaned up during the weekend and pulled back out later for a second round of several rounds.

Mechanically speaking this is a very simple game, after a couple of rounds everyone had the rules memorized. It’s a game of nothing short of trying to pull the wool over your friends eyes and lying about it. Trickery, mind games, bluffing, calling peoples bluff and just trying to catch people on a lie are all part of coup, all activities our gaming group relishes. It registered with us and was without question in competition for one of the highlights of the weekend. Before I even got home from the weekend I had already ordered a copy for myself, rightfully described as a game similar to Love Letter and Avalon the Resistance, If you like those types of games, you are going to love Coup.

Dirk Henns Shogun

The contrast between the quiet, contemplative planning phase and the outrageously chaotic execution phase make this one of the most memorable Euro games I have ever played.

Shogun is a staple of my collection, it has been in my collection since its release a decade ago and remains one of my most beloved games I own. I will admit that it’s an acquired taste and while it has always resulted in a positive experience every time I pull it out, not everyone takes kindly to a game posing as hardened area control strategy game with an almost comic, Vlaada Chvatil like nuance ,reminiscent of classics like Galaxy Trucker.

Yes its a strategy game and smart decisions, clever gameplay, good planning, good resource management and all that good stuff you expect to be in a good war game are there, but it also has the dreaded tower of chaos, not to mention the nearly impossible to predict and plan order system that gives this game an atmosphere of hilarity that you can get mad about or you can simply embrace. It’s a nutty experience and luck plays a big role in this game, you can get screwed, the games battles swing wildly and no plan you put together is going to survive first contact with the enemy. Some might argue that it’s a far more realistic representation of warfare, most would argue that it’s too random. To me, it’s in the spirit of gaming and I always say if it’s a fun experience, even if it’s not what you expect, that is a good game and Shogun definitely qualifies for that category.

People will scream, cheer, throw down fists in anger and burst out in laughter as they watch all of their plans ruined by that maddening cube tower and the interaction of chaotic plans scraped together by all the players at the table. I would imagine some will simply hate the fact that you can barely control anything in the game. To truly enjoy Shogun you really have to embrace the experience the game is trying to create, rather than trying to get it to meet the standards of a serious war game, which notably it appears to be upon opening the box and laying out the pieces. Do that and you will love this game, but if too much silliness is not something you want in your war games, I suggest skipping this one.

For me personally, this is exactly what I look forward to in a gaming Spencerian, fun and Shogun has it in spades. . I adore this game, my copy is almost worn out and without question I will be replacing it with a new one when the time comes.

Raise your Goblets

This one debuted at last years big board gaming weekend event and it was no surprise to me at all that it found its way back this year. A game about trying to poison your friends while making sure you don’t get poisoned in what is effectively a game of memorization with a lot of screwing each other over, something that is right in our sweet spot as a group. My gaming group loves take that style games in general and Raise Your Goblets is exclusively about just that, doing it in a more fun rather than mean way.

This is really a party game, It toats the more players the merrier, but I think 5 to 6 players is where it is at its best.

Really fun, this is one of those games you really have to measure against your groups preference, but I think it’s a really great family game as well so if you have some kids at home and can get the whole family to the table, this makes for a very fun evening.

New Angeles

I have talked about New Angeles several times on this blog already since we first discovered it this year, though I’m yet to review it (it’s on my list). For me personally and I think I speak for most of my group, this is probably the game of the year. We have played it several times now on a number of occasions and it has hit it out of the park every time.

To me the most surprising aspect of New Angeles is how little attention it has gotten as a game in particular given that games like Shadows over Camelot, Dead of Winter and Battlestar Galactica enjoy so much praise. New Angeles is really a evolution of those games and really this cooperative/betrayal genre. It takes that concept of cooperative, competitive gameplay with a betrayer element and really perfects the gameplay. It’s an amazingly balanced game, giving way to the psychological games this genre is famous for, yet streamlining the whole into a well oiled machine of mechanics making this without question the best in the genre in my humble opinion.

One core aspect of this betrayer genre of games is that they border on the fringes of being social deduction games and I actually think if you bring this out during a dinner party with non-gamers, if you can get them past the science-fiction theme this would make for a really great party game. Mechanically its very simple, in fact considerably simpler and less involved than most games in this genre, yet it treats the audience with dignity and intelligence without making any presumptions about the players being “hardened board gamers”. Strictly speaking no game should ever do that, but many do so it’s nice to see a science-fiction game being more approachable.

I think it’s not hard to read into this depiction of the game to know how I would review it, it’s absolutely brilliant and belongs in the collection of any fan of the betrayer series of games, yet it has all the qualities of a great introductory game as well. I think it’s much easier to teach than say Dead of Winter or Battlestar Galactica. I fully expect New Angeles to break into my top 10 this year, it comes with my highest recommendation, if you are only going to buy one game this year, this should be it.

Formula D

At last year’s event we went out on a limb and tried several new games, some of which landed flat resulting in us having a few “duds”, so this year we made a lot of safe picks and Formula D is without question one of our old reliable’s when we have a bigger group. When our 6th player arrived part way through the weekend, this was one of the first games we reached for and for good reason.

Formula D is a very simple racing game, pick a gear, roll the dice and move your car up the track. The rules for the game can fit on a cocktail napkin and while the new modern versions of the game have come with some additional optional rules weight to spice up the game, playing it the old classic way is just as fun as it has always been.

I personally think this is more of a “casual” gamers game or a family game, than it is a sort of “gaming group” game, if for no other reason than that I find it’s a bit of a longer game and the mechanics start and remain simple throughout. I always enjoy Formula D with my gaming friends because they are a great group of guys and we can turn just about anything into a hilarious shit show, but strictly speaking as a gamers game I find it to be an odd mix between its simplicity and its length. It’s just a bit too long for how simple of a game it is and when I’m with my gaming group I have a preference to reach for the more complex games that I simply can’t play with non-gamers or the wife and kids.  Or if we are going to play something that is simple, it should be relatively short.

That said Formula D has always landed well with every gaming group we have ever tried it with, whether they are non-gamers, casuals or serious gamers. It’s a pretty game, a simple game and a fun game. It captures the intensity and anxiety of a indy car race and while I find it a bit long for what it is, I still highly recommend it as a staple of a board game collection. I would go further and say that for a family with kids or for casual social circles this game is in particularly a great choice.

Sheriff of Nottingham

The best and most tense moments are when the Sheriff is looking at your sealed bag and you know its full of red cards. Thankfully Bribery is allowed.

The Sheriff of Nottingham to me is a game in a genre all on its own, it’s an extremely simple game that when placed into the hands of a social group with a sense of humor will create fantastic table atmosphere. It’s not hard to imagine however that if played seriously, without a layer of silliness it might land flat. There is not much “game” here, it’s really more of a social activity, than a game. You take some cards, put them in a pouch, tell the Sheriff what you claim to be smuggling and he decides whether or not he believes you. Making that a fun experience with bribes, lies and silliness is really up to the group.

That said in our group its a cluster fuck of lying, bribing, shifty eyes and hilarity. While laughing out and poking fun at each other is something we do constantly pretty much in any game, Sheriff of Nottingham sets us up for so many funny situations we spend almost the entire game laughing our asses off, so for us it’s always a hit.

This time we played it with 6 players using the Merry Men expansion which in my opinion vastly improved the game creating a lot more interactions thanks to the two deputies who must decide together which pouches to inspect or not.

This a staple family game night game if there ever was one, its rules are simple and there is no reading involved so you can play this with kids or adults of any age. In fact, if I were to pick a single game for families, this would be it, it’s really tailor made for family board game nights. The fact that it works great with veteran gaming groups is just a bonus. Always fun, always hilarious, Sheriff of Nottingham is unique and wonderful.

Game of Thrones the board game

This is a game that is played in the minds of the players, the board and pieces are mostly distraction.

Game of Thrones has been on the top of my list of top 10 best games of all time for as long as I have had the list. It’s a more serious game, with a fair amount of complexity both in the rules and in the depths of its strategies, while housing one of my favorite franchises making this a triple threat, gameplay, strategy and theme.

What I love more than anything about Game of Thrones however is how it draws out true raw emotions of the players (me in particular), creating a sense of attachment to the board presence, testing that human condition while challenging you to overcome the many obstacles that both the game and the other players present. It is a deep strategy game that is played on many levels ranging from the manipulation of mechanics to the manipulation of people, all things required to successfully navigate yourself to victory.

That said I do find the games static starting conditions to be a bit dry after you have played a few times. There are certain opening moves with certain factions you must make, certain struggles between factions that are almost scripted and certain events relatively predictable that will happen in every game with experienced players.   It really doesn’t deflate the experience but if you are looking for a game that your group will play repeatedly I think you will find the more you play the more these things might bother you.

It’s also a very long game and one that although it can be played with fewer players, is really at its best at 6. Now complaining that a game designed to be a long game for 6 players, is long and for 6 players may seem silly, so don’t consider that a complaint, but in the modern age of board gaming today, games like Game of Thrones the board game can feel a bit dated and out of touch with the modern approach to streamlining common among today’s games. To me personally some streamlining goes overboard and something is lost, when it comes to Game of Thrones there is a near perfection their in this regard. The fact that its long and for 6 players is simply a fact that requires you to play it at an appropriate time, in other words its a limitation on the game likely resulting in a considerable reduction in how often you play it. Which I think is a good thing because as mentioned, playing this game to often will likely result in the game feeling a bit scripted in certain places, so for our group that probably plays this only once or twice a year, its quite perfect.

Its as streamlined as a game like this can be in my humble opinion, but a 4+ hour game is a 4+ hour game, you really need to know what you are getting into here. It’s important to note as well that this is not a game for casual dabblers or inexperienced gamers. This is for those hardened vets who are looking for a challenge, not that I’m discouraging anyone from trying it but this is not Small World, this is Game of Thrones, its complex, its long, its strategically deep, it’s a cluster fuck of mind games, it’s the definition of a gamers game. It’s one of the best games in this genre and in my humble opinion a masterpiece in the world of boardgaming.

Galaxy Trucker

Distinctively Vlaada, Galaxy Trucker is truly a unique gem that rivals Through The Ages as one of Chvátil’s masterpieces.

At this point I have mentioned Galaxy Trucker so many times on this blog I almost feel silly writing about it again. I have a love affair with Vladda Chivatil’s games, to me he is one of the most diverse, unique and adaptable designers in the business. His games are all Masterpieces and you will find every single one of his games in the top 50 on boardgamegeek and several of them in the top 10.

The staple of Chivatil games is that each one is designed to create an experience, in a sense, every one of his games is genre defining and Galaxy Trucker in my humble opinion is among the best of that example. I have never played anything close to Galaxy Trucker, though it’s important to know that calling Galaxy Trucker a “board game” is a pretty loose term. It’s a chaotic adventure through madness, essentially a test to see how much chaos and randomness you can fit into a single game, spoiler alert, it’s a metric fuck ton, but its all done with a quirky sense of humor. A game designed to create funny moments pure and simple.

Galaxy Trucker is along the lines of “activity games” where players attempt to speed design and build space ships that will be put through a gauntlet of horrible events to see if the ship or any of its crew can survive to collect some coin at the end of their galactic trucker journey. On top of that it’s a competitive race against other players, which means you are pushed further into attempting to take risks in hopes of capturing that first place glory.  Simply surviving the game with any money at the end makes you a winner, another spoiler alert, most people won’t make it.

With its many expansions things get even nuttier and while I fully understand that many gamers “don’t get the point”, its because they fail to remove the filters which under normal circumstances we put all other games through. You simply can’t do that with games like Galaxy Trucker, you must embrace it as the silly exercise that it is. If you do that with a group like minded friends, Galaxy Trucker is not only a unique gaming experience, but it’s Monty Python like fun in a box.

Conclusion

Well those are the games that were in the line up this year and I have to say, while we played it safe pulling in only games we were fairly certain would register with our group resulting in a weekend without duds, I do wish we would have taken a couple of risks on some new ones. It was none the less an amazing time as it always is with my friends, I think it was Will Wheaton that once said that “Games are the mortar that keeps our friends together”, something I can wholeheartedly agree with. Board gaming in our modern digital age where people can’t seem to put the cell phones, Ipads and computers down is really the saving grace of the human experience. It brings people together, reintroduces the concept of eye contact and lets us enjoy each other’s company in the real world. I think given the troubling times we live in today, our little blue planet needs a whole lot more of that than anything.

If I had to pick a single of these games as the game of the weekend, I think I would have to go with Game of Thrones. Its raw energy, complex strategic gameplay and endless mental games not only bring the theme together but make this one of the purest board games I can think of. It defines everything I love about boardgaming and brings it together in a single game. Without question in my mind, one of the best board games ever made.

Dedicated To All Things Gaming