Best of List

Top 5 Table Top Games of All Time By The Crew

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The Top 5 Table Top Games of All Time By The Crew
In my last article I posted for the first time some opinions of my personal gaming group, a rowdy and varied bunch and despite them doing little but pointing out some favorites to my surprise there was a considerable amount of interest in the article. This article actually broke some blog hit records. I also received several e-mail questions about my groups interest and some questions regarding how we deal with differences of opinion in terms of what board games we play and other curiosity questions. Among them where several requests asking to know what my gaming groups favorite games are. This of course prompted this article. I have for a while thought it would be fun to actually dedicate an article to my gaming group anyway so this is a perfect opportunity. I asked each member of my group to give me their top 5 table top games of all time.

Strange as it may seem when I put the request to them I realized that I have very little clue as to what I would actually see on these lists. I can probably guess a couple of the number ones, players tend to be fairly vocal about their all-time favorite, but I’m uncertain what I’m going to find on these lists for the most part. I have known these guys for several years and we certainly discuss games to a great extent, but I don’t recall this topic ever truly being breeched. I’m often made fun of by my gaming group for making bold claims after playing as they would say “any game” and claiming it to be “the best game of the year” or “best game ever” and that sort of thing. In fact, in a funny way, this is my opportunity to put them to task on their picks and so with my usual arrogant and hopefully at least slightly amusing commentary I’m going to look over their list and “comment”. I suspect however that I’m probably going to like most of their picks, the truth is that they are right, I’m a gamer and I love to love games. When you’re a fan, it’s hard to hate!

Player 1

1. RISK
2. Lords of Waterdeep
3. Talisman
4. Munchkin
5. Runebound

I have played Runebound and Talisman a plenty, in fact there was a time when Talisman was less a game and more a full time hobby for me. I was 11 and Talisman back then qualified as a “serious business” effectively leading me down the path to Dungeons and Dragons for which I’m eternally grateful. I readily understand the appeal of adventure games and Runebound definitely is the modernized version of Talisman. Certainly not my bag today but I can understand how casual gamers would be attracted to it. It’s easy, not terribly confrontational and especially in the case of Runebound can actually be quite challenging. Talisman for me personally makes for a great family game, I play it with my 6 year old daughter and she loves it.

Adventure games like Talisman have come a long way but this classic still has a strong following today. Its been reprinted by FFG and on Steam you can play it online in a digital version.
Adventure games like Talisman have come a long way but this classic still has a strong following today. Its been reprinted by FFG and on Steam you can play it online in a digital version.

As for Munchkin, I will never fault anyone for loving munchkin though it’s more akin to a social activity then an actual game. It’s beer and pretzel fun and I will happily spend an evening with friends playing Munchkin anytime.

Lords of Waterdeep is perhaps the only game on this list I would consider a proper gamers pick (=elitist comment). With the expansion scoundrels of Skullport, Lords of Waterdeep really is a gem in the rough, it made my own top 10 worker placement games list and was among my favorite games of 2012. Pick definitely approved.

RISK. Ok I’m sorry but for fucks sake! Don’t get me wrong I do understand the appeal of simple dice chucker war games, but with nearly 60 years of game development history we have done better a thousand times over. It’s clear that I need to introduce Player 1 to some modern war games that easily replace RISK. Even among the RISK franchise, vanilla RISK doesn’t stack up at all. Lord of the Rings RISK, RISK Legacy and RISK 2210 A.D. all outshine the original by miles. Even among other Milton Bradly classics you can get more mileage out of the likes of Fortress America, Shogun (Ikusa) and Axis and Allies. There are so many far better games then RISK I nearly had a nerd attack when I saw this on the list. Pick most certainly and absolutely not approved!

Lord of the Rings RISK is widely regarded as the best version of RISK ever made.
Lord of the Rings RISK is widely regarded as the best version of RISK ever made.

Player 2

1. Game of Thrones the Board Game
2. Cutthroat Caverns
3. Sheriff of Nottingham
4. Summoner Wars
5. King of Tokyo

Everything about Game of Thrones, whether it’s the books, the show, the card game and most certainly the Board Game is objectively fucking awesome, if you don’t believe so, know that I hate you. This game grows on you too, I recall five years ago it sat somewhere towards the bottom of my top 10 best table top game of all-time list and today it sits in the number 2 spot firmly. It’s a magnificent design that embodies not only clever mechanics but most importantly one of the strongest thematic connections of any game I have ever played. It’s a game that tells a story and not just any story but a Game of Thrones story. It creates memorable experiences every time and is without question one of the most cut-throat and challenging games I have ever played. If you can win at Game of Thrones, you’re a better man than I! Respect.

While GoT was easily predicted Cutthroat Caverns is a real surprise. I’m quite fond of it myself but I rarely think of filler games as Best of material. It kind of falls into the same category as Munchkin for me, where with a beer in my hand I will happily play it anytime.

Sheriff of Nottingham is one game I can definitely get behind as a top game pick. My exposure to Sheriff of Nottingham is minimal but It falls into the same category as Galaxy Trucker where it’s a game you play that is just plain and simple fun. There is no explaining why you like it, it’s not like you can objectively say this or that mechanic is innovative or somehow overwhelmingly genius. You simply play for the joy of it.

To date I have not been able to find a negative review for this game, it seems unanimously liked.
To date I have not been able to find a negative review for this game, it seems unanimously liked.

Summoner Wars has been catapulting in popularity since release to the point of saturation and it’s no surprise as it is without question a very challenging and deep game, understanding why someone likes it is easy. It’s one of the most played Iphone and Android app games in both shops and was the top seller in 2015. It was nominated for the golden geek awards for Best 2 player game, best card game and most innovative game of the year in 2010. Golden Geek awards are effectively one of the largest player choice awards for board games today, to be nominated really is a great honor for a game. Its status as a smash hit is unmistakable and objectively this is a fantastically designed game. That said I have no real love for it and I submit that in the case of Summoner Wars as is sometimes the case with my personal favorites, I’m the odd man out. I don’t dislike it but it just doesn’t scratch an itch I have, but a respectful pick none the less.

King of Tokyo. What can be said, gamers love rolling dice, gamers love big monsters and gamers love games about fighting each other. King of Tokyo is a fuck you simulator but does it with a comedic almost family friendly way. It scratches an itch every gamer assumedly has, its simplicity and quick pace can potentially cater to pretty much everyone. It’s universally liked, I don’t think I have ever read or heard a negative thing said about it ever and it does not surprise me to see it pop up on someone’s list. A little simplistic for me personally but I’m a self-admitted arrogant elitist so there you go!

It looks like a kids game and I think that's its appeal.
It looks like a kids game but has some umpf to catch gamers interest.  I really think that’s its appeal.  Besides it has big monsters, its pretty much an auto-win!

Player 3

1. Star Wars Armada
2. Game of Thrones: The Card Game 2nd Edition
3. Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport
4. Warhammer 40k: Forbidden Stars
5. Galaxy Trucker

Star Wars Armada should be on every serious gamers list in my opinion. It’s a true challenge even for the most experienced gamers, driven by an awesome theme and in my not so humble opinion quite possibly one of the most brilliant designs to come out of Fantasy Flight Games yet. It easily makes my own top 5 list and I’m not at all surprised to see it pop up as a number one pick for a member of my gaming group.

Game of Thrones the card game is a new beast in our group and there is a lot of buzz around it right now, deservingly so. I have played a lot of FFG card games and quite frankly I haven’t been terribly impressed. Game of Thrones the card game is quite possibly the first FFG card game that instantly caught my interest creating the imminent urge to add it to my collection. It’s tough to know how I will feel about it six months from now, but right now, I can’t stop thinking about it.

Lords of Waterdeep, our first cross-over and I’m really not surprised to see it pop up again. This is a game with real legs, it’s had ample opportunity to fall out of favor but it really just sticks with you. As I write this, I realize we haven’t played it in a while and I really, really want to play it right now!

Its got a great theme and the appearances of a Ameri-Trash game but make no mistake this is a light weight Euro game notably the only one on anyones list.
Its got a great theme and the appearances of a Ameri-Trash game but make no mistake this is a light weight Euro game .

Warhammer 40k: Forbidden Stars is another one that makes my own top 10 list and I’m not surprised to see it here. I think in 2015 it stands out along with Star Wars Armada as one of the most memorable games of the year. I even considered it for Gamersdungeon game of the year, it would have easily had it if it were not for that awsomesauce of a game, Star Wars Armada. It has that Twilight Imperium spirit where each time you play you discover more depth, new strategies and ultimately new potential. I foresee us having a long and lasting love affair with this one.

Galaxy Trucker. I have to admit I was a bit taken back with this choice and it’s not because I disagree, quite to the contrary I truly love this game but objectively it’s essentially a game of silliness and luck. You build your ship and run it through a gauntlet of hazards over which you have zero control to see if the hastily put together scrapheap of a ship you constructed can survive. Why do gamers like this game? I believe it’s for the same reason we like to see youtube videos of monkeys throwing poop. Sometimes silly fun is all the reason you need to play a game and Galaxy Trucker has this sort of quaint appeal that taps into our inner child who really just wants to see a monkey throw poop. Galaxy Trucker just does that with impeccable precision and a science-fiction quirkiness most nerds can get behind. I don’t want to play it all the time, but I consider it a precious part of my gaming collection and I can say with all honestly that I will cull a lot of far more serious games from my collection long before I consider getting rid of this one. Great hipster pick, I love it!

There are a lot of expansions for Galaxy Trucker that attempt to make this more of a gamer, but frankly the original version is so fantastic its just best not to fuck with it. Why fix it if it ain't broke.
There are a lot of expansions for Galaxy Trucker that attempt to make this more of a gamer game, but frankly the original version is so fantastic its just best not to fuck with it. Why fix it if it ain’t broke.

Player 4

1. Star Wars Armada
2. Game of Thrones: The Board Game
3. Munchkin
4. Epic Spell Wars Of The Battle Wizards
5. Cutthroat Caverns

What a smorgasbord of fuck you games that will put a smile on your face.

Star Wars Armada I would have picked for Player 4, there was no question this one was going to get plenty of cross-over but there are members of our gaming group that like me love a great challenge.

Game of Thrones barely needs mentioning at this point, I’m not surprised at all at its reappearance.

Munchkin I would not have expected to find on this particular players list, but  it’s certainly cool to see a gamer put something as deep as Star Wars Armada and something as simplistic as Munchkin on the same list. Then again, I have said it many times, gamers are a weird breed. We like what we like, whether it’s a deep and obscure 9 book fantasy novel series or a Youtube video of a dog pooping on a baby, what entertains us probably seems quite random to the outsider. Munchkin has been around a long time and I don’t think I have ever met a gaming nerd who didn’t get a kick out of it, it’s a parody of our nerdy childhoods.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards I totally understand and really I was wondering more where player 4 was going to put this on his list rather than if. Epic Spell Wars is not just about playing the game but how you play the game, how you visualize and experience the silliness. If you get a bunch of funny people together in a room with the giggles to play this, this game is like comedic fuel on a hilarity fire.

The simple act of combing three silly sounding spells together has a surprisingly large amount of laughter built into it. Especially if you have ever played D&D and other fantasy roleplaying games. Don't be fooled though there is actually some game here as well, Epic Spell Wars is far more than just a silly romp.
The simple act of combing three silly cards to form a spell  has a surprisingly large amount of laughter built into it. Especially if you have ever played D&D and other fantasy roleplaying games. Don’t be fooled though there is actually some game here as well, Epic Spell Wars is far more than just a silly romp.

Cutthroat Caverns I’m actually really surprised at, in our group we’ve had some fun with it but I didn’t realize it was liked this much. I suppose I shouldn’t be, my gaming group loves “fuck you” style confrontation in games and looking at these lists most of these games are really quite mean.  I thought we might see one or two mellow Euro games on these lists, we have played plenty but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised about how much the gamers in my group like to fuck with each other.

Player 5

1. Advanced Squad Leader
2. Star Wars: X-Wing
3. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
4. Terra Mystica
5. Ticket To Ride

Advanced Squad Leader is at quick glance very firmly in the extremely complicated spectrum of games.  Simulation games are an extremely niche type of gaming, historical war gamers in particular are their own breed entirely.  It being on the list has certainly peeked my curiosity.

Its not a pretty game and its definitly as complicated as it looks. Simulation games typically come with hundreds of pages of rules and tables, this one is no different but it is widely regarded as one of the best war game simulations ever made.
Its not a pretty game and its definitly as complicated as it looks. Simulation games typically come with hundreds of pages of rules and tables, this one is no different but it is widely regarded as one of the best war game simulations ever made.

Star Wars: X-Wing is the number one game on my own list and frankly I was surprised it made so few lists in this group given how often we play it but I’m not surprised to see it on this particular players list.  He is certainly the most competitive X-Wing player among us.   I love X-Wing so yeah, rock on!

Star Wars: Imperial Assault is a cooperative game that I have only played a couple of times.  I generally don’t pay much attention to cooperative games but Imperial Assault has a skirmish mode which certainly is worthy of pushing some miniatures around.  There is no doubt about its popularity among gamers in general though, shortly after its launch it slammed into the top games on boardgamegeek and its been sitting pretty at number 11 beating out every game chosen by all other players in this top 5 list except the next one.

Terra Mystica is a heavy Euro and its overwhelming popularity is one of the many mysterious of the universe I simply can’t explain.  Its effectively a victory point simulator lacking any semblance of theme, which is not too unusual for Euros, but still, its beyond me.  This one was on my top 5 most overrated games and while I’m always happy to give games another go despite my clear superiority and elitism, this is one I find a bit agonizing to play.

Yes it does look like Settlers of Catan and yes I hate it because of that too!
Yes it does look like Settlers of Catan but don’t make the mistake of thinking this is an easy game.  This is a very heavy Euro which if you ask me crumbles under that weight.

Last on the list is Ticket To Ride and this is one I can definitely get behind.  Its a very simple game with a pretty basic premise, really a fantastic game to use as a way to lure new potential gamers into the hobby.  Its one of the few games I consider missing from my collection.

Player 6

MC Siege Of The Citadel
Game of Thrones The Board Game
Star Wars Armada/Star Wars X-Wing (Epic)
Star Wars Imperial Assault
Sheriff Of Nottingham

I actually had to look up Siege of the Citadel, at this the moment I saw the list I had never heard of it.  This was a big surprise for me, I wasn’t even aware this player owned the game.  This is an old school game which gets an automatic bow from me, but from the looks of it, it has uncanny similarity to the dungeon crawl board games that have grown into massive popularity these days.  Officially on my must be played list.

Like many old school games this one too is getting a new edition.
Like many old school games this one too is getting a new edition.  Despite having never laid eyes on it, it has an uncanny familiarity.  Hard to believe I missed something that looks this cool.

The rest are all cross-overs already mentioned and while I was very curious about this particular players list, none of those choices really surprise me.  All solid choices for any top game list, I would gladly play any of those anytime, anywhere!

Player ME

Ok it’s my turn, though I think for readers of my blog this probably come to much of a surprise.

1. Star Wars X-Wing
2. Game of Thrones: The Board Game
3. Star Wars Armada
4. War of the Rings
5. Twilight Imperium

As you can see nothing has changed since October when I last updated my top 10 best table top games.

X-Wing remains my favorite though perhaps through saturation and overplaying it I find myself considerably less excited about it at the moment. X-Wing however has some serious legs, a new expansion rolls out and suddenly I’m making lists in my sleep.

X-Wing just gets better and better which for me is really what puts this over the top into the number one spot. I never thought I would see the day that miniatures games make it back on my best of list.
X-Wing just gets better and better which for me is really what puts this over the top into the number one spot. I never thought I would see the day that miniatures games make it back on my best of list.

Game of Thrones: The Board Game, again, what can I say here it’s the premiere thematic epic that I could never betray. The fact that over a decade after release this game is actually climbing the list speaks to the respect and love I have for this game.

Star Wars Armada. I precursor this by saying that when I find a game that is deep, complex and challenging that I actually can’t figure out and I regularly get my ass handed to me in, it just makes me love it that much more. I love games that I have no answer to, games that have challenged me beyond my ability to rise to it. It just makes me want to play it more. Armada in my mind is no question the best game of 2015 but I think in 2025 I will look back and see it as the game of the decade.

War of the Rings like Game of Thrones has this incredible connection to the theme and because it’s a two player game it has this intimate, mano a’ mano challenge. I have never won a game of War of the Rings and like Armada, it just makes me love it that much more. It’s a work of art to look at, it’s got a definitive storyteller element and everything you love about the books and movies is in here. It’s really the Disneyland of board games, there is magic in this box.

As much a visual story experiance as a game, War of the Rings deserves every word of praise it has ever recieved.
As much a visual story experience as a game, War of the Rings deserves every word of praise it has ever received.

Finally we have my old love Twilight Imperium, toppled in recent years from the number one spot after holding it for well over a decade on my personal best of list. She is still a beauty and I would never kick her out for eating cookies in bed but she doesn’t have that spit shine on her anymore either. I think TI3 remains the ultimate and best X4 boardgame by a margin so wide there are no contender’s insight. Its complex, its deep and if there ever was a game for the elitist gamer, this is most certainly that game.

TI3 will always be a classic for me, its a game I have played more times than most of my collection combined. I know it as intimately as any game I have ever played.
TI3 will always be a classic for me, its a game I have played more times than most of my collection combined. I know it as intimately as any game I have ever played.

And that’s that.  I would like to thank my gaming group for participating and making this article possible.  Its definitely been one of the more fun ones I have done in recent months.  If nothing else its clear to me that while we all have our personal favorites for the most part there are very few games on this list I would not agree to play.   Sure they might not be my favorites but truth is that gaming is all about variety, playing the same game over and over will very quickly cause that game to cease being your favorite.

Game on people!

Best of List

The Year in Gaming 2015 Edition

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2015 was nothing short of an amazing year for board, card and miniature gaming. This might explain why even as I write I’m 700 crowns into World of Board Games (sorry guys, checks in the mail!) . The year-end review is going to become a regular thing for the blog, every year I’m going to pick what I believe is the best designer, best publisher and best game of the year. I don’t really set much in the way of qualifications, it’s simply a self-serving pick based solely on my often not so humble opinion. . Let’s get the deed done!

Gamers Dungeon Designer Of The Year : Eric M. Lang

Eric Lang has already proven himself to be a house hold name in gaming in years past. His reputation for producing inventive and entertaining games with consistency is uncanny. In 2015 however he has definitely outdone himself with three memorable games, all successful each more creative than the next not to mention being involved in countless expansions to existing games. X-COM, Game of Thrones the card game 2nd edition and Blood Rage alone are sufficient to earn him the title of best of the year. Most designers are lucky to produce 3 creative and original games in their whole career let alone in the same year.

X-COM for me personally falls into one of the categories of games I usually stay clear off (pure cooperative) but the implementation of an app that puts time pressure on player decisions definitely solves one of the biggest complaints I have about these type of games, the dreaded Alpha Gamer effect. There is no time to ask experienced players at the table “what should I do” in X-Com, you have just a few seconds, you have to make your own decisions and hope it helps the team. Great way to break up the monotony of cooperative games in my opinion and really what better way to add great AI to a board game based on a computer game then adding some actual AI. It shows that Lang is inventive and perceptive about a game genre and isn’t afraid to experiment in modern ideas like using Apps for a game. What a fantastic choice for a theme as well, you really should have your gamer license revoked if you don’t know what X-COM is.

Cooperative games are a hard sell for gamers like me who drink the tears of their opponent but If your going to play one, it may as well be themed on something as awesome as X-COM.
Cooperative games are a hard sell for gamers like me who drink the tears of their opponent but If your going to play one, it may as well be themed on something as awesome as X-COM.

Next up is Game of Thrones 2nd edition, which I think, it is only fair to point out upfront he didn’t design and certainly shouldn’t get the credit as such. Most of the work was done for him in 1st edition. Still, despite that pre-cursor, as far as I’m concerned if you are able to take a game that was typically associated with a very niche audience no thanks to silly levels of complexity and fussiness and streamline it to make it accessible to everyone while being able to maintain that edgy, competitive (dare I say cut throat) play style that fits so perfectly with the theme deserves mentioning. I played the 1st edition of this game a few years back several times and barely remember it, I played the 2nd edition once and was immediately captivated. Lang is great at understanding the nuances of mechanics, how small tweaks can have huge impact, a sure sign of a great designer.

Finally is Blood Rage and while it’s definitely a new mistress for me, after only a couple of plays I knew that this is going to be a smash hit and really put Lang over the top for me. Most designer could safely call themselves great designers if they have even one Blood Rage on their resume, but for Lang it’s all in a days work. What a fantastic combination of mechanics, strategic potential with tons of diversity and replay-ability yet done so simply it takes less than 5 minutes to teach the game. Lang has an amazing insight and core understanding of what makes a great game, yet the uncanny ability to avoid over designing. He keeps it simple and sweet and there is no question in my mind that this is his best design yet.

One of the biggest surprises of the year for me. After two plays I knew it belonged in my collection.
One of the biggest surprises of the year for me. After two plays I knew it belonged in my collection.

 

Gamers Dungeons Company of The Year: Fantasy Flight Games

On any other year I think this would have been a very easy choice for me, Fantasy Flight Games is a company that knows how to make my money with easily 70% of the games on my shelf being FFG games. They make success look easy. This year however is very special, there were so many companies that really rose up to challenge the beast that is FFG, in fact it really was the year of amazing releases for almost every major publisher out there. None the less FFG had an explosive year, even for their own extraordinarily high standards.

Star Wars: Armada, Forbidden Stars, Games of Thrones 2nd Edition, Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition, X-Com, Reprint of Red Planet and tons of expansions for pretty much everything in amounts that would dwarf ten times over every other company out there. Always with excellent quality components and attention to detail that has in many ways both set the bar for other companies and driven competition. FFG was a machine of creativity in 2015, they made so many games even with my insane spending limits I found myself buckling under economic pressure, forced to make reluctant choices on how to blow my money on FFG products. There is no question in my mind that I will spend most of 2016 trying to catch up with FFG’s 2015 lineup, but FFG never sleeps. Bursting with exciting announcements for 2016 like Star Wars Rebellion.. oh god how I want thee! It seems no matter what I get from them before the credit card bill even shows up there is already half a dozen things I want on the horizon.

Its the little things that count and its the little things that make all the difference between 1st and 2nd edition of the game.
Its the little things that count and its the little things that make all the difference between 1st and 2nd edition of the game.

A solid runner up for me is Cool Mini or Not, in my opinion they have risen to the challenge of producing quality games in what has become a very competitive market. They really know what gamers love, it’s in their title and they aren’t afraid to make them! Between Blood Rage, Zombiecide, Xenoshyft, Rum & Bones, Arcadia Quest and Kaosball these guys have shown without question that they can produce not only quality products (with insanely awesome mini’s), but fantastic games as well. They are the company to watch in 2016 in my (not so) humble opinion.

Gamers Dungeon Game of The Year: Star Wars Armada

Star Wars Armada didn't really strike me hard, it took time for its depth and complexity to fall into place, but once you see the big picture you realize what a huge hit this really is.
Star Wars Armada didn’t really strike me hard, it took time for its depth and complexity to fall into place, but once you see the big picture you realize what a huge hit this really is.

This was not an easy decision at all, it was very competitive year and there was so much greatness to play but in the end there is a reason Christian Peterson is one of my favorite designers among others at FFG. Star Wars Armada is a complex, incredibly deep and dynamic game that makes for an unmatched, epic gaming experience. Definitely not something I would recommend to anything but the most hardened veteran gamer. Still that is what I am and Armada really caters to my inner nerd despite the fact that I generally get my ass kicked at it. The fact that it’s a Star Wars themed game is really just icing on a nearly perfect cake and while I find it such an exhaustive game that it requires me to take breaks from it periodically just to recover there is no question in my mind that like Twilight Imperium, Game of Thrones and X-Wing this is a game I will still happily play a decade from now. A masterpiece and well deserved win.

Runner ups include Forbidden Stars, quite possibly the most infuriating and wonderful science-fiction competitive board game to come out of FFG since Twilight Imperium. Not too far behind Blood Rage, the new kid on the block I predict is going to crawl its way into a top 10 spot on BoardGameGeek in 2016! It will certainly break into my personal top 10 list.

Gaming Group Feedback
Now I have a gaming group, like all proper nerds we spend as much time talking and thinking about games as we do playing them and I thought it would be fun to let them throw in their picks with my obnoxious layer of commentary (you’re welcome). I’m not going to name names to protect their precious identities!

Player 1

Best Game: Star Wars Armada
Best Designer: Eric Lang
Best Company: Fantasy Flight

I swear I made my list before I asked my group, but clearly Player 1 and I march to the beat of the same drummer. What can I say, I agree with him completely because clearly he is right.

Player 2

Best Game: Star Wars Armada
Best Designer: Jay Little
Best Company: Fantasy Flight

I have to say that if Eric Lang didn’t exist, Jay Little would certainly be a contender pick. Jay plays a heavy role over at FFG in the design of X-Wing products which alone deserves immense praise and is an incredible display of talent. It’s such an easy thing to fuck up a miniature games, if you don’t believe me just take a look at … pretty much every other miniature game ever made and tell me I’m wrong. Still I think to achieve the title of best designer of the year the bar is set quite high. Certainly designing expansions and keeping the growing complexity of a miniatures game balanced is no small feat, but starting from a blank page and inventing something awesome is really where the crown should go.

Player 3

Best Game: Star Wars Armada
Best Designer: Eric Lang
Best Company: Plaid Hat Games

Plaid Hat Games certainly deserves praise, the artistic and cleverly written Dead of Winter earned no less than 11,000+ votes on boardgamegeek in less than a year. Their Summoner Wars series continues to grow expansion after expansion, rising in depth and popularity and let’s not forget Specter Ops, Ashes, Tail Feathers and the clever Mice and Mystics. Suffice to say it would be hard for me to pick them myself since I’m neither drawn to, own or play their games. They tend to make games that are just a bit outside of my personal preference, though I have tried a few and certainly wouldn’t complain about them. I give them props for creative out of the box thinking, even Dead of Winter, a game about Zombies in a market flooded with Zombie games stood out from the crowd. From a stand point of reviews they always get excellent marks so I can understand why Player 3 in particular would pick them given his personal preferences.

Player 4

Best Game: Game of Thrones The Board Game
Best Designer: Sergio Halaban & Andre Zatz
Best Company: Fantasy Flight Games

Very interesting designer choices, way to be a hipster! Often designers like Sergio Halaban and Andre Zatz are overlooked in the same way an amazing guitar player might be overlooked in an obscure band. The creators of Sheriff of Nottingham, a sizeable sleeper hit that is often spoken off fondly among reviewers has been steadily rising on the geek as word spreads. This award winning game among others was nominated for the prestigious Origins Best Board Game of the Year award and very deservingly so. These guys have great potential and we will certainly be watching them carefully in the future.

Now for the Game of Thrones pick, this is obviously an older game released back in 1st edition form in 2003 so perhaps it doesn’t really meet the 2015 qualification. It does say something significant about the game when a gamer in my group Is still infatuated enough with a game over 10 years after its release to pick it as his 2015 favorite. Game of Thrones may just be the game of the decade and I’m quite certain if I asked my group to make a top 5 games of all-time list, most if not all would have Game of Thrones on that list. Great pick.

News

Its All About Star Wars

For the Star Wars gamer and fan this has been and continues to be epic time, it really does not get any better than this. Whether you’re just a fan of the movies, board games, PC games, role-playing games or just like collectibles there is something for everyone Star Wars related. I thought it would be fun to do a little break down of all the awesomeness that is here and coming our way in the near future.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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The new Star Wars movies has everyone hoping for a revival given the generally accepted disappointment of the Old Republic era movies.

Naturally the best place to start is with the upcoming movie hitting movie theaters on December 16th. Brought to you for the first time by someone other than George Lucas, the Disney fueled J.J Abrams infused film continues the saga of one of the greatest science-fiction sagas ever made. The director who is often dubbed the reboot king has brought back franchise from extinction like Mission Impossible and Star Trek, not to mention some of the more interesting TV series like Almost Human and Revolution. I love this guy’s stuff, but Star Wars The Force Awakens is less a reboot and more a continuation of a story most of us nerds grew up with. The Force Awakens is more than just a movie to gamers however as it represents a new expanded place for some of our favorite games to draw materials for and its already begun.

Star Wars X-Wing: Force Awakens

Cleverly the new core set managed to add new and improved X-Wings and Tie-Fighters without making the old core set obsolete. A welcomed addition to X-Wing.
Cleverly the new core set managed to add new and improved X-Wings and Tie-Fighters without making the old core set obsolete. A welcomed addition to X-Wing.

We have already gained access to the new X-Wing Core set that features X-Wings and Tie-Fighters from the new movies, with more on the way. As part of the next Wave for X-Wing we are going to glimpse a little closer into Force Awakens with new X-Wing and Tie-Fighter expansions as part of the set that will show case a number of interesting new pilots presumably from the movies. Without question you can expect in future waves to see more of the Force Awakens universe to join Star Wars X-Wing, but the important thing here is that X-Wing has plenty of new room to grow into thanks to the movies.

The most exciting element of the upcoming wave however is that epic play is going to grow. We recently got the Imperial Raider which opened up Epic play in a big way but perhaps the most exciting upcoming release is the Imperial Assault Carrier that not only features a new epic ship but a number of awesome Tie-Fighters too boot! It’s an exciting time to be an X-Wing player!

Star Wars Armada

A much needed expansion to Armada has rounded out the game but we are yet to see anything for Force Awakens!
A much needed expansion to Armada has rounded out the game but we are yet to see anything for Force Awakens!

While we are still waiting to see/hear announcement of Force Awakens ships for Armada wave 2 is no slouch in bringing us much needed content for this epic game of capital ship battles. Joining the ranks is not only a new Squadron set that includes some of the most iconic ships in the Star Wars universe like the Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon and Boba Fett’s FireSpray just to name a couple but we are getting some of the most iconic ships from one of the biggest fleet battles in Star Wars movie history (Return Of The Jedi). Ships included are the Home One, MC30 Frigate and The Imperial Class Star Destroyer, not to mention the Imperial Raider.

For Star Wars Armada fans wave 2 has a completion effect, rounding the game out to its destination of 400 points and bringing much needed diversity to list building. What will Force Awakens bring to the table? Well you can bet your bottom dollar that Fantasy Flight Games knows how to milk it and its not much of a prediction to proclaim that the next wave will include Force Awakens capital ships, the thing is, we don’t really know much right now about what that will be. Fortunately we won’t have to wait too much longer as it’s only 2 days as of this writing before the movie premiers!

The Star Wars Role-Playing Game

Edge of the Empire kicked things of and immediately made all previous Star Wars RPG games obsolete. Its nearly perfect!
Edge of the Empire kicked things of and immediately made all previous Star Wars RPG games obsolete. Its nearly perfect!

Whether you are a fan of Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion or Force and Destiny (or all three) Fantasy Flight Games has been producing material for the game at a maddening pace. Dozens of books have been pushed out this year not to mention countless variety of supplements and expanded material with many more the horizon and now there is the question of how Force Awakens plays into all this. It’s a safe bet that we can expect a new core rulebook simply called Force Awakens kick starting a new era for the role-playing game and I’m sure I speak for many role-playing fans out there that the anticipation of the expected announcements is exciting. The prospect of playing in the new era may come sooner than we think thanks largely to the fact that FFG has already secured the rights to Force Awakens. Not enough excitement for you? Think about the possibility of linking all three games with Force Awakens and playing out the entire saga of Star Wars from the perspective of a single character of your own creation…. Ok that should do it!

Star Wars Rebellion

Rebellion is the unquestionable king of surprises this year, before we have even had a chance to get excited the game is already on the calendar for release early in Quarter 1!
Rebellion is the unquestionable king of surprises this year, before we have even had a chance to get excited the game is already on the calendar for release early in Quarter 1!

The recent announcement of Star Wars Rebellion was perhaps one of the best surprises of the year. With virtually no knowledge that a Star Wars boardgame was even in the works, Fantasy Flight presented Rebellion, a game that lets you play out the original Star Wars conflict from A to Z, Death Stars Included. In the style of War of the Rings (quite possibly one of the greatest board games ever made) you and a friend will battle it out with the famous people, ships, planets and story of the Star Wars universe. The best part? The game is ALREADY AT THE PRINTER which means you will be playing it first quarter of 2016! Can I get a fuck yeah!

How does Force Awakens fit into it… well duh, EXPNASION! With the game already done and printing there is no doubt FFG will wait and see to ensure the game is well regarded and accepted, but assuming it is as awesome as it looks, A Force Awakens expansion in 2016 is practically assured!

Star Wars Imperial Assault

The familiar Descent-esque system brings the Star Wars universe to the cooperative dungeon crawler genre, but it boasts an impressive competitive skirmish mode that has gained a tremendous amount of popularity overshadowing the cooperative elements.
The familiar Descent-esque system brings the Star Wars universe to the cooperative dungeon crawler genre, but it boasts an impressive competitive skirmish mode that has gained a tremendous amount of popularity overshadowing the cooperative elements.

For the cooperative gamer, in particular if you were a fan of Descent, Star Wars Imperial Assault is an easy pick as it may quite possibly one of the best cooperative games ever made. Fantasy Flight Games isn’t pussy footing around with this franchise either. With countless mini expansions and two major expansions (Twin Shadows – At the Printers & Return to Hot – On the Boat) we already have enough content for Imperial Assault to last us through 2016 but at this point the games popularity is so huge a Force Awakens expansion is not only a guarantee it’s a shocker that they haven’t already announced it. If I had to guess, I would say they are timing it for the release of the films because you know, they are evil!

Star Wars RISK

Easy to overlook thanks largely to its poor title and association with RISK, this little nugget is actually a really great remake of Star Wars Queens Gambit set in the Return of the Jedi era!
Easy to overlook thanks largely to its poor title and association with RISK, this little nugget is actually a really great remake of Star Wars Queens Gambit set in the Return of the Jedi era!

Ok, bad title, very bad title and probably one of the reasons you probably didn’t give this one a second look. Look a little deeper under the covers however and you will discover that Star Wars RISK is actually a new edition of Star Wars: A Queens Gambit, a rare collectable and extremely well made game based on one of the worse Star Wars movies ever made (A Phantom Menace). This time however instead forcing us to play with Gungan miniatures Hasbro back tracked and created the epic battle over the second Death Star from Return of the Jedi. It’s called Star Wars RISK but has virtually nothing to do with the classic Yahtzee style dice roller. Instead Hasbro pulled out a miracle and actually created a great game that looks amazing managing to hit on some of the more distinguished top board game lists on the internet.

Now if I know Hasbro Star Wars Force Awakens: RISK is an inevitable follow up and while I’m not holding my breath they do have a good system to base a game on, the only question is, will the story support the 3 prong battle setup needed to re-create Star Wars: RISK? Here’s hoping that it does!

You wanted Excitement and as you can see from this list there is plenty for everyone here. Let’s just bloody hope the movie is as awesome as we all know it should be!

What Makes It Tick

What Makes It Tick: Star Wars X-Wing Part V

It’s been a while since I have written an article for this series but I have received a number of E-mails from what I have gathered are new x-wing players requesting more and since I don’t actually usually get requests I thought I would fulfill the ones I do have. I thought about what topics I wanted to breach and decided to talk about the frequently disputed elements of ordinance and ordinance based ships. Typically ordinance is an element of the game often labeled “not worth the cost”, a sort of standard mantra at least in the competitive and online conversations about them. Today we will get into some details about the problems with ordinance and ordinance based ships and some hopefully clever tips on how you can leverage them to your advantage.

Ordinance
Torpedoes, Missiles, bombs and the ships that use them are often seen as risky propositions in list building, in fact in the competitive scene you will rarely see ships fielding ordinance and ships like the Tie-Bomber are also very infrequently if ever used in competition. The reason is quite sound. Ordinance weapons are one shot use weapons and typically, for the cost, the effect or impact on the game is considered too small to justify it.  At least that’s the theory.

So what are the listed problems or complaints about Ordinance?

Spending targets lock to fire them is just one of several issues with ordinance. Or do you, look closer, not all ordinance requires you to spend your target lock or focus.

The main complaint for starters is that you have to spend your target lock and really in the case of most ordinances this is the problem.   As you can see above however this is not always the case, I point this out early because its a common oversight.  You often only get one action so target locking someone which with primary weapons is used to trigger re-rolls is spent instead just to use the attack and rolling 3 or 4 red dice without a focus or target lock to improve odds means you are shooting at 50/50 odds. Even with various effects like getting two attacks, doing extra damage to nearby ships or triggering Ion effects there is a legitimate chance you will simply miss. By default hit or miss the ordinance is spent anyway. It’s like effectively shooting 3 to 5 points at a target. Consider the alternatives to spending 3-5 points on ordinance for something else like for example a push the limit (two actions – Focus and Target Lock) or Expose (increase primary weapon by 1), effects that can be potentially be used multiple times in a match. These effects increase your chances of getting more out of your primary weapons for the same price.  Its a valid complaint in my opinion.

Perhaps the most common use of the Tie-Bomber is the cheaper, Scimitar Squadron Pilot coming in at 16 points  Worth it until you see the dial.
Not terrible, but this is no doubt the least maneuverable of the Tie class ships.

There is also the issue of the ships that shoot the ordinance or at least are designed to do it well like the Tie-Bomber for example. The stats on these ships are generally fairly mediocre and you typically are going to need to put more than one piece of ordinance to make it formidable on the field. That of course increases the cost. More than that, if you really want to get some guarantees you have to use special gear to allow you to do that like Munitions Failsafe, Extra Munitions or combining it with other gear like Push the Limit so you could at least roll the dice with a focus or special pilots. All this amounts to increasing costs for a ship that when it runs out of ordinance (assuming it survives long enough to shoot it) is a lack luster performer without ordinance.

For the ships that fall somewhere in-between, ships not really designed for ordinance but have the option it’s even less worth it. Putting ordinance on an X, A or B wing increases the cost of a ship but typically these ships gain far more benefit from its primary weapons when combined with gear more specifically tailored for the ship. Your far better off with an advanced sensor on a B-Wing than you are putting torpedoes on it. Again because you will be able to use advanced sensors throughout the match, while the ordinance is a one trick, one shot pony, the value is fairly easy to determine. You could of course do both but the costs mount and you really have to question the value of things like proton torpedoes where you can roll 4 dice at 50/50 odds one time during the match or rolling 3 dice with a focus (or 4 dice if you are close range) every time you shoot.

Even with its ability to shoot in a 360 degree arc you have to question the wisdom of using a B-Wing as a ordinance delivery system, especially considering the cost.
Even with its ability to shoot in a 360 degree arc you have to question the wisdom of using a B-Wing as a ordinance delivery system, especially considering the cost.

Some might argue that ordinance is all about player skill, if you are good, the impact of having ordinance at the table can be devastating and that to a degree is true, but X-Wing is not just a game of a skill, it’s a game of dice and when it comes to ordinance bad luck with the dice is going to have far more impact on you than it would if you were firing your primary weapons. Besides in the end, the argument that it’s “not worth it”, is a direct reference to point cost. Simply put the cost of mounting ordinance on a ship is going to weigh in at around 10-20 points extra and that is practically a whole extra ship which means that in order to get the value from the ordinance you really need to be able to do the work of 2 ships with your ordinance ship, that’s a tall order! That ordinance, no matter how good you are, simply cannot do it.

Now with that said is there any circumstance in which it is worth it? I believe the answer is yes. Getting value out of ordinance is all about understand how you can leverage ordinance ships not against cost, but against strategical possibilities within the structure of your list and tactics of the game. Another words, a Tie-Bomber with Cluster-Missiles and Extra Munitions might not be cost effective, but if combined with a good pilot card and some bonus gear your opponent will have to address that ship or suffer the consequences. The concept is what I like to call, “rat trapping”, which simply means that you have created an obvious and immediate threat, this Is your trap and your opponent is the rat. He will walk right into your trap because he will see your munitions ship as a major threat and as such if you build the rest of your list with your trap in mind, the combination can be devastating.

With that said, let’s look at an example list.

The Tie-Bomber is arguably the worst of the ordinance ships and so let’s see if can create a list using it as a base for our rat trap.

Major Rhymer 26 (Push The Limit 3, Advanced Proton Torpedoes 6, Extra Munitions 2).

The ability to increase range makes using Advanced Torpedoes more viable for this Tie-Bomber that is unlikely to ever get someone in their arc at range 1 given its dial.

You might immediately see how dangerous and expensive this ship is. At 37 points its death on wheels for at least 2 rounds. You have push the limit to assure you can target lock and focus, you have advanced Proton Torpedoes that can fire at range 1-2 that combined with a focus all but assures you are going to get 5 hits (3 blanks turn to focus, you need only to roll 2 hits with a focus at about 75% odds). Extra munitions that turns a 6 point piece of gear into a 2 point piece of gear.

Now this is a vulnerable ship but there is no question that your opponent will do everything in his power to eliminate it early, he will see this ship as a major threat and rightfully so because it is. If allowed to shoot, it’s going to earn its weight in points. He is your trap and you want to leverage your trap by creating the rest of your list knowing what he is going to go for.

1 x Tie Phantom (Sigma Squadron) 25 + Fire Control System
3x Tie Fighter (Academy Pilot) 36

Most people go for the expensive Phantoms, but the Sigma Squadron Pilot at 25 points is dirt cheap for a ship that can cloak and rolls 4 dice even at long range. Especially when you consider its dial.
Consider the Interceptor dial, a ship widely accepted as being incredibly maneuverable.
The Phantom is pretty comparable to the Interceptor. The only real trade up is boost for cloak. Make no mistake its an arc dodger with fire-power.

All you need to do is position these ships (your core squad) away from Rhymer to ensure that anyone going for him, is going to have to turn their back to the rest of your ships. With some good piloting and careful use of the Tie Phantom and at least one clean shot with Rhymer you should be able to gain an early advantage against most lists.

Now tactically you have many options with this list. Once Rhymer uses his ordinance, he is your blocker. Crash him into stuff and make him a nuisance setting up shots for your other ships. If your opponent chases the phantom or the Tie-Fighter play the avoidance game, evade, cloak and bug out forcing him to waste shots and buying you time to get Rhymer into position. With Rhymer you want to target any low agility ships, or core support ships or big easy to hit ships. Make that those 2 (5 dice) shots count if your opponent doesn’t address Rhymer. Most importantly remember however that Rhymer is not your fleet, he is your distraction, he is the ship that will put your opponents ships out of position and into your trap.

Is this a good list? I suppose we could argue about it, but it does show how the Tie-Bomber and ordinance can in fact have its uses and while this list isn’t what one might call ultra- competitive, it does certainly have a lot more going for it than just reliance on ordinance. The ordinance in this list is really just a ruse if you will for getting the actual threat (1 Phantom and 3x Tie Fighters) into position. The hope is that your opponent will not realize that the munitions ship, that Tie-Bomber is not really the big threat.

The Conclusion
Ordinance is not terribly cost effective, in fact the argument that it’s “not worth it” certainly has some validity and I mostly agree with it. X-Wing list building and in general playing X-Wing is about creativity and fun for most of us, so if you simply step out of the competitive number crunching (Math-Wing) and think outside the box a little, ordinance presents an interesting challenge to players. Can you create a great list that works with ordinance, I believe the answer is yes. I have had success with the list above, not because it’s a great list but because it’s unusual enough that your opponent is stumped on how to address the challenge. Do you split your fleet, do you go for the Tie-Bomber or focus on the Tie-Phantom.

I think meta thinking is part of the reason ordinance has such a terrible reputation in the competitive circuit, in fact, I believe that if you took a list like this to a tournament you would probably do quite well simply because of meta thinking. When everyone is expecting one of three or four meta lists and they are facing something unusual, it throws chaos into the their tactical expectations and this your advantage. I personally love flying lists like this, the look on your opponents face is all the reward I need.

Best of List

Top 5 Most Anticipated Games in 2016

2015 was an exciting year, in fact, I probably made more gaming purchases in the second part of 2015 than I have the two years before combined. We got awesome epics like Star Wars Armada and Forbidden Stars, we saw the release of some cool expansions and many great re-prints. It really was a fantastic year for gaming.

The first part of 2016 is already shaping up and there are a number of great games on the horizons worth bringing to your attention!

1. Star Wars: Rebellion

FFG just can't seem to stop making awsome games!
FFG just can’t seem to stop making awsome games!

Recently announced, once again leveraging their hold over the Star Wars license Fantasy Flight Games is going to add yet another “insta buy” game for me in 2016. Star Wars: Rebellion information is fairly limited at this point but what is known is that players will be in essence playing out the war between the Empire and Rebel alliance with over 150 plastic miniatures, the complete cast of the original trilogy in a seemingly War of the Rings style multifaceted strategic board game.

A combination of area control, specialty dice, card play, countless miniatures all hunched over a galactic star map in the Star Wars universe. What can I say other than “yes please!!”

2. Star Trek Frontiers

Vlaada games are hit and miss, but when they hit, they hit big.
Vlaada games are hit and miss, but when they hit, they hit big.

One of the most successful board games WizKids has is Mage Knight, largely popularized by its complex competitive adventure style mechanics with incredible depth. While I consider Star Trek Fleet Captains another huge hit by WizKids, the announcement of Star Trek Frontiers, a Star Trek adventure game based on the Mage Knight mechanic certainly caught my attention. It’s really a perfect marriage as WizKids has collected considerable experience with Mage Knight as a board game and Star Trek as a franchise. There is going to be a lot of experience applied here and while Fleet Captains has cleaned out the taste of never ending failure in Star Trek based boardgames for me, that haunting feeling of hope and disappointment that has existed for years as far as Star Trek board games are concerned is still there. I am as they say, rooting for them, it’s certainly looking good so far.

3. Through The Ages 3rd Edition

Let's home that 3rd edition of Through The Ages gets a much needed visual upgrade as well!
Let’s hope that 3rd edition of Through The Ages gets a much needed visual upgrade as well!

I’m really excited about this one for one very huge reason. I really love Through the Ages but it is soooo bloooooody looooong that I simply never play. At this point, in modern design, despite sitting pretty in the number 4 spot on boardgamegeek.com, if this game was released today in its 2nd edition form it wouldn’t make the top 1000 let alone the top 10 on boardgamegeek. It has aged terribly. Thankfully Chivatil agrees and he is working on a new edition of the game that promises to be streamlined and faster, which to me simply means that awesome concept and Idea of a Civilization game in a much tighter package. Now to me that game already exists, it’s called Nations and it’s very good, good enough to make my own top 10 list, but I love Chivatil as a designer, I think he is one of the best in the business and when he makes something, I pay attention. I really hope that Through The Ages 3rd edition is everything its promised to be, because I’m a huge fan of all the ideas in it, just not 8-12 hours’ worth of it.

4. Star Wars Armada

It made my top 5 most anticipated games of 2015 and now it has crashed into my 2016 list as well!
It made my top 5 most anticipated games of 2015 and now it has crashed into my 2016 list as well!

You know I love my X-Wing but one of the most exciting releases to hit in 2015 was Star Wars Armada and its future in 2016 is looking very bright. Not only is there a new Star Wars movie being released from which Armada will no doubt feed, it has already proven itself as a popular concept and the game is clearly succeeding financially. This can only mean one thing, lots of new Armada stuff! While we really have no information what 2016 will bring for Armada, if you want to peek into the crystal ball you need to do nothing else but buy movie tickets to Force Awakens in December and keep an eye out for big capital ships! Force Awakens may as well be an advertisement for Armada at this point.

5. Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition

Thank you FFG.. seriously, thank you!
Thank you FFG.. seriously, thank you!

Ok so technically if you live in America this just released and will be available within days for us living in Europe this is basically a super late 2015 very early 2016 release. I can’t say enough about how excited I am about this one, in particular because I won’t have to wait for it too much longer. Fury Of Dracula 3rd edition promises to be a more streamlined and touched up version of 2nd edition which to me was very nearly perfect. In fact, I was almost worried that it wasn’t a straight reprint but my understanding is that most of the changes revolve around non-core mechanics like expediting the combat mechanic, cosmetics like new art and a few other minor streamlining improvements. It all sits fine with me, I was never able to secure my own copy of Fury of Dracula despite it being in my top 10 list for years so I’m super psyched for this one. A wonderful one vs. all deduction game with adventure elements combined with one of my favorite themes.

Dedicated To All Things Gaming