Saturday Morning Games
Hello, everyone! Its getting to be time again for games and coffee on Saturday morning. Start time and end time are flexible as are the gaming agenda. If you're interested, just post a comment.I don't expect we'll have a quorum for TI:3 (pictured above), but its nice to think about now and then...
Other random ramblings:
- I just picked up the full set of Nuclear War and its expansions. Let the madness begin!
- Also in the box came the new FFG World Tank Museum miniatures... very nice. Unfortunately I just can't convince myself to buy enough to replace everything in Tide of Iron. Maybe if I end up totally loving the game, but apparently its going to be another month at least before I see if Tide of Iron plays as good as it looks.
- I finally broke down and picked up Federation Commander, the kinder and gentler Starfleet Battles (SFB). Anyone interested in flying a starship?
- Jeff and I have selected each other a Netflix friends, which seems to be pretty cool. Any other SABG Netflix members interested in joining us?
posted by Ben @ 8:16 PM
17 comments
17 Comments:
Work this Sat....
but will be playing Twilight Struggle with Mark tomorrow night!
There's a chance I can make it. (Where is this ... your place?)
I'd like to try Fed Commander, I played SFB fairly seriously at one point (mainly tournament duels). The rules really were complex, but so well organized.
Cool! Hope you can make it. Address e-mailed...
The few times I played in SFB tournaments I found it to be an exercise in who knew the 100 pages of rules better... Fed Commander seems to keep all the good and get rid of most of the non-value added complexity. Still digesting though...
Anyone else?
Oh, there are certainly a lot of rules in SFB (but I could teach the basics in 20 minutes). A lot of the rules are specific weapons, terrain, and unique alien systems. But if you limited yourself to tournament duels, it was probably only a hundred pages. 150 tops. And 1/3rd of those only applied to a single ship (unique weapons and systems).
Of course, if you played campaigns and fleet duels (and legendary officers, X ships, etc) then you had to double the rules.
My initial scan of the rules indicates they've dumped two game concepts that were particularly troublesome in SFB (and in my opinion had nothing to do with the Star Trek theme): scatterpacks and wild weasels. Drones and anti-drones are still there, as are suicide shuttles. I haven't read the cloaking rules yet, but I also remember these being particularly complicated (especially getting the timing of the transporter bomb flashcube effect right).
Each ship is presented in two scales: squadron scale (i.e., full-size; recommended for 1-3 ship scenarios) and fleet scale (half size for big fights).
Having played SFB before makes going through this quite a bit easier. My impression is the rules for Fed Commander are similar to the ones for ASL Starter Kit in that it must have been painful for these guys to actually write about the game system in plain english. There are many places where I thought to myself, "Wow, I'd be totally confused by this if I hadn't already played SFB."
Still, the box claims you can teach this to someone in 10 minutes, so I'm looking forward to it.
My life has eased up somewhat. Meredith is out of the hospital, though still on bed-rest for the next ~10 weeks. Her mom came for a visit.
That means I'm free Sat morning!
I'm somewhat game-starved, so I'm up for most anything. A game w/ "teeth" would be great.
Wow....that sounds pretty complex. My brain's been busy absorbing the new version of Samurai from GMT. It's part of the Great Battles of History series: an excellent, albeit complex, system that simulates (it's an actual SIMULATION) historical battles. Lots of rules, but good depth and flavor. For example:
1. If a samurai or a Busho (leader) is ashamed in battle, he has the option of committing suicide....granting temporary "powers" to the friendly units that witness the memorable event.
2. Samurai units 'challenge' other samurai units and/or leaders to battle. The winner can lop off the opponent's head (there are actual severed head counters to keep track of this), thus increasing the chance of rallying the opponent.
Pretty sweet. Don't know if I'll go beyond solo'ing a few scenarios, but I'll have a blast doing it.
Oh, and TS with Mark? Pretty intense game. Third time playing the US (and third time overall). We played the FULL 10 rounds: yes, the US made it to the end, but Russia still won with the final rescoring of all the regions. This is one game where knowing the cards REALLY helps, and not knowing them, can screw you harshly (at least the US side).
What time are meeting? 0800 is my preference, but I could do 0730.
There is a chance that I can come.
Ben, I will give you a call and let you know if I am coming in the morning. If you dont get a call do not wait for me.
Let's say 0800 start time. If anyone wants to show up later, just let us know. If you're sure you're coming we can plan around it.
Severed head counters? Nice! I think Descent needs to add these.
Ted: I'm very happy to hear the good news.
I also now own LotR: Battlefields, though this too is in my pile of rules I need to read.
I still haven't played Twilight Struggle 2.0 yet. In fact I think my copy is still in shrink, right next to Paths of Glory and For the People.
Ben, can you email me the place?I might show up if I can get my work done tonight.
When Ben mentioned, TI3, I was excited. But I wonder if the dog house is big enough. It sound like TI3 will not be the game and for that I am glad (Although I would like to play SFB - I love Star Trek). I really need to be domestic, so I will have to pass. I look forward to the reports!
The dog house might be a bit tight for full 6-player TI:3. We seemed to manage okay with 6-player WoW, which did take up about as much real estate (if not more) than TI:3. 8-player TI:3? Forgetaboutit.
8 player is possible? drool...
The expansion set added components to take it up to 8 players. Perhaps at BGG.con...
Session Reports? Are you still in the Dog House?
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