Saturday 27 July 2013

Cards and Coffee at Hugin & Munin August 10th



August 10th we head over to long time FLGS Hugin & Munin for a night of cards and caffeine. The event will run from 5pm until 11pm. Through the entirety of the event all Tassimo coffee will be half off.

This event has proved to be very popular so you may want to show up a bit early as the place gets packed and we run out of chairs quickly.

Now I know the event is called Cards & Coffee but you don't have to stick to card games. Feel free to bring and play what you want. This is an all ages event so feel free to bring some young gamers out as well.

Hugin & Munin is located at 1664 Tecumseh RD. E. in Windsor Ontario. Parking in back or on side roads and free out front after 6pm.

Monday 22 July 2013

Games & Grub at the Green Bean downtown - August 2nd


Based on the success of our July event at the Green Bean's new Downtown location we are heading back in August. This new venue is seriously cool. Besides a couple huge tables, great food and still offering bottomless coffee, the new venue has a great pair of balconies overlooking Ouelette.

A heads up for anyone who hasn't been there before. The new Green Bean is located at 300 Ouellette on the 3rd floor. You go in where you used to go to get to the Palace Cinema or take the elevator to the third floor. The new cafe is part of the Windsor Star.

There's no theme for this all ages event. It runs from 6pm until 11pm. This is a great venue for longer more in depth games with lots of bits. Lots of lighting too.

It's Christmas in July over at DriveThruRPG



Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, DriveThruRPG.com is where the discounts are at!

That's right, Christmas in July is here! Get 25% off of thousands of products by dozens of great publishers! Put the jingle bells on, and keep some jingle in your pocket, too!

Note this applies to PDFs only. 

Sunday 21 July 2013

It's Read an RPG Book in Public Week!


It's that time of year again. The 2nd Read an RPG Book in Public Week of 2013.

This great event was originally proposed by The Escapist blog and is celebrated three times a year. You can read all about it over at The Escapist's Read an RPG Book in Public Week webpage. You can also check out their Facebook Page.

During these weeks, roleplaying enthusiasts are encouraged to take their favorite RPG rulebooks out with them and read them in public - on the bus, in the coffee shop, at lunch, at the park, or anywhere (as long as it isn't disruptive to work, school, church, or any other functions).

What's the point?

The point is to make the roleplaying hobby more visible, to get it "out of the basement" and into public areas where more people can see it. This will make others more aware of the hobby - some may ask you what your book is about, giving you the opportunity to explain the hobby to them. A few of those may be interested enough to try it themselves. Former gamers may see what you're reading and think about the great times they used to have with roleplaying, and possibly even try it again.

Personally my wife and I have already made some plans to head down to our favourite local coffee shop so I can catch up on some of the games I've bought in the last year that I haven't had a chance to touch yet.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Savage Worlds 10th Anniversary Sale at DriveThruRPG


Quick post to pass on some info that Pinnacle just sent to me:

In celebration of Savage Worlds TENTH ANNIVERSARY, we’re having a VERY RARE sale!

Most of our Savage Worlds settings and adventures are 25% off for two weeks only--from July 15th to July 30th.

If there's something you've been thinking about getting for a while, this might be the time to do it!

Pinnacle sales are like chupacabra sightings—rare, unpredictable, and elusive at best--so act fast!

Click the banner above of follow this link:

Sunday 14 July 2013

Classic WGR Review Revisit: Battlestar Galactica


For some reason Fantasy Flight's Battlestar Galactica has been getting a lot of press on the gaming podcasts I listen to. It's been mentioned on at least four different shows in the last month. This is a game I received for X-mas back in 2010 and first played at a Games & Grub event in 2009. I really loved the game back then and all the talk about it recently had me wanting to play again. So I brought it out to the last Boardgames Are Really Fun event at Villains Beastro last month and then broke it out again last night. Based on those two plays I thought it would be interesting to break out my original review and see if/how my feelings on this game have changed.

Original WGR review from Jan 10, 2010

Quickly - great team game. Note I said team and not co-op.

Summary:
This board game is based on the new SciFi TV series of the same name. Thankfully you don't really need to know the show as I haven't seen it (I know, I'm a bad Geek, but no Cable means no SciFi network).

This is a team game where the human players play against the cylon players. This is also a bluffing game as you don't know which players are which. The overall goal for the humans is to get Galactica to the planet Kobol and space jump one more time. The goal of the Cyclons is to prevent the humans from doing this.

Each player chooses a character from the series to play. Each character has two advantages and one disadvantage that generally break the rules in a typical exception based ways. After choosing characters players are given a hidden loyalty card that determines which team they are on, Cylon or Human.

The game plays similar to Shadows Over Camelot and a lot of people like to compare the two, which I couldn't help myself. Like Shadows each turn consists of a player moving, doing an action and then drawing a card for something bad to happen. Each player turn is very short due to this. The actions the characters can do are represented on the game board and by skill cards the players collect each turn. Actions include drawing more cards, launching and controlling fighters, firing Galactica's guns, repairing ships, voting in a new President and a ton more.

Each turn a player draws a set of skill cards based on the character they are playing. These cards are used for resolving skill challenges as well as having an ability for each card. The skill card abilities are often actions that a player can take instead of activating a board section and also include a lot of reactionary cards that let you modify die rolls or skill challenges. The skill challenges themselves come up as part of the 'Crisis Card' phase, which is the 'activate evil' part that happens after each turn.

Most Crisis cards are skill challenges. These test the human players by requiring them to play a number of skill cards of certain types to beat a target number of suffer some consequence. The consequences often reduce one or more of the resources that the humans need to win the game. If any of the resources hit 0 the Cylons win. Skill challenges are worked out by players in turn playing a number of skill cards. They can choose to play cards that help complete the challenge or ones that hinder. In addition to this cards drawn from a destiny deck add a random element. All cards are played face down so that the what was played is kept secret. In this way the Cylon players can interfere with the skill challenges and not be instantly revealed.

Other Crisis cards exist which place Cylon, Colonial and Civilian ships on the board. This sets up a space combat aspect of the game. Without going into great detail, the humans can take actions to launch and/or pilot vipers to deal with raiders and the Cylons move about the board trying to wipe out Vipers and civilians. Lost civilians mean lost resources for Gallactica. In addition Galactica itself can be damaged and/or boarded.

The last thing the Crisis cards do is tell you what happens at the end of a turn. Most of the time this means some or all types of Cylon units activate. Raiders attack, Base Stars fire or launch ships, boarding parties try to land. In addition to activation of enemy forces many Crisis cards also allow Galactica to move one step closer to their next Space Jump.

Each Space jump brings the Galactica closer to their goal of Kobal. Eventually the ship must travel 8 'sectors' away and make one more jump. If able to do so before running out of any resources or blowing up, the Humans win. To make things interesting, after Galactica has moved 4 sectors another set of loyalty cards is dealt out. This increases the chances of more Cylon players being present and can often result in a player 'changing sides'. Along with this, in a game with an even number of players, a Sleeper agent enters the game. Brilliantly the sleeper agent generally sides with which ever side is loosing at that point in the game, helping to balance the second half of the game.

In addition to all of this there are also rules for jumping between Galactica and Colonial One, for Cylon players to reveal themselves and take on a different role in the game, for players to send out Raptors on scouting missions, and a ton more. Politics is also a part of the game with one player being assigned the role of Admiral and another being assigned the role of President. Each role giving special 'powers' to these players. A line of succession exists if these people loose their roles.

All of this is a lot harder to type about then it is to understand while playing. It's all rather elegant and simple to get once you have it all in front of you.

The Good:
This is a team game and not a co-op game, which I like. Unlike Shadows where you may all be good guy and generally most players are on the same side, it's possible for this game to be an even split of human and Cylon players. This adds a ton of tension at the beginning of the game before the Cylons reveal themselves. The fact that you get new loyalty cards near the middle of the game is brilliant, as is the sympathizer rule for game balance. It makes it very interesting to be a human during the first half, as you want to do well, but not too well because you may be a cylon for the second half. I really like the skill system, it's a great way for players to play against each other without giving away their sides. Overall there are lots of great gameplay elements. I really like that the Cylon players have quite few options to choose from once they reveal themselves. This one thing makes this game way better then Shadows, where the Traitor is a pretty boring role once revealed.

This is genuinely the best team game I have played. Along with good gameplay you have the excellent Fantasy Flight production values. Nice miniatures, great looking game board, nice full colour instructions etc.

The Bad:
Cardboard Basestars. This is a minor beef, but all the other ships are nice plastic, why not the Basestars. Interestingly I mustn't have been the only one to be bummed by this as the Expansion for the game comes with Plastic Basestars. This ones a bit hard to explain (as I'm sure you can guess from the summary above), which means it's not the easiest to pick up and play right away. I find it particularly hard for any new player who also ends up being a Cylon. Now this is only a problem the first game or two but still it would have been nice to have maybe an intro game with no Cylon players or something to 'break the ice' for new players to the game. I was disappointed by how few different Skill Cards there were. When you first get a mitt full of these they seem really cool and varied, on your third turn though you will realize you will just keep seeing the same cards over and over.

The Ugly:
I personally hate the way Fantasy Flight write their instructions. They always do this thing where they explain the entire game on a couple of pages. Then then explain it again over like 10 pages. Then they summarize the first half of the game over a few pages. Then they go into specifics on the phases of the first half. Then they summarize the second half, then specifics on the second half, and so on. I find it generally means that there are all kinds of little rules hidden all over the place. They even have a section in the back 'usually forgotten rules'. I don't think they would need that if they could just organize better. An index might have helped as well. What this generally means is that you will need the instructions nearby the first few games and after you play a couple times you will want to re-read them and figure out what you missed or have been doing wrong. I also would have liked some type of 'player summary' cards or something that have some of the core concepts spelled out that can be given to players. In addition a card or sheet with the rolls required to destroy or damage a ship.

Overall:
This is the best team game that I own. I have greatly enjoyed the games I have played of it so far. It's very well balanced and the roleplaying aspects of the game combined with the bluffing of the cylons makes for an excellent social experience. Just don't be fooled into thinking this is a co-op game with a potential traitor, this are and will be cylons each game, probably multiples, this is a Team game, not a co-op game. I definitely recommend this one and expect my copy to get plenty of use at Games and Grubs events.

How I feel now 3 and a half years later:

Well I've got to say that not much has changed. I pretty much nailed most of it on the first review. It's still my favourite co-op/team game that I own. I still hate how few skill cards there are. I now use the plastic Basestars from the expansion every game. I have found the game has gotten easier to explain.


I think the biggest change for me over the last three years is that I've now seen the series. This is both a boon and a bane to playing this game. You definitely don't need to have seen the series to play. Actually having seen the series can really make the game shine. You know who these characters are, you know how the Cylon infiltration went and you can empathize better with the human side. The problem I've found though, especially in my most recent play is a tendency in some players to want to try to re-create the series. Some players can get caught up in playing Baltar from the show instead of playing a new Baltar from the game who may or may not have Cylon connections. Some fans of the show also start off automatically assuming that Cylons from the show will be Cylons in the game.

I think it's well worth while spending some time discussing how this is a board game and not an RPG and that we are trying to re-create the feel and tension of the show and not the exact plot and story. 

So overall more than three years in my copy of Battlestar Gallactica is still hitting the table and I'm still really enjoying it every time I play, even if some players mess it up a bit ;)

Friday 5 July 2013

The Masters of the Universe Role Playing Game by FASA - actual play review


If you are anything like me, stop it! Stop it right now! I mean it! I know what you are thinking: "A He-Man RPG, by FASA. OMG! Take my money!" That's exactly what I thought when I stumbled across this one on Boardgamegeek.com just under a year ago. This is a bad thought that leads to dark places. Trust me. Let me tell you why:

The Masters of the Universe Role Playing Game was put out by FASA back in 1985. FASA is the company that brought us amazing games and worlds such as Shadowrun and Battletech. They published that Star Trek RPG I talked about a couple weeks ago. They are and were a trusted name in the RPG marketplace. This would be why I was shocked and amazed and immediately went to eBay when I heard that they had made this game. Come on now, how cool would a good RPG about He-Man be? The problem, this isn't an RPG at all.

Unfortunately The Masters of the Universe Role Playing Game does not live up to it's name. It's just another bad licensed board game. Not only that, it's an incomplete, unplayable board game with some of the worst and most confusing rules ever written.

In this game it's the players vs. the game (see Pandemic didn't even come close to doing it first). The players take on the roles of various Masters of the Universe characters that include He-Man, Ram-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela, Fisto and Orco. The heroes are trying to break into Snake Mountain and steal the Jewels of Eternia. Attempting to stop the heroes are a wide variety of He-Man villains including Beastman, Trap Jaw, Evil-Lyn and of course Skeletor. The dungeon itself is also filled with a variety of traps and other lesser known monsters and defensive robots. Sounds cool doesn't it? Sadly it's not.

Gameplay starts by seeding the board. You have 10 treasures chits that are placed on the board on blue star rooms. These are randomized and only one of them has the Jewels the heroes want on it. This adds unpredictability and replayability to the game. Then the players take turns moving their hero standees on the board. Every hero has a character sheet with a ton of stuff on it, about 3 items of which are actually used. One of these is a movement rate. The board is divided into squares and it costs one movement point per square plus an extra one to move through a door.

Once everyone is moved you reference a map key and read off what room each hero is in. Then you roll for an encounter. This is done with a D6 roll adding modifiers depending on what room you are in. Some rooms have set encounters in addition to this. After rolling for an encounter the heroes in rooms with baddies can attack. Then the baddies attack back. There's a really cool bit here where the monsters have an AI described that tells you how they act. It's even cooler that some are very specific and based on what heroes are in the room. For example Beastman flees if outnumbered. Skeletor uses magic if Man-At-Arms is there but moves in and uses his sword on He-Man. After the monsters go, if a hero is in a room with a treasure token and no baddies they can flip it and take it. If it's the Jewels now all they have to do is escape. Other treasures either do nothing or give some special rule breaking ability.

Sounds pretty awesome doesn't it? Trust me it's not! This is what hurts the most about this game. It sounds awesome. It looks pretty awesome. It has so much potential. Sadly it's all wasted.

The first thing you will find when reading the rules, which are kind of neat and written like a comic book where your 8 year old self is represented in the comic as a generic boy outline, is that they make no sense by about page 1. By page 3 or so they make even less sense. Then you get to a rule summary, sweet! Oh wait this contradicts the stuff in the comic. Wait where's the defense chart? "This character only attacks by defending" wait what? "...attacks when a character enters the room... This monster never attacks only defends" huh? What the hell?


I'm being serious here. The rules make no sense. They feel like they are making a bit of sense. They actually feel enough like they are making sense that you may be tempted to put together a group and try to work through it, but trust me: when you actually try to play you will find you can't. That's right this game is 100% unplayable as written. It just can't be done. The only way to play is to just make stuff up as you go, as every 5 minutes or so you will go hunting for something in the rules only to find it's not there at all or is something as clear as "Spiders will always attack the closest player character. They will attack until dead. When defending they will use the attack option." then you will go looking for the Attack and Defend option. These are mentioned in every single monster description. Some monsters even roll to see if they Attack or Defend when defending. You won't find this. It's just not there. When attacking you roll 1D6 and add something. The defender rolls 1D6 and adds something else. I say something because no where in the rules does it tell you what to add to your rolls. You have a bunch of skills, stuff like Hand to Hand, we assumed that this is what you added and the bad guys have an Attack stat, we guessed this is what they add, but no where does it explain what you add to your die rolls.

This so could have been an amazing game, so what the hell happened? Well it ends up that there were plans to turn this game into a full blown RPG. There were even miniatures produced for it. But the Advanced Set, that was due out in 1986 was cancelled. This is the reason that the characters have stats and a list of skill that are never used in the existing game at all. This is why Orco has a bunch of spells on his character sheet but can only use a small selection of them. Sadly I don't know exactly what happened but whatever it was left us, the fans, with this sorry, incomplete and contradictory box.

So again I re-iterate: no matter how cool this looks or how cool it sounds, or how confidant you are that you can figure out these insane rules, just give up. If you are a collector, it's a cool item to own. Just save yourself and your players some stress and keep it in the box, forever.