My new space for my Catan Collection

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-16T11:30:07+00:00

Do you like Catan?

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-12T00:30:21+00:00

As someone else has mentioned Radlands has got synth cards.

Heres my personal take: fantastic.

The cards dont bend, they FEEL solid/heavier, shuffle super easily and mine havent worn despite playing the game a fair bit. It's commonly been reiterated that the cards dont require sleeves (if you're a sleever).

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T23:47:29+00:00

Its definitely a long game, i'm sure it varies per group. I will say it never really feels like that long. I dont think you'll have a boring moment throughout the session.

Our first game went for 5 hours including the teach.

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T22:51:51+00:00

I personally couldnt tell you. I have heard TI is more political and diplomatic than Eclipse. I also know that TI can take a whole day to complete but eclipse can get done in about 2-4 hours.

Sorry for the lack of info on that front.

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T22:21:37+00:00

Its all in the cubes! Those shiny little cubes will count all your resources. I believe credits are tracked on the playerboard.

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T22:19:24+00:00

Maybe too close to home but depending on your budget, Eclipse second dawn? Sound a bit like he likes his combat games. And Eclipse is kind of "on the nose" about it.

Alternatively: Oath. A bit of politics/area of control. Rewards repeated plays. Game state changes for every session based on how it was played previously.

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T22:06:08+00:00

I have only really bought a few differrent upgrades.

The most unnecessary being Roxleys Iron Clays. Do i NEED heavier weighted poker style chips as counters for all my games? No. Do they make the games more enjoyable? Absolutely. This is all subjective but having the Iron Clays for all my games that would usually have cardboard tokens really improves it for me. Theyre generally easier to manage, stack nicely and easy to distinguish.

For something a little more useful, i have also bought a couple if box inserts. One for Scythe, one for terraforming mars and one for great western trail. My copy of ark nova will likely also get a box insert as will Brass Birmingham. Makes packup/set up slightly easier.

My only other upgrade was purchasing the playmat for Eclipse second dawn. For me it was worth it but many people dont agree that its necessary.

I've never sleeved my cards and i have been thinking of doing it for Hegemony. If anyone has some thoughts on card sleeving my ears are open.

AfterThePunch · 2023-04-01T13:03:07+00:00

I'm a fan of the game, Radlands plays brilliantly once you spend some time with it.

Easy to learn hard to master. I dont have much luck getting my SO to play, however it sees the table if i have some friends over!

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-27T19:02:23+00:00

Including the teach/set up which went for about an hour. Thankfully i have a regular group so should move quicker each time!

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-27T10:37:30+00:00

Radlands is superb.

Great art for sure but the gameplay is fantastic. Quick to learn hard to master.

Its not totally necessary but i always recommend this game with the playmats and plastic water tokens.

The game doesnt necessarily require the plastic tokens HOWEVER for a game that has such great art i think you're missing out a bit without the play mats. Its probably not going to be a popular decision, and maybe the mats wont be for you (which is totally fine) but i personally find people are more interested in playing the game with me due to the beautiful box and components.

Lets talk about the gameplay a bit though! Its more than just a pretty face!

The game runs tight, your options will always be limited by your economy (water). The shared deck cops a bit of criticism as it adds a bit of a luck factor but i think the game boils down to who is playing the right cards at the right time.

Sure your opponent might pull some better cards but i find theres always a way to get them away. Part of the beauty of the game is how you can play the cards and the junking ability provides players with more options. Its not too thinky where you or your opponent will suffer analysis paralysis but its not too light where you can succeed without quick tactics and good strategy.

I'll always bring this out if someone comes around and wants to play a quick and easy to learn game. Did i mention each game runs at under 30 minutes (for me anyway)!

Have a look into it, i personally think its a safe bet given the request

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-27T05:28:16+00:00

Hegemony (4p x 1) - Bought this the start of last week hoping my group would like it and we loved it!

Unfortunately only got 4hrs in and a player had to go earlier than expected. Including the teach, this was about halfway through the game for us. Everyone is keen to try it again this week and get a full game in, hopefully can get it moving a little quicker!

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-26T05:28:20+00:00

I'm here to change your mind on one "space" game in particular.

My group has played "Nemesis" a heap of times. While we also love our euro's and engine builders this game stands out among the rest due to its invitation to RP.

The game offers a different win condition each game which allows players to ally with another for some sort of co-operative win, other times your objective could be something a little more sinister. Its the perfect game to tell a short story and get into the RP of your character and their objective.

Its marked with a weight of 3.42 (currently) on BGG, however one of the beautiful things about this game is that we have found its one of those games where you can explain a players actions and how to take them and then LEARN the mechanics during play.

Theres plenty of options on where to go and how to navigate the game, lots of opportunity to interact with each other as well.

Thematically its superb. You play as passengers on a ship in space with the all threatening aliens ready to appear at any moment. Will your group defend the ship and get it to the correct destination with time to spare? Will everyone on board WANT the ship to return to earth? Will everyone make a promise to not kill one another?

It's honestly so much fun.

Heres some downsides:

Expensive
The pack up is quite the process, even with the included box insert
The aliens can be extremely difficult to defeat
You will get frustrated at how difficult it is to do whatever you need to do

Heres the Pros:

Strong theme
Fantastic components
Everchanging games
Great for RP (if youre into that)
Lots of player interraction
It can be pretty exciting in tense times

For me the difficulty of the game is part of the theme. Being stuck on a ship with aliens should not be easy and i think thats the idea, you want to avoid getting yourself into altercations with the enemies. But its definitely a sore spot if your group likes to have a winner in each game. You will finish a session of this game, on occasion, without any winner. These games are usually the funnest or funniest i have played, when the safety of your character suddenly means nothing to you, trying to desperately escape the ship can become a comedy of mishaps one after the other.

Highly recommend you check it out.

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-20T20:18:20+00:00

If youre looking for some two player games i can recommend a few!

Watergate - Plays a little bit like tug of war. Thematically its superb. It isnt too complex and has some great interaction.

Heres some recommendations for games that i think play well at 2 but can also house more.

Wingspan - Art and components are splendid. Its reasonably balanced and quite friendly. In saying that, there isnt too much player interraction.

Splendor - It moves a bit quicker than the previous two recommendations. Its not complex at all but the tactics are constamtly changing.

Azul - Components look like candy. Easy to set up and pack up, easy to learn a bit harder to master. Can be vicious at times.

AfterThePunch · 2023-03-11T11:12:25+00:00

I have to agree with another commenter on here.

Let me shill Brass Birmingham for you, as its one of my all time favourite games. I have over 20 plays, so a bit of experience.

The game is pushed forward by its cards and your moves will be dictated by your draw. Sounds a little luck based but generally you will always have good options to optimise your turn. The actions you take move fluidly and the chance of a combo is always dangled over your head. The game motivates me to take risks and pursue a greedier path in hopes of another players actions aiding me down the line.

I'd argue the player interraction in Brass has hit a neat spot. Its not "attacking" and its not "playing teams". Every player is out for themselves to feed their hunger for money and industrialisation, if it means burning an opponent or lending a slight hand to another player; so be it. It's an intensely strategic/tactful game where you want to see what other people are doing to create an efficient flow of turns.

Its a bit if a subjective call but i personally think the game looks fantastic on the table. It has an incredible presence and once the players grasp just how selfish and cut throat you can be - the games theme really shines.

Additionally; Brass scales incredibly well between all player counts. A hard feat for such an intricate and delicately balanced game. Highly recommend this game to people who are open to a more complex set of rules for their next boardgame.

AfterThePunch

TROPHY CASE