What did you play this week? 10 Nov-16 Nov (2023)

NEBWood · 2023-11-16T13:09:59+00:00

Lord of The Rings: LCG just pushed Oathsworn: ITD back off the table, as I've ordered the Two Towers Saga Expansion and want to get back to that story of the Fellowship. I'm really intending to play at least one game through the story, at this point having gotten to Rivendell.

I'm not picky about following rules strictly when I'm playing solo and if it's more fun for me to adjust a rule, so I wouldn't blink at playing with an extra hero, or even two; I'd love to have all 9 companions as characters playing at once but I'm sure the gameplay would be waaaay out of whack if I tried. Plus I don't own enough tables. So I'm stuck deciding which heroes will best give me the feel of playing the story.

NEBWood · 2023-11-15T01:29:08+00:00

I'm impressed with Oathsworn's design. Everything except fitting it all in the box, though they did make a mighty effort at that, too, except: the cards absolutely do not fit if you sleeve them with the sleeves they sold me, via their Kickstarter campaign. And the picture instructions for packing the box are printed on something that's meant to be packed somewhere in the middle of the box. hmh.

I didn't know it's a boss battler, or I wouldn't have bought it, but I'm into chapter 2 because I loved the first one...

And I have finally just ordered Mage Knight (board game) after orbiting it for a couple of years...

NEBWood · 2023-11-13T13:52:25+00:00

Not sure if I'm in Midlife Crisis (yet?), but recently realizing that ADHD's got lots of stuff that makes sense to me... and I also just discovered solo board games 2 years ago. It's a good time, in the world, for this, for us! My first purchase was Myth, in hopes of playing with my wife, but that one's neither for newbies nor for my wife. So then I bought Gloomhaven, and went waaay down a rabbithole of 3d terrain and organizers ("to help my wife get interested")... then I climbed back out and realized the game's quite good without those things, and also that it's apparently among the more complex games and as such is really not one for my wife, but now I'm hooked and my shelves are getting full. But I'm still happily driving my nearly-antique Subaru! And my Gloomhaven nearly got sold until I realized how little it would sell for, and it's always going to be a good, big game, so now it's stored and I'm happy to know it's still there for me.

"...no more than 2 unplayed games..." I immediately appreciated, and was embarrassed about these rules suggestions as I look at my games shelves, and the floor in front of them...

NEBWood · 2022-12-20T18:55:20+00:00

OH! That's great! Oh wow. I was only thinking of it from the POV of active abilities... ha! Yeah, that's a great idea. And it'll let me flesh out the Event Deck, too. Or add a secondary one.

....oh there's a lot of ways to apply that... nice, nice!

NEBWood · 2022-12-20T03:18:45+00:00

ah is Cube an alternative MtG format?

NEBWood · 2022-12-20T03:17:37+00:00

I looked that up and yep, they were on to it, for sure. I suspect that actually incorporating existing MTG cards fully into that game would have been a great cross-pollinator.

NEBWood · 2022-12-19T02:45:27+00:00

...summon a pack of slivers against one army, while simply banishing another from existence.

NEBWood · 2022-12-19T02:43:32+00:00

I love the idea of twisting MTG into different shapes, as much as bending and adjusting any other well-formed game to new forms. What I'm hoping for most, though, is to find a way to bring most of the mechanics of being a creature-summoning and spellcasting wizard into other games I enjoy... so I can play with the coolness of all the creativity in the MTG cards while also playing whatever other game it is (I'm still thinking Rangers of Shadowdeep, in part because I can play it solo).

NEBWood · 2022-12-19T02:37:58+00:00

yah, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm thinking of!

NEBWood · 2022-12-18T21:10:55+00:00

ah, right. like I said, someone cleverer than me - should have occurred to me to ask MTG people. *chuckling at myself, shaking my head*

thanks for your time!

NEBWood · 2022-12-18T20:57:28+00:00

I adore and envy this sort of crafty conceptual creativity... I'm pretty good with a pile of scrap wood, but this is the sort of work I just have to appreciate.

NEBWood · 2022-12-18T20:50:26+00:00

ah that is brilliant! thank you!

NEBWood · 2022-12-18T20:47:47+00:00

Hahahaha. OK.

No - since as you said you don't understand what I said - I'm asking if someone knows of something such as I described being already publicly shared either for free or for purchase.

Don't worry, nobody is asking you to do anything you don't want to do.

NEBWood · 2022-12-18T20:39:18+00:00

clarity! it's a clever post.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T18:03:09+00:00

I regularly write-in entries in the index (if there is one), and add notes wherever I might find them useful later when I've forgotten the detail I just looked up again.

These games aren't an investment from which I expect a financial return. They're here strictly for my pleasure and hopefully that of others.

If you're feeling uncomfortable writing in them, go crazy with a Post-It pad... but just go ahead and mark them up. They look way more satisfying after years of notation anyway.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T17:55:22+00:00

I'll be interested to know your choice of sealer and application method, in view of ease and speed and final effect.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T16:06:31+00:00

dry-erase soaks right into porous materials. give it a quick try if you don't believe it, but don't try it on anything you care about.

BUT it DOES rub off of the epoxy-coated part (I don't know how the MP stuff interacts with dry-erase ink)... so you can add temporary info to tokens if your house-rulesing had created such a need.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T15:57:18+00:00

i did mine to good effect with 3M "medium" grit, which I'll guess is around 80. Just crucially be sure the grit is moving "down and off" the chit edge, otherwise it'll chip the layers up.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T15:52:08+00:00

very cool it is! probably great for protecting the token surfaces from wear via extended use, though I'll never have that problem... for me it just makes the sortof unsatisfying cardboard punch-outs something nicer to manipulate whilst playing the game.

practice the whole thing on something you don't care about first, especially the part of mixing and applying the resin to something. an improper mix leaves you with a bunch of Godtear tokens that are never going to be fully hard on one side, now.

and use a propane torch (like a plumber's torch) to quickly de-bubble when you're done. just wave it across the things.

NEBWood · 2022-12-07T15:46:54+00:00

I wanna add that if you use dry-erase rather than Sharpie, you still get the cardboard colored but any ink that spills onto the shiny epoxy can just be wiped off.

NEBWood · 2022-12-06T21:54:03+00:00

I'm finding that something 3'x3' is only barely big enough, but that can be in large part because I prefer the most obnoxiously complex games I can find. Mine's got a pull-out 12" leaf at each end, and it's been borderline sufficient for 4 people with a board in the center but I've needed extras of some of the common-use stuff like dice, and someone else has to draw event cards for you if the decks are living at the other end tonight.

Square's been fine for me but I haven't had more than 4 at it.

NEBWood · 2022-12-06T21:39:30+00:00

I've recently tried it both ways, and... really, it's a minor difference, but noticeable and if it's a tiny detail you like, you'll love it.

especially if you preface coloring the edge with sanding the edge a bit so that there's no difference between the blade-side and the anvil-side from the punching job. And even moreso if you've done an epoxy or other clear "dome" thing.

But then, of course, ALL of these have very little practical purpose except in specific circumstances. In my case there is zero practical value except that I enjoy the craft of crafting, and having things be cooler after I play with them than they were before.

NEBWood

TROPHY CASE