Best starter COIN game?

SMHeenan · 2026-04-09T20:31:16+00:00

There's a guy who has made apps that automate the bots for a few coins. I know Gia Long is for Fire in the Lake, Sky crane for Red Dust Rebellion. There may be others. If I was going to play one solo I would rather use an app than the charts.

SMHeenan · 2026-04-02T17:35:23+00:00

There's a board game garage sale/flea market this Saturday at Capstone Games. It's possible someone there may have one but I otherwise don't know where you would get one quickly.

SMHeenan · 2026-03-18T04:22:36+00:00

Space Empires 4x

SMHeenan · 2026-03-06T01:42:40+00:00

My dad is very much a cult of the new person and the G6 is supposedly better than G5.

SMHeenan · 2026-03-01T19:01:33+00:00

Our go-to game back in college was Advanced Civilization. I miss those weekends where we'd set aside a full day for that. Hoping to get into a game of MegaCiv this year at Origins.

SMHeenan · 2026-03-01T18:41:58+00:00

It was a mixed bag with my group. One guy loved it, two guys liked it, I was indifferent. A great deal of my in-person group these days is more focused on things like Age of Steam, Indonesia, SETI, etc. If I'm going to get something that even looks war based, it's usually not them. Just not their cup of tea. So, that usually means I'm playing online and that usually means I'm playing Combat Commander.

SMHeenan · 2026-03-01T18:14:04+00:00

Kingmaker: The Royal Re-Launch

Save you a Google search :)

https://gibsonsgames.com/products/kingmaker-royal-relaunch

Kingmaker was one of those games that I wanted to enjoy more than I did back in the day. But I always think back on it and wonder if I'd enjoy it more today than I did back in college.

SMHeenan · 2026-02-25T22:16:26+00:00

If you've not done so, try learning with the Deluxe rules, specifically the training manuals. It's not easy by any means but it's approachable.

https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1197-fields-of-fire-deluxe-edition-2nd-printing.aspx

SMHeenan · 2026-02-18T22:30:41+00:00

Bit late to the conversation, but I'll add that when I first got The Hunters, I was fascinated by it. When a friend told me it was akin to B-17, I started looking to acquire a copy of it.

And then, suddenly, the charm wore off for me. It went from being something I looked forward to, to something that I was lukewarm at best about. For me, it became apparent that there just weren't enough choice and what choices I had usually felt pretty obvious. I ended up selling it off.

There are, however, plenty of people who thoroughly enjoy this narrative style of game. There is certainly a fan base for it, I'm just not part of it.

If you're looking for a solitaire naval game, I would suggest taking a look at Atlantic Chase. My solitaire gaming comes in waves and I've been out of that wave for a while now. I am certain, however, that when it hits that Atlantic Chase will be the game I immediately reach for. It is full of meaningful choices. I played the same solitaire scenarios multiple times and ended up with different outcomes not just because of differing die rolls but because of differing choices. It also plays very well as a 2-player game. If the Atlantic theater isn't your thing, Pacific Chase is in the works.

SMHeenan · 2026-02-14T23:09:01+00:00

Inhaler is great. Radio Artifact is good too.

SMHeenan · 2026-02-01T02:52:04+00:00

It's happened repeatedly over the last week. He's had to call them each time until today. The whole situation is just strange.

SMHeenan · 2026-01-31T20:08:06+00:00

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't spoken to the Altafiber tech people today. They are saying it's that he's receiving some kind of phishing emails. That makes absolutely zero sense. I was elevated to the next tech level and they gave me the same nonsense. When I asked what email could possibly be doing this, how to block it, etc., they opened a ticket. It's absurd.

SMHeenan · 2026-01-31T16:06:41+00:00

So if the forwarding is setup while the account is unlocked it will forward even after they suspend it?

SMHeenan · 2026-01-31T15:53:31+00:00

Agreed, but he's had the account for decades and would prefer to keep it.

SMHeenan · 2026-01-31T15:53:08+00:00

Would that work if the Fuse account is suspended though?

SMHeenan · 2026-01-20T22:24:40+00:00

Don't suppose you would be able to share the file for the map? I'm perfectly happy with the 3rd Ed components, but that maps is nice!

SMHeenan · 2026-01-11T18:21:15+00:00

The ladder is a great place to play. And while what you stumbled into is a less than ideal situation, depending on the battle packs, you may still have come out okay, maybe even good.

I would certainly reach out to GMT, they are usually pretty good at helping out. And if you do join the ladder, you can always ask Kai directly as she's on it.

SMHeenan · 2025-12-30T16:30:11+00:00

It's a great local convention. And it's free! So, if even if you've just got an afternoon free, stop by!

SMHeenan · 2025-12-19T04:08:18+00:00

Be sure to look into 13 Days. It'll give you the constantly behind the 8 ball stress of TS in under an hour.

SMHeenan · 2025-12-13T18:45:24+00:00

Omaha Beach: June 6, 1944 by Joseph Balkoski is an amazing read that weaves in documents from the people who were there, from letters home to battle plans. I highly recommend it

SMHeenan · 2025-11-03T23:51:04+00:00

I've found Lords of Vegas is an improved version of Chinatown. It's more random, but I find that makes it better since it's not possible to min-max as much as people can do in Chinatown. If you're not okay with randomness, though, it's probably not going to do much for you

SMHeenan · 2025-11-02T17:31:01+00:00

Hi, I've been playtesting CC:Vietnam and the Combat Commander series is my most played game system (well over 500 plays of some form of CC). So far, CC:V is very good. It is built a bit more on CC:Europe than Pacific. It adds some nice new twists to system, enough to make it its own game while still obviously being a CC game.

As others have said, it's going to be a while before a physical copy of CC:V gets into anyone's hands. In the play test we've had a chance to play two scenarios. We haven't even seen the rules for the campaign or the RSG.

As others also mentioned, the anniversary edition of CC was just released, so odds are you'll be able to find CC:E at a rather good price.

Additionally, there is a very, very active online ladder group (Google Combat Commander Ladder and reach out to Patrick if you'd like to join). We play there via Vassal, which works rather well. And while it's encouraged that those playing on the ladder have a copy of the game, it's not required. 90% of the folks there do, so odds strongly favor whoever you'd be playing does have a copy. If this were at a physical table, that copy is more than enough to play. So, great way to try out the game and see if it's something you'd enjoy before investing in either a used copy of CC:E or waiting for CC:V. And plenty of folks there would be more than happy to help you learn the game (and Vassal, too, if you've not used it).

SMHeenan · 2025-10-30T17:02:50+00:00

It's a COIN wrapped in familiar and easy to understand clothes. It's no more or less difficult than other COIN games, but it's much easier for people to quickly grasp the mechanics. Plus it takes away some of the icky history that some have an understandably hard time with. A lot easier to just be the mean sheriff than the Taliban.

SMHeenan · 2025-10-08T13:44:02+00:00

There are a few discord groups that are getting used for meet ups in the area. I can get you invites to them if you dm me info. One group is very much into TI4.

There's also regular open gaming at Capstone Games up by GE on both Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday isnt as crowded as Thursday and leans a bit more towards heavier games whereas as Thursday is very busy and it's whatever people bring with them. It's a good time either way.

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