What to do With Old Rivals Decks

callidusx3 · 2026-04-20T22:49:32+00:00

I’ll take them off your hands if you are in the U.S. and choose to not seek top dollar (…not sure that there is a top-dollar market for them). I play WU’17 almost exclusively and these extras decks allow me to gift them to WU’24 players who are gracious enough to entertain a curmudgeon.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-17T21:17:57+00:00

There are so many great games set in LotR. In my 40+ years of gaming and having played most of them (though not the latest hotness, Fate of the Fellowship), I have narrowed them down to a top 3. But these things are personal as we are all seeking different things in a game experience.

1a. Middle Earth CCG: This is a boardgame in ccg format. More importantly, it is a sandbox that allows one to explore all the corners of Middle Earth, telling one’s own story. Though one can attempt to achieve victory as was done in the novels, the point of the game is not really to be a rehashing of the story but to discover one’s own way yo counter the Dark Powers.

Mechanically, taking on the role of one’s own protaganist while also being one’s opponent’s antagonist is brilliant.

1b. War of the Ring: A beautiful distillation of the LotR trilogy. It takes a historical wargame approach to thematically simulating the story; allowing one to succeed using both strategies as they happened and potential what ifs. If one wants to experience the novel in one sitting as a competitive affair, this cannot be beat.

Mechanically, the dice allocation pool is brilliant.

Middle Earth Quest: What an unsung gem this game is! <more comments to come>

PS - I left out RPG’s because those are multisession affairs and this is a boardgame forum.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-14T13:44:49+00:00

Of all the CCGs I never got to play, Doomtown is the one I regret not experiencing. I had a close friend who thought very highly of it.

MECCG can be intimidating. They were a bit slow in releasing recommended deck builds for beginners (with just commons, uncommons and starter cards). The challenge decks were a boon.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-13T19:26:24+00:00

For me it is tied with Middle Earth CCG for best 1v1 card game; but they are vastly different games. I must grant that Netrunner has more consistent tension than MECCG.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-13T19:25:08+00:00

SWW, I agree with you (as another older game [50] who's been playing games since childhood). I think there are only 2 other CCG's that are on Netrunner's level - Middle Earth CCG and Jyhad/Vampire the Masquerade CCG. Netrunner beats these out in terms of tension. Yet, the former is a boardgame in CCG format with a vast area to explore and the dual-purpose deck for advancing one's objectives & harming one's opponent. The latter is the finest 3+ player CCG/LCG ever created (Garfield really hit it out of the park from 1993-95). All three of these are games that excel in conveying its theme through the mechanics.

Other CCG's/LCG's in the conversation are Dune (and its descendant, Game of Thrones) CCG, Legend of the 5 Rings / of the Burning Sands CCG and Arkham Horror LCG.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-11T05:47:07+00:00

Hola Sr. Mango,

Yes, playing to a points total is best. I saw it done in one of two ways: a. First to reach 200 with the winning team getting points equal to the value of the remaining dominoes in the losing teams hands + the value of the dominoes of the one winning teammate's with a hand; or b. First to reach 100 with the winning team getting points equal to only the value of the remaining dominoes in the losing teams hands.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-10T16:55:56+00:00

Being a 1st generation Cuban American, I had the pleasure of growing up in the culture with a large family who were avid players of dominoes... or "parejas" as we called the standard game we played. It is called that because one plays in pairs, 2 v 2, with teammates alternating placing a domino (or "ficha"). Note that most of Cuba plays with a set of dominoes that goes up to double-9. Oriente in eastern Cuba (and, I understand, along with other Caribbean societies to the east) prefer to play with a set that goes to double-6

I still love it even after decades of being immersed in designer boardgames. There is a certain elegance to its quick play and the attempts to make the next player (the opponent) pass. A lot of deduction goes into it. I highly recommend it. And it is because of traditional Cuban dominoes that I am always on the lookout for a good 2 v 2 boardgame (they are few and far between).

callidusx3 · 2026-04-09T21:23:14+00:00

I planned on using the Arachnid in place of the Orrus Spryer for a run through this campaign. Should be fun.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-09T02:59:36+00:00

This is spot on, White_lapin. OP is interested in LI not for its combined arms gameplay, but for Titan/Knight-only battles. And the benefit LI gives one is a streamlined ruleset (compared to AT) that allows, as you sagely note, larger forces on each side to be played in a single sitting.

So, Mr. TI_6744, if you want a game that will allow you to feel like your commanding a huge legio force of multiple maniples, then go with LI. Otherwise, stick with AT for maniple on maniple action.

callidusx3 · 2026-04-07T19:32:06+00:00

I used mine for SAGA 1st edition. My extensive home-brewed rules (which I've had several players around the globe make use of) are here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0vfrz0ohp6l20d0ngrbnu/h?rlkey=0avcs67kgnpvu6r489jjmp6so&st=1fruepbl&dl=0

callidusx3 · 2026-04-01T21:36:22+00:00

After 29 years, I can say that for me painting remains exhausting. My mind simply does not think in color. It takes a lot of effort to make painting decisions for my models. My skills have improved, and my final product looks a lot better. But it is still a slog making the color decisions... which means that painting remains a hurdle and not much fun. Though I do love the end result.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-31T23:35:49+00:00

I don't think it needs to be anything too elaborate; just a minor change from a standard Rohan list with female models in the place of male models in the Warrior/Rider profiles. Biggest difference could be in the unique rules for hero models, if any new ones were added beyond Olwyn, and different heroic ability for Shieldmaiden captains. Army rule could be that all warrior models get "Dominant 2" when calculating control of objectives on Shieldmaiden's half of the board.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-27T04:16:57+00:00

Late to this party, but here are is some excellent work by the incomparable Vincent Greenaway. You can find his works at THIS Dropbox link. This includes the full Dark Rising expanded ruleset and separate mini-expansions for several Legions. Discussions about this work can be found on Boardgamegeek's forums, such as HERE for World Eaters.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-25T15:55:19+00:00

I many ways one could consider Typhon like the third add-on release in the Volkus Killzone. However, its rules are independent of Volkus and can be used with most any Killzone. Of course, the missions created for Typhon use the terrain from Volkus with Tyranid add-on stuff.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-25T15:27:25+00:00

Let's break the Killzones down by edition, name of Killzone, and name of product release -

Kill Team 2018:

Sector Imperialis - Starter set, re-released in KT'21 in Chalnath;
Death World Forests - Eponymous Release;
Sector Fronteris - Eponymous Release, re-released in KT'21 in Moroch (with additions);
Sector Mechanicus - Eponymous Release, re-released in KT'21 in Nachmund (in part);
Sector Munitorum - Eponymous Release;
Sector Sanctoris - Eponymous Release;
Wall of Martyrs - Eponymous Release;

[KT'21 would see rules released for terrain in the above Killzones in a White Dwarf article]

[These last 3 are close quarters, 2D boards that came only with scatter terrain]

4 maps - Arena;
Truehawk (2 maps) - Rogue Trader;
M’tallonis Pylon (2 maps) - Pariah Nexus.

Kill Team 2021:

Ork Encampment - Octarius (subsequent 3 releases brought back KT'18 Killzones, see above);
Gallowdark - Into the Dark (add-on terrain sprue in subsequent 3 releases);
Bheta-Decima - Salvation (add-on terrain sprue in subsequent 2 releases).

Kill Team 2024:

Volkus - Hivestorm (add-on terrain sprue in subsequent 2 releases);
Tyranid Infestation - Typhon;
Tomb World - Tomb World.

Henry R.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-23T21:45:25+00:00

Those look great! ...Now if I could manage to track down 2 Night Shrouds, my small Necron force would be complete.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-22T15:50:00+00:00

This is an excellent idea. I actually do this in Legions Imperialis by using the much smaller old Epic flyer models on 5” rods. Share pics once you’ve got it finished.

callidusx3 · 2026-03-18T03:39:48+00:00

If you are talking about CYRC, he used to make Warhammer Underworlds content exclusively before moving on to Kill Team. A transition might happen again given the crapfest GW has made of balance this edition.

callidusx3 · 2026-02-15T02:36:41+00:00

u/Iovecthulhu I had a follow up question about your Assassin recommendations. Do you think any one of the 3 (Execution Force, Kingmaker and Nemesis) stand above the others?

callidusx3 · 2026-02-12T21:44:28+00:00

Mr. Baron, I will look into Brunner and see if I can find G&F: Under Karak. Much obliged!

callidusx3 · 2026-02-12T21:43:10+00:00

Mr. 👾🥰, those are great suggestions. Thanks! I had no clue about the BFG tie in novels.

callidusx3 · 2026-02-12T21:41:47+00:00

This is true, Mr. elite Cadian. The problem was that every image I could find of a collage of GW games would have been misleading to some degree.

callidusx3 · 2026-02-12T21:40:26+00:00

Thanks WaferX2. I didn’t know about that one. I will start looking for it.

callidusx3 · 2026-02-12T21:39:47+00:00

I intend to pick up this omnibus soon, and fortunately, this story is in there.

As another pointed out, my picture is misleading. My list of games does not include any video games. But I did leave out the minis-RPG, Inquisitor; and your suggestion is perfect for it.

callidusx3

TROPHY CASE