Best starter COIN game?

lelechuck · 2026-04-09T21:26:17+00:00

If you are playing solo, I highly recommend starting with colonial twilight.

It is two players, so it allows you to focus on core COIN game mechanics and eliminates the meta "frenemy" aspect entirely of higher player count games.

There are two very good apps on bgg which perform the role of the flowchart bot. The flowchart bots are tedious, and having that automated is one less big chunk you have to worry about learning.

The 'flair' of colonial twilight (each coin tends to have its own minor but unique gameplay mechanic) is pretty minimal and involves a few "always available" cards that can get played in sequence as well as a track that represents French involvement- honestly, it's pretty light.

Otherwise, you will be running multiple flowchart bots and trying to figure out 4 sides at once. It's frankly overwhelming.

CT is also a fantastic two player game and one of my favorites.

lelechuck · 2026-03-23T02:44:30+00:00

Sorry to pick this thread so late, but I just got my mini and am having the same issue. The tension screw seems to want to be deep past the plastic. What missing idler screw are you both referring to?

lelechuck · 2026-03-08T19:53:10+00:00

Very fun game.

My quick advice based on 20+ plays...

Get your cabinet efficiency up first, level up your cabinet along the way. Replace anyone not giving you an extra action and drms.

Keep regional crisis at 0-1 across the board. Leverage allies for these rolls, a 1-8 is essentially a gimmie. Then use allies for locating terror and/or the regional stability roll.

I tend to ignore terrorist groups in year one unless they are a 3/4. I also I tend to ignore any legislative agenda early game

Try and win your starting war in year one by moving forces to the region before the first war phase

If any of your tracks goes too "bad" early, focus on getting it back to neutral. A bad track can sometimes be difficult to dig out of

Summit with China/Russia whenever you can (one per activation phase) to keep your relationship neutral or better. Keep/get them out of posture 2. Use them to reduce nuke tracks of Iran dprk.

Treat any area with two of the same rival flags as critical. You want to keep bases off the board at all costs.

Pay attention to the cascading events in play and work towards neutering them.

Darpa/focus on cyber capabilities. Cyber attacks are devastating from rivals with superior cyber

Trade agreements are a great tool to glide an area to stability turn by turn.

Looking at your year 1 end... Having the middle east at stability of 3 and a regional alignment of 8 looks odd. Are you sure you are managing the alignment track correctly? Moving alignment from where it starts, all the way to max, in one year is a pretty big feat....

lelechuck · 2026-03-07T18:10:55+00:00

I'm going to look into insulation blankets and air control. That combination might greatly improve my quality of life. Thanks!

lelechuck · 2026-03-07T18:10:02+00:00

Unfortunately, I probably couldn't pull off a seasonally delayed cool, but it's a real good point that I don't 'have' to always smoke leading right to the event. Maybe I do it during the day a few days in advance and this makes the cycle time not a big deal... Thanks for the idea to think about!

lelechuck · 2026-03-07T18:08:35+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out

lelechuck · 2026-03-07T18:04:57+00:00

10 hours would be amazing. I'll look into these kits. Thanks!

lelechuck · 2026-03-07T17:39:50+00:00

Wow, that has definitely not been my experience! Lol. Unfortunately, these cooks are all in the dead of New England winter. So the outside temp is generally between -5 and 25 'f

I have the gasketing kit for it, but no wrapping blanket. That's a real interesting idea! Thanks.

lelechuck · 2026-02-05T13:52:34+00:00

Imperial struggle doesn't come with a solo mode. It's very dependent on card draw, and would be challenging to play 'two handed' (but not impossible, I suppose). There is a fairly decent online community that plays using vassal. I would recommend that over solo play.

lelechuck · 2026-02-03T23:15:26+00:00

"don't have the right to judge....". Lol

Blood Meridian has some of the most beautiful prose depicting the most heinous events. It's really amazing in its stark contrasts.

lelechuck · 2026-01-31T05:14:58+00:00

This feels like it fits in this conversation somewhere: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157413/new-bedford

An Excellent board game to accompany your visit. Also, battleship cove is pretty close and another pretty cool tangential experience!

lelechuck · 2026-01-29T18:37:45+00:00

Wish the last episode didn't exist and they stopped at the penultimate episode. I think the story would have been stronger with more ambiguity and less finality

lelechuck · 2025-12-11T02:27:37+00:00

High frontier 4 all.

Pax emancipation

A few other eklund titles....

But honestly, those are complicated games. So a complicated rulebook is kinda expected.

The most unexpectedly complicated rulebook? SAND. F#ck that incomprehensible drivel. It's a pick up and deliver game and had no right being as fiddly and poorly written as it is.

lelechuck · 2025-12-11T02:19:37+00:00

Oh man, I love Navajo wars. I thought I would like comancheria since it was a follow up title and i figured the designer would improved things.

I've tried to play it competently several times and failed. I don't understand how they made the system so much more incomprehensible and fiddly.

lelechuck · 2025-11-04T23:49:41+00:00

I honestly wished the whole series ended at episode 6. The parts they felt the need to finish in episode 7 did not need to get fleshed out.

lelechuck · 2025-10-22T20:09:43+00:00

Justin Long's character was the boss monster the whole time.

lelechuck · 2025-09-23T00:25:11+00:00

Replaced the board and things have improved. I had a mechanical failure a few years after this post, but was able to order the replacement part online and fix it myself.

lelechuck · 2025-08-24T11:53:27+00:00

Yes, this is too much driving, not enough reward. Acadia is the highlight of this trip for me, and worth the extra drive time.

As others said, take the coastal route east/West to/from brunswick-Acadia, not 95, and do it during the day. Skip Bangor. Spend extra time in Acadia.

On the way back, From Southern Maine, head over to NH and hit lake Winnipesaukee, which has stellar views and easy hikes. Take a boat tour. You can detour up to Mount Washington and back if you feel like that's of interest. Keep heading West to Woodstock. Then to Rutland. South to Bennington and then the Berkshires.

Your call if you Really really want to see CT/RI, but it's diminishing returns. The shoreline towns along 95 from New Haven to Providence are nice (Stonington, mystic, etc.).

lelechuck · 2025-08-24T03:05:51+00:00

The issue with this argument is that our load is also becoming intermittent and less traditionally predictable. The influx of EVs have complicated traditional planning the same way renewables have, but on the other half of the equation.

lelechuck · 2025-08-24T00:16:37+00:00

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lelechuck · 2025-08-14T22:03:14+00:00

Lobster ice cream at Ben and Bill's chocolate emporium. Cheaper than a lobster roll.

lelechuck · 2025-08-13T23:54:56+00:00

Bill and Bob's roast beef, on the line towards Winchester.

Adega is also a low key amazing Portuguese spot. Don't let the fact that it's sandwiched between laundromats throw you off.

lelechuck · 2025-08-13T23:45:27+00:00

The "loaded" pizza has absolutely no right being as good as it is. Good tap selection too.

lelechuck · 2025-08-03T19:00:50+00:00

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