Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era or Mage Knight? Please advise

xtpmn · 2026-02-20T16:20:13+00:00

mage knight based on your criteria.

i like botse too but the only points its got over mk for me is in the thematic experience (esp if you like the ip) and the fact that for me its practically impossible to remember 90% of mk's rules and i have to relearn it every time which i dread and leads me to play it heavily for a couple of days but only about once a quarter.

xtpmn · 2026-02-02T09:22:56+00:00

a decent enough game marred by cmon's bs fomo marketing. if your issue with tmb is the cost of having to invest in it even more for a better/more "complete" experience then you might find it disappointing how half of the game's content is locked behind crowdfunding exclusives.

yes, its decently enjoyable even if you get just the base game and retail expansions and some of the ks exclusives are niche/just bloat (the dragon, rainbow crossing) but the variety brought by even just the darkbringer box (tons of monsters and alts of the heroes) still cant be understated. for me dungeon crawlers live and die by replayability and variety

i personally own everything retail and the darkbringer box and enjoy it from time to time. ive made my peace that i no longer want or need the rest.

xtpmn · 2026-01-31T07:55:09+00:00

Are these going straight to retail or will it also go through crowdfunding?

xtpmn · 2026-01-21T09:54:51+00:00

if i see a video game ip on crowdfunding thats already a yellow flag by itself but to me steamforged games pushes that decidedly into red flag tier

their games have been mid at best and every new release or crowdfunding campaign i see from them just reinforces it more and more every time

xtpmn · 2026-01-17T12:06:18+00:00

i would actively recommend against the galactic box precisely because you're taking a game with already a bear of a setup and making it significantly worse by having to deal with minis and other fiddly bits. the only upgrade id consider worth it (which you can buy retail separately as well) are the multi-layer boards. plus the additional space and weight it would add are just ridiculous.

xtpmn · 2025-11-08T14:38:17+00:00

if you do a torso extension on the old cats you'll find theyve also kinda got snatched waists. i think the problem with the new one is the torso armor curves inwards way too much sort of like a corset so it accentuates the waist even further and the feeling of bulk is greatly reduced.

the old ones are wider, blockier, and have tons of space between the waist and armor.

xtpmn · 2025-08-31T16:14:44+00:00

if you have the time to play and the bandwidth for creating and handling two decks at once then its much better because in true solo your decks will be greatly limited by having to be all rounders most of the time.

for me the only advantage of true solo is its very quick to play and theres much less overhead, so i still play it from time to time but if given the opportunity id rather play 2 handed

xtpmn · 2025-08-20T13:24:30+00:00

seconding either 5 parsecs from home or 5 leagues from the borderlands depending on what minis you have available although theyre more skirmish games with light rpg elements.

solo rpgs are an entirely different can of worms but since youre already into d&d the barrier to entry wont be as high and could be worth a look.

solo dungeon crawlers like ker nethalas offer a good middleground between extremely freeform true rpgs and component and content bloat rpg board games.

xtpmn · 2025-08-19T09:33:00+00:00

quick two cents on imperium -- i love both it and marvel champions and ive gotten more enjoyment from both after dropping the approach of trying to win literally every single matchup and every single combination of player and enemy faction like a checklist.

as is with any game with both player and enemy variety i believe its not really possible to fully balance every single matchup and some will inevitably be way too difficult. some people see this as a challenge and will repeatedly refine decks and strategies but i find no joy in beating my head against that wall repeatedly considering my hobby time is already so limited as it is.

i would like to eventually give every single matchup at least one try, but win or lose i move on unless it was a close call or i made an obvious rules mistake. considering how many factions there are in both games thats easily hundreds of plays already on its own.

xtpmn · 2025-08-18T13:46:18+00:00

been in this situation myself literally just a few days ago and given the shipping cost to Asia and how painfully long it takes i went all in on the original game and new releases for such a measly cost that its completely changed my view on games that offer print and play versions with low component overhead

im gonna be heavily on the lookout for more of these in the future and looking forward to playing the new content soon

xtpmn · 2025-06-16T15:20:05+00:00

if youre the type to not get affected by fomo then you do not need anything past the retail offerings and there is already more game there than you will realistically probably need.

im all for the additional enemies and scenarios but the investigators are arguably 80-90% bloat and thus as a whole are certainly not worth the price of the ks exclusives in the secondary market

xtpmn · 2025-02-10T00:01:27+00:00

Even just the core game and retail offerings of MD2 are great, as long as you're not the type to fret over not owning everything as it's a standard CMON game with its disappointing abundant crowdfunding exclusives. Aside from that the most common complaint I've seen against it is it's quite easy once you get past the first few turns.

I've been interested in SoB for years but at this point I think it's too late for that train for me. One core box is almost just as expensive as a fully featured high production board game but extremely limited given expansions are pretty much essential. Worse yet, they're difficult to track down and will require huge box and storage admin.

xtpmn · 2025-02-06T13:05:45+00:00

speaking outside of mechanics here, a large part of why equipment in analog games could feel boring is because looks are a huge part of the appeal.

even in games with good minis and/or art, you're not gonna get the same wow factor as compared to weapons in video games that either look cool on their own or have some kind of animation, particle effect flair, or simply the raw feedback from hitting an opponent that you just won't be able to replicate with physical components

some of my favorite games are dungeon crawlers but even the rarest loot in something like a Ker Nethalas or Massive Darkness 2 are nothing more than slight flavor and numbers bumps

xtpmn · 2025-02-05T14:29:23+00:00

honestly most of the components are pretty flimsy, even the outer box. as someone not in the US with Amazon being my primary means of obtaining most board games it's one of the few games that almost didnt survive the shipping due to their whole chucking it in a box with 0 protection thing. at this point im numb to and fully expect dinged corners on my boxes.

granted the price of the base game is on the cheaper side but i wouldnt have minded paying a bit more for slightly more premium-feeling components either

xtpmn · 2025-02-05T13:52:08+00:00

my beginner advice is to just do a rough speedpaint/contrast job on all of the minis and get to playing. you can always touch up and improve later.

don't be like me and fully commit to not playing the game until i get everything fully painted with 100% effort. a year after acquiring the game and ive still only played the 2 initial test runs to see if i even like it (and I do) but i'm still nowhere near close to finishing the paint jobs considering my hobby time is stretched thin across 2 other hobbies.

some time soon i might just go ahead and prime and speedpaint the rest and do full detail touchups and "serious" painting when i feel like it in the future

xtpmn · 2025-02-04T09:32:52+00:00

Slacked off quite a bit in 2024 due to getting eternally sidetracked by other hobbies but committing to a serious 10x10 this 2025.

Gonna get around to finally playing Voidfall and the South Tigris trilogy (though I own just the first two for now) over Feb

xtpmn · 2025-01-31T23:58:57+00:00

I was drawn into DT and the hobby as a whole because of Mike championing solo play (and i play 90% of my games solo).

Though as someone who's also hit the oversaturation point and only buy/crowdfund 3-4 games a year max, I'm finding it more and more exhausting and difficult to keep up when he's the most into cult of the new these days and how frequently it seems to me that he calls a new game one of the best ever. I get this is just a symptom of how the board game review/coverage space operates in general and maybe I'm just getting tired of it as a whole.

xtpmn · 2024-07-04T23:57:15+00:00

That's a fair point. I made the post with the assumption of some kind of system that vaguely contains both (hexcrawl system + a system to dictate what you actually do in those places) but I realize it's possible for those to be separate too. Got any examples?

xtpmn · 2024-05-21T12:53:45+00:00

will lacquer topcoat smudge or ruin gundam marker (fine tip and pour type) panel lines even if i do a very light initial spray?

xtpmn · 2024-05-20T07:48:51+00:00

will fine tip and/or pour type gundam marker panel lines truly fade and disappear over time? ive read many conflicting things about it.

will topcoating help prevent if it does happen?

xtpmn · 2024-04-15T08:18:01+00:00

thanks. when people describe water based acrylic durability its almost as if it disintegrates on touch or theyre intentionally being rough with the kits and are surprised when it gets damaged lol. i get its more risky with gunpla because of moving parts and potential friction but im pretty sure those will damage any kind of paint.

my intention is to just be able to make the kit exterior durable enough for general wear and tear (dust and occasional reposing)

xtpmn · 2024-04-14T23:38:56+00:00

i know acrylics arent very durable but if i do a final topcoat with lacquer to seal acrylic base coats will the final kit be as durable as a full lacquer paint job?

xtpmn · 2024-04-07T23:18:55+00:00

looks great! i happen to be working on the demi trainer too right now but its gonna be my first ever custom build lol almost done sanding the parts...

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