C Montgomery

I have several friends who are almost constantly neck-deep in Warhammer 40k. So I’m glad they finally came out with a set that I can get and play without completely breaking the bank. Although even at $99 the entry fee is still pretty steep.

Like the description says, it includes everything you need to start. If you need a comparison to other games, this is much like the pre-constructed deck packs of Magic. enough to play, but certainly not the best ‘deck’ available.

The one thing I find extremely intimidating about Warhammer is all the painting. While I’m a graphic designer for a living, I find the process daunting. If you don’t mind unpainted mini’s, then this point is rather moot.

It should be noted, while the rules do cover how everything within the kit works, it doesn’t go over how the various abilities interact outside the scope of the kit, so if you plan on going forward, you’re still going to have to cough up for the faction(s) rulebook(s).

Originally and erroneously posted under the Miskatonic expansion.

I am a huge fan of Lovecraft’s works. When I found out there was a game based on it and that it was a co-op game, I was sold. A trip to the store and some willing people later we got our Cthulhu on.

Unfortunately, this game wasn’t all I had hoped. The course of action was readily apparent, and there was little-to-no room to deviate your actions game-to-game your only hope was to seal enough portals to win the game. While you were in another realm the events happening to you ranged from awful to impossibly hard. This isn’t a game you can win on skill. Sometimes the game kills you and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Unfortunately the expansions don’t do much to alleviate this, they just add more ways to fail. The larger box expansions even make the already huge board even bigger with supplemental places to visit (often you’re forced to send some poor sot off to deal with each of the boards, or face the doom track).

While I like the idea of the game, the execution leaves much to be desired.

I am a huge fan of Lovecraft’s works. When I found out there was a game based on it and that it was a co-op game, I was sold. A trip to the store and some willing people later we got our Cthulhu on.

Unfortunately, this game wasn’t all I had hoped. The course of action was readily apparent, and there was little-to-no room to deviate your actions game-to-game your only hope was to seal enough portals to win the game. While you were in another realm the events happening to you ranged from awful to impossibly hard. This isn’t a game you can win on skill. Sometimes the game kills you and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Unfortunately the expansions don’t do much to alleviate this, they just add more ways to fail. The larger box expansions even make the already huge board even bigger with supplemental places to visit (often you’re forced to send some poor sot off to deal with each of the boards, or face the doom track).

While I like the idea of the game, the execution leaves much to be desired.

I’ve mentioned Ascension in other reviews for what I call its “Reactive” deck-building as opposed to “Proactive” deck-building games like Dominion. What I mean by this is you build your strategy by reacting to the players in the game and the cards in the centre row instead of being able to proactively decide a strategy from the get go.

You can’t go combat heavy if there aren’t monster cards in the centre row, and going Mechana Construct is a lot harder if someone else is too. You need to change your strategy as you go. You need to react.

This is the reason I prefer it to Dominion, which, with many more cards than Ascension, got stale much quicker. With Dominion I felt that the strategy of the game was decided on the first turn. What strategy would be successful was clear once the kingdom cards were set up.

If you like deck-building, but want a different approach to it from Dominion, I can’t recommend this enough. For those with an iOS device there is an app available to give you a taste of the game at a fraction of the price!

As a long time fan of Euchre, when I was first treated to this game several years ago, I found myself instantly in love. Team-based trick taking with a few unique cards thrown in.

Each copy of the came actually includes two complete decks for play. While there are rules to play with more than four, I can only recommend it with four. This restriction shares the same downfall with four. I rarely have a gaming group of exactly 4, making it very hard to get to the table.

However, if you like Euchre, and have a game group of the right size, this is a sure hit. The polish of this game is undeniable.

I’m a fan of hive, and adding the mosquito adds in new strategies without drastically changing the game.

The nature of the mosquito makes it the first reactive piece in the game, that actively changes role within the situation, giving you new avenues in dire situations, or acting as that last needed piece to seal the capture.

It took me a while to track this down up here in Canada (it’s pretty easy to get now though). I really enjoy the addition of this piece. A must have for hive fans!

I love 7 Wonders, so when I got the chance to play the expansion at my Friendly Local Gaming Store, I couldn’t say no! it comes in a small box (similar to the FFG silver-line) and has a bunch of new leader cards, a few new guilds, a new wonder and higher denomination coins.

I’m so glad this came with more coins, the original game didn’t have enough and my group was constantly making change. The new 6 value coins help with this.

The new leader cards are recruited at the start of the game. (4 total, one for each phase and an extra). at the begining of each age you’re given the opportunity to play one. These can really boost your score, but can be really expensive financially to get out.

The new wonder and guild cards focus on the leader cards, helping them tie into the game.

One aside would be that some of the symbology used on the leader cards can be opaque. We had to look up several of them and didn’t really understand how the symbol represented the given bonus/ability.

All-in-all, if you love 7 Wonders, this is a no brainer. It extends the replay-ability even further than the base game! MUST HAVE!

When it comes to gaming, there are few games I won’t play. I have a large collection spanning from party games like Apples to Apples to heavy games like Brass by Martin Wallace. Unfortunately, after playing this game twice, I’ll never play it again.

I’m no stranger to randomness in games, nor logical thinking. In fact I can often be seen rolling dice of one form or another. However, in Robo Rally I found the chaos of the pre-programming and hoping for the best to be absolutely infuriating. With the inability to react to your opponents moves, I would find myself often back where I started after being slain in a pit, or blown to pieces.

On the board we played, with four people, there were clearly better starting positions than others. This was an immediate deterrent. While this can be mitigated somewhat by using other startup tiles (the board is modular), they all suffer from it.

If you have a gamer in your group that suffers from Analysis Paralyses, be forewarned, there is a timer and if you don’t get your actions programmed, they don’t happen. You sit there.

I wanted to like this game, and I really haven’t played anything similar (thankfully), so I don’t have a similar game to recommend. I don’t mind randomness, but I couldn’t stand this game!

Having kickstarted Eminent Domain and being lucky enough to get a PnP copy, I have enjoyed this game a lot. When I had first heard about it, I was told it was like Race for the Galaxy. However, after playing it, and getting to know the game, I think it’s much more like Glory to Rome and Ascension.

Many of you will ask “Why Ascension and not Dominion?” With dominion, from the start, based on the cards that are available off the get-go you can form a strategy. With Ascension you have to build a strategy based on what other players are doing. It’s more reactive than proactive.

As a fan of Glory to Rome, the leading and following of rolls works really well for me. It keeps downtime to a minimum and keeps the game moving quickly. Many other deck-building games suffer from “Multiplayer Solitaire” to varying extents because they don’t use a similar system and you’re often just sitting waiting for your next turn.

While some may find the number of available tech cards available a bit daunting (and it can be for the first few times), I found after a few games I was confident in my knowledge in the cards available.

All-in-all, I really enjoy this game, and look forward to many expansions ahead. Fans of Glory to Rome are sure to love this game. I can’t wait to get my production copy!