RObby

The idea to break into the SotM universe and begin screwing around with timelines is a classic comic theme and is well executed by the GTG team in their third expansion. The game adds the Chrono Ranger character that was first teased in the Rook City expansion as the nemesis of Plague Rat as well as alternate timeline versions of Legacy (Iron Legacy), The Visionary (The Dreamer) and the villain Omnitron (as the hero Omnitron-X). Quick blow-by-blow on the characters:

Chrono Ranger
Adds a new type of card in “bounties” which are ongoing cards that can boost damage to the characters they are placed next to or provide health or cards for Chrono Ranger. His strength lies in the ability take multiple “shots” at the villian card per turn – many of his one shot cards give the player the ability to deal “1 damage” to a non-hero target (the same effect as Chrono Ranger’s base power). His weapon cards can be helpful but the best way to optimize Chrono Ranger is to get out multiple bounties ASAP. He has relatively few cards that affect the game outside of dealing damage – he has a grenade that can destroy an ongoing or environment card – but he is mostly in your party to boost and deal damage multiple times per turn.

Omnitron-X
Has possibly the best base power in the game, the ability to look at the top card of any deck and play it instantly. Chains very well (almost feels like cheating) with Chrono Ranger’s deck. Most of his abilities are equipment cards that trigger at the start of his turn and his deck also offers many chaining opportunities. It is not uncommon for Omnitron-X to play 3-4 cards/powers per turn. It does feel like cheating when you play him against villains that only deal 1-2 types of damage as his plating cards all but ensure he will remain at optimal health. We played him against the Chairman and defeated him handily as most of the Operative’s damage was directed at Omnitron-X, who was able to ignore it.

La Capitan
She operates with a quick-churn deck that pulls out crew (powerful henchmen) at an alarming rate unless you are able to quickly kill her ship. The crew all boost each other and her “Temporal Thief” card turns her and her crew nigh invulnerable. Recommended that you use characters that can deal multiple types of damage each turn against her – extremely useful for when she goes into her flipped mode. Love the variance on the crew – time traveling amazons, ninjas, vikings and world war I flying aces!

The Dreamer
The only time we’ve played The Dreamer was with Fanatic and “End of Days” sped up the game significantly. The Dreamer is unique in that she is a villain that you are trying NOT to damage and that can cause issues if you are playing a hero with halo damage capabilities. Be warned that if you randomize your hero deck choices, you may wind up with a hero or two sitting on their hands all game (looking at you Tempest)

I have yet to play Iron Legacy or Kismet. The environment decks add some nice spice: The Block is a fairly benign deck and depending on which card you flip in the early going, it can be a non-factor as inmates keep killing off guards before they can do any damage. The theme is nice, however, and it adds to the SotM universe nicely. The Time Cataclysm adds 15 almost random cards from previous environment decks and can create some fun situations when you are facing down both a rogue stegosaurus and a BLOCK guard at the same time!

Overall, the theme is very well executed, the new heroes add incredibly powerful boosts to your party and as always, replay value is through the roof!

It is hard not to like Merchants and Marauders once you open the box. The game board is a gorgeous map of the Caribbean and the miniature ships are well detailed (if only the sloop would stop falling over). We’ve played Merchants 20+ times now and it almost never gets old.

When introducing new players, this is one of those games that you need to play to learn. New players rarely win on their first try, but diving right in is far preferable to hour-long explanations. The key is to get players to give it a second play, which is often not very hard. The merchant track is easy to grasp and the locale and theme make for great fun.

The one downside is the lack of player interaction. I’ve seen tips that suggest starting the game with more NPCs involved. This could be a good tweak, but we prefer to limit the rules that allow over half of a player’s winning glory points to come from their stash. Eliminating the ability to “buy” a win often forces more interaction, even if only late in the game.

Overall the game has a strong theme, is easy to adapt to multiple strategies and has a very high replay value. We’ve been tweaking a user expansion that allows you to own multiple ships, and that has added even more fun to our games (but increases play time by a huge factor). I’d recommend this game to anyone who enjoys the theme, just be aware that you may need to play one or two semi-confusing games before it feels comfortable.

We found Sentinels two months ago and have already bought all three expansions. The replay value is excellent for a co-op game – I never feel like I’m just trotting out the same strategy every single time and the interactions between the different characters change every game. I’ve played by myself a few times to test out new characters after purchasing the expansions and I find myself narrating the game out loud – if only I had some “Biff” and “Blam” sound effects to accompany me. The cards hold up well (I bought the enhanced edition, which I’m told is of higher stock)after multiple plays and the villains win often enough to keep the game challenging. When my team wins without taking a casualty, it is a major achievement!