Friday, June 22, 2012

Game Review: Alien Frontiers

One of my great finds at Bayou Wars this year is a game called Alien Frontiers by Clever Mojo Games. I really feel it is the crown jewel of my convention swag. Jeremy over at +1 Gaming mentioned it to me a while back, saying that he knew I would like it. At the convention, +1 Gaming ran demos of several of the games they were selling, and I just happened to walk by when they were demoing Alien Frontiers. Seeing the game all ready to go Henry, Seth and I jumped in. Twenty minutes later, the game was bought!

In Alien Frontiers, you control a fleet of rocket ships used to manage resources and acquire alien technology in order to colonize a planet. You score points by controlling certain areas on the planet, such as Herbert Valley or Asimov Crater, and once a player's last colony is placed, you tally up who has the most points at that time by using the handy dandy point tracker with cool 1950's sci-fi style rocket markers. The person with the most points is the winner!

Henry surveys the Alien Artifacts!
Now the cool part is the fleet of ships you control are actually six sided dice. You begin the game with three. You essentially are rolling for your resources each turn. Resources come in the form of Ore mined from a moon or Fuel converted from solar energy. After you roll the dice, you consult the different docking stations and place the die/dice at the stations to generate an effect. For example, you may place a 5 on the Solar Converter to generate three Fuel, a 4 on the Lunar Mine to generate one Ore, and place a 2 on the colonist hub to begin the building up for colonists. When you are done rolling dice and generating effects, it is the next player's turn. And this is the key, addictive mechanic of the game: rolling dice and deciding where to place them on the board. Do I go to the Alien Artifact and purchase one of the dynamic, game changing Alien cards? Or, if I rolled three consecutive numbers, place the die on the Raider's Outpost to go pirating other player's resources or cards? Should I build more ships (which generate more options in subsequent turns) or should I add more colonists to the planet? Each territory on the planet correlates to a docking station, and thereby grants some bonus or effect to the station to whomever controls the corresponding territory, such as generating one extra fuel or reducing the price of building new ships. The trick with the dice placement is there are only so many spaces for ships to dock at any one docking station. So if someone else has taken an area you may need, you are out of luck!

When we played, the common strategy was to acquire Ore and Fuel quickly and then build additional ships. Whomever controls the Burroughs Desert territory can access the mysterious Relic Ship and add this colorless die to your fleet of ships. Once your fleet is up and running, we then began going after the Alien Artifact cards, colonizing the planet as quickly as possible, and sometimes working together to slow the leader down, then just as quickly, going off on your own in order to surge ahead.

Another appealing aspect of the game is the theme. Alien Frontiers definitely has a 1950's "Retro Ray Gun" sci-fi type theme going on. The graphics are excellent, with glass bubble helmeted space men and long silver, rocket ships adorning the game board. The docking stations are glass dome looking cities reminiscent of something out of The Jetsons. To me, this theme and the rolling resource mechanic really fit well together. It gave me the feeling of exploring and colonizing space as some sort of Space Tycoon. The game components are excellent quality and easily surpass the standard of many games on the market

Alien Frontiers is a must have game for those who enjoy resource management style Euro games and rolling lots of dice! Kind of like Yahtzee meets Puerto Rico. I really enjoyed playing this game. Jason pointed out that it my not have some of the direct "mess with your opponent" actions such as he enjoyed with Lords of Waterdeep, Alien Frontiers does cause you to make decisions quickly that may effect your opponent. For me, I can see reaching for this game a lot more when we get together for board game night.

Two thumbs way up for Alien Frontiers!

Alien Frontiers MSRP $49.95

Strength and honor,

-Wicked




Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Bayou Wars 2012 Day Two

Another rainy, early morning at Bayou Wars for me. Saturday, of course, is the busiest day and there was more gaming going on all day than one could possibly play! After a quick breakfast of iced coffee and pastries courtesy of Allie Henson, Prime Mover over at +1 Gaming (thanks Allie!) I began my search of interesting and new games to learn and play. The +1 Gaming crew were running game demos of a lot of the games they were selling and I found this to be a very unique way of engaging her customers. The Field of Glory tournament tables are always packed and I always enjoy watching those guys play. I keep telling Hilton  that I'll play one of these days, but I've never been a big historical gamer and the game looks complex. That said, the Romans do keep calling me....

I observed a demo of Away Team, a classic Star Trek inspired game of 15mm space exploration and combat by Astro Miniatures. Their miniatures looked great and the game was easy to learn. I really liked the alien planet terrain they used. Some looked right out of the ST:TOS show! I then headed over to Theresa Hafer's vendor table to pick up a copy of 2 Hour Board Games Larger Than Life pulp themed rules but alas, she was sold out. Drat! The Larger Than Life rules do a great job of mimicking a silver screen movie pulp adventure. It sets up a very story driven narrative that plays out as a table miniature game, though it feels more RPG to me. Which, I think, is the point.

The Heavy Gear Blitz Tournament was small and consisted of some familiar faces, but everyone had a good time and it further raised the awareness of the game and piqued interest in more than a few people. Special thanks to Dan and Jill (BCullen and Fufu Bunbun off the DP9 forums) for running the tournament and demoing Heavy Gear Blitz in the dealer room all weekend long. They did an outstanding job of representing the DP9 community and showcasing just how awesome HGB is. While I did not play in the tournament, Year of the Gear is in full swing, and I credit Jason Rush for getting the ball rolling and for getting other  people into this great game. I also have to give a shout out to Henry Shenk for demonstrating, yet again, how true sportsman and team player should act. Once the dust settled, Addison Mosley won overall, though I hear it was a hard fought win, down to the wire. Good times!

Jeremy Henson ran a small Warhammer 40,000 tournament and we took advantage of the time between rounds to play a game of Incursion. This was a momentous occasion, as it was the first time he and I actually played a game together. Sadly, we didn't get to finish due some issue with the tournament, but we enjoyed the game. As the Allied player, even though he was down two APEs, he still had more than enough firepower to fend off the Sturmzombie horde and win the game (at least, that is what I saw as the outcome)!

I then took some time to watch Ken Hafer run his Colonials war game and realized, as if it were my first time doing so, just how good Ken is at running his games and immersing his players into whatever world he is operating in. His tables and miniatures are always well painted and top notch, and everyone seems to really have a great time at his table. Ken truly is inspiring to me and a fantastic guy. If you ever get the chance, sit in on one of his games!

I then peeked in on Richard Allen and Company and saw them playing some Battlestar Galactica miniature game and thought "man, are those guys in their element"!

After a final sweep of the Dealer Room, hunger and my lack of sleep finally caught up with me. Abandoned by my friends for some movie called "Promiscuous", I decided to head home for the day. I will buzz by tomorrow, but Sundays at Bayou Wars is a time for winding things down. However, some folks continue to game even as the hotel staff is cleaning up and moving furniture around them.

Many thanks to all of the good folks responsible for putting on this great convention. To the many Game Masters, organizations, and volunteers who donate their time and may go unnoticed or unseen, you have my deepest thanks and appreciation.

So another great weekend of gaming was had. I am suitably tired and taxed from the experience, but I am already looking forward to doing it all over again next year.

Strength and honor,


-Wicked

















Battle on the Bayou! Bayou Wars 2012 Day One.


Seth and Rick learn Alien Frontiers
Bayou Wars 2012 began slightly damp outside, but that did not wash out the veteran Bayou Wars faithful. It is always nice to see all the familiar faces each year and catch up on what's been going on. I've also met a lot of new folks who filled me in what is popular on their gaming tables. 


As promised, the day was full of playing board games, board games, and more board games! We started out with a great game of Talisman, which Henry won with a fairly beefy Dwarf and a lot of luck. We then played my "secret" game that made its premiere for our group, Incursion. And what a debut it made! Incursion is basically Space Hulk with a Secrets of the Third Reich, pulp Weird War II theme. Early on it looked like the Allies had the game readily in hand with all their advanced weaponry, but victory went to the Reich as the Sturmzombie horde finally managed to overwhelm the diesel powered APE battle suits.  Everyone loved playing with my painted miniatures. Look for a review of this game on the Dojo soon.

Next, we threw down with a great game of Chaos in the Old World, but again, Henry won as once his Khorne killing machine went into action, there was little the other Chaos powers or the multitudinous Skaven could do stop it. Afterwards, we jumped into a demo game sponsored by +1 Gaming called Alien Frontiers. This is a sci-fi spin on a worker placement/resource management focused on planet colonization. What a great game and a fine demo. Indeed, this game became my trophy piece of convention swag after it was all said and done.

After a hearty dinner at Louisiana Purchase Kitchen and some hanging out in the dealer room, we tackled a game of Castle Ravenloft. I am a big fan of dungeon crawl games and this D&D game was right on the money. Even as we realized we did a few things incorrectly, making it way more difficult for us, we did manage to find the Icon of Ravenloft. I really liked, the spookiness and horror feel of this game.

More gaming goodness to follow tomorrow, so check back soon!

Strength and honor,

-Wicked
Talisman
Incursion


The game room in full swing!
The North Shore crew mixing it up.


Chaos in the Old World



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Bayou Wars 2012!


It's June down here in New Orleans and that means, amoung other things, time for Bayou Wars! I missed out on attending last year so I am really looking forward to a weekend of gaming goodness with friends. I will be focusing on board games this year with the intent of playing several games I actually own but never seem to have the time to play. I will add some daily recap posts here at the Dojo over the weekend, so look out for them. Games in particular I am looking to play are Arkham Horror, Talisman, Tannhauser, Lords of Waterdeep, Okko, Power Grid, Chaos in the Old World, Castle Ravenloft, Puerto Rico, Battle Lore, and perhaps Shadows Over Camelot.

I will also be debuting a "secret" game I thought looked good and will do a review of sometime after the convention. Of course, I will have the usual suspects of miniature games with me: HORDES, Freebooter's Fate, Malifaux and Heavy Gear Blitz!

I also am looking forward to playing one of the Two Hour Wargames hosted by Mr. Ken Hafer, hopefully the 5150 game. Uncharted Seas (and hopefully Dystopian Wars) is also on the To Do list. Finally, I may even check out one of the WWII historical games. Not sure which one yet, though Flames of War looks like a good choice.

Anyways, if you are in the area this weekend, stop by and check out all the fun to be had at Bayou Wars 2012!

Convention information can be found on the link below:

The Josesph G. Lacour Memorial Bayou Wars Convention

Strength and Honor,

-Wicked

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Game Review: Nemo's War

When I was a kid and started to read, I read a lot of fiction. I remember reading The Adventures Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and many more classic books for young adults. I loved the worlds these books transported me to. Also around this time, the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books were popular. My grandfather saw me reading one about sea exploration, walked over to a bookshelf, and handed me a well worn copy of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (thanks, Papa)! It was a fantastic story and I was enthralled by the images I saw in my mind's eye of Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus, and the giant squid that attacked it. 

These images were rekindled after I played Nemo's War, a solitaire game of strategy and resource management from Victory Point Games. Now, I admit I was a little skeptical at playing a solitaire game. I was not sure how much I would enjoy a solo, book keeping style game. However, I was very impressed at how well the game played and just how much fun I really had. In fact, this game has ushered in a whole new genre of gaming to me, solitaire games, and I am sure to order more games to play (Astra Titanus, I'm looking at you). Victory Point Games has a whole slew of cool games and, like Nemo's War, are all print-to-order. Nemo's War is stored in a resealable plastic bag, and has several paper components, such as a game map, several punch out cardboard chits, rulebook, and deck of card stock cards. While compared to some other game company's standards, say Fantasy Flight Games, VPG's production quality may seem too simplistic, but I find their minimalists design nostalgic and part of the charm of supporting, as I understand it, a great, but small gaming company. The price of their games reflects the game design and playability, not the components, but some may not see this as a value.  

Now, as sad as it may sound, I played the game twice...and lost both times. However, there is so much going on during the game and the rules are so tight, I don't feel bad about it. Now that I have a better grasp of how the game flows, I'm sure I'll get better. But how will I win?

Well, that's the question, isn't it? 

As I have learned, there is more than one way to win the game, and each path to victory (Nemo's Commitment) requires different strategies. Will Nemo go to War! and attack the ships of the world's nations? Will he explore the mysteries of the oceans? Will he embark on scientific research? Will he liberate the oppressed peoples of the world from Imperial rule? How you decide to play the game has great effect on your decisions. However, if your current plan is not working, there is a way to alter it in the game, though it means committing Nemo to that path. So how does it play?

The game contents, ready to go (exclude the Vampire Counts)
The game board is a map of the world with the oceans of the world listed. There are also several tracks on the board to keep track of progress and various events in the game. There is a time track measured in weeks (the game takes place over the course of a year), a notoriety track, a liberation track, a treasure hold, a sunken ship track, a salvage track, Nemo, Crew and Hull tracks, an area for hidden ships and pass/fail areas for the cards. 

A turn consists of several phases, each done in order, if applicable. First, you randomly determine where, if any, new ships/treasure are added to the oceans. Second, the opportunity to resolve an adventure card may happen. Thirdly, Captain Nemo gets to choose one of several possible actions that turn. Finally, the time track is advanced one week and the turn ends. Then repeat. However, as simple as this all sounds, the game is working against you, and each decision you make is very important. I found myself wanting for more actions or more time, but it was not an option. But you do have resources to use, and choosing to expend these resources at the right time is crucial. 

Nemo's War set up and ready to play.
For example, at the beginning of turn X I roll 2D6. The result is a 2 and a 6. I then place one random ship chit in the North Atlantic (2) and one in the Western Pacific (6), face down. I then consult the turn tracker. It currently says 7+, and since I rolled an 8, an Adventure happens! I flip the turn tracker over to 10+, and draw an Adventure card. Say it is a Test (not an Event) and it says The Whales. The target number for me to equal or exceed is 9. Before I roll, I can opt to push the Crew and/or the Hull to gain a bonus modifier to my 2D6 roll. I chooses to push the Crew, and move their marker halfway down the Crew track, gaining a +2 to my roll. I roll and the result is a 8+2=10, so I successfully fended off the whale attack! I place the card in the Pass pile and will add the card's Victory Points (if any) to my total at the end and move the Crew marker back to its original location. Should I have failed, I would have suffered the negative consequences printed on the card AND I would move my Crew marker one further down the track. Note, the Crew and Hull get weaker the further down the track they get, while Nemo becomes more powerful. However, the more powerful he becomes, the closer to madness he gets and his mind may break. And he has a shorter track!

Next, it is Nemo's Action. He may choose to Rest/Refit/Repair, Seek Adventure, Move to another Ocean (moving the turn track the appropriate weeks listed), Attack any ships at his location, Stalk a particular ship, Incite a population to revolt, or Search the ocean for Treasure. However, he can only do one of these actions. Let's say I choose to Attack one of two ships in the Indian Ocean. I target one ship and flip the chit over. It happens to be a Passenger ship, with a Defense Value of 8 and a Notoriety icon of 1. As a Passenger ship, it cannot attack me, so I attempt to sink her. Again, I choose to push a resource, though this time I choose the Hull. This nets me a +1 modifier. I roll 2D6 and add the +1 and the result is a 10. I sunk the ship! But, do I salvage it to upgrade the Nautilus later or do I add it my sunken ship track for VPs at the and of the game? I opt to salvage it, gaining no VPs for it, but once I get enough salvage parts I can refit the Nautilus with some better attack or defense equipment or better search abilities. I move the notoriety track one space due to the icon. I then elect to attack the second ship at my location, so I move the notoriety one more space, and flip the second chit. I reveals a frigate, which is a warship. It has an Attack value, and gets to attack the Nautilus first. The value is 6, so if it rolls a 6 or less on 2D6, it hits the submarine and I randomly determine the effect (either minus one Crew, Hull, or Nemo. If the Nemo, Crew, or Hull markers reach their last spot on their tracks, the game ends and I will most likely loose). After it attacks, I can counterattack, following the same procedure above. The frigate has a Defense of 10. After I push the Crew (again) and add my result, I get an 8. However, I can exhaust Ned Land for an additional +2 to tie and sink the ship, but it will cost me this once-per-game effect AND I deduct -3 VPs at the end of the game for having let Ned escape! Hmmm...decisions!

So as you can see, the game is all about resource management, risk assessment, and making the right decisions. Add to this which path to victory you wish to follow and the game strategy increases. If Nemo is Exploring, I earn bonus VPs for each treasure I find. However, I can't be too passive, because if the oceans fill up with ships, I will loose -50 VPs and, more than likely, the game. But, you get to change this path once during the game when Nemo reaches a certain point on his track. However, once chosen, Nemo is locked into this decision. Knowing when to flip your path, if at all, in the game is a crucial decision. In retrospect, the reason I feel I lost my games is once I realized my initial plan was not achievable, I switched too late in the game and ran out of time. 

Now I know I am leaving out a whole bunch of other stuff (such as more warships being added to the pile as your notoriety increases or as time passes...bad news travels fast and the nations of the world are on alert!) but there really is a lot going on in this game. The rules do make it very clear when and how things happen, but there is just enough randomness in the game to keep things fun and interesting. 

Upon conclusion of the game, (the time track passing 52 weeks, Nemo/Crew/Hull hit their last spots, the oceans fill with ships, the Maelstrom card is drawn, or the last ship is sunk) depending on which path to victory you chose, you add up all your VPs and consult the chart for your final game result. Needless to say, the more VPs you earned, the better your result. As a neat, storyline feature, you cross reference your result with Nemo's Commitment on a chart, and you get to read a brief synopsis of what happens in the world and the fate of Captain Nemo. 

What a fun game! Again, I was very pleased and impressed with how well the game plays, the complexity of the rules, and the fact that this was a single player game. I have to credit my friend Seth, via Jason (who already enjoys solo games and owns Legions of Darkness, also from Victory Point Games) for recommending this company and showing me how much fun I could have playing with myself. 

Wait...scratch that last part. /facepalm

Nemo's War is currently on sale for $29.95 and is available as a print-to-order game from Victory Point Games. 

Strength and honor, 

-Wicked