Ultramarines Movie - Trailer2

This looks to be decent. The CGI animation looks video game quality rather than movie quality, but I blame that on Avatar spoiling us as to what is quality movie computer animation. Enjoy!

Arkham Horror Halloween

Happy Halloween! Instead of playing our Dungeons&Dragons game this month, we decided to play a game of Arkham Horror. Being the Saturday before Halloween, we thought it would appropriate to wear costumes in theme with the game. So here I am as an Ancient One Cultist and the guys are dressed as Investigators. Thanks for playing and being such good sports, guys!

Update: Power Grid Strategies

I think that some of the best games are the ones that afford many different paths to victory. Deciding on the best strategy is often equal parts blind luck and sheer cunning. In games that afford different ways to win, being able to pick a winning strategy and minimize the luck factor is one of the the fun things about gaming. I think that is why Puerto Rico is such a fun game. It is never the same game twice. The same can be said about Power Grid.

Before I get too far here, let me define a few things. In gaming, I define strategy as the over all plan of action one uses to reach a specific goal. I define tactics as the actions one implements to achieve the goal of one's strategy. For example, in table top miniature games, my strategy could be to flank my opponent and get my army into his back field. The tactics I would use to do this would be to deploy my fastest units on one side of my battle line and move them as fast as possible into his back field while using my ranged units in the center to concentrate fire where my fast units will be going.

Now that we have had a chance to get several games of Power Grid under our belts, it has risen to the top of the list of our favorite games to play. Last night I think I played my best game of Power Grid ever. It was also the first time I won! I have noticed certain play styles emerging among my game group. So there is a little local meta factor involved, but that is one of the great things about gaming. Being able to recognize the strategies of your opponents and adapt accordingly. For example, in my game last night I noticed how one of the guys likes to get into a bid war over a power plant he really does not want just to drive the price up. We went back and forth bidding when I finally passed after his last bid. He just had this "look" about him while he was bidding (in poker I think this is referred to as a "tell") and the plant did not seem to fit in with his current power plant selection. After winning that power plant, I don't think he fueled it the whole game.

So some of the strategies I have seen in Power Grid have had varying degrees of success. However, many do share a few things in common. The simplest tactic so far is kind of a no brainer: purchase the most efficient power plant you can get. This tactic has now been immortalized by Jason's statement in an email "Buy Wind!" While it is true purchasing wind power plants is often advantageous, knowing when to ditch them is equally important. While free to fuel, they usually can only power 2 to 4 cities. This is a huge advantage until you have more cities than your plants can power. So it is better to dump a wind power plant for a 2 for 6 or even a 3 for 7 (read that as fuel to city ratio). Another strategy is focusing on the hybrid power plants. By using all hybrid plants, this allows you the ability to adapt to the fuel market. Oil too expensive? I'll go with coal. Coal in short supply? I'll stock up on oil. This allows you to use the cheapest fuel available to power your cities.

One aspect of the game we explored more in our last game session was strategic use of the game map. Deciding which cities to start in and move into can be a game changing tactic. The easiest tactic here is to select cities that have the cheapest routes connected to other cities. As with using the efficient power plants, this gives you the most bang for your buck. By purchasing the cheaper routes you have more cash on hand to do other things, such as buy into more cities. However, a more meta tactic in city placement is denying your opponents cities. Buy buying into cities before your opponent can, depending on the phase of the game, you can block his access to cheap cities thereby driving up his purchase costs or even "box" him in forcing him to wait till until later in the game before he can branch out into other cities, denying him income.

I have also seen what I can term as the "burst" strategy. This involves using efficient power plants to power just enough cities as you own, which are usually very few. This allows you to maximize your income each turn. By spending the exact amount you need to get your income, you essentially are hoarding cash. Over the course of several turns a substantial cash reserve can be built up and when the game kicks into step 3, you are poised to move into several cities all at once and to purchase all the best plants to power them. This can quickly shoot you into the leader position. The catch is, since it is a late game strategy, it relies heavily on the auction step of the turn. You simply must get those power plants, and a canny opponent will get into a bid war with you to drive the price up or deny you the plant all together. If that happens, your sunk, as the game is almost over. However, with that much cash, odds are you will be able to weather this.

Cornering the resource market is another viable strategy. One way to do this is to purchase multiple power plants of a single fuel source with high fuel costs. This allows you to store the most fuel sources on each plant. Over the course of the game you buy as many fuel sources as you can store each turn, eventually owning all of your chosen fuel source. As with happened to me one game, not realizing what my opponent was doing, I was stuck with power plants that were unable to produce power because my opponent owned all the fuel needed to power them. This was a bad thing! The hybrid power plants are good for this strategy as they allow you flexibility in choosing your fuel.

Now the strategy I used and won with was one of parity. By this, I mean I tried to maintain a balance of purchasing plants, fuel and at least one city each turn. Inherently, the game makes it difficult to do everything you want to do each turn. However, the goal here is to always be able to power the exact number of cities you own. So if I purchased a new power plant I was sure to be able to fuel it and buy enough cities to reach my power capacity quota. I rarely stocked fuel and always had to pay a premium for my fuel (which meant I was always in first place, a position we deemed undesirable previously). This lead to aggressive city purchasing early on in the game, which in turn lead me to maximize my income each turn, which in turn let me always buy fuel or buy into new cities. Now, I was usually broke by the end of the build step, but I did always make a return on my investments. Picking up a free for 4 wind power plant mid game and moving into several cities each turn late game all but sealed the victory. By the time I reached my 17th city, thereby ending the game, my closest competitors were in their 14th cities.

I am sure there are more complex and in-depth strategies out there. I imagine being able to manipulate where you are on the leader board with impunity as very handy. I need to buy fuel first, bam! I need to buy a power plant first, bam! Also, I imagine being able to calculate your income/purchases two or three turns in advance as viable.

I really found playing with four people more enjoyable than playing with three. It made for a more competitive auction step and made city purchasing crucial (cities can only sustain three players max). The fuel resources was spread fairly thin early game so cash management and plant selection seemed more critical. I guess just in general the game seemed overall more competitive than in previous games. I can only imagine how playing with five people is going to be like.

While strategies and tactics are fun and cool to pull off, even the best laid plans can end in disaster when your opponent does something to upset them. And this is the fun of gaming. Player interaction and participation adds to the sense of competition and challenges us to play better. As a friend of mine once said "The point of the game is to have fun. The objective of the game is to win."

I often try to do both.

Enjoy!

-Wicked

Game Review: Power Grid

So last night we finally opened my copy of Power Grid that, through a dealer's room gift certificate, I won from Bayou Wars a few months ago. I knew what the game was about, but I still kept thinking "Where are the dragons? Where is my sword?" However, we had a very enjoyable evening playing this fun, economy based game.

The objective of Power Grid is to be able to supply power to the most cities by the end of the game. It utilizes several different and engaging game mechanics as players jockey for board position by purchasing cities and routes to power them, bid on power plants, purchase raw materials such as Coal or Oil, generate income, and manage resources. The player who powers the most cities in his network by the predetermined city limit (set by the number of players) wins the game.

Power Grid is not overwhelming in its components. It consists of a game board, several colored tokens to represent the players and resources, power plant tiles, and Monopoly-like colored currency called Electros. It also includes several plastic baggies to hold the various tokens. Game set up is pretty quick and easy. Power Grid is designed for 2-6 players.

Game play breaks down into several phases, and each phase has a few steps. Without going into too much detail, players take turns bidding on the currently available power stations. The power station types are Coal, Oil, Garbage, Oil/Coal hybrid, Nuclear, Wind, and the technologically advanced Fusion Reactor, which we affectionately dubbed "Nemo's House." However, not all of these power plants are available at one time. As power stations are purchased, new ones become available. Power plants use raw material to supply power the player's cities. Some of the power stations are more efficient in using their raw materials than others, and appropriately, cost more. Bidding on the power stations is a very fun and strategic portion of the game.

Once players have their respective power stations, it is time to purchase the raw materials needed to power them. These are Coal, Oil, Garbage, and Uranium. Wind power stations do not require a purchasable raw material to generate power, as they are powered by the wind. Free power! This is a very nice advantage, as it frees up resources for other things. There is a set production of how many of each raw material type becomes available in the market each turn, but the amount of materials that is available is set by the players. For example, if several players are using Coal powered Power stations, the amount of Coal available will decrease as players purchase Coal. Also, as the supply of a material decreases, the cost of the material increases. So if everyone is buying Coal, the last player will be paying more for his Coal than the first player. Again, some "strategery" here as you can see which players need which material and you can drive the cost of materials up. Or even corner the market in a specific material completely. (I'm looking at you, Seth!)

With all stations purchased and fueled, it is time to power some cities. In order to do so, players choose a starting city location during set up on the map portion of the game board. Each city has one or more power lines connected to it and other cities. These power lines form the network of interconnected cities, or "power grid", that players buy into to supply power. Each city has a price and each power line has a price that must be paid in order for a player to move into a city. The cost of the city is dependent on the phase of the game, while the cost of the power line is set by the game board. For example, a player starts in Atlanta. He decides he wants to move into Savannah. He must pay the total of the cost of the power line from Atlanta to Savannah and the cost of building into Savannah. Only so many players are available in a city at a time. As the game goes on , more players can build in a city, but a city can only support three players maximum. Therefore, you can cut other players off from neighboring cities forcing them to branch farther out to supply power, increasing their building expenses.

Lastly, players now "hit the switch" and power up their networks and earn income. The amount of income earned is based on how many cities a player is powering. The more cities, the more income. Sustaining a large network is expensive and a certain amount of diminishing returns is possible if not managed correctly. Once this phase is complete players take the next turn and repeat the process.

In general, that is playing Power Grid. There is lots going on and lots to do! The combination of different strategies, engaging game mechanics, and resource management makes for a very fun game. Decisions, decisions! "Everyone is using Coal or Oil. A nice Garbage Plant just came up for auction and Garbage is cheap and plentiful now. But I need to move into two cities to maximize my income, as I am really low on Electros. Hmmm....what to do?!?!" You really have to pay attention not only to what you are doing, but what the other players are doing as well. They can directly mess up your plans! The base game has maps for the United States and Germany. There are also several expansions to change game play up a bit and add more maps to play on. I think Seth wants to play in Japan. I am looking forward to playing in China! All in all, Power Grid is a game worth checking out.

Power Grid was designed by Freidemann Friese and is published by Rio Grande Games.

Enjoy!

-Wicked

ULTRAMARINES Movie - Trailer1

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine

Wut?!?!

PS3 Games - E3 2011 - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Star Craft II: Wings of Liberty

En Taro Adun, Ambassador!

Blizzard Entertainment seems to have hit another one out of the park with their release of the highly anticipated real time strategy space game Star Craft II (SCII). For fans of the 1998 original, you will greatly enjoy this game. The human Confederate South themed Terrans, the technologically advanced, psionic Protoss, and the insectoid, swarm hive of the Zerg are all back to do battle once again. Loosely defined a Real Time Strategy, or RTS, is a game where you and your opponent work concurrently, not turn based, to defeat one another. In Star Craft II, this involves a race to gather resources and begin constructing the necessary forces to eventually conquer and defeat your opponent. Most RTS games require players to multi-task in order to maximize efficiency in resource collection, unit production and order assignments. So what does all that mean?

In short, a really fun and addictive game. SCII does not reinvent the wheel. The game mechanics and interface are exactly the same as in SCI. If it ain't broke don't fix it! In fact, I found playing SCII very nostalgic for the first few sessions. You begin play on the map with some drones to gather natural resources, crystals and gas, and a base to process the crystals. This allows you to build different buildings that can produce different units. For example, the Terran Barracks produces many infantry units. Many units can be upgraded, provided the buildings are upgraded themselves or specialty buildings are constructed. However, the upgrades lead to many unique and powerful units that can have a huge impact on the game. However, everything has a cost, in terms of resources, that must be met before the unit or building is constructed. It is the gathering of resources and the careful management of their expenditure that is crucial to success in Star Craft II. It is the core and most fun part of the game. Once you have sufficient forces, you may then set out for mission objectives or attack an enemy's base. So the order you gather crystals and gas, construct your base, defenses, buildings, upgrades, and units (or "build" as it is known) is very important. In the end, this is what makes Star Craft II so fun. The mechanics are the same, and really, not much improved. However, that is a good thing.

What is vastly improved though is the campaign storyline, missions, battle.net interface and game graphics. The campaign story picks up where the last game ended. During SCII installation, there is a nice slide show summary of the events of SCI to bring you up to speed. The storyline is linear, but in SCII you have multiple missions to choose from. This means you get to choose how the story is revealed. You have several NPC contacts to interact with that provide storyline dialogue. In between missions, there are movie like cut scenes that tell the story of SCII. They are very well done and entertaining. I ofter find myself doing "just one more mission" just to get the next bit of story!

The battle.net interface, which you have to open an account with to play the game, is very impressive. Once you open your account, you create an online character. This is not a character in SCII, but rather your online persona to interact with other players over battle.net. A word of caution here, as once you name your character, you cannot change it! From the interface, you can select to play the campaign, other players, the computer, mulitplayer games, or participate in the online league. You can even set the difficulty level of the campaign and AI matches. The league ranks its members and the competition is on! There are also many achievements you can unlock in the game, earning you points and other rewards. In addition, there are community forums, a newsletter Com Link Online and other neat bits of information found in the interface. A nice feature of battle.net is realID. This allows you to enter the email of a real life friend to add them to your realID friends list. This allows you to communicate with them in a facebook type fashion across multiple Blizzard games. Currently, these are World of Warcraft and Star Craft II, but others will be added later (Diablo III anyone?).

The game graphics are amazing. The maps are detailed, some with creatures or inhabitants milling about. The different units and buildings are all also very detailed. This gives the game a very polished and unique look and feel. How the units attack is one of the cooler graphics in the game. It's pretty neat to watch a Firebat engulf some Zerglings in flames! The sound effects and sound track are equally well done and simply add to the immersion of playing in the Star Craft Universe.

All in all, with great RTS play, battle.net interface, and superb graphics quality Star Craft II is fantastic game. But then again, coming from Blizzard, I was expecting nothing less.

Enjoy!

-Wicked