Boardmentation

No new games of recent have really caught my eye ...ok, so that's a bit of a lie ~ quite a few have; but none have given me that 'must have urgently' feeling.
I though love to have the courier knocking at my door, so I thought I'd take a peek at the BoardGameGeek store and see if I could find some tasty morsels.
I was in luck. In the Promos area I located some great pieces that would slip right into a handful of my favourite games.

In just over a week there was a rapping on the door ...they had arrived.

A melange of cardboard goodness.

On occasion, when you get a full blown expansion for a game, you can find it changes the game you love into one you are not quite so fond of. The game may still be great ... but the something that made the core game amazing seems to have been lost.

I've found though that with these (new items that were just handed to me by my friendly local courier) and other promos I've acquired in the past, it's generally a case of adding a little more of what already existed in the game ~ but with a twist.

That said ... the promo for Robinson Crusoe: AotCI was something new to the game ... Personality Trait cards (pack #1). I haven't had a chance to play with them yet but I can see they will be interesting. Selected randomly, each adds a pro and a con to your character ... the Kid for example refuses to take part in a Hunt, being scared stiff of wild beasts, but if at some point a beast does break through the camp's palisade he has the ability to hide away safe from harm.

These sort of cards I can see just adding more variation, interest and difficulty (the good kind) to this already fabulous solitaire/co-op survival game ... looking forward ;)

Uh oh... a gimpy Explorer ~ this'll be tricky ;)

Next up were a small palmful of Village Bonus tiles for my newest game, one I absolutely love, Terra Mystica. These just add variation to the already available tiles, giving additional avenues for point scoring and advancement. Great stuff.

After a hard days building it was time for a cruise.

Another promo for the superb Keyflower; I have in the past acquired a few bonus items for this game... Key Celeste ~ the haunted brigantine, Emporium & Monument ...and now the Beekeeper.

Another tile in the mix, another way to gather points.  

Mmmmmm... honey!

Four anthropomorphic Mercenaries for Summoner Wars. A game I really like but just don't get the chance to play enough. I'll certainly be packing it in my bag the next time I head north (nudge nudge wink wink). I only have the Master Set so it'll be fun to discover which race these critters align with.

It's going all Kung Fu Panda. 

Another four cards ... this time for Troyes, an interesting dice based worker placement game.

This promo contained one new card for each faction and a new event.

This is a game I haven't played in some time ~ it is a goodie though... I think these fresh faces will inspire me to drag it off the shelf and onto the table. 

Looks like it's time for dinner... "for what we are about to receive..."

And if that all wasn't enough, a couple of days later a copy of Spielbox magazine appeared in my letterbox. Hey what's this tucked inside the bag... another promo... heaven forbid. Ooh, and it's another for that Terra Mystica. This time a new Round Bonus Tile ~ more power and victory points for shipping. Rubs hands together ;)

A good read with bonus cardboard.

Spielbox is also pretty good as they have a backlog of issues from over the past few years ... each with different boardgame promos within ... well worth a look if you're that way inclined.

For now though, I'm going to have to shelf all these goodies as I've just had another commission for a large bundle of my hand-sculpted Robinson Crusoe components. So it's time to get out my clay and tools, slip on my glasses ~ my ageing eyes just aren't what they used to be ...and get to work.
Luckily I love creating pieces for games as much as I like playing them.

Happy Gaming!
:)

Tasty Tasty Pastries

I'm always glad to be able to wipe the beads of sweat from my brow and breathe again when I hear that a parcel I've sent has reached it's destination.

A cache of Robinson Crusoe pieces for a charming bloke from the land of those delicious baked goods (among other things), Denmark.

The happy client himself.

Included among the pieces was my very first fire, that can be placed atop the camp fireplace when the need arises. Now I just have to make one for myself too. ;)

Relax in front of the blazing fire on the lion-skin rug ...cosy.

The full set ...double the wood, double the fun!

You'd think after making a few of these fur shelters it would get easier ...but you'd be wrong. I'm always up for the challenge though, even if it does involve a bit of hair loss along the way. ;p

When the fire dies down it's time to snuggle up inside the toasty teepee.

This smile is almost payment enough ;p

Feel free to check out some other things I've created for Robinson Crusoe AotCI here.

Happy Gaming!

:)

Digging in the Dirt

A couple of weeks back I was lucky enough to get my paws on a game I'd had my eye on for some time ...the fabulous Terra Mystica from designers Jens Drögemüller and Helge Ostertag. I must say, this game has really struck a chord with me; after my first play I had fallen in love with it. I had read and/or watched several reviews and game-play run-throughs so had a reasonable feeling that it was going to be a game that I'd like ...but you never truly know if a game will be a winner until you've sat down and actually played the thing. I can see why it's ranked #4 (well, it was number #4 when I started writing this but now I see it's crept up to #3! ...Edit: and now 2 days after posting it's hit #2) on the BoardGameGeek.

Witches vs Nomads.

Each player controls a different fantastical race; giants, mermaids, witches and darklings, to name a few ~ there are 14 to choose from and each has it's own unique powers and weaknesses. The game-board shows a land divided into hexes, each hex one of 7 different terrain types ...and each race particularly likes one of these; mountains for the giants, lakes for the mermaids, forest for the witches and swamp for the darklings etcetera etcetera ...this is the only terrain the particular race will build it's structures upon. All races though have the ability to terraform types of land they don't like into their own, the difficulty of the transformation depends on how similar the land-types are.

More camels than you can shake a very dessicated stick at.

Every race has it's own player-board upon which their unbuilt structures reside;  as a race builds new structures on the map they reveal resources that were concealed beneath them on their boards that will be available in following rounds. Some buildings provide an instant benefit upon building them, and others open an extra special race ability.

Classic broom-riding witches ...wheeeeee!

At first glance the races may all seem rather similar, but at a closer look you'll notice small differences ...costs to build structures, what resources the structures provide, special abilities ...and other little differences. If you find you do well with one race, then try the same play style with one of the others, there's a good chance the outcome will be very different.

Priests off working at Cult headquarters.

To prevent players from hiding away in their own little corners of the board the designers have made it beneficial (to all involved) when building adjacent to another race's structures. The builder can get things constructed at a lower cost, while players with neighbouring structures can gain power. This makes for some tactical plays ... especially when there are a larger number of players at the table.

Land, workers, cash and power ...what more do you need.

The other mechanic that really makes this game is the (3) bowls of power. The power is accumulated through various means and can be used to perform certain special actions.
These abilities are once-per-rounders and first in first served. If power is spent from a player's third bowl, they get to keep the power spent ~ it is moved to the lowest bowl. If it is paid from their second bowl, the player permanently loses an additional amount equal to what was paid ~ this is not always a bad thing, but does reduce their overall power pool. Any power gained during the game is not added into their pool, but rather moved from their lowest bowl to the next one up; the power circulating round and round as it is spent and gained. The mechanic is very cool.

The Tri-Pools of POWER!!!

I've mainly played this as a 2-player game and I've enjoyed it each and every time. I can see though that it would certainly get better with more at the table. I can also see that if you played this predominantly as a game with several players ...you'd possibly not be a fan of the 2-player game due to the lower chance of the 'building adjacent' aspect not cropping up as much.

Grinning evilly, my better half takes the win ...again.

Currently this is my go-to game ...and I'm certainly looking forward to the extra tiles I've ordered via the BGG store and the Spielbox shop ;)
Fingers crossed our postie doesn't fold the package, emblazoned with "DO NOT FOLD", in half and force it into the letterbox slot like last time.

;)

A Package for a Far-Away Land

Well, it's been a few days since my last post ... but I have been at least productive.

A lucky someone ...with a rather good taste in games (and art ... if I do say so myself) will be receiving a marker upgrade package in their mailbox in the near future for their copy of Robinson Crusoe: AotCI.

It's a little sad to see your creations you've spent so many hours on packaged up and sent off (to New Jersey in this case) ...but I am certain they will be well loved where they're going.

One of the pieces commissioned was the Shelter marker. For my copy of the game I made myself a leaf shelter, but I was requested to create one of fur. Even though I had made a fur shelter before (for my Shelter Building space) it didn't reduce the challenge of this sculpt ...it was a tricky little blighter.

I spent an afternoon making one that in the end I just wasn't totally happy with ~ I have kept it, but spent the next day working on another, which I was much happier with ...seen below.

A cosy place to spend the night

Throw another log on the fire

A smorgasbord of castaway delights

The full commission ~ off to a new home in the U S of A

Bundled up in bubble-wrap :)

Feel free to take a peek at the work I've done for my own copy of the RC:AotCI if you so desire.

Phew ... now I can relax for a few days and might actually get the chance to play a game or two and recharge the batteries ;)

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

"Do hurry, Jenny darling, we're going to be late for the premiere screening."

"Dexter dear, they'd never start without us ...we ARE the stars of the show."

"Hmmmm ...well, just don't forget to tuck your twin 45's into your blouse. You know whenever we go anywhere some unhinged $#!% always goes down."

Dexter, as usual, was right.

Over the last couple of evenings, my wife and I, have been playing the Mansions of Madness board game from Fantasy Flight Games. I've always had a fondness for H. P. Lovecraft's strange tales ~ and the movies and games inspired by them.

MoM is one I absolutely love ... it's like the Call of Cthulhu RPG become a 'dungeon delving' Descent-like Cluedo.

Another crazed fan ..."No! I don't give autographs"

The base game contains several mysteries for your intrepid investigators to solve ~ each one has a set of clues that must be uncovered and various tasks that need to be completed to win; involving solving puzzles of differing types, uncovering specific items, surviving unnameable horrors (and their minions) ...and endeavouring to keep your sanity! ...to name a few.

Dexter's top hat, along with the top of his skull, is clipped clean off.
A tragic end to such a talented actor.

As well as the investigator players there must also be one who plays as the Keeper ~ controlling the denizens of the dark and with their own agenda they must meet to claim victory.

Each of the adventures has a selection of clues (only certain ones are used depending on the Keeper's set-up choices) and other cards that can be laid out differently each time you play, creating a variation on the path that must be taken to solve the mystery.

Understudy, Joe Diamond, bursts into the foyer to save the day ~ as well as pick

up a Choc-Bomb and large-size box of popcorn from the kiosk

As I mentioned above, my wife and I had played over the last couple of evenings ...this is not because it is a hugely long game; it would usually fit nicely into one evening. It's just that we started late on the first night and she had an early start ...It worked well though, as the particular adventure we were on was "House of Fears" (a PoD expansion pack) revolved around the premiere viewing of a horror flick the investigators had starred in ...we took it as the Intermission ;) 

Another adoring fan ...no? Oh, it's the ectoplasmic embodiment of a disgruntled ghost actor

in the form of an axe-wielding maniac ...Easy mistake to make

There are a couple of boxed expansions and several PoD (print on demand ...not to be confused with 'print and play') adventures available. I have them all (like I said, I love this game). Reviews on the 'Geek range the various adventures among them from not-so-good to fabulous. I for one have enjoyed every one I've played. The "Forbidden Alchemy" boxed expansion added chemical formulae based puzzles and mad-scientistesque adventures ...and the "Call of the Wild" boxed expansion added lots of outdoor action, allies and puzzles for the Keeper to solve. Each box also adds new investigators, mythos beasts and a plethora of cards, tokens and new map pieces to the mix. The PoD adventure packs contain a single adventure and the cards required to play it ~ no extra figures, tokens or map pieces.

I must say, there were a few errors in the early printings ... but FFG were great and included re-printed cards and errata in their expansions. Also, if you look at the MoM section on the 'Geek you can find 'adventure tweaks' that will fix loopholes discovered in some of the adventures. I do like FFG games ... but they can seem to sometimes be a little lax in their play-testing (except for when I've been a play-tester ...of course ;p)

My opponent ...becoming more discorporate as the night draws on

Mansions of Madness, another game rich in theme just begging for a lick of paint ...it's on my list ;)

Birthday Beasties

Just the other day my little chap turned a big 6. He's always been a big fan of monsters and the like (a good 90 percent of the drawings he does contain beasts of some sort), so I made sure (among the usual new pants, shirts, pens, pencils and drawing blocks) there were a few dangerous critters.

He'd already begun to accrue a small collection, starting with a few Warehouse dinosaurs; then last Christmas I tracked down a few choicer items on Amazon ~ some mythical beasts by Papo and Safari Ltd. For this Birthday I again visited Amazon ... and found more beasties, as well as a wizard and a Spartan warrior to throw in the mix.

Areion, the immortal talking horse from Greek mythology

...a bit like a black Mr. Ed

Cerberus, the friendly 3-headed hound (ok ...not so friendly)

A Griffon ...you're not going to have a rodent problem with this guy on the case

I must admit, the gifting of these marvellous monsters was all part of a cunning plan. A plan to introduce him to and (hopefully) get him enthused  in the realm of tabletop (war)gaming. You can't start too young :)

Following Christmas I had pointed up two small warbands for the game "Song of Blades and Heroes" by Andrea Sfiligoi. Only 3 six-sided dice and 3 small sticks (for measuring) are required to play. I gave the lad a quick run-down of the way things worked, stacked some boxes between the bands as terrain ...and we were away. As I had hoped for, he found it rather intriguing ;)

I was delighted at how quickly he grasped it - his ease of remembering the skills his various band members had ...even reminding me. "Hey, doesn't Joan of Arc always get a six!" (being a Hero ...and a dinosaur mounted one at that).

"You can take this team" he said "I want Medusa!"

We have had many games since. With him always wanting to add new objectives and special terrain; just the other week he got me to construct a haunted house which he declared you had to make a quality roll to see if you were brave enough to approach ~ if you were, the ghost gave you a special gift, if you weren't, you were scared to death!

Suffice to say, this Birthday he was well pleased to acquire 4 fresh conscripts to add to his creature pool.

Medusa and Zip-Zanny the Wizard...

...followed up by Joan on a Diplodocus and her entourage

The Chimera catches Medusa's bale glance and is turned to stone

Flying beasties lurk above

More action than you can shake a 7" stick at!

Here he is, dressed to kill ...and also as something starting with the letter W for a school "letter of the alphabet" day. He was a Wyvern!

I whipped up the costume in an hour, with a stuffed green stocking tail and wings cut and stitched on, made from a sacrificial red t-shirt.

He was going to have his face painted too ...but decided against it as he finds the paint can get a little itchy - and it would have been on for the whole day.

And just a quick mention ...that I have managed to make a few further additions to my Robinson Crusoe: AotCI boardgame. Now adding a Volcano tile as well as a handful of ash pile tokens.

You could warm yourself by that on a cold winter night

...plus a few more life-spinners, requested on the 'Geek, for the fan-made characters available.

Circles of life :)

Fire in the Sky

The nearby volcano has been more active of late. Frequent tremors have convinced the band of treasure hunters it's time to strap together a raft and flee the impending doom. But rumours of riches beyond their wildest dreams tucked away in various locations on the island have them torn. Is there time to collect the treasures before the fire begins to rain down?!

I've sculpted a further 4 tokens, depicting the locations our brave adventurers can visit in the Robinson Crusoe: AotCI scenario "Volcano Island".
The Cave, Small Temple, Underground Temple and Ruined Village.

There's gold to be found in them thar hills!

More pics of my RC:AotCI pimping can be found here ;)