Asmor
First Post
So much so that it's got a 7.19 on the geek... (that's a VERY respectable rating-- not too many games break the 7 barrier)
Games you've bought recently?
- Thread starter MerricB
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So much so that it's got a 7.19 on the geek... (that's a VERY respectable rating-- not too many games break the 7 barrier)
My point (and I'm a bit baffled by the Mod intervention above, so I hope I'm not stepping on any toes... I like BGG, use it frequently and am registered there) is just that there's a certain subset of the BGG usership who either favor Euros to the point of finding randomness unacceptable (heck... there are even people who take the dice out of Settlers!) and/or those who find "Euro" and "Ameritrash" (say it loud, say it proud!) to be separate camps that should not be intermixed. I would go so far as to say that there are some influential types who could be thought of in that way.
To the former group, Fire & Axe is probably off-putting because a really refined strategy can crash upon the rocks of poor dicemanship (whereas a lucky clod can skate by with an excellent roll). To the latter group, Fire & Axe may seem a shocking hybrid of Euro and American ideas.
Myself, I enjoy my status as a rather pedestrian boardgamer. Give me cool little toys, mechanics wedded to theme, and lots of "wahoo!" episodes involving crazy dice throws. I see no reason to be a purist about design principles (though I understand the opinions of those who do), I just want to laugh and have a good time with my buddies.
Probably if I have a strong bias, it's the marriage of theme and mechanics. Games which have mechanics that have nothing to do with their theme (Lost Cities could be about modern agribusiness and nothing would change except the card art) drive me nutso!
DonTadow
First Post
I think that's a bad generalization of BGG. Agricola, the #1 game, is a clear example that a game can have random elements, still be strong and still be fun. It's just a general thing on BGG that if the games are decided solely by a bad or good dice roll, the game takes the playability away from the player. Dice are not the problem. You'll find a lot of games in the top 100, 200,500 that utilize dice. It's how much those dice decide the game. Oddly enough, dice take away from the theme and turn an engrossing game into a game of craps if done poorly. Don't get caught up on the terms uero and ameritrash. Heck it was american war gamers who helped coin and promote the phrase. A sort of badge of honor. And there's no shame in owning an american or euro game. Battle lore is a top 20 american game that everyone loves. Conflict of heroes is another american game that's garnering some attention.
Your diss at BGG, shows that you are just as much a culture of stereotyping as other people have been called. Fire and Axe is nearly a top 211 game. It has excellent reviews as well. The randomness is not whats bringing this game as it seems to have a nice controlled dice element based off of your skill. HOwever, you have to remember that BGG is an international board, and with cards that have ton of texts the translations can sometimes hurt a game's opinion. From the read, it also has a very unique viking theme that may not appeal with all cultures. Still a 7 is strong and since I've never heard of this game before I'll have to put it on my secret santa list. Sounds like fun.
I really don't understand where this is coming from. BGG is an excellent and informative site with lots of distinguished users.
There is some rarefication of tastes, though. That tends to produce "purists". That's all. We all know about purists around here... seeing as an entire school of thought made a name for itself by charging D&D and Storyteller with impurity!
Anyway... getting back to the actually meaningful things: yes, Fire & Axe is neat. It's not a "pure" representative of either school, which is fun for those of us who like elements of both.
One interesting element is the fact that there are always 3 face up mission cards or "sagas". In addition to the normal points you'll get for raiding, trading and settling (the latter particularly pays off when all the settlements are in the same region, which is a score multiplier), you get additional points for finishing sagas (but you have to have the most or second most sagas of a particular land: Norway, Sweden or Denmark, so there's a set collection element too!). This is interesting because as the sagas get completed, new ones come out. To make the saga deck to begin with, a number of sagas are randomly removed. So it's hard to plan too far ahead of your next foray, because you don't know what sagas will come up as the players complete them. But you can't simply plan to complete the saga you're hoping for... you have to watch out for other players nicking it out from under you.
Woohoo! I've just received Stone Age. Ordered it four months ago, but it's a hot item and went out of stock at MilSims pretty much immediately. Finally came back in stock a week or so ago and they've just posted out my backorder.
This is a resource gathering/worker placement game. With dice! Ranked #35 on the 'geek, which is really high.
Cheers!
This is a resource gathering/worker placement game. With dice! Ranked #35 on the 'geek, which is really high.
Cheers!
Asmor
First Post
This is a resource gathering/worker placement game. With dice! Ranked #35 on the 'geek, which is really high.
Fun game, I've played it a fair amount on BSW, would definitely like to own it at some point. Grats on the acquisition!
Agamon
Adventurer
Woohoo! I've just received Stone Age. Ordered it four months ago, but it's a hot item and went out of stock at MilSims pretty much immediately. Finally came back in stock a week or so ago and they've just posted out my backorder.
This is a resource gathering/worker placement game. With dice! Ranked #35 on the 'geek, which is really high.
I was dumbfounded when I saw it sitting at the local FLGS one day and snatched it up. Really fun game.
Finally picked up Twilight Struggle, one of favorite games, recently and schooled my roommate a couple times.
A Touch of Evil looks like a fun game. I don't recommend playing it with 7 players though, it seemed to bog down a bit in the one play I've had so far. 6 or 8 and playing in teams is better with that many people, but it'd be faster paced with less players, too.
Gundark
Explorer
We found that it bogged down too. Opitmal is 3-4. A really fun game. I would recommend the co-op variant, as we had the most fun with it. The downside is that the town elder's secrets seem less meaningful that way though.
RefinedBean
First Post
Well, I just got Settlers of Catan.
Because, you know...I like living in the past.
Because, you know...I like living in the past.
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