The Actual Table

#843

We played two new games last night with our local couple friends (the wine / cheese / cured meats / conversation / board games / kids asleep version of a raging time in my mid/late 30’s).

I think the first one was “welcome to the neighbourhood” where you built a suburb on your own piece of paper, from central car flops. It was basically maths, and pure awesome.

The second was one of the most beautiful games I have seen hit the table in a long time - Wingspan. Gorgeous engine builder / point scorer based on birds. All American birds so no kookaburras or Willy wag tails, but I had only one goal - find the bald eagle. I wasn’t certain there was one, but after a bottle of wine, I was convinced that there was and it would be game changing.

So I set about building a wetlands line that cycled hard and dug deep.

Spoiler alert - there is a bald eagle, bad news was I didn’t hit it. Worse news was that it wasn’t as game breaking as I expected.

Gorgeous game, well recommended

5 Likes
#844

Welcome To… is a great game! I like what they did to make it work with cards, rather than simply using dice, which wouldn’t be quite the same.

#845

I’m my sole experience with the bald eagle, I drew it from the start and held it all game with the intent to use it, but it never made it into my aviary.

Wingspan is awesome.

1 Like
#846

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/91874/century-golem-edition-heads-eastern-mountains-gen

Now to start campaigning for the complete Golem Trilogy!

1 Like
#847

That’s awesome!

And now I’m slightly disappointed I went the spice trader route.

#848

I posted my June “New to Me” games post.

Not as many as usual, but still some good ones.

2 Likes
#849

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Junk Art has been a good solid hit. We’ve had nothing but fun with it, including some very unlikely structures. The various rules to the different cities the game offers for a world tour are great, switching between real time, drafting, push your luck, trick taking, take that, and several other mechanics. The versatility on show is what keeps it interesting.

Chaosmos has been another good one for us recently, and Legends Untold has provided us with a dungeon crawl that’s not punishing in terms of weight, but offers a reliable challenge.

#850

Many years ago I got rid of my Pirates of the Spanish Main collection - probably to the trash - and I really regret it. I bought two packs for double their worth and opened them up with my son. The game itself is just a bit too fiddly and not all that great, but those models were really cool. I wish that game hadn’t died.

2 Likes
#851

My problem was how fragile they were. If you risk breaking that awesome rare every time you play with it, you get all the horror of earlier Magic for ante without ever bringing home a cool prize (which be thematically appropriate).

#852

I used the dice as damage counters rather than messing around with the ship pieces. Once built I never messed with the ships too much and never found them overly fragile.

1 Like
#853

I am not coordinated. I broke probably 10% of my ships the first time I assembled them, which scared me off buying more.

#854

Played Wingspan again last night, few wines in. I thought - I am smashing this! Getting round bonuses, 10 birds on the board, bucketload of eggs, and then… I came last. How the…?

Anyways, makes me want to play again!!!

2 Likes
#855

I would suggest more wine before your next play.

4 Likes
#856

Qwixx

It is one of the lightest roll and write games I’ve played but what a great, quick game for just about any mix of gamers or non-gamers of all ages.

#857

Glorious.

2 Likes
#858
#859

What is everyone’s favorite “wizards duel” type game? I’m not looking for anything collectible, but I want that 1v1 dueling gameplay. I have Summoner Wars, which is a brilliant game. I’ve had my eyes on some others like Ashes, Crystal Clams, and Dice Throne. What are all your favorites?

#860

Hey. I like Crystal Clans a lot. It’s simple yet deep. Lighthearted enough but not childish. Just very accessible. Even my girlfriend got into it and she’s not really a strategic thinker at all, but she really likes it. Has a good pace, good game length. Presentation is gorgeous.

Nice variety of Clans, so you can try others out and pick your favourite then learn them better. They play thematically different to each other enough to make a real difference to how you need to think (to be optimal) and their strengths and unique play-styles make total sense for their theme (in a slightly abstract kind of way!) but I’ve found that they are all pretty finely balanced with each other once you learn them well enough. There isn’t really an OP setup. Just ones you might personally unleash the potential of better because you like that play-style.

The energy mechanic that drives the ‘Turns’ in the game is also a stroke of elegance and innovation that “just works”. Very cool game.

It’s a while since I played (…new born Son changed everything!!!) so not sure if they got around to releasing the add-on Clan Packs. I know there was 2 planned (vampire and something else).

P.S. been a lurker on these boards for some time just been too busy to post so this is my “first contact” with you! :slight_smile:

EDIT: Wow, just looked and there are quite a few new Clan Decks available!!! And 2 more coming soon! Awesome. Wish our boy would let us play!

https://www.board-game.co.uk/?s=crystal+clans+&search_id=1&post_type=product

(Am I allowed to post links?)

3 Likes
#861

Welcome to the forums! Crystal Clans is near the top of my list since it’s kind of the spiritual successor to Summoner Wars. Your recommendation may have just put it in my cart.

#862

Thanks for the welcome! :slight_smile:
I’ll try to get more involved in various topics here :wink:

Just realised the link above wasn’t right, so I edited it now to point to the right results.