The Actual Table

[Blackfyre]

I have it, but I only played it solitaire so far. I have played two games and I really enjoyed them as such. As a solo game, I liked it more than TM and I can recommend it.

Similar to TM, there is almost no player interaction beyond buying cards from the same table. There are a few cards with interactive abilities to them, but you can alternatively ignore them and do the non-interactive action (as when you play solo). As I have not tried it myself, I cant say for sure, but the interactive stuff feels incongruous to me.

Solo a set up and tear down will take you 5-10 min each, a play through roughly 90 minutes.

[whovian223]

One of my Top 10, easily! Ok, maybe top 20.

I love this game.

[OhBollox]

Looking at a preview of a storage system for Unmatched.

Unmatched: Storage and Accessories by Restoration Games

I think what I find objectionable about this, and a lot of other ‘storage solutions’ is: they’re not about storage. I can fit about 18 fighters in one box of Unmatched, currently, after binning the insert. A layer of decks - a board - a layer of decks - a board - minis. Stacked horizontally. That’s for storage on my shelf and during transport, so I’m not carting a box with four fighters and one board in it.

This system is for display.

[Mirefox]

I agree with you, but I’d also add that the organization element is neat. I’d not sacrifice all that shelf space personally, but I do like how you grab a box and it has all your components. Your personal storage method takes the least space but you’ll be unpacking your box and matching up figures with decks and tokens.

I’m still using the Unmatched inserts and taking up way too much shelf space, but I like the solution. My biggest issue is that when you sleeve then cards they don’t always fit in the inserts.

[rinelk]

There are very few storage solutions which are primarily about storing more compactly. Mostly, they involve adding stuff to an existing space, so they’re necessarily about making storage more convenient. Think of closet organizers or the like: they never leave you with more space, they just make that space available in more useful ways. You’d never just pile all your clothes in the closet without shelves or drawers, because it would be too time-consuming to find stuff, but that would be the most space-efficient option.

I see this similarly. Sure, it might look nice on the shelf, but that’s only part of what it does. It also allows you to grab the character you want without hunting through several boxes. I’ve homebrewed something similar (though uglier), because I wanted to be able to browse all my fighters easily and only take from the shelf the one I wanted to play. I really like having that option—it feels much quicker and more direct to me, and leaves me with less crap on the table.

Because of that pre-existing homebrew option, I’m not really in the market for this. But it seems like, even if it were only visible during fighter selection, it’d be the most useful option I’ve seen for storing Unmatched.

[OhBollox]

At 5 players, with two newbies and two only having played it once, we played Dune. And it was the bloodiest slugfest I have ever seen. From the Fremen losing 17 troops in their first battle, to the Atreides, Harkonnen, Empire, and Spacing Guild all being eradicated at one point or another and having to start from scratch, it was a rolling massacre. Even I as the Atreides, who won most of my battles, suffered casualties to the point that, even with the help of a Fremen Alliance, my troops were revived but stuck off-world, waiting in the wings to be shipped down, except I was so low on spice I couldn’t get them back on the planet fast enough. The Spacing Guild and Emperor failed to maintain their riches, the Harkonnen bled out despite use of traitors (a Turn 2 Stilgar reveal was exquisitely painful for the Fremen), the Fremen eventually struggled to military supremacy despite a drought of Treachery cards, and noble Atreides defeated all-comers but were paralysed by a lack of spice. Spacing Guild default win.

[Mirefox]

Has anyone played Journeys in middle Earth? Is anyone able to compare it to the Imperial Assault app? I’m hoping the Middle Earth app does a little more work, makes more decisions, and gives you a better narrative…

[OhBollox]

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNE!

Somehow I was Atreides again. Stupid random selection. This was a lot more reasonable, with the same players, as everyone paced themselves a little better, spent their spice more wisely, bribed more freely, and fought with more cunning. An early nexus meant Hark-Atreides and Guild-Emperor left the Fremen out in the desert, but they like it there, so that backfired. The Fremen took and held two strongholds, and Atreides prescience and Hark traitors meant we took the other three, but my Hark partner let me down and then ejected from the alliance immediately afterwards. It could have been a Turn 2 victory, but I couldn’t fight every single one of our battles. My Kwisatz Haderach came out in short order, and armed with card knowledge, I fought a series of holding actions to keep my grasp on two strongholds, going through a succession of battles and only sacrificing Yueh in the process.

Another nexus later, I found myself allied with the Fremen. Two strongholds each meant a total of four, yet my partner, despite my urgent funnelling of spice to him via my capture of two double spice blows, promptly lost one of them. Once again, noble Atreides let down by their allies. Slumping at last towards the end of the game, I dodged my forces out into the deserts to capture spice for a last hurrah, and as the new Hark-Emperor alliance moved in to capture Carthag and Arrakeen, I set off Family Atomics and brought down the Shield Wall, and the storm scoured them from the planet. Stupid fucking alliances. Default win for the Spacing Guild.

[Natus]

Still with five? Or with six?

[OhBollox]

Five still. Trying to find a sixth but people keep on dropping out.

[Natus]

Who on earth would drop out of Dune?

I appreciate that you are still getting it on the table, no matter the player count. Not easy, I’m sure, but I hope it’s rewarding.

[OhBollox]

It’s without compare at six, but still excellent at five. I’ve even come around to playing it at four.

[Natus]

Not sure this is the correct thread for this, but Tom of SU&SD posted what amounts to a gushing love letter to Richard Garfield’s Netrunner, lately abandoned by FFG but currently sustained by an all-volunteer team at Project Nisei. As a long-time fan, I leaped back in the saddle, unearthed my FFG cards, and ordered the initial sets from Project Nisei. There are also PN-adjacent Discord servers now to handle questions, schedule tournaments, and connect players with others in their area. There is also jinteki.net for playing online games FREE. This is by far my favorite CCG/LCG, so considering the wealth of support and enthusiasm, I highly encourage new players to try it out.

[Mirefox]

I’m looking for an intense dice game for more than two players. It doesn’t have to be confrontational and it doesn’t have to be 100% dice, but I want something where the dice mechanic is important to every player on every turn and there are possibly some stand up and cheer (or flip the table) moments. I do already have Ghost Stories.

[OhBollox]

Have you tried Fuse? It’s great. Timed element.

FUSE

[Natus]

I say Titan. Buckets o’ dice! Plays very well 2-4.

[rinelk]

Strike has been on my list for a while to fill that niche, though Impact: Battle of Elements may be similar but meatier. Haven’t yet tried either, so I’m no good as a witness, but perhaps others have experience with one or both games and could evaluate whether they’d do the necessary?

[halfvoid]

Multiplayer dice games I love:
Dice Miner
Unearth
Troyes Dice
Set A Watch (I prefer Swords of The Coin but both are great)
Tiny Epic Galaxies
Merchants of Magick
Elder Sign
Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria

[whovian223]

Yes! Titan is awesome

[Natus]

Oh, Elder Sign! I only know it on IOS, but what a masterpiece!

Has anyone played Dice Realms from Thomas Lehmann?