#virtualgameday

[illuminatinggames]

Dune, with the Ixians and Tleilaxu on #tabletopsimulator. The two new factions are cool! They are a little rulsier, are less intuitive (especially Ix) because the source material is thinner. If you’ve pressed on to Dune Messiah, that’s the source for some of the depiction of the Tleilaxu in the game. But both are quite flavorful and fit pretty cleanly into the game. We used both in a 6-player game to try them out (replacing the Guild and Bene Gesserit), and I think I’d recommend using just one your first time out. With 5, replace the BG with the Tleilaxu and don’t use the Guild; with 6, replace the Guild with the Ixians. Another thing I really like about the new factions is that they introduce potentially two more Strongholds: the Ixian mobile stronghold and the tech tokens. With at least 6 strongholds available, the 6-player game becomes a lot more open under the standard rules because a 2-player alliance can reasonably hope to grab 4 strongholds (which is why I think you should make sure Ix is in with 6). The Bene Tleilaxu are definitely an analog to the Bene Gesserit: they start weak and have only limited income, so it takes time to build up and they have to make sure to keep the pot boiling for 4 turns or so - they are not going to be doing a lot for a while. The Ixians are another brute force faction, but they have a money problems (mitigated somewhat by their ability to cycle treachery cards in their hand). The Ixian alliance benefit is super strong too, it seems like. Anyway, quite enjoyed. And TTS is not a bad platform - there was some friction initially as we got used to it, but it went reasonably smoothly after that. There aren’t a ton of handling costs, so it’s just the spice that’s a pain. It’s a long-ish game so it’s not something I’d play online very often, and even more so than many boardgames it loses something online, but it is a great game so it’s good to know it’s an option. For long-time fans, these are *much* better implementations than the old version from The General and Heroes, and *way* better then the Landsraad. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #duneboardgame #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday https://www.instagram.com/p/CChHo8vhO6o/?igshid=14rq291jic3fa

#tabletopsimulator #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #duneboardgame #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday

[thisfunktional]

Those who know, know lol who wants to join for a game of AMONG US? When? Saturday about 2 p.m. PDT Where? We will livestream on Twitch.TV/ThisFunktional. How? DM to be added to the list so we can send you the room code. Who? So far it’s #DarkPokeWill #NoahScores and I. Please join us for about an hour of gameplay and some fun conversation. #ThisFunktional #GameDay #AmongUs #Twitch #Game #Games #Gamer #Gamers #Gaming #VirtualParty #VirtualGameDay #Blog #Blogs #Blogger #Blogging #Journalist #Reporter #Influencer https://www.instagram.com/p/CGo5Hs5Bqrn/?igshid=1pp67xvx9ozce

#darkpokewill #noahscores #thisfunktional #gameday #amongus #twitch #game #games #gamer #gamers #gaming #virtualparty #virtualgameday #blog #blogs #blogger #blogging #journalist #reporter #influencer

[illuminatinggames]

6p Dune on #tabletopsimulator: Atriedes, Harkonnen, Emperor, Fremen, Ixians, Bene Tleilaxu. The Ixians pulled off a crazy solo win (!) by holding their hidden stronghold and surgically targeting the Emperor, winning on a traitor call in the last battle (Captain Aramsham handed over they keys to Arakeen). As the Harkonnens I was in an very dominating position on turn 2 after having crushed the Atriedes and Emperor in early battles, but then I lost two big battle on turn 3, both on traitors (!) - Feyd and Beast Rabban both turned on me. The game went 5 turns; I really like the dynamics with 6 players and the Ixians, the extra stronghold really makes a big positive difference - the game rewards aggression again under the standard rules (alliance limit 2 with +1 stronghold). Both the new faction are great in my opinion; a little rules-y but really mix up the game in interesting ways. I wouldn’t play 6 players without Ix at this point, and I personally prefer the Bene Tleilaxu to the Bene Gesserit. The technology tiles I’m less sold on - they might need to be amped up a bit, or we might dump them - they just don’t seem to do a lot? Haven’t tried the new treachery cards yet, some of which seem kind of bonkers. 5 turns took us 4.5 hours on TTS; not great, it’s definitely slower than face to face, and a game that went the distance would be a grind. But what can you do; at least in the US, we don’t have a lot of options. Still a great game. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday #tabletopgames #duneboardgame #dunegame #thespicemustflow #j2s #brettspiel https://www.instagram.com/p/CD7PPhahR9Y/?igshid=15jo3ne6bxkcc

#tabletopsimulator #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday #tabletopgames #duneboardgame #dunegame #thespicemustflow #j2s #brettspiel

[illuminatinggames]

Play two of City of the Big Shoulders on #boardgamearena. Enjoyed and would play again, but my enthusiasm softened a little bit. and I’ll hold off on moving to acquire a copy 🙂. The main thing I’m unsure about is the resource market; there are some echoes of the original Power Grid, where luck or the other players can conspire to totally screw you by denying you what you need. I do not like this, and it’s why I only play Power Grid with the expansion power plant deck or in its deluxe version, where these really unsatisfying gamey tactics have been flushed out. Now, it’s actually not totally objectionable here - there are a number of ways to source your factories’ inputs, so you take a risk if you don’t secure them in advance - but it’s not great. There are a number of ways where the game just feels undercooked and inelegant: the model for demand seems clearly underdeveloped and too coarse, while building, infrastructure, and appeal (the last apparently lifted from Arkwright) seem somewhat over-modeled. I also feel like there aren’t a huge number of paths through the system; the large questions will get resolved pretty quickly, leaving most of the game in smaller tactical nuance. Anyway, I think it’s an interesting game, and I’ll play it again. If you’re an 18xx fan who now mostly plays euros, definitely check it out. But I think at the end of the day if I want a euro stock game, I’ll probably be more satisfied by Power Grid: The Stock Companies or the 504 Stocks module; if I want a company development game, I’d take Tin Goose or Food Chain Magnate; and if I want something seriously overchromed in these categories I’d take Empyreal or Pax Transhumanity. There are a lot of good games out there, is what I’m saying I guess 😄. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday #tabletopgames https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFtFi7BtQk/?igshid=1bbn6l77stkxc

#boardgamearena #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #virtualgameday #tabletopgames

[illuminatinggames]

Saracens start making serious inroads against the Franks in Crusader Rex. Of all the games that followed up on Hammer of the Scots, this is the one I like. The much wider, more open theater gives both players flexibility and room for maneuver. The game is also long enough to allow the game to develop and go back and forth a bit and for the vagaries of chance to even out. Plus, it works reasonably well on Vassal (although the map isn’t as nice as the one in 2nd edition, even though the rest of the art looks like 2nd?). The game is definitely hard on the Franks; they need to hang tough and and play defense and hope the crusaders can bail them out late in the game, but that’s easier said than done. There are now a ton of games that use this underlying system, but I haven’t played many that I really like - just this and Julius Caesar really, but I’m starting to have some balance concerns even about Julius Caesar. It seems like a simple, clean rules system, but it’s actually (apparently) quite hard to get it to really work. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames #virtualgameday #crusaderrex https://www.instagram.com/p/CEDN_bCB-e7/?igshid=uzp5xrnv2n74

#gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames #virtualgameday #crusaderrex

[illuminatinggames]

Monty’s Gamble: Market Garden on Vassal. Mike Rinella has a long design career full of ups and downs; most of his games haven’t had much depth or staying power, but this one - his first design! - is one I still enjoy almost 20 years later. Pretty dynamic, fast-playing; too complicated, but not terrible. I picked up the 2nd edition of this not long ago, and had consequently forgotten how much I dislike the graphics from 1st edition. The Vassal module isn’t great, but the game is pretty amenable to the format, so I didn’t hate it (although a Tabletop Simulator module would be great). Anyway, the combination of reasonable length and the existence of Breakout: Normandy may have promoted this to classic status after all these years. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #multimanpublishing #vassalgameengine #virtualgameday https://www.instagram.com/p/CD2akLRh1Q-/?igshid=1la2klkpw6ksa

#bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #multimanpublishing #vassalgameengine #virtualgameday

[illuminatinggames]

Hawaii on Yucata.de. We played this on BoardgameArena last time, and the UI has enough issues that I wanted to try Yucata which sometimes has good implementations. Uh, no. The Yucata version is much worse. It’s a shame that there just doesn’t seem to be a halfway-decent framework for building these games - so many contemporary games are so structurally similar that it seems like there ought to be some help. It’s a good reminder of why BoardgameArena became my preferred site it the first place. Not because it’s good, but because it’s better. Anyway, Hawaii is pretty fun, and I could trade for a copy. It takes 5 players! But it’s still in this multiplayer-solitaire/tableau-building genre that’s just really, really limiting. Hawaii has a little more interactivity than many through its oblique bidding mechanic, but it’s still just not enough to pull that far away from the raw engine-optimizing narrative. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #boardgamegeek #boardgames #bgg #virtualgameday #tabletopgames https://www.instagram.com/p/CCZdnznh4bd/?igshid=1wdzdmqutnzag

#gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #boardgamegeek #boardgames #bgg #virtualgameday #tabletopgames

[illuminatinggames]

No Retreat: North Africa on Vassal. I think all the post-Russian Front entries in the No Retreat series are rather under-appreciated, but I know this entry specifically was tricky for people because it uses a number of unusual design techniques. But it’s really good too, and plays super-fast. In The Russian Front I usually skip ahead to Case Blue, just to get into the thick of the action, and probably you want to do the same thing here, skipping ahead to Crusader - routing Italians across the continent for 3 turns isn’t super-interesting. But once you get into the more evenly-matched period, this and Rommel in the Desert are my favorites North Africa games. It doesn’t quite have the intensity level of Russian Front, but if you use the advanced special actions for the cards it’s close. Somehow I’ve never played the Crete mini-game for this; I need to try it sometime. We tried using Vassal this time, a platform I think most of my wargaming friends prefer to Tabletop Simulator for this sort of thing, but wow, I did not like it. It’s window management is weird, it wastes screen real estate prodigiously, the constant window-switching with no keyboard shortcuts is punishing for RSI victims like me. It’s hard to find things, and your inability to follow your opponent’s attention without the cursor and pointing utilities is a bummer. The robust logging and undo is certainly a win, and it’s definitely a problem that TTS modules don’t usually have anything comparable. But for me the far better situational awareness of TTS is an easy choice. That said, I imagine for a really meaty wargame like Stalingrad ‘42 or Normandy ‘44, the calculus would be different. But for almost anything else I’d actually play, so far I’d easily take TTS. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #vassalengine #virtualgameday #tabletopgames #gmtgames #noretreatnorthafrica https://www.instagram.com/p/CArn1hjh_kl/?igshid=ewcjmg5eb9e3

#gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #vassalengine #virtualgameday #tabletopgames #gmtgames #noretreatnorthafrica