5/30 Recap

Greetings!

This most recent FND session featured yet again record numbers!  We had 18 people come out to play games - Lee N., Beth, Brian, Dan, John D., Lee T., Logan, Dustin, Heather, Helen, Ruth, John S., Vita, David, Dana, Jake, Drew, and Amy.  Dustin, Heather, Jake, and Logan were all newcomers.

Because we had so many people we were able to play a wide variety of games - having as many as four going at one time.

Beth taught Carcassone to David and Dana at one table.  They both seemed to enjoy the game, though David a bit less so as he was beat pretty convincingly by his wife.  Dana won this one, despite it being her first game!

Meanwhile, I taught Takenoko to Ruth, John S., and Vita.  Takenoko is a very light game involving pandas and bamboo and gardening... It's a little different, but the components are beautiful.  Like Beth, despite being the teacher, I did not win!  Vita pulled it out by just a few points.

As these games were going on more people filed in and they took to some other tables with different boxes.

Jake, John D., Any, Drew, and Helen all gathered around for a game of Smash Up!  I'm not sure of any of the details, but I do know that Helen reigned in the crown despite being dealt into the game late.

Finally, Brian, Lee T., Logan, Heather, and Dustin busted out a game of Lords of Waterdeep, which has seen quite a good deal of playtime at FND.  Brian won this game.

While Waterdeep and Smash Up! were still being played, it was time to start one of the featured games of the week - Telestrations.  Telestrations, as detailed in the preview, is party game that combines the drawing element of Pictionary with the 'telephone game.'  It is quite hysterical and the few rounds we played were no different - made particularly humorous due to a few members particularly interesting drawing abilities.

After Telestrations broke up we moved onto a whole new round of games.

Alien Frontiers, another of the featured games, was learned by Dustin, Dan, Logan, and Lee T.  Frontiers is a reasonably complicated game and they all picked up on it quite quickly.  Despite a very back-and-forth game, Dustin, taking control of the Smugglers faction, was able to end the game on top of the scoring track.

At another table John S., Ruth, and Vita taught Ticket to Ride to Dana.  Unfortunately her luck of winning new games ran out as John S. won this one.

A second game of Smash Up! started up with Jake, David, John D., Brian, and Helen, however this time it was Brian who won the game.

Finally during this stretch of time Beth taught Takenoko to Drew and Amy - Drew felt particularly manly playing a game with pretty colors and a nice painted Panda and looks forward to playing it again as soon as possible.  Despite his affection for it, he was bested by his sister - Amy won.  Apparently it was a good night for people learning games to go ahead and win.

Takenoko and Ticket to Ride finished up around the same time with still around an hour left of gaming so I taught John S., Beth, Amy, and Drew the last of the featured games - Kingsburg.  The four of them seemed to really enjoy it as there was a lot of tabeltalk occurring - particularly at the end when the King's dice roll for defense was exactly what Beth required to win the battle and have everybody else go down.  Despite that convenient luck, Drew was still able to pull out the victory with Beth in a close second.

The last game that was played was Hanabi - a fun and relatively quick cooperative card game.  Brian, Helen, Lee T., and my self played and ended with 20 points - good for the third highest winning category.  Not too bad!

As you can see we played a LOT of games!  Good times seemed to be had by all and we are very excited to see are numbers continue to grow.

We are making a large push to get our next FND past the 20-person mark so we will be doing some extra things to make that happen - including some prizes, food, and more!  Be sure to check the featured games page when it is posted for more details.

If you weren't at this most recent FND hopefully we'll catch you at the next one!

5/30 Featured Games

Greetings FNDers!

This upcoming Friday we are hosting our regular FND meeting at the normal time/place - 6:30 PM at Bridge Church.

We have been unbelievably thrilled with the turn-outs the past several events.  Over the past month and a half we've averaged over 15 people per event, breaking records in consecutive weeks.  That may not seem like a ton of people, but it is a great deal larger than we expected in only a few months of existence.  This upcoming Friday we want to keep the streak of breaking the 'most people' record going and are hoping to inch closer to the 30-person mark.


As such, we are asking all of our regulars as well as those of you who would be new or only returning for your second time to bring friends!  We want to extend the fellowship and comradery of board games and card games to more people and you can help by inviting literally every single person you know.  Or just the people you think would be interested, either way.

Anyways, this Friday will have two more feature games!  We're going to place them at a specific time on the schedule this Friday to attempt and further promote them.  We at FND like to reward designers of great games by taking time to teach and feature them, particularly if they are games that really showcase a specific mechanic or genre of game.

Featured Party Game:  Telestrations

This week's featured party game will be my personal favorite: Telestrations.  At this point in my life I have played a lot of games.  I've played a lot of party games.  None of them produce the stitches-in-your-side hilarity that this one does.  Not even close.

Telestrations is essentially a combination between Pictionary and the "Telephone Game" (the one you played as a kid where you whispered down the line, slowly misconstruing the original message).  Players start with a word or phrase and have to draw it on the first page of their flipbook.  Then, the flipbook is passed clockwise and that player guesses what was drawn.  Subsequently, the book is passed again and the new player draws the previous players guess.  This continues until it returns to the original owner of the book.  We then take turns sharing all of the different ways in which we butchered the original words or phrases. It is generally quite hilarious.  The pictures surrounding this are courtesy of Google and aren't our own personal ones, but they give you the right idea. 

Telestrations will begin at 7:30 PM or as soon as we finish the first set of games.  We will play a few rounds, probably lasting till around 8:15-8:30 PM.

Featured Strategy Games:  Alien Frontiers and Kingsburg

We are featuring two games this week that are normally mentioned in the same breath due to very similar mechanics.  Both of them rely heavily on rolling dice in order to determine what actions you can take, both are light-medium weight games as far as complexity, both have very nice components, and both are super fun.

Alien Fronters

Alien Frontiers' claim to fame is that is the first hit game to published via support on Kickstarter.  Since then they have done four subsequent campaigns, including the most recent release of the 4th edition to this game, which includes some upgraded components.  I own this edition as well as the Factions expansion which is, in my eyes, essential to each game.

In the game you play as different alien factions that are all fighting for control of a planet to colonize.  The goal of the game is to score the most points, largely via controlling the most sectors of the planet.  The way you take actions is very unique.  Each of the dice in your possession is a space ship (use your imagination). Each turn you roll them.  The actions available all have different numbers or combinations on them, so you have limited choices based on what you've rolled.  Of course, there are ways to manipulate your roll and improve on your options.

In addition to the actions on the board, because of the Factions expansion, every player as a unique ability only he can use as well as a unique action that others must pay him to use.

The components really are top notch and this back-and-forth, area of control game is simply 'cool.'  We were fortunate to be able to get a copy of it as the most recent KS campaign wasn't recent so take advantage of that and give Alien Frontiers a go!

Kingsburg

Kingsburg, like Alien Frontiers, uses dice to determine what actions can be taken.  However, it has a very different feel to it, in large part due to the very different theme.

In Kingsburg each player is using the dice to gain favor in a medieval/fantasy court.  Starting with '1' and going all the way up to '18' are numbered members of the King's court, including the lowly Jester and the king himself.  On a players turn he will place one or more of his dice on any of these advisers that do not have another player's dice.  He could put a die showing a '1' on the '1' space or two dice that add up to '11' on the '11' space.  Each one gives different resources and abilities so the key is tactically using your dice to a) get what you want and need and b)make sure you don't get blocked out of all available spots.

These resources are used to build different buildings in the realm, all of which give you subsequent bonuses.  At the end of each round there will be a random monster that attacks the land and based on how you've build your region along with how many soldiers the King decides to lend in aid, you may gain victory points for defeating the monster or lose buildings and points as he pillages you.

All of that being said it's a rather straightforward game and would definitely fall into the 'light' category.

Both of those games have quite the following and are very well respected in the gaming community so if you haven't tried them I very much encourage you to give them a go.

As with before, if you're interested and want to reserve a spot at one or more of these games, please put your info in the comment section.

We will be playing Kingsburg and Alien Frontiers at ~ 8:30 PM.


Hopefully we'll see you all out!  We will have the full library available and all games are welcome, though we hope to see more people playing these featured ones.

We look forward to seeing you Friday!!

Blessings,

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Recap

Greetings FNDers!

This past weekend, as many of you know, FND hosted a Memorial Day Board-B-Que.  Attendance staggered in slowly over the first couple of hours but by the end of the day we had 15 people show up!  Not too bad for a bonus event on a holiday.

Those present were Lee (myself), Beth, Brian, Annmarie, Jill, Dave, Evie, Lanna, Lily, John, Dan, Lee T., Don, Judy, and David.

Over the course of the afternoon/evening we got a lot of games in and also ate some food hot off the grill!  If you're reading this now I will be uploading pictures as soon as I get home this evening from the event.  For now just imagine pictures of devilishly handsome and intelligent people playing board games.

To start Lee (me), Jill, Evie, Lonna, and Lee T. played a game of King of Tokyo.  Evie was a bit aggressive and got her monster killed in round 2.   Lanna dealt the final blow to Lee T. not too far along, leaving the rest of us to fight it out for supremacy.  The body count stayed at 2 and I won the game by achieving 20 victory points, largely by accumulating cards that gave me points for subsequent purchases as well as discounts to subsequent purchases - a powerful combo! 

After this we split up a bit.  Brian, Annmarie, Jill, and Beth played a game of Smash Up!  I didn't write down what everyone was, but I believe Beth was time-travelling ninjas, Jill was trickster something or another.whatevers that Jill was playing will have something to say about that next time.
.. Oh well, they were all amusing things.  From what I understand the game was quite close and despite it being Jill's first game, it was a tie ball game right until the last turn, where Annemarie deviously handed the game to her boyfriend on her turn giving him the victory.  I suspect the Trickster

While that occurred, Dave and I played Memoir 44!  It was both of our first time playing so we did the recommended starting scenario - Pegasus Bridge.  It features the Allied forces trying to capture two bridges from the Nazis and historically was one of the first battles of D-Day.  Fortunately for the real-life Allies they did not have me in charge, as in our retelling the Axis won the contest, collecting 5 victory medals to my 4.  Dave had a magically good unit of infantry burrowed in behind sand bags that I simply could not defeat due to some pretty poor dice rolling on my part.  Nonetheless, Dave won the game fair and square and be both came away really enjoying the easy mechanics and historical theme of Memoir 44.

A third game popped up during this - Dan, John, and Lee T. played 7 Wonders.  Lee T. ended up pulling out the victory, though I believe all of the scores were within seven points of each other.

After all of this it was time to start cooking I passed on the game of Lords of Waterdeep that began with Brian, John, Dan, and Lee T. and opted to play some Telestrations with everyone else.  We had a great time playing Telestrations - it's hard not to.  Unfortunately the Waterdeep game did not get finished as some of them had to leave early.

Food was then eaten with joy and delight.

After we finished up eating we still had more time to game!

A 5-player game of Ticket to Ride broke out between Beth, Don, Lee T., David, and myself.  I ended up pulling out the victory in this one, due in large part to some extraordinarily lucky ticket draws on the last turn.  I realized I would probably come in 2nd or 3rd if I didn't take a gamble and ended up drawing three tickets I'd already completed on the final turn of the game!  Otherwise, my lovely wife would have won.

While this was happening Jill taught Evie and Lonna Castles of Burgundy.  Jill won pretty handily but the girls did well for their first time!

Finally, Beth, Lee T., David, and I closed out the game with a game of Hanabi, which is a fun and easy cooperative card game.  Beth and I just picked it up so it was only our second time playing.  For our first game we did pretty well, netting 21 points (out of 25 possible) and scoring in the second highest victory line!  We really enjoyed the new game and were pretty pleased with the purchase, especially since it was a meager 8 dollars.

As you can see we played a LOT of games!  It was a great day and we saw the consistent numbers continue, which was particularly exciting because we half of the group were people at their first or second FND event. 

If you couldn't make it out, hopefully you'll be joining us this upcoming Friday (5/30) for our next FND regular session.

Blessings!

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Games

Greetings FNDers and Friends!

As has been made known on a couple of posts via this blog, this upcoming Monday - Memorial Day (5/26) we are hosting an all-day gaming event with cook-out.  The full details are on a previous post, but know that it'll be occurring at Bridge Church (our usual spot) from 1 PM - 8PM.

As I've mentioned previously, the goal here is to play games that involve some type of conflict in honor of the holiday.  We are extremely grateful to the men and women, regardless of how long ago, that have served and sacrificed and very real ways so that on Monday we can enjoy simulating games of conflict while snacking on grilled meat and cold beverages.  It is so we could enjoy days like that those men and women gave everything and it is not lightly that we enjoy them.

As such we will begin at 1 PM simply by lifting up a prayer of thanks and remembrance for those who have given their lives.  If you're not comfortable with that you by no means have to join in with praying and can simply join in by being thankful and remembering.  That won't take long but we think it is important to begin the festivities with remembering the holiday itself.

After that we will have a whole array of games awaiting us!  While we'll have the normal array of games out, again, we'd like to see people stepping maybe a tad out of their comfort zone and play some games that you normally wouldn't.  Of course, if you'd rather play something that has nothing to do with conflict we won't stop you!  We're just happy to have you bless us with your presence.

Here are the games that we'll be playing and their target audience/complexity:

Party Game:  King of Tokyo (If you're the type that normally likes The Game of Life and Group Solitaire, then this game is for you.)

Okay... Calling this a "Conflict/War Game" is really a bit of stretch, at least in terms of involving Memorial Day... There aren't any people really involved, unless you count the citizens of Tokyo that are running in fear from all of the stereotypical monsters involved in its demise.

Nonetheless this is a game where you are trying to be the biggest and baddest monster and claim Tokyo for yourself.  Each player takes control of one of six available monsters, each of which mimic (while carefully avoiding copyright infringement) monsters from some of the best (by which I mean worst, by which I mean best) old movies available.  This includes "The King," "Gigazuar," and "The Kraken," amongst others. 

The game is played almost exactly like Yahtzee, but instead of just getting sets of numbers, you're using the symbols on the nice to punch other monsters in the face, heal yourself, or buy super cool power ups.  It is very easy.  We've taught this to ten year olds and they've gotten it and loved it their first turn. 

If you're somebody who is a bit overwhelmed by any kind of strategy game then this is probably the best place you could start as it is just pure fun.

Light Game: Small World
(If you prefer games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, or Dominion, then this game is for you.)

Smallworld is a game that tips its hat a bit to Risk, but is about 50,000,000 times more fun and only takes around 80 minutes to play.

Each player will assume the role of a generic mythology-esque race:  I.E. halflings, dwarfs, giants, wizards, skeletons, etc..  In addition, they will get a bonus attribute that essentially acts as an adjective to the race.  So instead of just being giants, you might be Flying Giants.  Or Seafaring Skeletons.  Or Spirit Halflings.  Yup, Ghost Hobbits.  I could stop there...

Basically you're vying for control of the map.  One of the key elements of the game is being able to go into 'decline.'  Essentially this means you abandon your current race and pick a completely new one at an opportune time. 

Small World is a staple of the lightweight game and really is above and beyond any other conflict games that could go into this category.

This game is really not any more difficult than Ticket to Ride and in my opinion is way more fun than Settlers of Catan. 

Light Game:  Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter is another light game that involves heavy player interaction and just a whole mess of fun.

Every player stars as a specific alien race and controls five home planets.  Their goal is to get foreign colonies on five of any of their opponents planets.  This involves a lot of player interraction and table talk, focusing around very straightforward mechanics.  The super fun part is each alien race.  In the base game and the one expansion I own there are aroudn 90 available aliens, each of which lets you do anything from making minor tweaks to rules to inventing completely new ones.   They're all unique and all quite fun.

This is also a game where multiple people can win and endings are almost always memorable.  One game I played with a group of friends involved one of the players getting a rather annoying alien power.  He proceeded to use this power in the most obnoxious ways possible.  As a result, the rest of the group decided to team up and win together - so we did!  It was a four person victory with one loser, ha!  Quite enjoyable.

Again, this one is quite simple and a great one to play with 4-6 players.

This game, like Small World, is not much tougher than a Dominiion or Settlers, so if that's your comfort zone, check this out!

Light-Medium Game:  Memoir 44

Ah, finally a game that actually involves war between humans on Earth and in some way simulates real events!  The company Days of Wonder is most known for its game Ticket to Ride, however second behind that is either Small World (shown above) or its World War 2 simulator Memoir 44.

Memoir 44 is one of the most accessible miniatures games there is.  Players take the side of either the Axis or the Allied forces and play out any one of a number of short scenario battles - i.e. the Landing at Omaha Beach.

Play is very straightforward and very simple - Days of Wonder really shines with accessibility in their games.  If you've never played any kind of war or conflict game that simulates real life events this is a very fun one to start out. 

This game plays just 2-players so bring a buddy who you want to learn it with and somebody at FND will be thrilled to teach you!

If you want to try an easy and short conflict simulation then this is absolutely the place to start.  Plus it doesn't take long so if you don't like it, then you still have 7 hours to play other games!

Medium-Heavy Game:  Twilight Struggle

It would not be a proper War Game day if we did not include a spot for Twilight Struggle.

I really got into the hobby of boardgaming in 2010 and since then not a day has passed where Twilight Struggle has not worn the crown of #1 game on Boardgamegeek.  Let me tell you, it is for good reason.  While my personal favorite game award will go to the one I discuss next, Twilight Struggle is top 3 for me.

It is a simiulation of the conflict of the Cold War between the United States of America and the United Soviet Socialist Republic.  It is produced by GMT Games which means the key word used to describe the components is 'functional.'  GMT doesn't specialize in fun action figures or flashy colors so don't expect that - at the same time, don't let the less-than-flashy chits make you think this game isn't loads of fun.

The mechanics of it are relatively easy - each player has a hand of cards (each of which is unique) and throughout the game they are strategically using those card to influence different countries in the world.  Because of the way scoring and the cards work, there is a deep sense of distrust, intrigue, and paranoia that develops.  I learned a good deal about various events of the Cold War from this game and the simulation is spot on. 

Knowing the cards in this game gives a HUGE advantage so it would be best to play this 2-player product with a fellow newbie.  Lucky for you, Brian and I are the only two people who are familiar with the game so you're almost guaranteed to be playing somebody on equal footing.  It's a bit heavier and will probably take 2-3 hours, but it could take less if somebody wins early.

Seriously.  If you consider yourself a gamer and you haven't played this, then getting in for a game should be at the top of your list.  It is that darned good. 

Medium-Heavy:  War of the Rings

Like I said previously, one of the unique opportunities of this event is the ability to learn and play some 2-player games that don't get much face time at normal FND events.  This is one of them.  It is also worth noting this is my favorite game of all time.

When it comes to games based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you will hardly find a pickier person than myself.  I have great contempt for games that paste on the LotR theme (particularly the movies) just because it'll earn them some extra cap.  I played the Lord of the Rings: Deckbuilding Game recently and absolutely loathed it.  Terrible game. 

War of the Ring, however, is brilliant.  Tolkien's writings (it is based on the books, not the movies) shines through the entire.  It genuinely FEELS like Tolkien.  Even better it does a superb job of playing the "what if?" game.  In the game you can answer questions like "What if Gandalf hadn't fallen in Moria?"  "What if Aragorn stayed with the ring in Mordor?"  "What if Boromir left the fellowship immediately to aid the war in Gondor?"

The most recent game I played (we also used the expansion Lords of MIddle-Earth) began with Merry departing the fellowship early because of fervent pursuit from Nazguls.  This forced him to go back to Rivindell where he joined a batallion of Elves.  Meanwhile, the Balrog escaped Moria and threatened to burn Rivendell to the ground.  Merry fought and defeated the Balrog but gave his own life in the process.  It was the most epic moment in recent War of the Rings memory.  And it is moments like that why I absolutely LOVE this game.  It is currently the only 10/10 on my BGG collection.

Medium-Heavy:  Wilderness War

Wilderness War is another production by GMT.  It is the third of the two-player games we'll be showcasing at the Board-B-Que.  We don't necessarily expect all three to be played (though we hope they will be) but we we like to give options, particularly for people interested in learning some 2-player games.

Wilderness Wars is a simulation of the French-Indian War.  Like Twilight Struggle, it is a Card-Driven Game and features the manipulation of events and operation points to achieve victory.  To be honest, Wilderness is a recent purchase and I'm still only midway through digesting the rules, but I'll have them down by Monday in order to fully teach the game.

This is one of the highest rated War Games and is as popular as it is because of how accessible it is.  I personally picked it up because I find colonial history to be one of the most interesting and this puts you smack-dab in the center.  One side controls the French and the other the British, trying to win full control over the colonies of the New World. 

There are various scenarios so the time of this can be pretty decent with the shorter one only taking a couple of hours.

Heavy War Game:  A Distant Plain

Our final game that I want to feature on the blog is the heaviest we will do:  A Distant Plain, again by GTM Games.   I recent posted my first official game review on boardgamegeek and it was of this game so if you want the full write-up, check it out.

A Distant Plain is a four-player game and it is the newest installment of GMT's "COIN Series."  All three COIN games depict simulations of various Counterinsurgency struggles.  A Distant Plain details the 21st century conflict in Afghanistan.

The four sides of the conflict are the U.S./U.K. Coalition, the Afghan Government, the Taliban, and the Warlords.  The cool part about this game is that all four factions play totally asymmetrically, which is why I'm labeling this as heavy.  The general flow of the game is actually very simple, it's just keeping track of all of the options that is tough.  I have played this game and have a good understanding of it and am aiming to teach this to four people and just stand and help out.

I think this is VERY accessible to people who have played their share of medium games and am very much hoping to get a full game of this going - in fact I'd say that is the priority for Monday as far as these deeper war-games go.


Concusion:

The big thing here is to not be daunted by games a notch above where you're used to playing.  FND leaders will be there to teach ALL of these games.  I'm a teacher by profession and enjoy doing so and can all but guarantee you will come away understanding and enjoying them.  In particular do not let the big heavy ones scare you!!  They look VERY intimidating but I carefully selected ones that are accessible for a reason.

Ticket to Ride is a delightful game, but it's not the only one!

As I've mentioned before please RSVP via my email (lee.a.nicholas@gmail.com) or by commenting on this blog as we will be grilling up some munchies for all present (for FREE)!

Also if you have any questions or really want to sign up for a specific game, say so in the comments and you'll get a seat reserved at one of the games being played.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!!

5/16 FND Recap

This game group continues to be blessed with an influx of people!  5/16 saw a new record in attendance (for the second session in a row) with 16 people!  One more than our previous record!  We're hoping that at the 5/30 session we break the 20 person mark.

Lee, Beth, Brian, Annmarie, Emily, Drew, Amy, Diana, Shelley, Steven, Vita, John S.,  John D., Tish, Patty, Jen, and Hellen were all in attendance.  It was Hellen and Tish's first times at FND while I believe all other members had been present at least once before.  And you're reading that right.  Of 17 people, 11 of them were female. 

We got a LOT of games in, including a handful from our featured games list.

To start, Brian taught Shelley and Steven Smash Up!  Unfortunately due to some time constraints they weren't able to finish, but it looked like they were having a good time.

Annemarie and all of the girls not named Beth and Shelley played a game of Life.  Nobody died, which in my eyes means everyone won at life.  They even had a family game night!  How appropriate!

Meanwhile, I taught Dominion to John, John, and Vita (though didn't play myself).  They likewise had a good time learning this deckbuilder and now that they have the basics down will likely have even more fun adding in expansions and doing generic games of it, rather than just the 'intro' one.

Finally, Lee, Beth, Drew, and Amy saved the world from pestilance and disease in Pandemic.  Yup.  We saved the world - you're welcome.  We will accept 'thank yous' in the form of checks and money prizes.  I mean, we're heroes.

After the first round of games drew to a close, everybody not playing life combined forces to play a few rounds of The Resistance: Avalon.

We got two games of Avalon in with 8-9 players each time, which was extremely enjoyable!  The most important thing to know is that Brian is ALWAYS evil.  Always.  Even when he's Merlin. 

In the first game the forces of evil won because of a costly miscalculation on my part (as a member of evil).  I brain-farted and send only one bad guy on the 'two fails required' quest, handing them the game.  Oops.

The evil folk won the second game because they were able to figure out that Helen was Merlin.  You would think that the long white beard would have given it away from the start....

The girls finished up LIFE during this point and played the super fun party game Say Anything.  I don't know what they said specifically, as it could have been anything.

After Avalon concluded we finished with two seperate games.  Helen, John D., John V., Jen, Vita, and Annemarie gathered around for Ticket to Ride (one of them didn't play, of course, as it only supports 5 players).

While that happened, Drew and Amy taught Tish, Brian, and I the very heavy Euro-game Archipelago.  It was very cool but also pretty complicated and so while we got a great grasp of the rules, we didn't quite finish a game.  We concluded after two rounds with Brian holding the lead.

All-in-all it was a terrific night and I think gives a good representation of what FND is all about - encouraging people to play games in their comfort zone.  I don't know of many other gaming groups with people playing an easy game like the Game of Life as well as heavy-hitter like Archipelago, but here we do!  Again, we broke the record with 17.  Whether it is at the upcoming Memorial Day Board-B-Que or the subsequent FND regular meeting, we're aiming to break 20!

Blessings and happy gaming!

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Full Details

Greetings Gamers!

Memorial Day is fast approaching and we at FND wanted to get out the full details for the Board-B-Que.

Where:  Bridge Church.  We will attempt to use the Cafe and front patio area for grilling.

When:  Monday, May 26th at 1:00 PM.  This is Memorial Day.  It will go to around 8:00 PM.

Who:  Any and all people! 

Food:  We will be providing free food and beverages for dinner around 5:30 PM.  We'll be grilling up burgers, dogs, and brats as part of this event.  Donations are welcome but not expected by any means.  They can go toward Friday Night Dice, not its leaders.

Purpose:  This is just an extra gaming day on a day people have off.  We're going to try to play conflict and war games but we'll have the usual library available and any games are welcome.  Conflict and war games can be a bit overwhelming at first so I encourage you to try some of them out even if it's a tad out of your comfort zone!  We will be including some very light and fun ones as well as some much heavier.  Listed below are some of the games we will be playing or have available to play.

Games:

Very Light/Introductary Games:  King of Tokyo, Small World, Hey That's My Fish!


Light Games:  Cosmic Encounter, Galaxy Trucker, 7 Wonders, Pandemic, Kingsburg

Medium-Heavy Games:  Defenders of the Realm, Alien Frontiers, Eclipse, Runewars, War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle, Twilight Imperium Third Edition

Actual War Games:  Paths of Glory, Wilderness Wars, A Distant Plain, Here I Stand

We at FND would really like to see this be a day where new games are learned.  In particular there are a number of 2-player games that we would love to teach that don't see much tabletime at normal FND events.

Sign Up!

First and foremost please RSVP if you are coming to this event, either in the comment section of this post or via email to Lee.A.Nicholas@gmail.com.  In addition, please let me know if you're are interested in playing any of the aforementioned games.  Some of them, particularly the heavier ones, take a good deal of set up and time can be saved and appropriated depending on interested.

If there any questions, comments, or concerns, post them in the comment section of this post!

Blessings!

 

5/16 Featured Games!

Greetings FNDicers!

Before proceeding with the descriptions of the upcoming FND's Featured Games, I want to make it clear how much we value all people who come to our group.  In the group already we have a wide variety of gamers - from people like myself who think nothing of spending 10 hours to play a single game to people who find Candy Land to be a tad long and complex.  We love that!  Our group wants to encourage people to come out from all walks to find some type of fellowship.  We do our best to meet a wide range of audience so whether you have never played a game before or you've shaved your neck-beard in the shape of a meeple, we want to play games with you!

As such, we've decided to feature two styles of game each night.  A lighter, easier game for newbies to the hobby to learn and enjoy as well as a game for veterans.

Sign Up!

Because our group is growing and we want these featured games to be a success, we ask that you sign up for the game you'd be interested in.  This will both help us gauge interest and plan.  So please respond in the comment section of this blog if you'd like to play a certain game (or multiple)!

We will have a few options so go ahead and sign up for any one you're interested in and we'll assess and set up accordingly.  That includes regulars to the group!  If you have no preference, sign up for all of them!  If nobody signs up for a game we may not bring it so make sure you sing up!

Introductory Game of the Week:  The Resistance: Avalon

Don't be intimidated by the image to the right!  While Avalon may seem to be something daunting and complicated involving really nerdy stuff like spells and knights, it really isn't.  Well it kind of involves that stuff, but in a very superficial way.  Seriously.  Let me explain...

Avalon is a lot like the card game Mafia (if you've played it).  Each player is dealt a role card.  This card tells you whether or not you are a good guy, or a bad guy.  Additionally, it may tell you that you are a specific person or just a generic goodie or baddie.  You might be Merlin (who is a good guy) or the Assassin (who is evil).

These roles are secret!  Nobody should know what you are until the designated time!  Once everybody has seen their roles all heads are lowered and eyes are closed.  All of the evil people are asked to look up, open their eyes, acknowledge one another, and then lower their heads and close their eyes.  Subsequently, Merlin raises his head and opens his eyes followed by the evil people all raising their thumbs.  Thus, all of the evil people know who each other are and subsequently which people are good (but not who specifically Merlin is).  Additionally, Merlin knows which side everybody is on, though doesn't know who specifically the assassin is.

The game itself will then begin and it consists of 5 rounds of 'going on quests.'  Basically each round a leader (randomly chosen at first, then passed clockwise) will choose a set number of people to go on a quest.  Each person has two voting cards - one for failure, one for success.  The people going on the quest secretly choose one (their choice, not random) and give it to the leader.  If even just one comes back 'failure' the quest fails.  If at any point the bad guys cause three failures, they win the entire game.  Similarly, if the good guys win three quests, they might win the game.  There is one final catch for the good folk - if after the good guys win three quests the bad folk can successfully identify Merlin (with the Assassin getting final say) then they win instead.

So it all comes down to deduction.  If you're a bad guy you need to get the quests to fail but without being so obvious that you're never picked for quests.  Maybe that means letting one succeed to foster a false sense of security.  If you're a good guy you need to find out who is actually evil.  If you're Merlin, you need to help your team know whose evil without being too obvious - quite the challenge!

It is a tremendously fun game that plays from 5-10 players - and the more there are, the better!

Players Possible:  5-10    Ideal Number:  10

Veteran Game(s) of the Week:  Deckbuilders

Deckbuilding a is a subgenre of games that has gotten a lot of love and attention the past few years in the gaming community.  It all began with Magic: The Gathering and other subsequent Collectible Card Games (CCG) where essentially you build your own deck.  This prototype was taken and altered into a standalone tabletop game, made particularly famous by the game Dominion.  Since Dominion's release (and subsequent 8 expansions) there have been a number of games created using this mechanic - whether exclusively or coupled with another kind of mechanic.  The beauty of deckbuilding is it is a relatively simple concept, so even if you're not a seasoned gamer, there is certainly a game on this list that you can enjoy!


Dominion (w/ Cornucopia, Seaside, Dark Ages, and Intriuge)


While the flare for Dominion seems to have died down a bit as of late, we would be amiss if we did not put it as an option for Deckbuilding night!  The theme of Dominion is... Something involving the Middle Ages.  There really isn't much of a theme - which is part of some people's complaints about it now that other (and better?) deck-builders have emerged.  Nonetheless, it is a goliath of the genre because it basically started it.  Additionally, it is one of the most accessible games I own.

The rules are simple.  Everyone starts with ten cards.  Shuffle them.  Form a pile.  Draw 5 of them.  If you have any action cards, play one.  If it allows for more actions, play more.  After you've played all you can, add up your money.  Use it to buy a new card - either a new action card of the ten randomly selected before the game, a treasure card (more money!), or a victory point card.  The points are the only thing that matters at the end, but usually do nothing for you mid game.

The beauty of Dominion is that the base game alone comes with 25 different action cards.  Since only 10 are used each game, even without the expansions there are a crazy amount of possible games.  With all 8 expansions there are 14,782,231,840,815,648 possible combinations.

Possible Numbers:  2-4     Ideal Number:   3 or 4

Thunderstone Advance

Don't let the word "Advance" trick you.  It simply denotes the newer edition of this game.  Original Thunderstone was good.  Thunderstone Advance is simply an updated version with better rules (and thus better gameplay).  It is actually very similar to Dominion - in fact it's been called Dominion with Theme - but instead of you being medieval fiefdoms you are adventurers in a dungeon.

Like Dominion, you have your own personal deck of cards from which you draw a fresh hand of cards each turn (this time six cards rather than five).  Then you go to either the Village (to buy more cards - heroes, weapons, spells, etc.) or to the Dungeon (to kill monsters and get victory points).

Undead Treefolk.  Need I say more?

There are a ton of cool cards in this game and I own one expansion (The Caverns of Bane) so there are even more than normal.  There are heroes you can buy that as you kill monsters will level up.  There are need weapons and spells.  Different 'regulars' to buy to aid your hand.  And there are a lot more options than in Dominion.  It is a bit more complicated than Dominion, but if you know that game this will be easy to pick up.

Players Possible:  1-5   Ideal Number:  3

Smash Up!

Our next one is both a tad lighter in theme but also has some additional mechanics.  You start the game by combining too different 'types' of decks.  The different decks are based on various prototypical nerd-related themes.  I.E. Ninjas, Dinosaurs, Robots, Aliens, etc..  There are a ton of expansions that offer other things but I believe we just have the base game.  Regardless, you take two of those.  So you're not just dinosaurs.  You're alien dinosaurs.

Or ninja dinosaurs.  Or ninja robots.  Or pirate dinosaurs.
Pirate.  Dinosaurs.

I haven't played this personally so my description will be a bit weaker, but from what I've gathered there area various bases for which you are vying for control.  Using your cards you can claim more power for some or bump others off.  It is a fun game, especially if you're playing as Mutant Leprechauns.

Players Possible:  2-4   Ideal Number:  3 or 4

Mage Knight

Finally we have a deck builder that is not for the faint of heart.  Mage Knight is a behemoth of a game.  It is by far the most complex of these games listed and is only recommended if you've been around the block.  That's not to say it's impossible, but if the most complex game you've played thus far is Yahtzee you may want to choose a different deck-builder to start (which is perfectly fine)!

Mage Knight is actually based off of a miniatures game by the same name.  I've never played it so I have no idea how it compares.  Nonetheless it has been very highly regarded
by a lot of gamers, reaching has high as 5 or 6 on Boardgamegeek's top games (out of well over 60,000 games) before settling in at #9 where it currently resides.

Mage Knight, like Smash Up, combines two mechanics.  It is a deck builder mixed with an adventure game.  You take control of a Mage Knight - essentially a demigod- and using deck building mechanics you wander around the realm and slay monsters, hire allies, and assault cities.

The artwork in this game is gorgeous and there are many scenarios (including an intro one which we will likely end up playing).

Throughout the game you acquire fame which allows you to level up.  When you level up you get more spells and abilities, letting you kill more monsters.  There's a lot of fun stuff.  It can run a little long, and it's very important to start planning your turn between rounds.

Players Possible:  1-4                Ideal Number: 2 or 3

Because of the nature of Avalon we will do it at a time when everybody (or almost everybody) can play it as a group, so feel free to sign up for it as well as some deck-builders.

5/2 Recap

Friday Night Dice's May 2nd Session was one of record breaking numbers!

We had FIFTEEN people show up!  Not too shabby only two months into existence...

Lee, Beth, Brian, Annemarie, Andrew, Amy, Dana, David, Shelley, Steven, Diana, Lucas, Dan, John, and Lee (bonus Lee - not me) all showed up!

A wide variety of games were played.

The night began with King of Tokyo being taught to and played by Shelley, Beth, Dana, and David with Beth teaching as well as winning - two games in a row if I'm not mistaken.

Dan, Lucas, and myself played Ticket to Ride: India and had an enjoyable time with the map, which was relatively new to all of us.  I won that one by sheer volume of ticket completion.

The rest of the crew played a couple of games of What The Food, a somewhat recent Kickstarter release.

After a couple hours of playing those games we switched to different ones!



Beth taught Dan and Lucas Castles of Burgundy, one of the night's featured games.  It was well enjoyed by all, particularly Lucas.  Unfortunately the guys had to leave before finishing, but I believe Beth held the lead at the end. Again she won a game she taught - how convenient.

David, Brian, Andrew, and Lee (not me) played Smash Up! twice in a row.  This was a new addition to Brian's library and is apparently an area of control/deck builder.  It somehow involved Dinosaur Robots, so that automatically makes it cool.

The rest of the girls played a round of group of solitaire while this was happening.  I realize that sounds like an oxymoron, so just enjoy the picture of the robot-martian-dinosaur to the right and don't think about it.



Finally, Tales of the Arabian Nights was enjoyed by Amy, John, Dana, Diana, and myself.  It was everyone's first time playing so I just was full-time narrator. Tales is a storytelling game similar to the choose-your-own-adventure books of years past.  During our game, Diana's character was married and quickly widowed in a land where the surviving spouse is buried with the corpse.  She escaped but was crippled.  Amy was also crippled.  So was John.  We had a lot of cripplings.  Dana won, probably in large part due to not being crippled.  It was fun.

The night ended with a couple of rounds of Loopin' Louie, the children's classic.

Next FND we will have two featured games - both a lighter game for 'non-gamers' and a more serious strategy game.

And hopefully we will have even more people!

5/2 Featured Designer Night - Stefan Field

Greetings Gamers!

This upcoming game night Friday Night Dice will not just be featuring a single game, but rather a trilogy of games by acclaimed designer Stefan Field.

Field has become a behemoth in the tabletop gaming community by producing a plethora of quality Euro games (Euros are games that focus on resource management, worker placement, development, and/or trade). 

Generally Fields games are distinguished by interesting ways of forming your 'actions' which culminate in a vast array of methods to scoring Victory Points.  His games are certainly not known for their themes, with some gamers complaining they are simply 'pasted on,' however, he has brilliant gameplay and fluid mechanics.  Personally I find the theme complaints shallow as the ones used are more than adequate and even if they're a bit light, the gameplay itself more than makes up for it.


The three games that will be featured are Castles of Burgundy, Trajan, and Bora Bora - his three highest rated games at Boardgamegeek.com (and also the only ones owned by members of our group).

Bora Bora

Bora Bora is a game themed in the tropical island of (you guessed it) Bora Bora.  In it you are the head of a clain of tribal peoples trying to be the most influential of the island.

The unique action system in Bora Bora involves rolling dice and placing them on various actions.  The catch is that you can only but dice on an action if it is lower than all of the dice already present.  Additionally, the higher your dice number, generally the better the action becomes.  This creates a lot of tense decisions as you ponder using your low dice first to ensure the action you need and block other from it, but risking not being able to use your high dice at all.

In addition you will be hiring tribesmen and tribeswomen with certain specialties that subsequently give you actions.  Like all of Fields games there is more to do than you can accomplish. 

The smooth, albeit somewhat complex mechanics, create a very enjoyable games with a lot of decisions.  This is probably his most complicated game we'll play and while the rules can be a bit hard to grasp at first, by the end of you'll be ready to play again with a more cemented strategy.

 

Rahdo Runs Bora Bora:

Ryan Metzler Reviews Bora Bora:

Castles of Burgundy

Castles of Burgundy is Stefan Field's highest rated game on Boardgamegeek.com (as of this post #12).

In it you are Renaissance Aristocrats trying to develop the nicest land in the region (again, the theme is light, but vaguely present).  To do this you will build buildings, develop livestock, and trade goods.

Like Bora Bora, you use dice to take actions.  In this one each action has different 'depots' and the dice only allow you take goods from the depot you rolled.  I.E.  If I want the cows in #1 I need to roll a 1.  There are ways of altering these dice rolls and manipulating the actions so that further actions occur.

This is his least complicated game we will play and my wife's favorite strategy game of all time.  It is very fluid and very enjoyable.  Even if you lose you'll feel like you did something.

Rahdo Runs Castles of Burgundy:

Ryan Metzler's Review of Castles of Burgundy:

Trajan

Trajan is the newest of these three games to be released and while not as high as Burgundy on BGG, it is considered by many to be Field's finest game.  It is my personal favorite (and will be the one I play as well as teach).

In this one you are leaders during the reign of Caesar Trajan at the height of the Roman Empire.  Through architecture, trade, military conquest, and clever beurocratic negotation you are tasked with becoming the most prestigous - as with all Field games, this will be measured in victory points.

Trajan features an incredibly unique action sequence.  As you can see in the picture, each player will have a board similar to a Mancala game.  You will pick a 'bowl' of cylinders and one at a time lay them out in clockwise order in the other bowls.  Whichever one you end on, that's the action you pick.  If the "Trajan" tile's requirements are met (the two colors shown are in the bowl whose action you are taking) you get a bonus action that round. 

It is a fascinating and fun mechanic that brings a high level of enjoyability to the game.  Choices about and there are several ways to win this game.  Again, it is my personal favorite of the three.

Rahdo Runs Trajan:

 

 Ryan Metzler's Review of Trajan:

 All of these games feature 2-4 players and will take about 2 hours. Either my wife or I will teach them to everyone playing and will be on hand to answer any questions.

And as always there will be other games available if none of these suit your fancy!

Blessings!

-Lee Nicholas