Quick Hits: June 2022

Today’s post takes a quick peek at some games, miniatures, and accessories that have caught my attention over the past two weeks. I always enjoy sharing my discoveries with fellow gamers. So let’s get right to it…

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Bretwalda

I’m a big fan of area-control and battle games. I love games with a dark ages or medieval theme. I’m a sucker for games with beautiful art & components and great table presence. Bretwalda, a new game project by Phalanx Games that’s currently running on Gamefound, ticks all the boxes for me.

But there are so many dudes-on-a-map games out there, I’m reluctant to buy into another one that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. So, what makes Bretwalda any different from the run of the mill game of this style? Looking at the reviews, a couple of cool things stood out. The factions are asymmetrical (with different powers). Seasonal random events occur, plus Danish invaders can mess with everybody, which adds a layer of surprise and suspense that I love. The map that the factions are vying over is tight, almost circular, which prevents turtling and triggers more fighting. I also like that there’s an aspect of diplomacy in this game, which is refreshing.

I haven’t backed this yet, but I’m very close to pulling the trigger on it. There are only 9 days left in the campaign, so check it out if it sounds interesting to you.

Base Pledge is about $92 USD

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Chaos Wars 4 – Thunderbolt Mountain Minis

Ah, Ral Partha; the fantasy miniatures that I grew up on. While I still own some Ral Partha minis, I sold a big batch of them (still in blister packs) a few years ago at the flea market of a local HMGS East convention. Most of these minis are true 25mm. I currently play most of my miniature games in 28mm (including heroic 28mm), so most of the old Ral Partha figures look small & slender in comparison.

Color me pleasantly surprised when I saw the new Chaos Wars (Wave 4) kickstarter that’s offering newly sculpted 30mm fantasy miniatures sculpted by the talented Tom Meier.

I really like the look of these new Elves and Goblins. They conjure a very Lord of the Rings feel to me, which is cool, and the scale fits with great with the chunkier minis I prefer.

Really like those Goblins and Elves. The Trolls are funky, but have personality!

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Litko Magnetic Base Bottoms

I was running low on adhesive magnetic base bottoms, as well as 80x60mm regiment bases which we use for our fantasy wargames. So, back around Memorial Day I felt it was high time to place a Litko order and restock my supplies. As fate would have it, Litko was having a sale — woohoo! The picture below shows what I bought.

I couldn’t resist a sale!

For my Sword of Severnia fantasy battle game, as well as Warlords of Hexenstein, we base our single units on 80x60mm stands. I use plywood and masonite bases. I then glue an 80x60mm metal base on top of that (you can also use flex steel, another Litko product). For my individual 28mm figures, I stick heavy-duty adhesive magnetic bases to the underside of their bases. The magnetic attraction enables figures to adhere nicely to the regiment stand, which works great when moving troops around in mass-battle games.

The big advantage to this system is that you can easily remove individual figures from their regiment stands and use them in skirmish/warband games where unit-basing isn’t used. For example, I will often pull a bunch of Vikings off their regiment bases to use in SAGA, or remove medieval Knights and Archers to use in a game of Lion Rampant. Being able to get double-duty out of my figures is important to me.

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Dungenerator

I don’t currently play D&D, but if I still did this Kickstarter project would definitely pique my interest. The Dungenerator is a deck of cards that a GM can use to create on-the-fly dungeon layouts. Rooms connect to each other along one of more sides of each card.

The artwork has a certain bold charm to it, and the concept is simple but useful. These cards might even be useful in games such as Four Against Darkness, Rangers of Shadow Deep (or underground Frostgrave encounters), or any type of skirmish style dungeon adventure.

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Until next time, keep on gaming!

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

On June 23, 2022, I played Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu for the very first time. I was joined by my regular gaming buddies, Kevin and Wally, for a 3-player game. We ended up playing the game twice during a 2.5-hour gaming session.

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is a co-operative board game. Each player assumes the role of a character (we used Magician, Hunter, and Driver), and your team of investigators is collectively trying to close 4 dimensional portals before something cataclysmic happens. You all lose if Cthulhu appears (the last of 7 Elder Gods), more than 3 slimy Shoggoths show up to terrorize the world, all the investigators go insane, too many evil Cultists have been summoned, or you’ve run out of Clue cards (used to close gates and aid movement).

Setting up our game of Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

We got slaughtered during Game-1. Cthulhu awakened before we closed any gates. We didn’t work together as a team very well and were overwhelmed. Chalk it up as a learning game.

In Game-2, we co-operated a whole lot better, closing 2 gates and nearing the seal of a third before a fast-wriggling Shoggoth squirmed its way through a dimensional gate and awakened the cosmic wrath of Cthulhu. Dang it, close but no cigar!

I really enjoyed the game. It was better than I expected. The game looks good on the table and the Lovecraftian theme shines through. Cultists, Shoggoths, Insanity, archetypal investigators, occult relics, the classic towns of Arkham/Dunwich/Innsmouth/Kingsport, and an array of nasty Old Ones all make their appearance here.

And oh boy, it’s challenging to beat! Despite our best efforts, we lost both games. The next day, I was pondering “how do we better co-operate to beat this thing?” To me, that’s the mark of a good co-op. Plus, the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. There’s a lot of fun packed into roughly one hour of typical play time.

Best of all, there’s enough variety in the Old Ones, investigators, and relics that the re-playability factor seems high. It’s definitely a keeper and a game that I recommend for fans of Cthulhu, co-ops, and mid-weight strategy games.

What a Tanker! – First Play

On Sunday afternoon (June-19-2022), we broke out my 1/72 scale Dragon Armor tanks and played our first ever game of What a Tanker! (a game by Too Fat Lardies). For those who aren’t familiar with the game, it’s a pure WWII tank battle game. Infantry and artillery don’t make an appearance here, it’s simply tank-on-tank goodness.

We didn’t have any specific scenario in mind; it was a simple “destroy your enemy” battle. There was a crossroads in the center of the table that I laid out, so that seemed to have a funneling effect on us mentally, as several tanks ended up duking it out in the center.

It was an engrossing game and we caught on to the game mechanics quickly. However, after close to 3 hours, Wally’s Germans had managed to destroy 1 Sherman (Big Jim), while my USA/British alliance took out a Panzer IV (Rolf). Both sides still had two operating tanks left (only 1 of them having even minor damage). We called it after that… a Tie.

The Too Fat Lardies are big proponents of “friction” in their game designs. I agree with that philosophy in war games. But wow, the way Command Dice work in What a Tanker results in a game with a large degree of chaos. There were many times that a tank just sat there and did nothing, and times where it was aimed & loaded but lacked a Shoot dice needed to fire at its enemy. The vagaries of the Command Dice can lead to a lot of frustration. Still, on balance, I enjoyed that mechanic.

My biggest gripe is the difficulty in destroying enemy tanks. It’s a slow process to wear-down an enemy tank from 6 to 0 Command Dice. Blowing a tank up outright ultimately comes down to a lucky shot or managing to maneuver behind them and blast them in the rear-flank. I was expecting this to be faster & deadlier, but it’s really a bit of a slog.

One thing that could be tweaked (which I may house rule) is that close range fire should be deadlier. There’s no difference if I shoot you from 48” away, versus 8”. Our Jagdpanzer IV L70V tank destroyer -vs- Churchill Mk III battle, two very heavily armored tanks, ended up as an extended pillow fight; nobody could inflict any damage on the other. I think a simple +1 Aim and +2 Strike bonus, for being within 12” of an enemy, can make close attacks deadlier without unbalancing the game.

Overall, the game is easy to learn and fun; I want to play it again. It ran much longer than we expected (close to 3 hours). Despite what some folks suggest this is not a fast-play game, especially if you’re managing 3 tanks per player like we did. Looking forward to trying it again. Hopefully, we get a faster, more decisive outcome next time.

Pulp-o-Matic

While I have yet to actually play a game in the Pulp genre, I’ve been slowly building up my collection of painted figures over the past few years. Recently, I bought the following set of figures from a gentleman who listed them in the TMP Marketplace.

These are mostly Copplestone figures, and include 2 archaeologists, 1 heroic pilot, a gang of 5 Chinese hoodlums, and a set of 5 Gangsters. They’ll make a fine addition to my eclectic collection of pulp heroes, sidekicks, and villains.

Evolve & Twist

I haven’t posted in a while. Between our 20th wedding anniversary, a vacation in Mexico which was linked to my niece’s wedding, celebrating my wife’s birthday, a winery weekend vacation with good friends, and work stuff, I haven’t had the time or inclination to write anything.

But I did get to play two board games over that timeframe. Woot!

Evolve or Get Eaten!

The first game that I played was Evolution on 6/8/2022. This was played at a local board game night that my friend Kevin and I attended for the first time.

Evolution has a fun dinosaur theme and low-complexity rules. But it’s a game that you need to play regularly in order to know which cards are contained in the deck, and how they synergize to develop a good strategy for gaining points. Making great combos is the key to doing well.

I finished in 2nd place playing with gamers who had played it before, so I felt like I grasped the concepts well enough for my first game. I would definitely play it again; it’s a solid game with multiple paths to victory.

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Twist like we did last Summer

This past Thursday evening, I had a terrific time playing Dungeon Twister 2: Prison with my old friend Wally.

Dungeon Twister is one of my favorite 2-player games. It’s not a typical dungeon crawler game. Instead, it’s a thinky 2-player game to see who can escape the dungeon the fastest.

I love the variety of characters and tactics, and the element of surprise (the room reveals, combat cards, room rotations). Just when you think you’ve found an escape route, your opponent twists a room and your best laid plans are foiled. The dice-less combat is fast & deadly; part playing the odds and part bluffing & double-think. Games of Dungeon Twister are never dull; they’re a constantly changing puzzle you’re trying to solve.

I pulled out a hard-won 5-3 victory. It was satisfying. But if Thursday’s game taught me anything, it reminded me that win or lose, we need to play Dungeon Twister much more often. It’s such a well-designed and fun game. I own two expansions to the game, Forces of Darkness and Paladins & Dragons, which add a huge amount of variety to the game with new characters, new items, and new modular board tiles. We need to dive deep into these suckers.

Dungeon Twister is an older game, but you can usually find both the original and 2nd (Prison) editions on eBay. The original edition has the better rulebook and fewer hellish-to-navigate rooms, while the 2nd edition (Prison) has nice miniatures rather than cardboard standees. There’s really no problem mixing & matching the sets; variety is king with this game.

While I’m sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, Dungeon Twister is great if you enjoy mid-weight strategy games featuring spatial reasoning, direct conflict, variable character powers, and an element of puzzle solving. I highly recommend it; it’s in my top 20 games of all-time.