Tuesday 21st November

Anyone for Flamme Rouge (4 player cycle racing) and Abandon Planet (from the creator of the Resistance, plays 8 )?

Sorry I'm continuing to lose horrifically in Imperisl Assault... along with Paul, Lizzy and Ian against Kes. Heavy euro next week?

They both sound interesting, Karl, I'll join you.

Aneurin wrote:Sorry I'm continuing to lose horrifically in Imperisl Assault... along with Paul, Lizzy and Ian against Kes. Heavy euro next week?

Seafall next week remember

Hi - first post but have been coming for a while. you might recognise me as one of the two grumpy bearded chaps in a corner.

A couple of friends and I will probably be playing our own thing but I'm bringing Magic Maze which is a quick co-op game for up to 8 where only one person can take each action and you're not allowed to speak while play is in progress. Cue lots of staring and impatient expressions. May try to get players for that later in the evening.

Sam and I said we'd play Vast - 5 player game very asymmetrical and great fun - not as hard to learn as some might think.

Someone else said they'd play with us but not sure who but we have 3 spots either way

1 Andy
2 Sam
3 Ant
4 Tim
5

AndyM wrote:Sam and I said we'd play Vast - 5 player game very asymmetrical and great fun - not as hard to learn as some might think.

Someone else said they'd play with us but not sure who but we have 3 spots either way

Vast me up please!

Hi, can I join you guys playing Vast please ? Really enjoyed it the first time I played a few months ago.Thanks, Tim

Imperial assault for me. Time to kick jabba's sluggy arse!
But I will be around from 5 if anyone wants to get a game in before hand

It's a side mission so jabba probably won't be involved at all!

Then we will just swear behind his back and kick your arse instead

Ianm wrote:Then we will just swear behind his back and kick  your arse instead

Well that's us doomed to failure then... I'll be down from 5pm Ian to play something before we sit around an watch Kes' head enlarge even more...

Aneurin wrote:

Ianm wrote:Then we will just swear behind his back and kick  your arse instead

Well that's us doomed to failure then... I'll be down from 5pm Ian to play something before we sit around an watch Kes' head enlarge even more...

Well he is playing Jabba and that thing has a mighty large head!
See you at 5

I will be down at 5 also.

These sessions start earlier and earlier! We're not far off the day when Aneurin gets there at midday...on the Monday.

karl_b wrote:These sessions start earlier and earlier! We're not far off the day when Aneurin gets there at midday...on the Monday.

How do you know I don't already...

Hi, this seems like a really nice group - i was going to try to come along for the first time either today or on Thursday (might feel a little bit less out of place on a day aimed at new people).

Can anyone recommend somewhere for parking nearby? I don't mind a little walk if it means avoiding any extortionate car park charges.

Ace wrote:Hi, this seems like a really nice group - i was going to try to come along for the first time either today or on Thursday (might feel a little bit less out of place on a day aimed at new people).

Can anyone recommend somewhere for parking nearby? I don't mind a little walk if it means avoiding any extortionate car park charges.

There are a few spaces on Weston St. (outside Sainsbury's) which is free from 6pm. Or quite a few more spaces on Mushroom Lane which is a slightly longer walk.

paulyg wrote:
There are a few spaces on Weston St. (outside Sainsbury's) which is free from 6pm. Or quite a few more spaces on Mushroom Lane which is a slightly longer walk.

Cool, thanks.

You can park on the single yellow line on Bolsover street after 6.30 pm

Rustlingstim wrote:You can park on the single yellow line on Bolsover street after 6.30 pm

Nice one, thanks.

AndyM wrote:Sam and I said we'd play Vast - 5 player game very asymmetrical and great fun - not as hard to learn as some might think.

Someone else said they'd play with us but not sure who but we have 3 spots either way

1 Andy
2 Sam
3 Ant
4 Tim
5

Sorry dudes, gonna have to duck out of this at such late notice tonight, but something's come up! Gutted!

Flamme Rouge I liked a bit more in theory than in practice. Elegantly thematic, by which I mean there are a few rules that nicely simulate multiple facets of the subject. Take exhaustion: the rule is that if you have more than one space empty in front of you, you take an exhaustion card. When you put it like that, it doesn't sound sensible, but in practice it means this: if you are dashing ahead, you get exhausted, if you're lagging behind and trying to keep up, you get exhausted, but if you sit comfortably with the rest of the pack at a steady pace you stay fresh.  Because you have to stay in the right-hand lane if possible, the exhaustion rule also means you tire out more if you're overtaking. It all makes simple, lovely sense. It's what I would call clever design, but whether it is really all that good overall remains to be seen, because I didn't think the game was tremendous fun. It's a bit roll-and-movey, but with cards instead of dice. Similar feeling as Formula D. Like that one, some great ideas, but doesn't feel very strategic, at least not yet. At least Formula D had the danger of tight corners and engine damage. Still, apparently Formula D has some depth that's hard to appreciate after one game, and maybe that's true of Flamme Rouge too.

Abandon Planet was great. A medium-simple resouce collection game where you have to team up to win, but who you team up could remain undecided until the last moment of the game. Loved how important talking about your move with the other players was, or trying to squeeze the information about the meteor out of the one person that knows on that turn. You really don't want to end up on the same space as another player, on in the path of a meteor, but you also don't really know who you will be finishing the game with — the potential for time wasted second guessing is huge. Plenty of time for desperate appeals and indignation, too. Diplomatic balance, pragmatism and perhaps a little deception are all helpful. A smart social game, as was the Resistance, but this time in a totally different way. Must play more of this. What other games are similar?

The game we played at the end of the night fell a bit flat with me. Very pretty sci-fi artwork on the cards. I wonder if it is tighter with less players.

SamVS wrote:Flamme Rouge I liked a bit more in theory than in practice. Elegantly thematic, by which I mean there are a few rules that nicely simulate multiple facets of the subject. Take exhaustion: the rule is that if you have more than one space empty in front of you, you take an exhaustion card. When you put it like that, it doesn't sound sensible, but in practice it means this: if you are dashing ahead, you get exhausted, if you're lagging behind and trying to keep up, you get exhausted, but if you sit comfortably with the rest of the pack at a steady pace you stay fresh.  Because you have to stay in the right-hand lane if possible, the exhaustion rule also means you tire out more if you're overtaking. It all makes simple, lovely sense. It's what I would call clever design, but whether it is really all that good overall remains to be seen, because I didn't think the game was tremendous fun. It's a bit roll-and-movey, but with cards instead of dice. Similar feeling as Formula D. Like that one, some great ideas, but doesn't feel very strategic, at least not yet. At least Formula D had the danger of tight corners and engine damage. Still, apparently Formula D has some depth that's hard to appreciate after one game, and maybe that's true of Flamme Rouge too.

I really like Flamme Rouge, having now played half a dozen games. I bought it as a replacement/improvement on Ave Caesar, a nice, non-gamer friendly racing game that has enough thinking to keep it interesting for me. I think the mountains will add some further tactics and the variety of tracks gives it much more scope for replays than AC. I'm not a huge fan of Formula D, I find it slow and I don't like the elimination element (bitter experience of my 2 plays). The imminent Flamme Rouge expansion adds the ability to play with 6 or 12 (using a single cyclist each) as well as new tracks parts, such as cobble, single lane streets.

SamVS wrote:Abandon Planet was great. A medium-simple resouce collection game where you have to team up to win, but who you team up could remain undecided until the last moment of the game. Loved how important talking about your move with the other players was, or trying to squeeze the information about the meteor out of the one person that knows on that turn. You really don't want to end up on the same space as another player, on in the path of a meteor, but you also don't really know who you will be finishing the game with — the potential for time wasted second guessing is huge. Plenty of time for desperate appeals and indignation, too. Diplomatic balance, pragmatism and perhaps a little deception are all helpful. A smart social game, as was the Resistance, but this time in a totally different way. Must play more of this. What other games are similar?

Agreed, thanks for playing it through for the first time with me. Definitely one to play more and with a full contingent of players. My one concern about the game is the same one I share with Avalon, Secret Hitler et all and that's the potential for it to drag on. It's supposed to take 10 minutes-ish per player but I could see how we gamers could start to overthink every action. How long was last night's game - about 90 minutes? It seemed a good length for 5, including set up and familiarising ourselves with the game for the first time.

SamVS wrote:The game we played at the end of the night fell a bit flat with me. Very pretty sci-fi artwork on the cards. I wonder if it is tighter with less players.

Also agreed. It didn't have nearly enough peril or threat of defeat for 'The Hunted' and it was a really difficult task for the Creature.