More painted Descent minis

by Ed Rozmiarek
I'm making pretty good progress on painting the Descent minis. Better than I thought I would, but there are still a lot more to go. I have completed four different sets since our last Descent session. With a few weeks before our next session, I should be able to get a couple more groups done.

Descent Sorcerers	Razorwing flock	Normal Razorwing and master
Descent Priests	Deep Elves	Deep Elves - back

You can see all of the Descent miniatures I have painted in the picture gallery.

Gulf Games 22

by Susan Rozmiarek

Another Gulf Games has come and gone. We've been going for six years now, and we have made it our annual family vacation. It's now less about trying all the new games and more about getting to see all our friends. It seems like with every passing year I spend less time playing and more time hanging out, drinking wine and eating chocolate late into the night. I did, however, manage to squeeze a little gaming in with the socializing. Here are my brief thoughts on the new games that I did play:

Games good enough to definitely make the "buy" list:

Dominion

This was the "Best in Show" for me. I normally shy away from prototypes, but this one has been fully developed and is due out in a few months. As I'm describing a lot of the new games I play, I often say how they are similar to other games, something that has really burned me out on new eurogames. Dominion feels quite unique to me, a HUGE plus in its favor. It's a fast and furious game of card drafting as you try to build an engine that lets you get the most victory points. You build your deck as you go along and burn through it over and over, trying to get the right balance of money, action, and victory point cards. The types of action cards made available for each game are chosen at the start from a wide selection provided. Each game can play drastically different depending on the mix of cards used. Players can tailor the game to their tastes by choosing or not choosing to pick cards that cause a lot of player interaction. I enjoyed trying to figure out a strategy based on how the available cards would interact with each other. I played it twice with different sets of cards and both games were completely different. One felt like a solitaire race and the other was downright nasty. Believe the hype - I loved this game and will be buying it the second it's available. It's the addictive type of game that you want to sit and play over again and again

Blox

This is one of this year's Spiel des Jahres nominees and it is rather hard to find. It's a tactical abstract game of moving pawns around to build and destroy towers of blocks for points. These actions are done with randomly drawn cards depicting different colors that match the colors of the blocks and the spaces on the square grid of the board. The game has a pleasant flow to it and there is a really nice mechanism to alleviate bad card draws. The tower floors are made out of the same nice, heavy material as quality dominoes, and well, I'm easily sold by nice bits, especially if the game is actually good as well!

Shanghaien

I adore dice, so I'm loving the current trend of new games that use dice in different ways. This little two-player set collecting game from Michael Schacht has you placing dice, based on the numbers rolled, on a central row of cards similar to the tiles of Roma, although in this game you are trying to have the most influence in order to collect the cards. The dice placed not only affect the cards they are on, but also adjacent card. That and the scoring twist make it a pretty interesting game with nuances I was only just seeing towards the end. It's also very quick to play but alas, it is another German-only game and hard to find here in the States.

I didn't get a chance to play them, but Ed really liked Tribune and a little Adlung game called Palastgefluster.

On the "maybe" list

Stone Age

This game is yet another worker placement game of gathering resources and turning them into victory points in the same vein of Pillars of the Earth, Caylus and Leonardo da Vinci, etc. However, it is much simpler and I liked how it used dice to generate a little excitement and uncertainty to the resource gathering. But, the worker placement mechanism is becoming so overused and Stone Age pales in comparison to my two favorites - Pillars of the Earth and Age of Empires III. So, while I enjoyed playing it, I don't really need it.

Note: Stone Age ended up being our first pick off the prize table so we now own a copy anyway :-)

Big Points

This was cute little filler that reminded me of Tutankhamen. There is a winding path of differently colored wooden discs and there is a pawn for each color. On your turn, you pick a pawn and move to the next disc matching its color. You then collect either the disc in front of or behind the pawn. Discs will be worth points based on their matching pawn's order of finish. There are two special colors that work differently to add a little more to the game. Utter fluff, but it was a fun, quick game.

Neferatiti

Another set collecting game with an auction mechanism involving placing your workers on spots of varying costs at different sites on the board to get the most influence in order to be able to collect the things there. What makes the game interesting are the different ways each site resolves, making for some interesting placement and money management decisions. There are also some action cards that add some strategy. This game is very close to making the "buy" list, although I'm worried that it'll just get lost on the shelves amidst our bloated collection of other games of this type and weight.

Cannonball Colony

This was an okay game of building forts, roads and cannons. It has some interesting placement decisions, but it feels very abstract. The cannons are an important part of those decisions, but they also provide for some nasty play that may be off-putting to some people. I'd play it again, but I doubt it would ever be a favorite of mine.

The disappointments:

Monastery

I really want to like this game. I've played this game twice now and still haven't made my mind up on it which is a very bad sign. I love the theme, art and the nifty monk figures but the game goes too long and is only interesting and fun for the first 2/3 of that time. It's sort of reminds me of a cross between Blue Moon City and Tikal. You are drawing and placing tiles that must be constructed for points, often with the help of other players. You use your allotted movement points to send your monks out to work or pray on various tiles to earn work points. Unfortunately, just as in Tikal, this can bog players down with analysis paralysis as they try to optimize these points. Also, lucky tile draws can have a big effect on the game. There are some clever things in it that I like, but the game as a whole just hasn't been that fun. We did get a rule wrong about the blessings, so I hope to give it one more chance before it hits the trade pile. That would be so very sad, as I usually adore the Ragnar Brothers' games.

Horus

This is a tile placement game of trying to form and control groups of like tiles along and near the Nile River. There wasn't anything particularly unique or exciting about it and it just felt rather dull. I'd like to play it again to see if I missed something. Or rather, I NEED to play it again as it is a review copy and I need to give it a fair shot.

So, those were the new games that I played during the week. I did play an old-but-new-to-me classic deduction game - Black Vienna. This is a straightforward deduction game which means that I enjoyed the challenge but totally sucked at it. It is long out of print but it is easy to make a homemade copy.

I also played some favorites - Uptown, Pandemic, Pick-Two, Midnight Party and Ticket to Ride. Sadly, despite loose plans to play D&D 4e and Doom, my only ameritrash moment was getting a copy of the most recent version of Talisman off the prize table in the second round. I was quite thrilled. (Yes, I know it has flaws. I like Fluxx too, so there!).

Excerpts from the Diary of a Mad Overlord - Part 3

by Ed Rozmiarek

Previous ramblings: Part 1 / Part 2

Dear Diary,

This is starting to look like another fine week. The report from Sir Alric just arrived. Kar-Amag-Atoth arrived in Nerekhall as planned. He met with Sir Alric before moving on to Greyhaven as ordered. As for Sir Alric, he continues working on the siege engines needed to move forward with my plans for Nerekhall. He is almost complete with the construction phase.

After the last two busy weeks for me, I have planned a much needed rest this week. I need to build up my store of energy before tackling my next research project. As for those self styled "heroes", my sources tell me they skipped town. They were last seen on a boat heading east from Tamalir.

<Red Echo River dungeon, level 1, "The Crypt (15)">
Dear Diary,
They're at it again. Will they never learn? Those adventurers decided to invade The Crypt along the Red Echo River. Well, I bet they were surprised as they walked into the seemingly empty crypt only to have those three masters rise from their sarcophagi. From the masters' elevated vantage points the sorcerer Teras and skeleton Xil quickly brought down Runemaster Thorn followed closely by the dwarf Corbin. That silver magical enhancement research I completed a couple weeks ago was certainly paying off. The beastman Gog mostly stayed out of the early battle, mainly just adding his mental support to his ranged counterparts.

The adventurers were certainly determined though and kept after the masters. They concentrated their efforts on the master sorcerer. Teras took some damage but was able to jump out the way of several of their attacks. The delay allowed a couple apes to join the fay. Also, Teras was able to call a pair of his lower level sorcerers to help. The combined efforts of the masters and the apes quickly brought down Kirga who had gotten separated from his friends.

Unfortunately, the heroes were finally able bring down Teras and he was unable to get off his regeneration spell to bring himself back. This gave much encouragement to the heroes who charged back to battle, only to be met by a couple of newly arrived dark priests. In addition, the Runemaster and Corbin were surprised when one of the apes leaped over the pool of water to land behind Corbin.

As the melee continued in the main hall, Corbin and Kirga were brought down again. The beastman Gog made a strategic withdraw away from the heroes and down the right hallway. That tricky Runemaster Thorn was able to follow Gog by teleporting down the hallway, right next to Gog. This allowed Thorn to bring down the surprised Gog, who like Teras before him, was unable to cast his undying spell. Thorn paid the ultimate price for his trick as he was cut down by the sorcerers. The skeleton Xil, the last remaining master, knew he had to protect the key to the portal, so, he made a run for the protection of the distant hallway. However, unlike Gog before him, Xil was able to summon a beastman group to his aid for protection.

Harried by dark priests, sorcerers and the newly arrived beastmen, the heroes took a beating. Steelhorns finally fell, followed soon by Corbin (again). Seeing their quarry hide in the hallway and with a number of beasts between him and themselves, the adventurers finally pulled the plug on their venture and retreated to the exit glyph.

I assume they feel duly chastised for disturbing the sanctity of the Crypt. They and their feeble attacks kept missing and missing all day long. Just where did they train?

However, I must check my research into that Dark Curse spell. Three times those heroes have been able to resist the curse. I must be doing something wrong when I cast it.

(Conquest: Heroes +7, OL +26)

Dear diary,
Ah, I feel much better after my rest last week. Well, that and the warm feeling one gets by running those "heroes" back to Tamalir. In fact, I had a brainstorm the other day and thought of a new treachery I can use in the event that the adventurers show up again.

My lieutenants report that the sieges continued on schedule. Sir Alric has completed the last of the siege engines needed to bring down the walls at Nerekhall. He will begin the bombardment soon. And Kar-Amag-Atoth has started building his siege engines in the forests outside Greyhaven.

My source in Tamalir sent a report that the "heroes" didn't stay in town long this time. Probably embarrassed. He reported that they headed south this time along the Thelsvan Highway. Ah, if they only knew that they are heading right into Gax's nest of Razorwings. Poor things, I almost feel sorry for them...

Naaa....

Dear Diary,
As I suspected, Gax and his Razorwing flock found the adventurers as they stopped for lunch in a Narrow Path along the Thelsvan Highway. The razorwings came from two sides to quickly close in on the party. By darting in and out Gax and his flock were able to pick off the adventurers one by one. First to drop was the big lug Steelhorns soon followed by the dwarf Corbin who got slowed down by the mud. Unfortunately, it had become a battle of attrition by now. Gax was able to slowly bring in additional members of his flock, but he had been dazed by a lucky blow from the dwarf and Gax could not shake the fuzzy feeling.

After seeing Gax fly in to nip at them and then fly out of range a couple times, the two remaining heroes decided they had had enough and better revive their comrades. They were last seen hauling off the bodies of their two friends and heading south. They were reported to be camping out in front of the dungeon along the Thelsvan Highway.

(Conquest: Heroes +0, OL +5)

---

Box Score:
Avatar: Demon Prince
Scenario: Ascension
Week: 5
Nerekhall (Sir Alric): Four siege engines
Greyhaven (Kar-Amag-Atoth): One siege engine
Eldritch: Silver
Conquest: Overlord 76 / Heroes 36