I am truly lucky. My nieces and nephews forgo the video games to play with me.
Some heavier play for us lately, having learned Brass: Birmingham (#1 rated game on BGG) and now learning Great Western Trail (#15). Both make my brains hurt a little, and if we played experienced players we’d get killed, but that’s part of the fun of learning a game with someone…we’re well-matched.
I noticed BGG says that there’s one rules change between Brass:Lancashire (which I have a copy of) and Brass:Birmingham - a Scout action. Does this loosen the game up a bit and make it easier to make progress when the cards go your way?
Any comments on Great Western Trail? Looks like it might be my kind of game.
I don’t have it and have only played Birmingham 5 or so times a year or more ago: I don’t remember how the scout rule played out. It does, however, have an additional mechanic that I don’t like: beer. There are certain things that you need beer to build, and breweries act a lot like iron and coal. I don’t like it partly because it slows down the game, but mainly because it doesn’t feel realistic. Even if railroad magnates actually did buy whole batches of beer to encourage their workers to work, it still feels silly.
That said, I would still play it. I only like it slightly less than Lancashire, and everyone else seems to like it more, so it is the version everyone wants to play, so that’s what I play.
I assume you mean don’t go your way; I haven’t played Lancashire, but the scout action lets you get two wild cards (one for industry, one for location), and I’ve only used it once, but I was stuck and it gave me a spotthat let me get a lot done…so I’d guess that indeed, it loosens things up.
The other thing I’d note is that Birmingham is two eras, with the first (canals) apparently very like Lancashire, and then at the end of that era all your Level 1 buildings go away…so quite a bit of the focus can be getting down at least one Level 2 building, ideally in a good location.
We’ve only played five times (but are about to play again), but so far what I really like is there being three avenues (or at least two) you will want to pursue, perhaps even need to pursue, but it’s very hard to do. So, there’s a lot of decision-making and planning, but just enough randomness to require flexibility (though you can actively take actions to reduce or even use the randomness). I mean, that’s my read after five plays, anyway.
I’ve offered to host Board Game Arena games here before with few takers, but if you learn the game I could host something down the road.
Correct, thanks.
That’s the kind of thing I was hoping to hear. When I introduce B:L to newbies, they can get frustrated if the cards they have won’t allow them to make progress, so having this action would ease up on that.
Does your hand size decrease when you use that action as well?
B:L has the twin-era mechanic as well - canal followed by rail, and yes, getting a Level 2 (or 3!) cotton mill to score in both eras is a coup.
This sounds conceptually a lot like Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery, where you have a lot of decisions and have to be very opportunistic with your plays rather than grind through a single principal strategy and stick with it until the end. If true, it’s the kind of game I like.
I’ve never used Board Game Arena but I’m willing to learn! I’ll let you know if I pick up GWT.
Ah, okay, they’re even more similar than I realized.
When you scout, you play your normal card, and then discard two more, but you’re going to draw back to the usual hand size, so it’s not a meaningful penalty (in fact, it’s a bonus if your hand sucks).
If I didn’t mention, BGA is free (though you can’t initiate games without being a member, I don’t think), and that’s where we’re learning it. I’d offer to teach it, but one thing about online play is that you can rumble along without understanding the nuances. That said, a few more good plays and we’re like to buy it, or at least download the rules.
Both Lanc and Burm have canal/rail, Birm has more industry types. How you ship/sell goods is the biggest difference (well, also the map)
Burm is arguably better, but I prefer the original.
Free BGA members can start non premium games, but of course most of the in demand games are premium. Free members can play premium games, but must be invited by a premium member.
I’d probably play GWT, though not my first choice in games.
Brian
Played a few new games:
Arcs. I liked this but didn’t love it. It was at a board game meetup so don’t know when I will try it again but I would like to.
Faraway. A fun fast card game that scores your cards in reverse. It takes a game to get it but it is not as complicated as it seems.
Let’s Go to Japan. This was surprisingly fast to set up and play. We really enjoyed it.
I was recently at a convention and that game was insanely in demand, and was apparently also the most played game at the recent Dice Tower convention. (I know it helps and it’s a short game, and there were multiple copies, but still) we do intend to give that one a try.
We’re playing a lot of Distilled lately on BGA. We learned it at a convention but couldn’t recall all the rules, this has been helpful in relearning it. It’s a tight, unforgiving game, but it feels great when everything comes together.
Got together with my usual Sunday group and played Taverns of Tiefenthal (had to look up the spelling), Cosmic Frog, and Tumble Town.
I picked up Wyrmspan recently, and am really loving it. I’d only played the original, Wingspan, once, and it didn’t really stick for me, but something really clicks with Wyrmspan for me. Possibly all the dragons.
I’ve played it three times with my regular Friday night board game group. One of my friends got exactly the same score all three games.
Happy Little Dinosaurs, Doomlings, Ecologies. Betrayal at Baldur’s gate.
Anyone played Hadara? I’ve played it twice, the second time two weeks ago at Dice Tower East in Orlando.
It’s a lot like Seven Wonders but without the large-hand card drafting, and I feel that it’s more balanced and with more valid paths to win.
There are 3 eras like in Seven Wonders. In the first half of each era, each player gets one chance at each of 5 card types, “drafting” 2 cards of one type a round and then choosing one of them to buy or sell. And then once everyone has done that, you do the second half of the era where everyone gets to choose to buy or sell the remaining cards left over from the first half. In between these 6 era-halves, there are mini rounds where you get to conquer NPC nations and build monuments.
People who like a lot of player interaction wouldn’t like it because even compared to 7 wonders there isn’t a lot of it, since you have less than half as much chance of taking cards from someone via a strategic draft, and you can’t fight your opponents, and getting territories and monuments doesn’t prevent other people from getting them. But I like the game slightly better than 7 wonders, partly because of this and partly because the game isn’t decided by trying to be the only scientific nation, or hoping that other players will fight for science while you concentrate on blue cards.
The last time I played, all four of us ended the game within the range 70-80 pts, with at least 3 wildly different strategies. (I focused on racing toward the closest goal; 2 of my opponents concentrated on getting bonus points from one type of card; while the final player got points for getting a lot of sets of all 5 cards.)
I’ve only played it solo so far (to learn the rules) but I just got Aqua: Biodiversity in the Oceans off the pre-order list.
I liked it a lot so far! Anyone else playing it?
I played more games than usual this week; Concordia, Point Salad, Long Shot, Bad Karmas, Sidereal Confluence, Brick & Mortar, Brian Boru, Oh My Goods, and Era.
Our games group meets once or twice a week, and has been going for a long time (our 50th anniversary is next year) and has played over 1,100 different games (admittedly with many only once when we decided “meh”). Games I personally have played in the last few months are:
7 Wonders & 7 Wonders Duel
A Few Acres of Snow
Aeroplanes: Aviation Ascendant
Air Baron
Airships
Alhambra
Attack Sub
Bargain Quest
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Can’t Stop Express
Charioteer
Chinatown
Circus Maximus
Advanced Civilization
Colosseum
Dungeons and Dragons (two ongoing current campaigns - we first played in 1976)
Dungeon Petz
Elder Sign
Evo
Fantasy Realms
Fearsome Floors
Heat: Pedal to the Metal
It’s a Wonderful World
Kanagawa
Kingdom Builder
Le Havre
Lost Cities
Merchant of Venus
Mosaic: A Story of Civilization
Naval Battles
New Frontiers
On the Underground
PanzerZug
Planet Unknown
Point Salad
Quiddler
Res Arcana
Revolution
Ride the Rails
Robo Rally
San Juan
Skull King
Splendor
Starfarers of Catan
Starship Catan
Terror Below
That’s Not a Hat
The Great War
The Plum Island Horror
The Quacks of Quedlinburg
Thunder Alley
Ticket to Ride (a long-standing favourite for me and my group - I own and have played every version, even Marklin, just got the Northern Lights version, and have the new Iberia/Korea version on pre-order)
Timeline
Tribune: Primus Inter Pares
Underwater Cities
Union Pacific
Wings for the Baron
Wow, quite a list!
That is quite a list of games! What I love about this hobby is I have almost 200 games but have only played seven of the ones on your list.
I recently was able to get a copy of Comic Hunters which has been around for a few years but until recently was hard to find because it had only been published in Brazil. It was also famous because every card was a reprint of a famous Marvel comics cover.
The American version has the Marvel art but much cheaper token and card quality however it is also a cheap game to buy (MSRP is $25) so it balances out. The game is a drafting game but what makes it interesting is it features multiple ways to draft: you have the normal pick and pass type. You have what is known in Magic as a Winston Draft. And two others that I don’t think have names. I only had a chance to try it solo but as a drafting game I think this would shine with more players (it plays up to four).