The NEW New Boardgames Thread

[Syt]

Btw, is anyone here using Tabletop Simulator? They have tons of board and card games as mods these days.

[celedhring]

Btw, is anyone here using Tabletop Simulator? They have tons of board and card games as mods these days.

Used it on occasion, but the 3D environment - while nice - is much more cumbersome for play than something like vassal.

[Oexmelin]

Bought Root. It's a lot of fun. I love the starkly asymmetric play, which means that there is a faction style that suits all players in my group.

[Habbaku]

Root is definitely a hit locally. I've played it maybe a dozen times. Hoping to get the expansion soon, too, but it's been sold out at all the local shops.

[Oexmelin]

It took me a while to realize I like board games for narrative. I am not so much invested in winning as to creating a collective story, hence I tend to like Ameritrash, Eurogames, or Wargames only inasmuch as they have a strong theme, not too artificially superimposed upon mechanism (or moving pieces of cardboard on hexes). 

[Habbaku]

Not sure if it's your group's thing or not, but you might want to give John Company a look in that case. Berkut has a lot in common with your tastes there and he seemed to enjoy that with reservations.

[Oexmelin]

Thanks. I saw a "let's play" on my feed, but haven't had a chance to watch it. Will do now.

[Berkut]

Not sure if it's your group's thing or not, but you might want to give John Company a look in that case. Berkut has a lot in common with your tastes there and he seemed to enjoy that with reservations.

I would say that my reservations are very specific to one particular mechanic.

They do not, at all, in any way, even slightly mitigate my very, very strong endorsement of John Company as being just a fucking great game if you like a wonderful match of mechanics and theme. It is a delight. And brutal, and cutthroat and a lot of fun.

[Habbaku]

We definitely need to try the Middle Company scenario next time.

[Oexmelin]

I would say that my reservations are very specific to one particular mechanic.

They do not, at all, in any way, even slightly mitigate my very, very strong endorsement of John Company as being just a fucking great game if you like a wonderful match of mechanics and theme. It is a delight. And brutal, and cutthroat and a lot of fun.

Having watched a game now, could you say what mechanic is the object of your reservation?

Also, this is amazing. It's pretty much what I study (for the French context), and seeing it in game form was astonishing. The game designer clearly did his homework.

[Berkut]

I would say that my reservations are very specific to one particular mechanic.

They do not, at all, in any way, even slightly mitigate my very, very strong endorsement of John Company as being just a fucking great game if you like a wonderful match of mechanics and theme. It is a delight. And brutal, and cutthroat and a lot of fun.

Having watched a game now, could you say what mechanic is the object of your reservation?

Also, this is amazing. It's pretty much what I study (for the French context), and seeing it in game form was astonishing. The game designer clearly did his homework.

The end game VP scoring when you have private companies is simply broken, IMO.

Basically, it amounts to a mechanic where the entire game you fight and scrape to get VPs...and then no matter how many you got, the ability to get that many total VPs or more in the last turn makes you wonder what the point of the rest of the game was...

The entire game you try to earn money to be able to afford things. But money doesn't get you VPs except by exchanging it for VPs directly - which is expensive and takes actions and has an opportunity cost associated to it in that money spent on VPs is not available to better your board position. So there is a critical (albeit common in these kind of games) balance between using money to play the game, and using money to get VPs so you can win the game.

Then, once the game gets to the point where you have private companies,  those private companies can trade and make money themselves, rather than through the East India Company. This is cool, and fun, and a neat twist to the game.

But on the last turn, at the end of the game, any money made by private companies is just turned directly into VPs at a 2:1 rate.

This is, IMO, terrible for 2 main reasons:

1. It is a radically better way to get VPs then the rest of the game. The person or persons who "win" the last turn trading fight can get more VPs or as many VPs as are amassed throughout the entire rest of the game, and
2. The ability to "win" that last turn trading fight is *heavily* dependent on simple turn order. So...yeah for you if you happen to get to go first.

There are mitigations to both of these problems of course. But the mitigations are then kind of corrupting to the game process as it works otherwise as well.

Anwyay, I played it twice, and had a great time both times, despite the lame way the game can end with this "Hey you got 24 VPs after 6 hours of grinding and negotiating! Well done, but I won because I got 18 VPs in the last turn alone trading! Hah!".

It is a game that more than any other I have played managed to make me feel like the mechanics matched up deliciously with the theme.

Habs: All I can say is that while I was running the John Company, we were profitable every single year! I can't be responsible for what happened after I retired!

[Habbaku]

[For some definitions of 'Profitable']

[Oexmelin]

Then, once the game gets to the point where you have private companies,  those private companies can trade and make money themselves, rather than through the East India Company. This is cool, and fun, and a neat twist to the game.

But on the last turn, at the end of the game, any money made by private companies is just turned directly into VPs at a 2:1 rate.

Ok. I got to see the early company, without the private ones. Historically, this is indeed what happened, once the state-like monopoly of the EIC had "normalized" trade with India, and reduced the risk - or rather, passed on the risks to the state - political opponents started clamoring, first for loosening the monopoly terms (and these new companies were indeed usually set up by EIC insiders), then for its demise. It may be a case where the VP rule mirrors history to the detriment of the game...

[Oexmelin]

Cole Wehrle did indeed more than his homework. He did a full PhD in English at UT Austin on British imperialism.

[PRC]

The classic Dune boardgame is getting a reprint.  Original designers are part of the process, it's being done by Gale Force Nine, art is, at least partly, done by some guy who did a well liked PnP version.