Our ongoing video reviewer, Cory Duplantis, has delivered yet another video for you. This one is a summary of how to play Chicago Express, the Wabash Cannonball reprint from Rio Grande Games. This is a simulation of running a railroad business in the upper portion of the US. If you are a fan of the train game genre, check it out!
When playing the Fluxx card game, arguably the most important aspect is the end goal of the game. One of the niftiest parts about this game is the fact that it doesn’t have a single end goal – it has multiple!
While the Goals tell you exactly what you need right on them, the Keepers in your hand do not tell you which Goal they go with. Since there are so many in the original, and even more in the newer versions, we’ve put together a list, forward and backwards, of the Goals you have and what Keepers go with them!
Listed By Goal
Squishy Chocolate – Cholocate and Sun
Star Gazing – Cosmos and Eye
Interstellar Spacecraft – Rocket and Cosmos
Time is Money – Time and Money
Toast – Bread and Toaster
All You Need is Love – Love and no other Keepers
Dough – Bread and Money
Hippyism – Peace and Love
Night and Day – Moon and Sun
Rocket to the Moon – Moon and Rocket
War = Death – Death and War
Winning the Lottery – Dreams and Money
5 Keepers – Five of any Keeper
10 Cards in Hand – 10 cards of any type
All that is Certain – Death and Taxes
The Appliances – Television and Toaster
Dreamland – Dreams and Sleep
Milk and Cookies – Cookies and Milk
Party Snacks – Party and (either 1 Bread or 1 Chocolate or 1 Cookie)
Rocket Science – Brain and Rocket
Baked Goods – Bread and Cookies
Bed Time – Sleep and Time
The Brain (No TV) – Brain and no TV Keeper anywhere on table
Chocolate Cookies – Chocolate and Cookies
Chocolate Milk – Chocolate and Milk
Death by Chocolate – Chocolate and Death
Hearts and Minds – Brain and Love
The Mind’s Eye – Brain and Eye
Peace (no War) – Peace and no War Creeper anywhere on table
By Keeper
The number in parenthesis indicates the frequency it shows up in Goals
The Brain(4) – Rocket Science, The Brain (no TV), Hearts and Minds, The Mind’s Eye
Bread – (4) – Dough, Toast, Party Snacks, Baked Goods
Chocolate – (4) – Squishy Chocolate, Party Snacks, Chocolate Cookies, Death By Chocolate
Cookies – (4) – Milk and Cookies, Baked Goods, Chocolate Cookies, Party Snacks
The Cosmos – (2) – Star Gazing, Interstellar Spacecraft
Death – (3) – All That is Certain, Death by Chocolate, War = Death
Dreams – (2) – Dreamland, Winning the Lottery
The Eye – (2) – Star Gazing, The Mind’s Eye
Love – (3) – All You Need Is Love, Hippyism, Hearts and Minds
Milk – (2) – Milk and Cookies, Chocolate Milk
Money – (3) – Time is Money, Dough, Winning the Lottery
The Moon – (2) – Night and Day, Rocket to the Moon
The Party – (1) – Party Snacks
Peace – (2) – Hippyism, Peace (No War)
The Rocket – (3) – Interstellar Spacecraft, Rocket to the Moon, Rocket Science
If you like Settlers of Catan, Card Games, and portability, you should check this video out. Cory Duplantis provides you with an overview of how to play the game, as well as a bit of strategy and a review.
We posted a two-part video series for Settlers of Catan. It came to our attention that there were several videos about Settlers of Catan, but none that really showed you what was in the boxes of the expansions or how the expansions help enhance the game. One of the expansions has scenarios, another has campaigns & variants, while the third actually alters the standard gameplay of Settlers of Catan.
Here is Part 1. In it, Barry introduces Catan: Seafarers and Catan: Cities & Knights.
Here is Part 2. In it, Barry introduces Catan: Traders & Barbarians and the 5-6 Player extensions.
We are going to go through each of the 25 Kingdom cards in Dominion and explain what the card does and how you can use each in various ways. We will also go through common combos with each card.
We assume you have played Dominion or understand how the game is played before reading this article. All of these strategies will not work all of the time. Because each game of Dominion is different, the setup could require tweaking of various strategies.
Adventurer – Reveal cards in your deck until TWO treasure cards are drawn, discard all other cards – 6 cost
This card is a great card to have in a deck where the gold count in the deck is small. Since you are guaranteed to get two treasure cards from this one card, it doesn’t matter how big your deck is. The way this card is played best is by eliminating Coppers (and Silvers if possible) from your deck completely. This can be done with Chapel, Moneylender, or Remodel.
That is the basic combo with Adventurer
Make a very small deck with Chapel.
Make sure you only have Silver and/or Gold in your deck.
This way, each Adventurer you play is worth at the least 4 Gold or at most 6 Gold.
Bureaucrat – Gain a Silver card. Each other player must place a Victory Point card from their hand on top of their deck. If they do not have a Victory Point card, they must reveal their hand – 4 cost
This card is great for a deck where you want to dramatically increase the size of your deck. This card can also be used in a strict Remodel deck. You use Bureaucrat to gain silvers, and then Remodel those silvers into 5 G cards (these cards will depend on what is available for that game). It is also a good opening card if the Militia is not currently in play. As the card gives you a silver card each time is played, actually buying gold is useless for you now. You can use the money you have to buy action cards instead of money.
Use this card to discard useless cards in your hand in order to gain other cards. This card prevails in a +Card deck. Basically you discard everything except your +Action and +Card cards. This way you maximize your draws you can get. It is also a good card to use to end the game. Since this card only costs 2, you can use it to empty a stack of cards if you are wanting to end the game. One common mistake however is to have too many Cellars. Too many cellars is useless because each time you use a cellar, you have one less card in your hand, because the cellar itself had a place in your hand. So chaining Cellars is almost always useless.
Chancellor – +2 money, deck may be put in discard pile – 3 cost
At first, this card doesn’t seem that great, but after playing with it; it is quite useful. This card shines in a small deck. The reason for this is because you should know what cards you have in your deck, thus you should know what should be coming up in your deck. If one turn you played a good bit of your gold or a good bit of your kingdom cards and know that you only have small money and victory point cards left, then this card is played to shuffle everything back together. Also, since it is only 3 gold, it is a good starting card. It gives you an early jump in money, and it also gives you the option to shuffle your deck or not, which is a useful option to have.
Chapel – Trash up to 4 cards from your hand – 2 cost
Well, the use of the chapel is obvious, get rid of cards you do not need. Many new players do not understand the reasoning behind this. The reason you want to trash cards is to draw other cards more often. The smaller the deck, the more often cards are drawn, and therefore are played more often. Basically instead of drawing a lot of copper, you will have a fewer number of silver and gold, but will draw that money more often. This card is also vital if Witch is in play and Moat is not. This card gets rid of those pesky Curse cards that no one wants to have.
Council Room – +4 Cards, +1 Buy, others players draw one card – 5 cost
At first, this card is amazing. WOW! 4 cards and a buy. You must be very careful with these cards. This card is only good, if other players are also playing with a big deck. If there are players playing a small deck, then this card will help them more than helping you. Since their deck is so small, every card they draw is useful. On the other hand, if everyone is playing with larger decks, this card is also good. Also, if this is the only way to purchase multiple cards, then it is also useful. This card is a good card to combo with a Garden deck. Since this card gives you a lot of cards as well as a buy, the odds of you drawing lots of gold is good. Thus, you could purchase a Province as well as a smaller card (like a cellar for instance). If this card is also one of the few +Card cards, then it is also good. It is also a good starting card if you draw 5 copper on your first or second hands. The reason for this is that your odds are great that you will draw 3 or 4 copper the next time your deck is shuffled, which almost always becomes an early Gold.
Feast – Gain a card costing up to 5 money, Trash this card – 4 cost
This card is absolutely great. Early game, it is great to grab a couple of these for various 5 point cards. In a game where Witch is in play and moat is not, grab a feast to grab a witch very early to put your opponent(s) on the defensive. Or, use the feast to grab more draw cards like Laboratory. This card is just a great card to have in the early game. That said, later in the game it is not so great. You need to gauge when you think your opponent will end the game and how large your deck is. If you are going to buy this but never reshuffle your deck, then your money could have been spent on Victory Point cards, rather than this Feast. In short, buy these early, but try not to buy them in the late game.
Festival -+2 Actions, +1 Buy, +2 Money- 5 cost
Hmm, where to start with Festival. Festivals are a tricky card. At first, it seems like festivals should always get priority because of all the stuff they give. In some games this is the case, but most games it is not. Festivals should be used with there isn’t Villages in play, or if there aren’t many +Buy cards. If you are using this card solely for the +money, then you have wasted 5 money. While yes, you can chain 4 festivals together to get a Province, you could have spent that 20 money on better draw cards. That said, if there are not many +Card cards in play, then yes, this is a great card to have. This card is also very useful in a Library deck strategy which I will discuss shortly. In short, festivals shouldn’t be a deck strategy. Use a couple festivals, but do not rely strictly upon them.
Laboratory – +2 cards, +1 action – 5 cost
This card is by far one of my favorite cards. You get two extra cards in your hand, and you get to play something else. This card is key to a “money only” deck strategy. Basically you only buy money, in order to buy up to Gold and fill your deck with Gold. The +action with the Lab will be used with either a Chapel, to get rid of Coppers or Victory point card in your hand, or with a Cellar for the same reason. Also, Lab is just an overall good card you can use in most any deck. Drawing cards, and then being able to play more things is just a fantastic ability. That said, do not buy strictly Laboratories. It is useless to go through your whole deck and only end up with 5 gold to spend. That is pointless. If you already have 3 Lab’s and you get another 5 money in your hand, use it on a Silver or a Mine, if it is in play. That way, you can bring in gold faster.
Library – Draw until you have 7 cards in hand. You may set aside any Action cards drawn this way, as you draw them; discard the set aside cards after you finish drawing – 5 cost
Basically, with the Library, you want to empty your hand until you only have the Library left. You then play the Library and redraw 7 cards at which point you continue to play cards. A basic strategy with the Libray is Festival/Library. This way, you get rid of cards in your hand so you can draw more cards, as well as give yourself actions to use after you have chosen the Library. And since the very nature of Library is that you may keep action cards or not, you can gauge whether or not to keep certain action cards or to discard them. Another good strategy with Library is to Chapel all the Estates out of your deck and then Library. This way, you are guaranteed to draw money. While this only works in the beginning, it is still a good opening strategy.
WOW what a card! So much stuff to use on one turn! I must get every market I can. WRONG! (most of the time). This is the mentality many new guys have when starting Dominion. While in some occasions this card would be great to have 4 or 5 of, this card just isn’t as amazing as people think. This card is basically a placeholder copper card. When you draw it, you automatically get one money. While this is great and all, you can use the card spot for a more viable card with many more uses (like a Laboratory or a Throne room, or heck even a Duchy at this point). Yes the Market does give a lot of things in one turn, but again, it is merely a place holder. If you are looking for a deck that get’s lots of +Buy cards, then maybe this is an option. For the most part, stay away from trying to buy too many of these. While a couple (2 or 3 at most) is good, any more is just a burden and remember, the key to Dominion is deck management.
Militia – +2 money, each opponent discards down to THREE cards – 4 cost
Now this card is a great opening card. Not only does it give you money at the beginning (which is key) it also reduces your opponent’s hand. This is great because in the beginning, the game is usually a race to see who can get to a couple of the 5 cost cards the fastest. That being said, this card is also great with Council Room in play. If you can chain a couple of Council Rooms together and then finish the chain with a Militia, not only do you get the cards and the buys from the Council Room, but your opponent will more than likely have to discard at least one or two cards that would have made this hand great. Your opponent discards down to only THREE cards, not discard only TWO cards. This is a common misconception. That being said, militia is not one of those cards you want to have more than 3 of in a deck, unless you are playing a heavy Festival/Village deck. Militia’s main purpose is to give you money; the discard element is merely the bow on top of the present. It is also to note that if Moat is in play, gosh you might as well pass on Militia if you see your opponent gaining a lot of Moats. Why spend 4 gold on a card that you will only gain half the use of? Militia is a great opening card, but mid-late game, it just isn’t terribly powerful.
Mine – Trash a treasure card; gain a treasure card TO YOUR HAND of the next highest value – 5 cost
Mine is one of my favorite cards. This card does great in nearly every deck, because every deck needs to get rid of copper cards. And, what better way of getting rid of copper card than by replacing every copper with a silver, or every silver with a gold. Now for the common question… Which is better to do, Copper à Silver or Silver to à Gold? The honest answer is…it depends (yeah, yeah, it’s a generic answer, I know). BUT 9/10 Silver à is going to be the most worth-while decision. The only time this wouldn’t be the case is if Thief is in play, and even then it is still usually a good deal. You want to be able to purchase more powerful cards at all cost. Yeah, you will draw that other copper, but remember Dominion is all about deck management. Having 1 Gold and 1 Copper is much better than having 2 Silver. You will draw the Gold which is automatic Silver if you still need it. Overall, Gold is better to have, end of story. Mine is an all around good card, and quite possibly could be in almost every deck strategy.
Moat – +2 cards, Show to have the effects of an attack card negated towards you – 2 cost
Moat is the only reaction card in the first set of Dominion. This card is a lifesaver in basically one game – a Witch game. Every other attack card is kind of meh! on the attack, but the Witch is just MEAN! This card is good when games are low on +card cards (remember the moat does have an ability other than the reaction) or when the Witch is in play. Those are basically the only times moats are necessary. You can also use a Moat for an easy end game strategy since they are so cheap. Other than that, this card is just mediocre for what it is. It is a reaction card, and basically only that.
Moneylender – Trash a copper to gain 3 money- 4 cost
I could also say this card works good in most any deck, but not as successful as the Mine. Since the Moneylender only trashes copper and doesn’t guarantee any money cards in return, this card is tricky. Many people pick up the Moneylender with the intent of using it like a mini-Mine (Trash a Copper to gain a Silver). Many people have that intent, but get excited when they have more than 3 money. Many people feel the need to buy a higher powered card than have the money. Most of the time, the money cards are good to buy when using the Moneylender, UNLESS it is near the end of the game. At this point, it is time to buy Victory Points. Also, buying any more than 2 of these guys is basically useless, unless your deck revolves around +buy and regaining a copper every turn, which is a viable strategy. With this strategy, you need Festivals as well as Moneylenders. The optimum hand would be Festival, two Moneylenders, and two copper. This is an automatic Province as well as another copper to refill the one you used. Other than that, there is no need to buy more than 1 or 2 of these guys.
Remodel – Trash a card, Gain a card costing up to 2 more than that card – 4 cost
This card is great – in more ways than one. This card allows one to transform the early Estates into 4 cost cards. This card allows 5 cost cards to become gold. This card allows Gold to become Provinces. This is just an all around great card. A common strategy with the Remodel is you have lots of +actions and you remodel everything in your deck up to gold. Once your deck is full of gold, then you remodel the gold into Provinces. Not many other decks can buy 2, 3, and possibly 4 provinces in one turn. That is HUGE! The other advantage Remodel has is it can Remodel CURSES. That’s right, now you have an easy way to not only get rid of curses, but get an Estate from a Curse. That is an automatic +2 Victory Points than you would have had. Remodel is a card that is useful in some decks, but other decks – not so much. This is also a card to watch out for other people using a lot. It will easily sneak up behind you.
Smithy – +3 cards – 4 cost
Welcome to the shortest ability of the base game of Dominion. Smithy is a good opening card to draw. Odds are that it will allow you to gain an early Gold, which is good. A VERY common strategy with Smithy is to combine this card with a +2 Action card (Village/Festival). The reason for this is you play the Village first, then the Smithy which draws 3 cards. You then have one more action left with which to do as you please. No doubt this strategy will get you a lot of cards. The only downfall this combo has is that people become too engulfed with that strategy that they forget to buy money cards. There is no point in drawing 10 cards in your hand when you can only get 4 money out of it. While this card is great for the combo, be warned not to disregard the key elements of the game (money and Victory Points).
Spy – +1 card/ +1 Action, Each player (including yourself) reveals the top card and either puts it back or discards it, your choice – 4 cost.
This card is also another one of my all around good cards. This card, when chained with other draw cards, lets you eliminate cards you don’t want to draw, while ensuring cards you don’t want to get drawn do get drawn. The way you use this card is it should be played first before anything else. You want to know what is on top of your deck. Even if you don’t have any +card card in your hand, this is extremely useful. It allows you to discard your Victory Point cards that aren’t necessary in your hand. Spy is just an all around great card to have. I recommend at least picking two of these cards for your deck – if you can.
Thief – Each other player reveals the top two card of their deck. You may gain one treasure card from each player. The other cards are discarded – 4 cost
This is the ultimate “take-that” card in Dominion. It is just a lot of fun for people who like to hurt their opponents. With this card in play, getting Gold is almost a sin (assuming a moat is not in play). This card goes AMAZINGLY well in a Spy deck. You basically have 5 or so Spies in a deck. You chain at least 3 of these together until you get a Silver or Gold on top of you opponents deck. You then Thief that silver/gold and viola, instant free money. That is a very common strategy with both of these cards in play. If those cards are not in play however, then the thief is a bit weak. It is based too much on the luck side of the coin. Unless you know for certain that you will be getting money, then I would not play a Thief. Also, if you trash some of their copper, you are helping them, because mid-late game, copper is useless most of the time. While the Thief is good in some occasions, I would only recommend getting one or at most 2 of these bad boys.
Throne Room – Play one Action card from your hand twice – 4 cost
This card is quite powerful in a strong kingdom deck. This card is not strong in a money heavy deck. If you are playing with a lot of kingdoms, grab at least one Throne Room. It WILL go a long way. If you are playing a chapel deck, don’t grab this card. Since you only have a couple of kingdom cards, this card MIGHT be drawn with another kingdom card, but usually it won’t. This card has endless possibilities though. Throne Room/Witch is a FANTASTIC way to screw over your opponents early on in a game without Moats. To give your opponents two useless cards and negative 2 points in ONE turn is just amazing! That is basically the strategy to Throne Room. Play it when you can. There is one rule note, however. If you play two Throne Rooms back to back, you must play two kingdom cards following it. You cannot play Throne Room/Throne Room/Witch in order for the Witch to be played 4 times. Since each Throne Room must have its own target, you must play a separate action card for each. That doesn’t go without saying you can’t play two Witches back to back, but not the other way around.
Village – +1 card, +2 Actions – 3 cost
Ah! the best new player gimmick out there. WOAH! One card, and two more actions, OMG, I must have all ten of these. I have seen that before with players and they are dead wrong. One player only needs 2 or 3 of these at most. The reason is, is when you are done chaining these things together, you have close to 6 actions left over. That is a signal that you have too many Villages and not enough Kingdom cards in general. Yes this card gives you Actions. You don’t need to flood your deck with as many of these as you can. This is the same argument that goes with the Village/Smithy strategy be sure to grab some money and other kingdom cards and not just these. Early game, yes go ahead and buy these, but later on, don’t bother. Your gold is better used for other buys like 5 or 6 cost cards or even Provinces. In the end, don’t buy more than 2 of these guys.
Witch – +2 cards, each other player gains a Curse card – 5 cost
Having two MAYBE three of these girls in your deck should suffice quite nicely.
Woodcutter – +1 buy, +2 money – 3 cost
This is a great opening card. To have a card that acts as a Silver is great. This card is also great for the Garden. With the Garden, +buy is a necessity and this is the best low cost card for the job. This card is basically a free Estate in a Garden deck. Other than that, the Woodcutter is merely an alright card. After your deck gets above 20 or so cards, more times than not you can Chapel/Remodel the Woodcutter unless you have tons of actions to use. This is a great finisher to a chain. Woodcutter allows for a great starting card as well as a great finisher to a long chain of cards.
Workshop – Gain a card costing up to 4 – 3 cost
This card is just a beauty. It allows you to gain two cards in one turn, without having to have the gold or the +buy to do it. This card is used to get spies/gardens/smithies/villages/SILVER, the list goes on and on. This card is just an all around great card. This card isn’t however a good starting card. I would get my first two buys out of the way, and then I would buy the Workshop. The workshop is not good in a Chapel deck. There is no need for it. Basically if you are in need of extra cards in one turn, the Workshop is the easiest way to get it.
Garden – Gain 1 victory point for every 10 cards in your deck at the end of the game
I saved the Garden for last because I wanted to tell show you all the other cards needed to make a good garden deck. The OPTIMUM cards for a garden deck are Festival, Workshop, Bureaucrat, Council Room. While these are the optimum cards, you can mix this strategy to fit almost every possible set up. Your goal is to gain more than one card every turn, and two cards if possible. The festival is good for all its actions, +actions, +buy, and +2 gold. If anything else, this gives you an estate every turn. The Workshop allows you to gain a Garden every turn. Bureaucrat allows you to get a silver every turn. These two cards are good because they allow you to get cards before your actual buy stage. Council Room finishes your chain buy drawing four more cards and getting yet another buy. If everything else in your deck is money, then you are golden to use all your buys on useful cards. At your buy phase you then focus on gaining money, money, and more money. USE ALL OF YOUR BUYS WHENEVER YOU CAN. You want to get your deck up to 40/50/60 as fast as you can. Take a copper every turn you can if you have extra buys.
Jamaica is a board game for 2-6 players in which each player takes on the role of a pirate as you race around the island of Jamaica. Aye said Pirates, you scurvy dog!
This game is just plain fun. Does it have elements of luck? Absolutely! Is it a family game? Yes, but this is not Monopoly…this is FUN!
LOOK OF THE GAME
There are fantastic graphics throughout the game. The board and cards are great to look at and the player ships are very sturdy. This is the type of game that attracts onlookers. The rulebook is designed to look like a treasure map…theme is just dripping from the game.
GAMEPLAY
In the game each player controls a pirate ship and attempts to race around the board, find treasure, win battles and in the end, win the game.
HOW DO YOU WIN?
The game ends when one player reaches the finish line. Points are earned based on where you finish on the board, plus treasure cards and gold coins (1 point per). Add it all up and determine the winner!
PLAYER CARDS
Each player has their own stack of player cards. On each card are two symbols representing the actions that can be taken with that card (see picture below). At any given time each player has three cards in their hands. Action choices are to move forward, backward, get food, take gunpowder, or take gold coins (points).
ROLLING THE DICE
The starting player roles two dice and then places them on the board in their desired order. Then each player in chooses a card to play that round, all cards are revealed simultaneously. Actions are based on the dice results. In the above picture if I chose to play the top card and a 6 & 3 were rolled, then I would move my ship forward 6 places and I would take 3 food into my hull.
CANNONBALLS FLY!
If you land on a space with another ship then you must battle! There is a special battle die that shows consecutive even numbers on 5 of its sides (2-10) and a star on the 6th side. Before the die is rolled the attacker decides if he/she will add and gunpowder tokens to the result (+1 per token) and then rolls the die. A roll of a star is an automatic victory. The defender then adds their gunpowder and rolls. High score wins and the victor gets to take the items held in their opponents hold or take/give a treasure card. The treasure cards are acquired at various points on the board and can give bonus points, special powers or curse the player (negative points).
EACH SHIP HAS HULLS TO HOLD STUFF
Each ship has 5 hulls to carry items and once you place items into a hull you cannot add to it or relocate it. Don’t worry the board forces you to spend this loot almost as quickly as you acquire it. Spaces on the board require a payment of either food or gold when you move your ship on the space. If you can’t pay the fee then you are forced to move backwards until you find a space that you can afford.
STRATEGY SUGGESTIONS
1.Get treasure cards, they are extremely important.
2.Use the movement cost to your advantage. Move past what you want and if you don’t have enough food/gold, move backwards to land on the space you really wanted (like a treasure card spot). So, don’t horde too much food.
3.Save your double move forward card till the end of the game and zoom ahead of everyone.
4.You don’t have to win the race to win the game. Collect gold and treasure cards.
5.Remember that the game has a bluffing element. I played one game where I got a high bonus treasure card early, but I acted in such a way that everyone thought it was cursed. So, even though I lost battles, no one stole my treasure card.
WHO WILL LIKE THE GAME?
With its simple rules and fun pirate theme it should appeal to most families. Personally I like playing it with 4 or more people as it feels more interesting (more battles). The game does have some luck, but the card selection allows for moderate control. Great artwork, simple rules, pirates and playable in less than an hour…buy the game you land-lover!
Buy your own copy of Jamaica. There is also a link to a video about the game here.
I have had several of my friends ask me why they should spend money on expansions that are produced for various board and card games. They suggest that if games required expansions then they weren’t that good to begin with. They also complain that expansions are just excuses for the publishers of the game to charge us more money for the same game.
I take the time to suggest to these people that they are incorrect on both accounts.
Remove Strategic Advantages
Firstly, there have been games when played so many times by so many people have exposed certain types of strategy or certain rules that allow for a specific advantage that is not obvious to the casual player who has only played a few times, but is exposed by high level players that have played many times. Expansions solve this issue cheaply by addressing an issue with the games design while at the same time providing a new way of approaching the game in general. Thus both the casual player and the advanced player are both given a benefit. The casual gamer simply has a new way to play while the advanced player is provided an entirely new system to learn.
Breathe New Life Into A Favorite
This is not the reason expansions are produced for the vast majority of games however. Most games are given an expansion as they grow in popularity. Games that have been around for a while and have become favorites with many players and can begin to feel stale. Players generally play most of the time with the same people, so the game frequently begins to feel the same each time it is played. An expansion provides the players a way to breathe fresh life into the game for a small financial demand rather than requiring the players to purchase a totally new game for a new gaming experience.
New Experience – Similar Rules
An expansion also allows the players to gain a new gaming experience without having to take the time to learn a totally new set of rules. Expansions by and large are simply tweaks to the base rule set of the game, thus allowing for players to spend more time playing and less time reading.
Lastly, most expansions are not developed at the initial production of the basic game. Usually collectable games are the only ones where expansions are developed at the same time the base game is.
Expansions are meant to provide gamers with a new gaming experience for an established game. This allows the gamer a cheap way to breathe new life into a game that might be gathering some dust.
For example, my wife and I have played Carcassonne for three years now. The game continues to bring great excitement every time we play it not only because the game is well designed and is the type of game that provides a different experience each time it’s played, but because many expansions have been produced for the game that allow us to change the way the game feels very quickly with very minimal financial requirement. Several expansions retail for just a few dollars, but when added to the game, it changes our strategy completely. If either of us fails to adapt to the new requirements the expansion places on the game then that person is guaranteed a loss. Each expansion only required three to five minutes of rule learning, but added months to the games enjoyment because we were able to bring a game back to the table that had begun to feel the same each time we played because we each have a style of play that comes out when we play.
Cheap and Inexpensive Entertainment is GOOD!
Expansions provide gamers a cheap way to breathe new life into games that are just collecting dust, and in this time of economic upheaval a cheap way to bring joy to your home is always a good thing!
What is your favorite core and expansion set? Let everyone know, so they invest wisely!
In Battlelore, Richard Berg (the designer) once more employs the battle system based on command cards that he used so effectively in Command and Colors: Ancients as well as in Memoir ’44. Like Memoir ’44, Battlelore started out as a Days of Wonder game, although the rights to it are now owned by Fantasy Flight Games.
Battlelore aims to recreate the battles of the Hundred Years War, but does so by adding a fantasy element. You can command the English longbows at Agincourt against the flower of French chivalry, or you can send a horde of goblins to attack strongholds staunchly defended by stalwart Dwarfs. With over 200 miniatures, numerous command and lore cards, a good variety of terrain tiles that allows you to customize each map as you like, and much, much more – this is not just a game: it’s a gaming system.
If you’re looking for a game that has endless re-playability and completely immerses you in theme, then look no further.
Innovative Rules
With a rule book that has more than 80 pages, this game may seem a bit daunting at first. However, many of those pages have full-page colour illustrations, and indeed this is one of the most accessible and even beautiful rule books that I have come across.
What is unique about Battlelore is that you don’t need to learn all the rules at once. For instance, when you play the first scenario from the Scenario Book (Agincourt) you only need to read the first few chapters. No need yet to worry about the dwarves, the goblins, the lore council, or the monsters (the Spider, Hill Giant and Earth Elementals – the latter two are expansions). All you need to know are the basic rules of combat. And if you ever forget a rule you can use the handy compendium at the back of the rule book for a quick reference check.
So, rather than review all the rules, let me point out some of the elements that really set this game apart.
The Command Cards
In every game you will have access to a number of command cards that allow you to control troops in the centre or on the flanks of the map. This is the only way you can allow your troops to attack the enemy, so if you run out of command cards for one section of the board then you’re in trouble. It’s important therefore to make the best of your command cards and manage them carefully.
Troop Strength and Resolve
Each infantry unit includes four troops and each cavalry unit has three horsemen. However, the number of dice rolled for the entire unit always remains the same, even if individual troops are lost.
The Battle-Back Mechanic
When a unit has two friendly units beside it, it is said to be supported, and so it can battle back when attacked. This means that if you keep your troops in formation you allow them to fight even on your opponent’s turn.
The Dice
The dice make resolving battles very straight-forward. Three of the sides show a helmet (coloured green, blue, or red). Each colour corresponds to a level of troop strength. A red unit, for instance, includes the most heavily armed fighters. For each helmet that matches the colour of the troop’s banner that you’re attacking you score a hit. The other symbols on the dice are the bonus strike symbol, the retreat flag, and the lore symbol (which allows you to collect lore tokens).
The Lore Council
More advanced scenarios allow players to recruit a lore council. You can recruit various leaders who will help you in battle. These range from a rogue to a cleric, and each one allows you to play lore cards (once you collect enough lore tokens) to play alongside your command cards. These cards further range in strength, with the most powerful costing 13 lore and allowing you to command all your troops at once for the entire turn.
Final Assessment
Personally I think this is a great game, and I play it regularly, even two years after pre-ordering it. An average game takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half (including set-up time). The game also lends itself well to a tournament setting, if you can get enough friends together for a series of sessions. Despite my enthusiasm I will point out that the game has a few drawbacks. For one thing, the set-up time can be quite long. It often takes around 10-15 min. to set up a scenario, although if you play two sessions in a row the set-up time for the second scenario will decrease dramatically.
Another issue some gamers may have with Battelore is that strategic planning will not always win out. The dice add a significant luck element. If you know this in advance then you can enjoy the thrill that comes with rolling the dice. If you want complete control, then this game will not be for you.
Lastly, some players may not like the odd mixture of medieval and fantasy warfare. What is a Giant Spider doing in medieval Europe? And why are goblins riding on ostriches? Who came up with that ridiculous idea? Yet the gaming experience Battelore offers is rich enough to overcome these challenges. The different types of troops, the banner and command card systems, the lore council – all these elements are woven together seamlessly. There’s nothing quite like playing a command card like Darken the Skies (which unleashes a storm of arrows), along with a lore card that doubles the effect. Or let’s say you have a mighty cleric in your lore council, and you notice that all the enemy troops are crossing the river that flows across the board – time to cast River Rage and watch the enemy get swept away!
The game also appeals to a wide audience. Compare this, for instance, to a system like Warhammer – which is really only for those dedicated to invest in huge armies of miniatures and an extremely complex rule-set with many modifiers – and you’ll see the difference. Battlelore will appeal to the whole family. Even younger children can play, and the ability to customize the rules and set-up to allow for different gradations of difficulty really helps.
This is a game I will be playing for many years, and the fact that there are many expansions will keep this game fresh for a long time to come.
Settlers of Catan is one of the first Euro-style games to come to America, and has won countless awards. If you’re looking for tips on how to improve your game, the most important place to focus is on your initial two settlement placements. These two decisions, often made in a minute or so, can have as much impact on your chances for victory as a half-hour’s worth of turns later in the game.
Initial Placement
Numbers The most obvious thing to consider, and most important, the dots associated with each number. The dots on each number indicate how frequently it is likely to be rolled. Consequently, you should be sure to place both of your settlements at intersections with a high number of surrounding dots. The red numbers (6 and 8 ) have five dots each, so obviously, you’re much better off playing on an intersection of 6, 9, and 3, then of a 4, 5, and 11.
Another thing worth paying attention to isn’t just the total of dots, but the different sorts of numbers you have as well. If you place your initial settlements on two 4s, two 6s, and two 9s, then unless someone rolls a 9, 6, or 4, you aren’t going to get any resources, and can prepare for a long, boring defeat. Diversifying your initial settlement numbers increases the chance that you will get at least something from every roll. And that’s a good thing, because even if it’s not the resource you wanted, you can always trade it for one you do need.
Resource Types
Pay attention to the types of materials available in the game. There are more sheep tiles than any other resource, so sheep tend to be less valuable. The other resources have the same number of tiles – but not the same availability! If two of the three brick spaces have low-dot numbers (like 2 and 11), there will probably be an early brick shortage as players attempt to build roads. This makes a settlement on the single high-dot brick space (a 6 or 8 ) a strong opening placement.
Try to have settlements that gain you compatible pairs of resources, such as wood and brick, or ore and wheat. Wood and brick will allow you to quickly build roads in the early game, working towards more settlements. Ore and wheat will allow you to upgrade your settlements into cities, thus increasing resource production. Either can be very strong
Location
Try to avoid playing both of your initial settlements in the same corner of the map, unless you can guarantee that you won’t get boxed in. It may be tempting to connect your two settlements and get a head start on longest road, but more often than not this strategy won’t work.
Consider the ports. Starting on a port is probably a bad idea because you’ll want your initial settlements on 3-resource intersections. However, being close to a port is important, because building to one early in the game will give you more trading flexibility.
During the Game
Expansion Move to a port early, if possible. The 2:1 ports are great if you have high production of the associated resource, otherwise not so much. You’ll want lots of room to play new settlements and possibly reach for longest road, so try to expand towards underpopulated areas. If you’re competing with someone else for the same area, move to block them if you can, but don’t sink roads into going towards somewhere you can be blocked out of too easily.
Development Cards
If you started with decent ore and wheat production, grab a few sheep and buy some development cards. At worst, these are a soldier, sometimes a victory point, and sometimes a special card that will allow you to swing the game in your favor later. Holding lots of soldiers leaves you in a good position to keep the robber off of your property, and sets you up to gain the largest army bonus later in the game.
Resource Cards
Try not to sit around with more than seven cards in your hand, because the robber will be rolled fairly frequently. This means that you should often build something when you can (cities, new settlements, development cards, or even roads). Don’t be afraid to use the ports if you have a large hand of cards; shipping three sheep for a brick may seem like a bad deal, but if it gets your hand back to reasonable size and gives you resources you need, go for it.
Trading
And don’t forget about trading with other players. Most people won’t trade with you unless they gain a boost to their position, so be sure that any time you trade, you are also gaining a boost to your position as well. Trade on your turn to get resources you can use immediately.
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