2018 Top 20

1. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition New Comer

What an exceptional game. I hosted 20 games since I got it to the table first a month or so into the year. Currently I own two copies in case we have 7 or more that show up (which has been precisely once). I really played hard on this game. This is the game that turned our monthly gaming group into a League which in my opinion is the best way to play the game. We played for league points with Race Modifiers and awarded mugs at Christmas. I snagged enough votes for Most Valuable Ally. It was epic times and I look forward to the good times rolling on. We finished a 14 point 6 player game in 3.5 hours and regularly knock out a league game in 6 hours or less with new people. I could talk all day about this game. I have played 8 of the 17 races in the core box. Favorite being a 4 Player L1Z1X.  I love PDS networks and favor races that have some slight twist on their formula. SCPT are my jam. Claims to fame: I played 3 games of TI4 this year at Fallcon in 24 hours (very little sleep but enough). Previous to this I played four games in 5 days playing TI4 each day.

2. A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition Up 3 from 5th

Near the end of the year I could tell my attempted blitz to 27 games of TI4 likely would not happen so I started getting back into this game. Thronemaster.net, BGG forum PBEM, and the new expansion Mother of Dragons really got me excited for this one while the TV series is on hiatus. Read most the books too. Love the challenges the game offers. Eager to get my hands on the play mat. Surprisingly easy to make mistakes in this game. I frequently feel queasy not knowing if I made the right decisions forward. I think that is a mark of a good game I think.

3. Heroes of Normandie Down 2 from 1st 

I didn’t foresee this one dropping at the beginning of 2018. It was the best for me at the time! Then I met TI4 and well it had to make room. It is a great game! I am disappoint Cat Rabbit Games is stalling the PC adaptations when all the work is in front of them to port into their existing game client. So I play entirely in Cardboard now. Which is great. I met Jordan who is the only other person whom I have played that actually own their own HoN cardboard. He is pretty cool. In recent years I even took the game to Fallcon to Demo for the majority of the con. Looking forward to Heroes of Stalingrad.

4. War of the Ring 2nd Edition New Comer

Now I can see why this game is so highly rated. SUSD sold me on this and I am so glad they did. I am still learning this one. I am finding that it fits a spot in my game life that I want to play this at least three times a year to keep it fresh enough to not struggle but I am a tad worried about over-playing this one as to lose some of its epic mystery. It got me to watch all three extended versions with my son so that is a thing. I would talk more about if I felt more confident about the game. All I know is that I really, really like it. This game made me really re-consider other highly rated games on BGG as I obviously missed this one in my searches.  

5. Forbidden Stars Down 1 from 4th

What a beautiful design. What a great game! It got limited plays in 2018 but in the fall League Session of 2019 I will likely be putting it forth as my selection and eagerly await massive play. I like the order system and the upgrade system the most. The components are top notch. It plays great at four and really well at lower counts too which can’t always be said about these type of games. One thing I did manage to snag in 2018 was a copy of unreleased factions. Also I want to try a five player game as I own two copies before it went out of print.

6. Star Wars: Rebellion Up 5 from 11th 

Star Wars in a box. I especially enjoy the tension it creates regularly for both players. Having both players feel like there are a few steps away from a loss the majority of the mid and late game is wonderful. The expansion for me was a must buy and the revamped combat system really helps. I love the plastic. CR90’s, Assault Carriers, ATST’s, Ion Cannons… all of it is beautiful! Using the Deathstar to blow up a planet! This game is a riot with other Star Wars Fans.

7. Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition Up 5 from 12th 

This one slowly is getting more and more play. Theme is easy to get into and the mechanics are pretty easy to teach. It doesn’t take up much room in its box so I arranged for a roommate. It is just a solid good game. Often the experienced players are relegated to being Dracula and that is fine. My preferred player count is 3 but I am happy to see this hitting the table any day. 

8. X-Wing TMG Unmoved

I got a fair size 1st Edition Collection (in the process of moving to 2nd Edition). Our town stopped running tournaments some time ago. For me where the game shines is in custom narrative events with multiple tables with objectives and epic ships stealing center stage Hyperspacing to and from each table. This game is currently in a holding pattern for the time being. It needs an endorsed Narrative System. Something like the Corellian Conflict and I see Attacking Wing is picking up in 2019…

9. Star Wars Imperial Assault Unmoved

Started a handful of campaigns. Love the game. I am always relegated to playing the Imperials. I get even by only painting the Imperials (big grin). Tried a solo campaign with the app but it fell by the way side during the TI4 blitz. I think I see this as more of a skirmish game going forward but I will have to wait and see. I think I am done with expansions till more gets painted.   

10. Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne New Comer

I like this game a lot! Maybe I could believe Cosmic is better but this is faster and with a theme I more readily gravitate to. Also the expansion is pretty great and makes defending others more interesting. I would rather play 2-4 games of this a night than use it as a filler.

11. Dungeon Command Up 5 from 16th

This one rarely hits the table but I have played many many games of it with custom decks and love it so much. It was priced reasonably at launch but WoTC killed it in short matter of months of content. I am actively looking to solicit a friend into the game so I can fire up this dinosaur in the rough. I love this system. It’s not perfect but it so close to what I want in a skirmish game. I have been looking and looking and I can’t find something comparable that holds my excitement like this can with its deck and warband building.   

12. Space Hulk 4th Edition Up 6 from 18th 

First game to ever completely paint. Thank you Sorastro! You fill this colorblind amateur painter with confidence! Also rumor has it Terminators are coming to Kill Team now! So these Space Marines will hit the table again there too. This classic game is fun to play and the minis are exceptional. It say no play this last year but I am eager to play it one day soon. The production level of this game is epic!  

13. Battlestar Galactica                             Unmoved

A great thematic out of print game. I really helped popularized the semi-coop genre our table loves so much. I kinda feel bad I only snagged a single expansion out of the handful offered. I would like to see a second edition streamline the design and play time some. 

14. Star Trek Ascendancy Down 11 from 3rd

This one fell quite a bit. The early years saw long delays between content. It’s a fun game to play to be certain but when I compare it to Twilight Imperium and the others I find it a little lacking. One of the few games on my list that has a very robust explore element and it really is the best Star Trek tabletop game you can play. This game had me donate my full set of Star Trek Fleet Captains to the local Cafe. 

15. Frostgrave Down 13 from 2nd

Long I have been looking for a Warband Skirmish Game to replace Dungeon Command for me. I collected terrain for Frostgrave so long now that the terrain collecting and painting has out grown my love of the game. There is a lot of potential here in the game but I could never find or convert any gamers locally into liking it. I had to relegate my plays to skype and Roll20 games. I am finding I dislike playing tabletop games online. For me it kinda defeats the purpose. 

16. Command & Colors: Napoleonics Up 4 form 21st

This title drops in and out of print with a regular cadence. Thematically it excites me the most out of the various Commands and Colors games. I think I could have really grown to like Battlelore if it was supported further instead of dropped. But I like the blocks here. I like the increased complexity. I like the different nations. Go Prussia! 

17. History of the World (2018) New Comer

Hands down this is my favorite game to be in the losing position. It gives the person in last place so much power. This is the best version of a Risk like game yet. I like the historical element and the lack of player elimination is kinda of novel. 

18. Blitz Bowl New Comer (BB previously 17th Replaced Entirely) 

This game replaced Blood Bowl completely for me. It’s so much faster! I love it. You can get a game in during a lunch hour and I love that.  

19. BattleTech New Comer

I played this in tabletop and the direct translation to tabletop to PC. I racked up many many plays of this game. As an old Earthsiege fan this game is great. 

20. Axis & Allies Down 10 from 10th

My Dad and many in my gaming group like this one. We mostly play the Anniversary version and like that quite a bit. I like playing the game solo on the phone and eagerly await the New Online PC game to see if it’s any good. It’s a fun game I try to limit myself on the number of plays in I get in a year and the forums to maintain a certain degree of mystery in terms of strategies. 

Why a top 20? Well I feel this is the first year my top 20 list feels mature enough. A lot of the other lists had games with a serious lack of plays on it. Also it might have help that 2018 was the first year I started tracking plays on my phone. As an amateur hobby gamer I have a handle on what I actually do like now. Purchasing a game and dealing with sunk cost fallacy has become less of an element for me. If I don’t like it I donated to the local café and get it off the shelves and try to be a bit smarter next time. Video reviews help but can have their own issues. 

I am a fan of Fantasy Flight Games and great components. Christian and Corey are some of my favorite designers. I just like their games a lot. This year I tried more new stuff from other publishers but games like TI4 are just too good not to obsess over. Component bloat is real issue with FFG but I see they are looking to curtain that somewhat recently. Honestly even with TI4 if you organise it right and get a system down it can go pretty fast. I like big games so I guess that just goes with the territory. 

The most desired unannounced game I want to see come out in 2019 is a new edition of the Starcraft Strategy Board Game.   

Terrain Diagram Series #1: Scaffolding Alfa

Meet Scaffolding Alfa!

She is built out of hobby store balsa wood and a variety of BBQ skewers I was able to pick up at the grocery store. One brand from Safeway's had this thicker section to it but I decided to embrace it's oddity and use it to make a raised platform.

I used alot of super glue and a spacing block that I had laying around (Small Chunk of 4" x 4" cut to around 2" long) to fit the two platforms together while lashing with heavy thread. I love how Alfa looks but it was a pain in the butt to put together with tying all the knots. I know I am terrible at tying them so I always super glue them underneath to keep them from coming undone. I was supposed to do a full double cross at back for bracing but I only placed a single one and I am happy enough with it. I am glad I built Alfa and started with it first as I am unsure how many more I will make of this model for my table.

Important Note: Wipe up all the excess superglue and try to glue it in places out of sight as the glue stops the stain from doing its job and will likely require a bit of paint to sharpen up. Also I used a coffee color stain and it turned out well but the balsa wood is so soft it soaks up all the stain like a sponge so be prepared to wipe of the excess quickly with a paper towel unless you are going for the dark look I wanted here.

The only reason I am using balsa wood is it is winter time and much too cold to tablesaw outside here. Also I differed from my prints in that I decided to go with two planks of wood butted up against each other instead of using the square skewer. Either or would look great.

Lastly I wanted to leave everyone with sneak peek of future content for the Terrain Diagram Series. Personally I am trying to make items suitable for Frostgrave that are mostly detailed accessories and not full on buildings themselves. I will leave buildings to the much more capable folks at Tabletop World.

Galen's Gamble: Legendary Spells

Legendary Spells

The new spells used in the campaign module work slightly differently than those in the core rulebook. I wanted them to be difficult to skill up and I did not want players to guide their roleplay and faction progression on what spells they ultimately wanted to acquire. Thus I made each spell a base cost of 20 to cast, free of casting penalties based on your chosen school. This is just a number I picked and if all players agree you could lower it if need be. But I envision them as this epic spells that take a long time to hone and make useful. Basically end game content level abilities. 

Also I liked the fact that working for the different factions at different times allows an determined wizard to garner all of them if they dare do so.

The New Spells

Polymorph Goat (LoS): The target must make an immediate will roll versus the casting roll if he fails he is transformed into a Goat! He may not attack, shoot, or cast Line of Sight spells. His fight stat is reduced to +0 and at the start of each turn, the figure may attempt to break the spell by making another Will roll against the same target, otherwise the effects last until the end of the game. Found in Honored Elven Faction Deck and classified as an illusionary spell. May be learned from Elves Honored Deck.

Conjure Elemental (T): This spell can be used both ‘Out of Game’ and during the game. If successful, the spellcaster adds one Elemental to his warband. If the spell is cast before the game, the Elemental can be deployed normally. If it is cast during a game, the Elemental appears in base contact with the spellcaster. A warband may only have one Elemental at any one time. If the Elemental is slain during a game, Conjure Elemental can be cast again to create another. An Elemental does not count towards the warband size limit. May be learned from Elves Honored Deck.

Conjure Portal (LoS): This spell creates a dimensional doorway. It can be cast multiple times to open multiple Portals if desired. Each Portal can lead figures to other Portals on the board or lead off the board. May be learned from Elves Neutral Deck.

Farsight (G): A successful cast allows the caster to inspect the inside a target building, Lair, or single piece of Scatter Terrain. May be learned from Orc Deck.

Conjure Soulstone (T): This spell attempts to siphon the life energy of a defeated foe. Soulstones take up an item slot and can be consumed to empower the casting roll of a Summon Demon or Summon Elemental spell by 5. May be learned from Cultists Neutral Deck. 

Enchanted Sword (T): This spell allows the caster to create an enchanted sword to attack enemies with fight +3. It is spawned touching the base of the caster. Should the enchanted sword lose a melee then it is considered slain. The enchanted sword has a base of its own and can support other figures. May be learned from Elves Neutral Deck.

Renew (T): This spell enchants a player with an aura of healing for the remainder of the game. At the start of each activation the target heals two health. May be learned from Orc Deck.

Conjure Mana Crystal (T): This spell allows a player to store a portion of their magical energy and maybe cast out of game. A warband may only hold a single Mana Crystal at a time. A Mana Crystal maybe be used by any caster to empower their spells by up to five a single time before it is used up completely and disappears. May be learned from Orc Deck.

Ice Rune (LoS): A friendly target is temporarily frozen solid, encased in a block of ice and may take no actions on its next activation. After the next activation, the frozen figure may choose to break the spell and move as normal or remain frozen. A wizard may cast this on themselves in place of their move action if they are under seven points of health. May be learned from Cultists Neutral Deck. 

Summon Mana Wraith (T): The wraith drains all energy from magical items from players they come within base to base contact with. For the rest of the game players that have previously come into contact with a Wraith may not Empower their spells by means of magical items of any type. A warband may only have one Mana Wraith at any one time. If the Mana Wraith is slain during a game, Summon Wraith may be cast again to create another. A Wraith does not count towards the warband size limit. Immaterial being. May be learned from Cultists Honored Deck. 

Well that is all for this week. Next week I want to shake it up a little and post a terrain build for the community. 

Galen's Gamble: Factions, Faction Cards, and Resources

~ A Frostgrave Module WIP ~

Factions

Prince Galen Ebon'mere's Contingent of Elves

• Desires and will pay full buying price for Grimoires. Also pays handsomely in retaliation for cultists ears as the Cultist have been found harvesting those from fresh Elven Corpses. 
• Attacks the closest player’s warband holding 3 or more Cultist Cards. Elvenkind have excellent eyesight and will engage enemies from across the battlefield.
• Defeating an Elf is worth 5xp. In a game in which Elvenkind is killed by a player AND an Elven Soldier remains on the board at the end of the game, then that player is required to take a Cultist Card.
• A player is considered respected by the elves when he holds 5 or more Elven cards. He then that point on draws only from the respected pile until such time as he is no longer respected.
• Elven Soldiers are attempting to occupy a hostile city and have been order to work in pairs. If you see only one Elven soldier chance are you likely have not spotted its escort generally working within earshot. Should you attack an Elven Soldier and only one is visible on the table then another is spawned behind one member of your warband selected at random. 

The Cult of the Undying

• Desires and pays full buy price for Scrolls, Potions, and average selling price for Grimoires. Will pay small amount for Soulstones. The Cult is on the look out for Elven Ears to as regents to fuel some of their darker magics.  
• Attacks the closest player’s warband holding 4 or more Elven Cards within LoS and 20 inches.
• Defeating a cultist is worth 10xp. Defeating demons or undead figures yields an additional 5xp.
• Cultists cast spells and are always played by your opponent when they are being targeted.
• A player is considered respected when he hands in 10 Soulstones to a member of the cult. Once respected he will never lose respect. The cult honors power first and foremost. Cultist will often elect to attack even a respected wizard if they hold 4 or more Elven Cards.

Burning Grog Orcs 

• Desires and pays full buy cost for Potions with diversity bonus. Will pay handsomely for Soulstones to free their imprisoned brethren. 
• Attacks the closest player’s warband holding 5 or more other faction cards. If warband member is over 10 inches away the Orc will just stop and watch them closely. If they come closer the Orc will sound a hunting horn and then attack. Then a pair of Orcs will enter a random edge of the board.
• Defeating an Orc is worth 10xp. In a game in which an Orcish figure is killed by a player AND an Orc remains on the board at the end of the game that player is required to take one Elven AND one Cultist card.
• The Burning Grog Orcs will likely never respect wizards given their background and circumstances during this chaotic period.

Factions Cards

Faction cards in two varieties; Neutral and Respected, they offer a DM free narrative element to the game. There are Neutral decks for all three factions and only respected decks for the Elves and Cultists. As you kill NPC of certain factions you will be assumed as in the camp of another faction as per the detailed bullet points above. Holding a certain number of these cards gives you your progress in the reputation system and many of these cards give you missions to complete in the city. Some of the Respected cards and a few of the Neutral cards give you access to new spells or equipment.  I hope to detail a series of examples for you in future posts. 

Faction Resources

Minor Resources; Smaller token items you can use for barter to cycle faction cards to gain a more desirable mission card. These include Wine Skins for the on duty Elves, Reagents for the Orcs, and Elven Ears for the Cultists. A single supply of Reagents and Wine Skins can be purchases ahead of time and take up an item slot. Elven Ears may only be harvested from corpses of Dead Elves they also take up an item slot but can like the rest mentioned here can be stacked up in the same slot.

Major Resources; May only be handed in by means of faction card mission criteria. These include Cultist Ears, Potions, Scrolls, Soulstones, and Grimoires. These mission criteria are the opportunities mentioned on the faction details above where you will be able to sell certain items for full purchase price.

Upon your first match in the campaign you find wanted posters listing a bounty for the collection of Cultist Ears warranted by one Prince Galen Ebon'mere. Cultist Ears will yield you an Elven Card when handed into any Elven Soldier. 

Well that is all for this week. Next week look for details on the new spells to be added to the game.

Galen's Gamble: First Preview

~ A Frostgrave Module WIP ~

Galen's Gamble: A Brief Introduction to the Story

The Elves lead by Prince Galen Ebon'mere have recently arrived in Frostgrave and are in the process of purging the city of the undead and undying that have been fleeing their crusade across the country side. 

The Cult of the Undying are resisting and are attempting overwelm and oust the well-equipped Elven occupiers. They have been rebuilding their numbers in Frostgrave unmolested for months. The hordes of Undead and Demons the Cult has under their control are especially difficult for the Elven scouts to estimate in the extensive ruins of this ancient city.    

The Orcs whom have been living in the area long before either arrivals are preoccupied with defending their hovels on the outskirts of town. They periodically enter the city to gather regents and potions if they can easily be foraged. The Orcs will cut down anyone that appears threatening but care very little for the politics of the two warring parties.   

The entire concept of Galen's Gamble is to add some more flesh on the bones of this great war-game. I wanted to have more to do on the battlefield. I longed for a module to give the game a seriously sharp semi-cooperative edge that I think could be very appealing. I wanted a reason to pick a strategic location on the map of the city for my base. I wanted to be able to go to specific areas of the map looking for specific items. I desired NPC factions whose interactions may differ based upon my opponents chosen allegiances. I wanted to discover legendary spells that are difficult to master but further fill out the schools of magic. 

Then lastly I wanted to develop an optional system to handle level differences in a way that enables both players to progress but have a fair catch up mechanism.

The First Iteration of the Map

Each block is a square representing a 3' x 3' battlefield. Some area's like graveyards, inns, libraries and such will reoccur as best fits with the narrative of the campaign. I will attempt to slowly to fill the map with scenarios and locations. Ideally I would like to fit in locations for all the canonized content. Most of the buildings will be Tabletop World set on TerraTiles to make up the bulk of the city with Youtube guides for how I chose to put together the custom pieces. I will use the blog to detail and chronicle the process of building the campaign and handle sharing update details.

I look forward to sharing with you next Wednesday where I discuss the streamlined faction system I intend to use. It can easily be adapted to any number or type of factions you would like but I will be just showcasing the one I have devised with the three factions briefly detailed above.  

I want to be very open about the process and welcome feedback. The ideal place for feedback and further community driven discussions would be on the Lead Adventure Forums in the Frostgrave section in the thread link provided below.

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=96550.0