Innsmouth Horror (ooc)

[Mr. Handy]

Yes, I'm back for now. I actually got back in yesterday, but I needed to sleep and to catch up first before I could post.

The Silver Twlight Lodge isn't an inn, though they probably have guest rooms or something along those lines. It's a fraternal organization and secret society like the Freemasons, only more evil.

[Tabs]

Common Item: Shotgun

Good to have you back, Mr. Handy. Did you go to the beach or to a convention?

[Mr. Handy]

Woohoo! That was well worth the two bucks.

Thanks. I went to a convention near London for a weekend and then into London for another week, but not to the beach. Tomorrow I'm going to a gaming convention in New Jersey, much closer to home, until Sunday night.

[DSIGFUSS]

Gate at the unvisited isle is closed due to Rolands antics.

I was gonna spend clue tokens to reroll my other checks but though you guys would want to seal the last gate instead. What do you think?

[Tabs]

Yes, go for it. I just checked Roland's Investigator Sheet and he's got 3 Clue tokens plus "Research Materials".

The scene before him could only be described as whimsical chaos.

I have an image of the two hippies waltzing round the apparatus--which looks like a crazy pressure cooker--and the pressure cooker is about to explode.

[Mr. Handy]

You can't spend Clue tokens on ordinary random dice rolls, only on skill checks (the specialized Combat, Spell, Horror, and Evade checks count as skill checks too). Closing the last Gate isn't sufficient to win, anyway. We need to hold a number of Gate trophies equal to or greater than the number of players (five).

Closing the Gate to the Abyss will cause the Ghoul to be banished.

[Tabs]

You can't spend Clue tokens on ordinary random dice rolls, only on skill checks (the specialized Combat, Spell, Horror, and Evade checks count as skill checks too).

Ah! I didn't know that.


Right, now it's Ursula's turn.

[DSIGFUSS]

OK! then we'll leave it as is.... 1 gate closed.

[trixie]

so the Inn isn't an Inn....should I change my last post? I didn't know that.

[Mr. Handy]

A "lodge" in this case means a fraternal organization rather than a place to stay. Many such organizations use the word "lodge" in this manner, for example the Elks. It's up to you if you want to edit.

[trixie]

Sorry guys....my birthday was a self indulgent week of doing only the bare minimum. Back in the saddle. Cheers!

[Tabs]

so the Inn isn't an Inn....should I change my last post? I didn't know that.

No! It's everyones' writing that is interesting to me; so, if you feel like writing, please do it--even if you go off at a tangent.



Re.: Ursula's encounter, the Luck check was 1d6, not 2d6--I advised trixie to roll 2d6--due to the "Blackest Night" environment card (Luck checks -1 penalty). Ursula's first die was a 6, anyhow.



Yesterday, I got Mansions of Madness, the theme, art, ideas, components, etc, are amazing. The gameplay may be like a dog's dinner, though .

[Tabs]

Stumbled upon this: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamee ... -expansion

[DSIGFUSS]

Hey, I was going to buy that board game last month Tabs. Is it fun?

We should compare notes on board games... Anyone else chime in if they have any favorites or would like to know if any of the games I have are good. Some are.. Some aren't... I'm a sucker for a board game that looks good.


The games I have are.

Carcassone (ALL Expansions)
Settlers of Catan
Tanhauser
Star Wars Miniatures
Heroclix
Ninja Burger
Taluva
Arkham Horror
Hero Quest
Wings of War
Munchin Quest

I'm looking to buy a few new boardgames. Any suggestions?

[Mr. Handy]

I don't have most of those games, but I've played some of the others before. I do have Arkham Horror and all of the expansions so far, and I'm eagerly awaiting Miskatonic Horror. I also have one of the Wings of War sets (Burning Drachens). I've played the base game of Carcassonne once, and I've played Settlers many times. I've also played Hero Quest years ago.

I have far too many games to list here, but I can tell you about some good ones. Space Alert is fun, though it can be expensive. The Battlestar Galactica board game is great too. I also enjoy RAF, which is again costly. There's a new edition that came out a couple of years ago, which is the one I have. You can now play as the British or the Germans in a single player game, or you can play 2-player. I recently bought a bunch of games, but haven't had much chance to play them yet.

[DSIGFUSS]

RAF eh? Do you have the new version or the 1986 version. Checked it out on Boardgame geek. Looks like one of those squad leader tyope games with the little carboard pieces. I got a buddy that would go for that big time. I usually prefer games with minis or pieces... but I'll try anything.

Space Alert looks super sweet. How does the CD work? Is there lots of expansions. I don't mind gheavy game expenses. My star wars miniature game is worth at least a few thousand.

I've heard similar things about the Battlestar Galactica too. Do you need many players to play Battlestar Galactica? I heard someone plays a secret psilon or something. So it must be more fun mith more players.

Wings of War is an awesome game if you spend a little cash and buy the miniature planes. WWI is way better than WWII. Plus you can buy huge minis of the air balloons which look nice in play.

Let me know Handy if you buy a game you really like. I buy games all the time. Love em Love em Love em.

[DSIGFUSS]

I have two game questions.

1) How do I get to Y'HA-NTHLEI again. it's an island on the Innsmouth expansion board. I want to pick up those 2 Clue tokens .

2) If I lose two clue token in the upkeep phase to avoid drawing a dust card, does Roland's Upkeep ability come into play before or after I spend the clue tokens? ie Do I get a free clue token because I now have less than 2?

[Mr. Handy]

1) You can only get there by first going to Falcon Point in Innsmouth and hiring a boat for $2 to take you out to Devil Reef. Only from Devil Reef can you reach Y'ha-Nthlei - unless you're returning from an Other World, in which case there's a Gate there and there aren't any Clue tokens. Getting back is trickier, as you'll need to either draw an Encounter at Y'ha-Nthlei or Devil Reef that'll send you back to the mainland. However, Silas has his own boat. I think it's better for him to sail to Devil Reef this turn and then go to Y'ha-Nthlei before sailing to any other aquatic location. I was thinking of going to Innsmouth myself, but with only $1 I wouldn't be able to get back. I'll have to sneak past the Dhole.

2) I believe you can perform most Upkeep effects (except refreshing cards, which comes first, and adjusting skill sliders, which comes last) in whatever order you like. And if you read the Ancient One card, you'll see that you must spend the two Clues at the start of your turn, even before Upkeep. So you can spend two Clue tokens to keep from drawing a Dust card and then gain one because you don't have enough.

I have the new version of RAF (I did mention that above). It does use little cardboard pieces, but they represent squadrons or groups of planes. There are no land forces involved, as it's a recreation of the Battle of Britain.

Space Alert is awesome. You place the CD into any CD player (I use my computer's DVD drive) and either choose one of the eight tracks or select one at random. Each track runs for about ten minutes, during which announcements are made of incoming threats, special events, and the end of each stage. There are also eight tutorial tracks on the second CD. Most of them are shorter, at about seven minutes each. There aren't a lot of expansions. In fact, until I saw one in London a couple of weeks ago I hadn't known there were any. The base game is more expensive though - it costs $60.

Battlestar Galactica is meant to be played with at least 3 players, but it's more fun with more. There are one or two secret Cylons, and there can even be a Cylon that doesn't know it's a Cylon until midway through the game. There are also official rules available online that have both solitaire and two-player variants. BSG does have a couple of costly expansions already, and I'm sure more are on the way.

The Wings of War box I have is one of the WWI ones.

I love games too. The problem is that it's very hard for me to find other people to play with except at conventions, so I typically buy games that can be played solitaire.

I've bought a number of games recently, both in London and at conventions in New Jersey. In November, I bought Agricola (a development game set on a farm) and Farmers of the Moor, one of the expansions, as well as Republic of Rome. They're expensive but a lot of fun, though I haven't had much time to play them. I also got Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, a dice-based civilization-building game. Last February I got BSG, A Touch of Evil (similar to Arkham Horror in some ways but not as good), a supernatural game set circa 1800, and an expansion for it, Something Wicked. Both were on sale for only $25 each, as was the Call of Cthulhu LCG, which I bought as well. I also found a copy of Dungeon! for $50 then.

In London in February I picked up Zombie Survival, a Twilight Creations game I still haven't seen here. I also got two WWII games from Dan Verssen Games: Field Commander Rommel (counter-based) and Frontline: D-Day (card-based). Both can be played solitaire, though the enemy gets certain unfair advantages to compensate for its lack of ability to think. And I got Labyrinth, a card-driven simulation of the War on Terror by GMT Games. I've only gone through the tutorial, but I'm about to play it for real. One of the cards was missing, but GMT sent a replacement right out when I let them know. Games are expensive there, so I only got ones I wouldn't be able to find back in the USA.

At the convention I was just at last weekend, I picked up Dungeonquest and Castle Ravenloft. I haven't had a chance to try them since, but I played Castle Ravenloft at a convention in November and it was pretty fun. It's a huge game and sells for $65. There's also Wrath of Ashardalon, a similar game for the same price. I didn't get it yet, but I probably will later. The two games can also be combined.

The best gem I found at a convention was Ambush!, a WWII solitaire game from Avalon Hill. I lucked out in spotting it in the dealer's room in July 2009. It was meant to go on auction, but they offered to sell it to me for $20. When I looked at the components, I noticed that the character cards were missing. They lowered the price to $10, and I found the cards online at BGG when I got home and printed them out. Most of the components of the Purple Heart expansion were also in the box, but not its paragraph booklet or mission cards, which are essential. I had always wanted Ambush! ever since I first heard of it, but had never managed to find it until then. Now I regret not having bought the expansions when I had seen them.

[Tabs]

Hey, I was going to buy that board game last month Tabs. Is it fun?

We should compare notes on board games... Anyone else chime in if they have any favorites or would like to know if any of the games I have are good. Some are.. Some aren't... I'm a sucker for a board game that looks good.

I'm a sucker for new boardgames, too!

I've mentioned it before, check out yucata.de (English or German language), there are a lot of games there.

However, Silas has his own boat. I think it's better for him to sail to Devil Reef this turn and then go to Y'ha-Nthlei before sailing to any other aquatic location.

Okay--Silas will sail to Devil Reef.

Here are suggestions for Ursula: go to R'yleh @ Black Cave? The -3 gate modifier is tough, though... / Ursula should use the Ancient Tablet this Movement Phase (in the Upkeep Phase increase her Speed to 5) / meet up with Patrice and trade--Patrice can do wonders with those tomes of Ursulas.

[trixie]

*ahem* Dsig there's no point buying another game until we play AT LEAST ONE game of Settlers with the expansion pack. *grumble grumble*

I REMAIN CHAMP!