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In Episode 12 we give an in depth review of Carcassone, cover our thoughts on what we look for in a board game, and introduce "Raef's Round Table".

Plus other segments including:
- Achievements in Gaming
- When Wives Attack
- The Hollywood Minute
- & More


Oh, and we also finally got up "Incoming 2" our second mail bag episode as well. Enjoy and please let us know what you think!



Thread about prior episodes:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/214358.page

The reason for the differences I see in prices for GW is because of the country of origin. When the prices were set it was based on the exchange rate from the UK to the destination country. Fortunately they don't change their prices often so the US is still cheap even though the exchange rate has gone down.

I'm buying from US GW because the exchange rate is insane which is great for US but not for the Aus companies. I'm getting stuff for half price, but it's hard because I know that money going to the US is not going to the local game store.

Buying from the UK though you end up the same (even without taxes).

Another good one lads. Keep it up.

Just listened to the episode - great job, can't wait for the next one. The Peter Lipton stuff was hilarious!

The Carcassonne review was really good, too, and meshed disturbingly well with 'when wives attack'.

So much so, I think I've finally found a route into gaming for my other half. Result!!

Keep up the good work, guys. Can't wait for the next one...

Hi d6ers, finished Incoming 2 yesterday & had a couple of comments.

You commented on GW's Specialist Games being added back into the main GW site as possibly being a good thing. Unfortunately, I see it as the death knell of Specialist Games. GW has consistantly proven that anything other than WHFB & 40k (& now LotR) is an afterthought, & not really supported. They had cut the Specialist Games staff down to 1 person for at least 8 games & now he's be assimilated back into the company. So you know that if anything's going to suffer, it's going to be the minor SG games & not the be 2 (& the 3rd). Also, I believe GW has state it will only move some of the 100s of articles on the SG old site over to the new one. So, download as much of the SG content now as you can, because it'll be gone soon.

In regards to Stargrunt, it's definately not what you're looking for in a sci-fi game. The most common description I've heard of it is Viet Nam in space. It is a very detailed & accurate game, & certainly won't give you more of a fun style of game like 40k or Warmachine (of course not implying that Warmachine is sci-fi .

What happened to Russ on This Week in Wargaming's AT-43 review. I'm listening to it now, & he's not part of the panel.

Also it's pronounced Au-zee not Au-see.

Anyone whose got Carcassone on the 360 fancy a game on live??

Black Cavalier wrote:What happened to Russ on This Week in Wargaming's AT-43 review. I'm listening to it now, & he's not part of the panel.

Due to some unexpected events Troy had to move the recording date of TWIW episode 4 at the last minute. Unfortunatly I couldn't make it at the new time.

I'm sure we'll be on again in a future show. I did enjoy the AT-43 coverage.

Love the show! I listen, then listen again, to each episode...while driving, while painting, while traveling on vacation. You guys reinvigorated my desire to play Warmachine and I've been painting my Cygnar models at last and trying to get in some games when I can.

I'm in Fort Wayne, IN, just an hour and a half north of Indy. I hope to see you guys at Gencon, although, I only ever make it on Saturdays because the school year always begins the same week as Gencon (I'm a teacher, too). One of these years I'll take a personal day or two so I can go to the whole show. Like you guys, I always feel overwhelmed when I go, so I can sympathize with you. If you play all the free demos in the dealer's area, you'll end up spending the whole weekend there, and trust me, you won't feel like you missed much. It's the greatest freakshow this side of the Mississippi (and I say "freakshow" lovingly) so bring your cameras...and remember your memory stick. I'll probably be wearing a black t-shirt. I think the one aspect of wearing black and why gamers choose that color more than others that you didn't address in a previous episode, is that black is slimming!

Loved the review on Carcasonne. It's a game I like to play as well. Have any of you tried the Tower expansion yet? I'm not sure you mentioned that one, but the ability to eliminate your opponent's meeples by building towers higher and higher is a very cool element to game play.

Raef's new segment was a hoot! I don't know if it would ever be that funny again just because it seemed to take you all by surprise. Totally granular!

Keep up the great work. The show is getting better and better (and I for one LOVE the rapid fire segment). You guys even got me to join dakka dakka, so good on ya for that (this is my first post).

Red.

Hey guys, great podcast as usual.

As usual chuckled throughout especially during the 'Peter Lipton' segment. Also loving the When Wives Attack bit, any ammunition to get my missus into any game beyond scrabble is invaluable at the mo. If I can get my hands on Carcasonne she might perk she might be more interested in gaming.

Keep 'em coming.

good show! But.... ''when wives attack''???

BilltheBloody wrote:Hey guys, great podcast as usual.

As usual chuckled throughout especially during the 'Peter Lipton' segment. Also loving the When Wives Attack bit, any ammunition to get my missus into any game beyond scrabble is invaluable at the mo. If I can get my hands on Carcasonne she might perk she might be more interested in gaming.

Keep 'em coming.

Hey Bill I was just looking at where I might get Carcasonne in the UK, it's on amazon, but I'm sure there are better indie sites to buy it from.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rio-Grande-Games-4098395-Carcassonne/dp/B00005UNAX/ref=pd_bxgy_k_h_b_cs_text_b

fitzeh wrote:Hey Bill I was just looking at where I might get Carcasonne in the UK, it's on amazon, but I'm sure there are better indie sites to buy it from.

You could do worse than buying with Leisure games. As far as online sales for board games in the UK goes, they're my favourite suppliers.

good call, anything to avoid giving my cash to Ama$on tbh.

Have any of you guys checked out Bohnanza, which is another Beer & Pretzels type thing, it's published by the same company as Carcasonne in UK & Eire.

Kinda like rummy or something but with more horse trading an negotiation. It's pretty cool over beers or bbq action.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11

zekrish wrote:good show! But.... ''when wives attack''???

Eh, I enjoy the segment, as I'm married and love to get advice on how to get my girl to game... She'll kick my ass at MTG any day of the week, and plays D&D when my brother comes up, but I wish I could get her to collect mini games....

fitzeh wrote:Anyone whose got Carcassone on the 360 fancy a game on live??

Sure. I'm not online very often but if you see me on, send me a message (gamertag is in my sig).

Actually, with you being in the UK, you might actually be online when I am.



Hey Russ,

I'm going to jump back and discuss something from last episode since I just finished listening to the last one.

When you brought up the 'red card' idea for sportsmanship in tournaments, I'd humbly suggest that this sort of idea doesn't work because if you end up facing more than one TFG you can only penalize one of them per tournament.

I think a slightly modified version of what you propse that works really well without making sportsmanship a major tournament changer is:


1) At the end of each game you only have two choices for sportsmanship. This guy was a good sport or this guy was a poor sport. For the 'poor sport' choice there is a small space that you are *required* to fill out as a brief reason why you think this guy was a poor sport.

2) Getting a 'good sport' nod from your opponents isn't worth any points towards winning the tournament (as everyone is expected to be a good sport).

3) Getting a single 'bad sport' vote during the tournament doesn't affect your score at all. This is to minimize the 'one bad game' syndrome that happens occasionally to good people.

4) But a player who gets two 'bad sport' votes during the tournament suffers a pretty hefty negative points penalty to his overall score. A player who gets three 'bad sport' votes gets twice as many points deducted. A player with four 'bad sport' votes gets twice as many points deducted as the three vote penalty. A player who gets five 'bad sport' votes has their score removed from the system and is asked never to attend the tournament again (This is designed for a five game tournament. If the tournament has more or less games you may want to alter these guidelines to fit).

5) Since each player who makes a 'bad sport' vote fills out a brief reason why, TOs have a heads-up as to what they should be looking out for if they want to mosey over during a game and check out a player.

6) Finally, any player who gives out more than two 'bad sport' votes during the tournament will be called up and interviewed by the TO before any prizes are handed out to verify their reason for handing out so many 'bad sport' votes. Also, a player who receives more than two 'bad sport' votes will automatically lose their right to cast any 'bad sport' votes of their own.

Excellent show, dudes.

A little interesting fact about Meeples: the term has now become so widespread that it's starting to mutate. In the game Vikings for instance, you have little wooden Viking dudes, horny helmets and all. They are called 'Veeples'. In Antler Island you have a load of little wooden does, who are referred to in the rules as 'Doeples' (I kid you not). And so on and so forth.

Speaking of Meeples: if you enjoy Carcassone, you may well enjoy Gheos. It's often referred to as 'Carcassone with teeth', and it certainly is more brutal than Carcassone.

As to 'What makes a good game': I've found that theme can be a severe turn off. I'm specifically thinking about Lunch Money. I'd say the theme there (little girls beating each other up in the playground) makes the game extremely unattractive to me.

And to coin a phrase from 'The Spiel' podcast: something that can make a game better is 'Truckloads of Goober!' Or, very good or unique components. Fragor games (Antler Island, Hameln, Shear Panic) is a good example of this.

Interestingly listening to podhammer apparently that red card idea is going to be implemented by GW in their GT.

Very Long Shows but good, Im thinking smaller show might be better for both for you and the listners,that old Hollywood saying "keep'em wanting more and they always come back" comes to mind. Doing a hr episode is hard with so much to say not sure you guys could do it.
Still its all very good and really enjoy listening!

Theme is really important to me as well, though I am finding that as I get older I appreciate mechanics more, and some games that I wouldn't have considered interesting will catch my fancy based on how they actually work.

After the Peter Lipton segment, I am going to adopt a new Word of the Day: "Exquisite." I think I'll try it out tonight in my weekly 40k grudge match. Should just about drive my buddy bonkers.

nathonicus wrote:After the Peter Lipton segment, I am going to adopt a new Word of the Day: "Exquisite." I think I'll try it out tonight in my weekly 40k grudge match. Should just about drive my buddy bonkers.

"Classic"

Really enjoyed the podcast, as usual. I played the When Wives Attack segment for my fiance and she loved it too. Keep up the good work.

What I'd like to see is a list of your favorite board games. I am trying to get my group of non-gaming friends into more games but I'm actually not a board-game geek and would like to see what your fav's are. So far I see that Tannhauser, Shadows over Camelot, Carcassone, and Settler's are up there, but what are some of your other favorites?

Ozymandias, King of Kings

Ozymandias, it's worth checking out the top rated games on boardgamegeek.com . Great resource with tonnes of detailed reviews.

The big three gateway games are Carcassonne, Settlers and Ticket to Ride. All three of those are about as likely to be enjoyed by non-gamers as anything out there.

Ozymandias wrote:What I'd like to see is a list of your favorite board games. I am trying to get my group of non-gaming friends into more games but I'm actually not a board-game geek and would like to see what your fav's are.

As I am something of a board gaming geek, I figured I'd shine my light over this one. Seeing how you want to draw in your non-gaming friends, you'll want to start with the lighter games and work your way up. So, I would suggest:

- Carcassone: a simple game that's fun to start of with, and has a fairly large variety of expansions if you get bored of the basic game.
- Settlers of Catan: another classic gateway game, easy to pick up and play lots. Also comes with a few expansions, Cities and Knights being my personal favourite. Plays 3-4, but can be expanded to 5-6 with expansion packs, although I wouldn't recommend it.
- Bohnanza: Very simple trading card game, with a little twist in how you organise your cards. Fast, extremely light and extremely sociable game.
- Kill Dr. Lucky: if you want to venture out a bit more in the silly territory. This is the game before Cluedo. In Cluedo, you're trying to solve a murder. In Kill Dr. Lucky, you're trying to commit one. Great fun if people get in the spirit of the game. Originally a Cheapass game, now in luxury version as well.
- Family Business: another pretty silly card game, but an all time favourite at my old board gaming group. Players take on the roles of mob families, with the aim of killing everybody off. Go the BoardGameGeek for the player aids if you get this game, since especially in the beginning, the cards can be a bit overwhelming.
- Army of Frogs: this is if you would be looking into abstract games. Plays up to four people.
- Shadows over Camelot: not the first thing I would think of when introducing non-gamers, but it is pretty light and quite sociable. So possibly this should take a place in the 'standard' gateway games.

And lastly, if you want to know anything about any boardgame ever published anywhere, do go to the BoardGameGeek. It's the source of all knowledge when it comes to boardgames.

I would agree with Rasishjack on almost all counts, although I've never played Bohnanza, Family Business, or Army of Frogs (would you really consider a game that requires outside player aids as a 'gateway game, though?), but I have to strongly disagree on Kill Dr. Lucky. I played it over a year ago, so maybe someone changed the things that made it intolerable, but the group of couples Karen and I game with, and ya'll know we play some really hard core games, hated it. Even Brian, the Chain Gamer, was disappointed. It just seemed to go on and on forever, which can be death when you've finally gotten your non-gamer friends around a game table for the first time and want to make a good impression. I'd go with Carcassonne or Settlers first, most likely, unless you can hook them with Theme, maybe with Shadows over Camelot or what have you.

~Craig

I enjoyed the discussion on boardgames. Personally, theme is very important in picking out boardgames to try. I think humor goes a long way, especially in a party game.

A couple of recommendations:

Kill Dr. Lucky - I usually enjoy anything by cheapass games, but this is my favorite. Not much for components (their games are cheap, because they assume most gamers have plenty of dice, tokens, etc around and just sell you board, cards, instructions) but lots of fun. Kind of a prequel to Clue, the players stalk Dr Lucky around a mansion and attempt to murder him and prevent the other players from doing the same.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill - by Avalon Hill. Horror themed. Explore a haunted house by building it from a set of square tile pieces. At some point, the plot starts and one player becomes the enemy of the rest of the group depending on the tiles and cards encountered at that point. There are (I think) around 50 different plots based on different horror films (ghosts, stalkers, killer plants, zombies, etc) and the heroes and traitor are given different rulebooks with scenario rules and objectives. Needless to say, each side may or may not know what the enemy's objectives are.

Anyway, appreciated your earlier discussion of warmachine - got the rulebook and my Cryx battle box is on the way.

If you need another player for Carcassone on xbox live, my gamertag is AtomicPhread.

Thanks guys, appreciate the recommendations.

Ozymandias, King of Kings

Another great show, but please keep political comments out of the podcast (i.e. - Raef's one-liner during the Hollywood Minute).

Well, got Carcassone, played it with my missus.

She loves it

Big round of applause for the d6g team!!!!!!

Vladigar wrote:Another great show, but please keep political comments out of the podcast (i.e. - Raef's one-liner during the Hollywood Minute).

Oh, I'm glad you mentioned this. I wanted to bring that up with Raef. I'd like to keep that stuff out of there as well.