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Black Orchestra – Neil Parker:
In our recent board games meet up, we decided to play Black Orchestra. It was one of those decisions based on wanting to play an older game, one we already knew and it would be easy way to round off a good gaming session. The essence of the game is you are playing the roles of historic conspirators in World War Two, who sought to eliminate Hitler.
The game is centred around Germany and in particular Berlin as Hitler and his cronies move around Europe using an event deck based on historical events; this is a nice touch as you can see historical events play out which help shape the game as they shaped the war. The players each turn take up to three actions, these can include moving locations limited by Germany’s expansion and withdrawal through the war, develop conspiracy which is risky but might improve circumstances, collect missions, which are plots to assassinate Hitler and collect items which may help with plot completion.
A nice mechanic is that you can only attempt plots when you reach a certain level of motivation. This can be increased or reduced depending on events. However, you must be mindful of not increasing your suspicion level as if you reach the top level, you run the risk of being arrested by the SS on one of their raids.
We don’t play this very often, but when we do, there is a genuine feel-good factor when we win, enhanced by the fact that this game can be quite a challenge to win.
Call Of Cthulu: Down Darker Trails - Suzanne Bradley:
It's the Wild West, and our caravan has been travelling "Down Darker Trails". Every second Thursday, my players travel west across the United States to get to California. Down Darker Trails was written by Kevin Boss and a host of other Chaosium writers.
When you start, this book offers unique occupations not found in the 7th Edition rule book that is exclusive to the Wild West. Using "Down Darker Trails", I have led a world-weary outlaw, a Native American Huntress, A Fire and Brimstone Baptist Preacher, A traveller from the Far East and an Old Prospector across the plains, forests and deserts of the old wild West.
Down Darker Trails is a repository of historical and mythos-related information. It provides a variety of gods and monsters for players to interact with and for Keepers to build upon. My players have faced Zombies, Werewolves, Children of the Black Goat of the woods, and even gone a little insane over it. This book is a gateway into the darkness of the past and the monstrous things that live within it.
It also covers information on the Native American tribes of the region. It also delves into towns, local customs, and costs for crimes. There is a host of NPCs to choose from, but you are not always limited to what is in the book. There is a weapons guide and a section on how to run chases on horseback. Down Darker Trails has every tool you might need to traverse the untamed wilderness of North America in the 1800's.
One of my favourite parts of the game is listening to my players attempt American accents with their New Zealand voices. It's always a delight, no matter how inconsistent.
Overall, Down Darker Trails is a unique experience that differs from the musty tomes of libraries and antiquated tombs of the usual Call of Cthulhu book. It is a good change of scenery with little disruption to the core rules.
Anarldo Amaral:
March was a buusy month. There’s something about it that just gets everyone going like buzzing bees. Could be the longer days or the end of financial year? It’s a mystery. But one thing is for sure, there’s always time for board gaming. So much so that in fact March was the month with our highest number of plays yet (25) since getting the tracking app!
The month started with a play of The Isle of Cats, a medium weight card drafting and polyomino tile placement game that puts you on a mission to rescue as many cats and treasure as possible before the evil Lord Vesh arrives. The day after we played Azul and Patchwork, another 2 games with drafting and/or polyomino shaped tile placement (we clearly love these mechanics).
A week later we played Carcassonne, yet another tile placement game, but we have now acquired a couple of expansions and have been slowly introducing them in our plays. We played it twice with the Inns and Cathedrals expansions and we highly recommend getting it, it really rounds up the game a bit more. We also played Challengers! which is an easy to learn deck building game and great fun to play (I believe it plays better at higher counts but we played at two just through multiple rounds and it was still good fun) and we also played Namiji, where you take on the role of fishermen in Japan attempting to fill their boats with fish and crustaceans while contemplating magnificent marine specimens.
Throughout the month we played multiple times Spots, amazingly fun and cute push-your-luck game, and 7 Wonders Duel, of which I can’t seem to stop talking about (it might be my favourite game ever). These two are games great quick gaming sessions during busy week days.
We also hosted a board gaming afternoon sesh with a couple friends, where we played Modern Art and Everdell, both at 4 players. And I have too much to say about these two to put here, so stay tuned for my second opinion articles soon to come!
Sean Franks:
March was a busy month in the middle for me, so all my monthly gaming was fitted around the start and end. It began with some endings, or almost. First up was Counter Attack, possibly the only football tabletop game I can't stop playing. The 7th official season came to a close with a crucial title decider, and while throughout the season the top 3 in the division had been fairly close the entire way, in the end it all came down to goal difference. Although ERS FC got off to a good start in the final game, they eventually fell 4-2 to their opponents which handed them the division title, leaving me finishing sitting in the qualifying round for the Champion's League next season. I'm not sitting around though as I'm on the outside looking in, so I'm already preparing for next season.
Next up back to the tabletop in my legacy group where we hopped on some trains as we reached the final box to open in Ticket To Ride Legacy. Next session could see us finishing the 12 game campaign and nobody knows who is in the lead, the suspense is building and only opening our vaults will reveal the answer.
Now, trying to get four schedules to line up doesn't always work out, so there were some two player games to be had one evening, the best of which was Caesar! It played fast enough that the box wasn't lying when it said we could conquer one in 20 minutes, we did it twice! And there's still more to explore with some additional game modes in the box.
Now onto April where I'm signed up for a friendly tournament to give my soccer players the run out and season 8 preparation, while in the midst of all that I'm preparing to colonize the final land of the old West with train tracks and stations as far as the eye can see.
Grace Naomi:
The last month has been a busy time for our gaming circle. We've particularly focused on continuing our campaign of Ticket To Ride Legacy (highly recommended). As more of the board is pieced together and we discover the exciting new quirks of each place (no spoilers here), we become increasingly ambitious to ensure we win each game and get the most money for our companies (& I've enjoyed the occasional cross-overs with rules from other Ticket to Ride expansions). We have a couple of games left and I'll genuinely be sad when we reach the end of the campaign, but I'm also really intrigued to see who won because I have absolutely no idea as there are so many ways to get points!
Other Ticket to Ride enjoyment this month has included Pennsylvania which adds shares into the mix & makes a massive difference to the scores at the end. Ticket to Ride United Kingdom makes locomotives a key part of the game as you need them to buy 'technologies' which give you bonuses or allows you to travel outside of England. Top tip (if you're competitive like me)...you're highly likely to win if you invest early and get the FORTY point route to New York! Although another member of the group came close to catching me through his lucky pick ups of multiple loco cards meaning he could invest in technologies to give him more points.
Occasional diversions from Ticket To Ride have included Everdell, using the Pearl Brook expansion (adds an extra character & challenges to the game) as we slowly work through our Everdell Complete Collection (the box set-up alone is worth it)! Ark Nova, including the Marine Worlds expansion, is always a favourite, although when I'm playing I add a 'best zoo you'd like to visit' award...which isn't always given to the points based winner!
And finally a recent, very different experience was EXIT: the disappearance of Sherlock Holmes. Our first foray into this type of game it was at times hilarious, other times frustrating and occasionally immensely satisfying. A fun, collaborative game which gets you to think, literally, outside the box! I can't wait to see what the next month holds in store for us.