Arkham Horror The Card Game

Lydia and I recently picked up the Arkham Horror Card Game. Made by much of the same crew who put together my beloved Lord of the Rings card game, Arkham Horror sees players teaming up to face the Eldritch Gods that live just beyond our realm.

The game has been built from the ground up with a focus on campaign play, including a neat system for "leveling up" certain cards by spending experience between games. Here, we begin with two basic starter decks and play through the first scenario in the included campaign.

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First Playthrough of Mansions of Madness

Steven, Lydia, and Eric Riha play through Mansions of Madness on Twitch! The team of investigators is barely holding it together by the end- and Lydia is barely keeping her eyes open... but take a look at how this fantastic game from Fantasy Flight Games works!

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Elder Sign brief review and video Playthrough

I recently made the trek down to Game Theory in Raleigh NC for a Star Wars Armada Regionals tournament. I'm a big fan of that game shop; I visit it regularly as it's near my in-laws' place. So, I wanted to pick something up to support them (and, more importantly, feed the addiction). My friend Sean suggested Elder Sign, so I snapped it up. I've now played it many many times, as it's become a MacLauchlan house favorite.

In the game, 1-8 players work cooperatively to stop one of the Eldritch Gods from waking and bringing about our doom. The game reminds me of a streamlined version of Arkham Horror, and that's a good thing. It's quick to teach, difficult to master, and a barrel of fun! Check out a playthrough with my friend Jeff below:

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A Game of Thrones LCG - Spring Kit Tournament Report

Hello All

On the 30th of May I went to my local games store, Bag of Holding, for their monthly AGoT LCG tournament, up for grabs was the prize support for the latest spring kit. Most of the guys there were deck testing for the following weekends regional at the Games Expo, unfortunately I wasn't going, but still wanted to try out a deck I have been messing around with for a few weeks, my Stark Fealty deck.

We had 8 players which is an improvement for us as we are a new and growing meta. We played 3 rounds of swiss and then most stayed around for some pick up games afterwards. I took my camera along and recorded the games on the top game, which I have linked below.

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The Rookie's Regional Experience

In the past couple of weeks I've written not one, but two articles on my preparations for the Star Wars Armada Regional Tournament in Selden, NY. This past weekend was the main event, where all of my preparations would be put to the test.

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A Rookie's Road to Regionals: Part Deux

The march to the Star Wars: Armada regional tournament continues, and due to time constraints this will probably be the last article before the tournament. However, look forward to a full recap on this site once all is said and done.

First time bringing down an ISD

With that out of the way, let's talk about how my newb preparations are going. In Part 1 I went over some basic outlines that apply to many competitive games. In this article, I'm going to go over another critical aspect of preparing for a big tournament: PLAYING THE GAME!! Of course, it's not that simple, and there are some tricks that can help maximize the value of your game time.

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A Rookie's Road to Regionals

Time for a bold bomb: Star Wars Armada is the best miniatures game I've played in years. The setting is amazing, of course, but I'm not even that much of a Star Wars fan. The rules are tight, the game is relatively balanced, and the actual gameplay requires strategic planning. Plus, there is a well-supported tournament system in place, which is important for gamers like myself who enjoy the competition.

That's why I was excited to hear that FFG chose my FLGS to host an Armada Regional Tournament. I have no illusions of getting the overall win (especially with the IFF crew making the trip) but I set a goal to at least win one of my games.

The problem, so far, has simply been a lack of time to get in some real practice. I've spent more time painting my ships than I have playing with them! Some of that was self-imposed, since I have other gaming obligations, but with Regionals scant weeks away I'm committed to getting better at this game and achieving my goal at the tournament. This mini-series of articles will focus on my preparations, and hopefully offer some insight for fellow new players who are diving into the deep end for Armada.

(the deep end)

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Another Review of Warhammer Quest by Fantasy Flight Games

Though it's been out for a while (See Scott's previous review!), I only recently managed to get my mitts on a copy of Warhammer Quest The Adventure Card Game by Fantasy Flight Games. As many of you reading this will remember, I am a big fan of both card games and cooperative games. My favorite card game is hands down the Lord of the Rings card game, and this game seemed to share a similar concept. Because I am so well versed in the Lord of the Rings LCG, my review of this game will be colored largely by that. Spoiler alert: This game is very very good!

The Concept
Warhammer Quest is a cooperative dungeon crawler card game. Unlike Fantasy Flight's Living Card Game. the game is meant for 2-4 players, and scales accordingly by ensuring the heroes always have 4 actions between them. Unlike a bulky board game, the entire game is done through cards which makes setup relatively simple, and the playing space relatively small. Still, the game feels like an epic dungeon crawler complete with everything you'd hope to experience: loot, leveling up, and glorious combat.

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Star Wars Rebellion: Second Playthrough!

Steven and Sean switch places (though I didn't update the overlay! oops!) and play our second game of Rebellion. We played into the wee hours of the morning, so apologies if we get a little goofy!  -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/wwpdsteven

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Star Wars Rebellion: First Playthrough!

The cellophane is fresh off the box, and we crack it open for our first game of Star Wars Rebellion by Fantasy Flight Games! We fumble through some rules in a few points, but thankfully some experts in the chat mostly keep us on track. We were really big fans! Love the game! -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/wwpdsteven

For the most epic part of our game, jump to 3 hours, 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

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Star Wars Armada - Video Report: Double Header!

It's been a while since my last Twitch video of Star Wars Armada, but here are two games with my pal Andrew. Andrew is brand new to Armada, and more than holds his own! In an effort to learn the game I had him build the lists, choose his side, and away we went! As you can see, is quite the quick study.

In game one, Andrew very wisely chose "Fleet Ambush" from the Rebel fleet, and witnessed a valuable lesson: If you want to keep the enemy at long range ,don't give them the option of turning your ambush on you!




In game two, we re-picked the objectives for the Rebel fleet, and Andrew picked Superior Position. He played a very good game!

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Review: Warhammer Quest: Adventure Card Game

Let's take a look at Fantasy Flight's newest dungeon crawler card game - Warhammer Quest: the Adventure Card Game.

The game-play is similar to FFG's LotR card game, except there's no deck-building mechanic, and everything comes in one box (although I'm sure expansions are planned!) 

It's a full cooperative fantasy dungeon crawler, with the "bad guys" controlled by AI rules. The game comes with two "rulebooks", similar to many of FFG's recent offerings. 

One book contains a simple walk through of game play, and the second book is basically a dictionary of every term in the game.

The game comes with several pre-designed quests cards for you to complete, and also includes one free-form quest for endless replayability. One side of the quest cards will tell you how to set up the missions, which monsters to use, and which locations you'll explore, with a few random monsters and locations added for variety. In addition, it explains the victory conditions and what you get for succeeding if playing in a campaign setting.

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Star Wars X-Wing - I Have You Now!! (X-Wing 'Imperial Raider' a Closer Look)

By Matt MacKenzie

Even though the majority of articles I write for you guys here visiting WWPD are Flames of War or hobby related, it's nice to have other gaming interests to discuss. Although I am not into 'Star Wars Armada', one of Fantasy Flight's other miniature games, I do play X-Wing. Green Squadron I admit, has peaked my interest and has turned my gaming life upside down! I've got Star Wars tokens, models and even LEGO from one end of the house to the other! In this case, we are going to take a look at one of the largest miniatures (I use that term loosely) in the X-Wing Miniatures game.

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LOTR-LCG: Grant’s Three Player Campaign – Part 4 - The Uruk-Hai – “Entering the Realm of Rohan” - Report

By Grant “pfcamygrant” Ellis

In the last campaign report, our Fellowship was broken, as Frodo headed towards the Land of Shadow, and we saw the capture of Pippin, Idraen, and Gimli by the Uruak-Hai at the Seat of Amon Hen. I have difficulty reconciling the narrative as to why and how the proud Dwarf and elusive Dunedain hunter would have been made prisoners. One theory is that Idraen, known to the people of the village of Archet as Hawk, would have the knowledge and ability to leave the most obvious trail for Aragorn and company to follow. Secondly, she may have instructed Gimli to allow himself to be captured should the need arise for a fight to the death with the Uruk-Hai; Gimli would have the battle sense and sheer ferocity needed in an unfair fight with the Orcs. Regardless of the deeper reason, our Noble Hero Idraen and the son of Gloin, joined the fool of a Took as captives to start our next quest.

The Treason of Saruman rules explicitly state on page 5 that if Aragorn was being used as part of any players’ campaign deck, he can be replaced for free, or rather not incur a +1 threat penalty. The tactics version of Aragorn had been used as part of our mono-tactics Three Hunters deck. He needed to be replaced so his Fellowship Sphere counterpart could be used.

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LOTR-LCG: Angmar Awakened Cycle - Treachery of Rhudaur Unboxing video!

by Grant "pfcamygrant" EllisThis month's Lord of the Rings: LCG Adventure pack, The Treachery of Rhudaur has arrived and I'm about to jump right in and explore the new player cards and discuss my initial thoughts and impressions.  The video below gives an overview of each card that has been added to the card pool. It introduces the latest Hero card, and explores the various allies, attachments, events, and side quests that are included in this month's release.

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Conquest Tactics: Deployment

By Parker Ince

Hi everyone, welcome back to my not-at-all regular series on tactics and strategies for the Conquest LCG. This is going to be a fairly short article about deployment guidelines that I like to follow regardless of which faction I'm playing.

Cato or Urien - these tips still apply

Deployment can be a tricky proposition. You want to get the right units on the table, at the right planets, without telegraphing all of your intentions to your opponent. I've found success with the following general rules -- but these are by no means the only strategies out there and you should take some time to ask other players how they go about deploying their cards.

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LOTR-LCG: Grant's Three Player Campaign - Part 3 - The Breaking of the Fellowship - "Black-feathered Fellowship" - Report

by Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis

After vanquishing the vile Balrog of Morgoth in the fifth scenario of the Lord of the Rings: Saga Campaign, we moved to the last leg of The Road Darkens Expansion; The Breaking of the Fellowship.

This scenario sees the players continuing their quest after paying the tough price of sending one of theirs Heroes into the pool of Fallen Heroes at the climax of a Journey in the Dark. Our Fellowship lost Gandalf, so we no longer had access to his Hero or Ally card.

Fallen Heroes, particularly those as powerful as Gandalf, need replacing. We as a group, when replacing fallen heroes, like the idea of bringing the Hero version of Ally cards we've included into our decks into the game when the time comes.

We had some options to replace our Fallen Hero, while keeping with the trend of promoting Allies to Hero status. Galadriel was a lucrative choice, and would be a good fit for the Location Breaking style of the Glorfindel-Idraen Coalition. However, that deck felt a little exposed in regards to Defense, and I recommended a different course of action.

Haldir would have been a unique choice, with his attack potential and ranged keywords helping the group as a whole.

Boromir was another option, as his action advantage is phenomenal and the damage output between him and Glorfindel has high potential. Or the alternative would be to include his Leadership version, reworking the deck to apply buffs to Gondorian characters.

In this situation, however, we chose Elrond to return to the deck he started in (as Gandalf replaced him in the Ring Travels South.)

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LOTR-LCG: Grant's Four Player Campaign- Part 2- Journey in the Dark - "Four Became Three" - Report

by Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis

It has been some time since I last spoke of my campaign. Many life events have occurred for everyone involved. Due to unpreventable circumstances our Fellowship of Four has become a group of three.  When life hands you challenges the only thing you can control is how you respond to them, so we made the decision to continue our campaign and see if we can overcome the trials that lay ahead.

We last left off passing through the West-gate of Moria, defeating the Watcher in the Water and entering the fallen kingdom of Khazad-Dum. A horde of orcs and an ancient evil lurked inside, and a fateful decision would need to be reached.

Something Was Rotten in Hobbiton…

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Grant's Unboxing of "Escape From Mount Gram" for the Lord of the Rings LCG

Take a look at Grant's excellent unboxing of Escape from Mount Gram!

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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LotR: LCG Deck - Beorn is Back

Solo-play in the LotR:LCG is increasingly becoming a... "challenging" enterprise these days (other terms used to describe solo-questing against the latest quests include "maddening", "frustrating", and "aggravating" - among others). More and more I find myself eschewing thematic decks in favor of powerful decks that can simply fight and quest their way through tough these scenarios.

One of the highlights from the most recent AP, The Wastes of Eriador, is a new ally that helps out one of my favorite heroes, Beorn. The new ally, Honour Guard, is one of the few player cards (possibly the only one) that can directly aid Beorn in his thunderous efforts to remove every servant of evil from Middle Earth.

Thus I set 3 goals for a new deck:

1. Include Hero Beorn;
2. Be able to handle a wide variety of quests, in both multiplayer and solo mode; and
3. Include a hero lineup that other players are unlikely to utilize, preventing hero conflicts

Behold his noble visage!

Beorn is a very strong hero, but he struggles to find a niche in many decks. While his ability to defend without exhausting is strong, his low defense means that he can't take every hit that comes his way, especially against modern, tougher enemies. However, his massive hit point pool means that he can reliably help out against weenie enemies, and he can also soak up archery damage like nobody's business. Honour Guard helps in both scenarios, and can keep Beorn alive to murder-stomp enemies all day.

But now who to include to support this ursine friend? I love the Lore sphere, but after including Beorn and his high 12 threat I was wondering who I could include that had low threat, a powerful ability, and didn't see the table that often in my group...

I "wondered" for about two seconds before choosing Grima. His ability is amazing, and can jump-start the first couple turns of any game.

So now we're raising our threat periodically to get ahead, so my third hero would have to be on the lower end of the threat spectrum, and would also have to be Spirit to give me access to threat reduction cards, as well as treachery cancellation (which I almost always take now against recent quests). Spirit Merry is a good option, but my buddy Brandon from Cardboard of the Rings recently announced that he was claiming him. So I decided to pick up what he dropped: 

Yes, to complete the ridiculous level of un-thematic choices with this deck, I have chosen the lady Galadriel to be my third hero. Her inclusion has also been made possible by fellow author Steve's recent transition from Silvan deck to Dunedain and Secrecy decks. Of course, no Galadriel deck would be complete without her handmaidens, who also help with threat control, for myself and for other player who may suffer under Grima's blessings.

Here is the deck in full:

Heroes
Beorn
Galadriel
Grima

Allies
Defender of Rammas x 3
Galadriel's Handmaiden x 3
Erebor Hammersmith x 2
Booming Ent x 2
Honour Guard x 3
Ethir Swordsman x 3
Arwen Undomiel x 2
Warden of Healing x 2
Envoy of Pelargir x 3
Vassal of the Windlord x 2

Attachments
Keys of Orthanc x 3
Unexpected Courage x 3
Nenya x 3

Events
Daeron's Runes x 3
Elrond's Counsel x 3
Feint x 3
Strength of Will x 3
A Test of Will x 3

Side Quests
Gather Information x 1

Sideboard
Northern Tracker
Hasty Stroke (if playing the HoN cycle especially)
Wandering Ent

So how has it been doing? So far it's demolished every non-Battle/Siege quest I've encountered. The entire Mirkwood cycle (minus Escape from Dol Guldur), most of the KD cycle, Nightmare: Amon Din, and 5 of 9 quests from the Ring-Maker cycle have fallen beneath the might of these three heroes.

The deck is a ton of fun to play. Every attachment is meant for Galadriel to unleash her full power. I've found that I really only use Grima's ability a few times throughout the game, which is more than compensated for by Galadriel, her Handmaidens, and Elrond's Counsel. If you draw additional copies of Unexpected Courage then be sure to pass them around to other players in multiplayer games, as a way of thanking them for Grima's shenanigans.

I hope this article encourages you to shake up some of your normal deck-building procedures. This game can get repetitive after a while, so making crazy but effective decks can help reinvigorate your play experience.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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