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Topics - jungleboy

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31
The Marketplace / Inked Gaming (was: Playmats by Mythic Mats)
« on: March 08, 2016, 04:29:14 AM »
Hi all,

I came across these labyrinth playmats yesterday by Mythic Mats and I think they look great, plus the reviews are excellent. Not for Carcassonne, but for other games. The size is 24 by 14 (inches), about 60 by 35 cm.





The issue is shipping from the U.S. to Europe, which is $20. But it seems like this is a flat rate for one or for many. I was wondering if anyone else was interested in these playmats, or anything else from the Inked Gaming store such as dice bags. If so, we could have them shipped to a common location, share the shipping costs, and distribute them at a meetup (e.g. the Oxford meetup in April, or Essen in October). 

Anyone interested?

32
General / Completionism Poll #9: The Halflings
« on: March 07, 2016, 02:36:20 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the Halflings.

The Halflings is a unique expansion not only because it features triangular tiles, but because two different versions were released at the same time, unlike other two-version expansions such as Crop Circles, Wind Roses and the River. This fact and the relatively recent release date (2014) make it quite easy to own both expansions, unlike, say, the Crop Circles.

Halflings 1 (released through Spielbox Magazine) features the Spielbox pentagon watermark and none of the 12 tiles have any features relating to other expansions on them. Halflings II (released through HiG's Cundco store) features the Carcassonne meeple watermark. Four of the Halflings II tiles contain features from other expansions: three from Hills and Sheep (a vineyard, a sheep and a hill) and one from Crop Circles, this time with a 'wildcard' crop circle.

So, do you own both of these? Is one of them enough for a complete expansion? If you feel you need both, is it purely for completionism, for variety (i.e. changing which set you use), or for practical purposes, i.e playing with both sets at once or playing Halflings II with the appropriate expansions?

33
General / Completionism Poll #8: The Wind Roses
« on: February 29, 2016, 02:01:28 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the Wind Roses.

There are two versions of the Wind Roses - one released by HiG in 2012 and another released by Spielbox Magazine in 2013. The configuration of the tiles is the same in both expansions, but there are other differences, notably that the Spielbox Wind Rose tiles feature only north and south and therefore divide the board into only two sections, while the HiG version features all four cardinal points and therefore divides the board into four quadrants.

Which of these expansions do you own or want to own? If you own both, do you prefer to play with one over the other? Is there a way of combining them? Discuss your thoughts on the Wind Roses as it relates to your personal completionism below.

34
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the Count, and specifically the City of Carcassonne tile(s).

Last year, the community became aware that a single City of Carcassonne tile was being sold in Russia, and some people bought it through the help of some members here. Then HiG made a single-tile version available for sale through the Cundco website, which has one configuration difference (an extra city segment).

So, do you have the original version (or even the stand-alone version and the King, Count and Robber version), plus two slightly different single City of Carcassonne tiles? Just one 12-tile version and one single-tile version? Just the 12 tiles?

If you bought the single tile, was it because it's easier than having to put the 12 tiles together (for practical reasons), or for completionism alone? (If you're having trouble answering this question, imagine if it was originally released as one tile, and then later with 12 tiles. If you had the single tile, would you get the 12 tiles too? If so, it's probably for completionism, not practicality, unless you want to put it in a travel box.)

Vote in the poll and discuss what version(s) of the City of Carcassonne you have below.

35
Other Games / Colt Express
« on: February 19, 2016, 03:50:23 AM »
When I was at Draughts in London with Dan and Decar, we saw someone playing Colt Express. Decar knew about it and he explained it a bit to me. I love trains and I thought that both the train robbery theme and especially the actual train were really cool. I'm not really into the wild west at all, except for one thing: I love the Back to the Future movies and the third one is set in the old west. Anyway, a few days ago I watched a video review of the game and decided to put it on my buy list. Then I found out just yesterday that there is a new expansion on the BGG store with the Delorean from Back to the Future 3! It only cost $5 ($8 with shipping), so I just bought it. So I guess there's no going back on Colt Express now, I'll just have to get the game!

Does anyone have Colt Express and do you like it?

If you don't know it, here's the Drive Thru Review of it (Drive Thru Review is my favourite YouTube board game review channel even though others like Dice Tower have more subscribers):



36
General / Completionism Poll #6: German/Dutch Monasteries
« on: February 15, 2016, 02:46:32 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at Monasteries in Germany and Monasteries in the Netherlands and Belgium.

German Monasteries was released as a mini-expansion in 2014, with six tiles representing actual monasteries in Germany. Later that year, 999 Games in the Netherlands released a different version of the same expansion, with monasteries in the Netherlands and Belgium represented. There are also rumours of Spanish and Polish monastery expansions coming.

So, will you keep buying this same expansion for different countries if more are released? Or is one enough? Vote in the poll and discuss your thoughts below.

37
Other Games / New editions of games
« on: February 11, 2016, 10:39:36 AM »
It seems a lot of games are getting new editions these days. Of course, Carcassonne has a controversial new edition that most people don't like. But this isn't another discussion about Carcassonne II; it's about new editions in general.

If you love a game, and a new edition comes out, will there automatically be some resentment because a game you love has been changed, even if the new artwork is generally considered an improvement? Or can you objectively look at various editions and decide that a new edition is better than the one you first played, have lots of memories with, etc.

I bring this up now because it's the last day of a Kickstarter campaign for a new edition of an old game: Medici. There are at least four previous editions of Medici (some with different editions for different languages), and I think it's fair to say that the artwork for most of them, including both English editions, is fairly awful. Of the four versions below (courtesy of BGG), the only one that I remotely like is the French edition at the top right, but while the towers are cool, apparently this design is not very functional.



Now, Grail Games is producing a third English edition which has raised almost AUD$50,000 on KS. I think the artwork is spectacular.



I've never played Medici but I learned about it through the KS campaign, I've backed it, and I can't wait to get it and start playing. For me there is absolutely no question that this is the 'definitive version' of the game. But if I had already played and loved one of the earlier editions of this game, would I still feel that way, or would I be 'against' this new edition the way many of us are 'against' Carcassonne II?

To conclude, here are some discussion questions:
  • Can you love a new edition of a game you already loved?
  • Are there other examples (like Carcassonne II) of new editions that were not well received?
  • Can the artwork, components etc of a new edition dramatically change the way you feel about a game?
  • Are there any other games with new editions coming out or that have recently come out? What did you think of these new editions?

Finally, feel free to use this thread to talk about new editions of any games you're interested in and we'll see if we can find common themes or trends.

38
Other Games / Other games with wooden pieces thread
« on: February 11, 2016, 07:10:50 AM »
In the spirit of Paul's Other tile laying games thread, I thought I would start an Other games with wooden pieces thread. While tile-laying is at the heart of Carcassonne, I think we all enjoy the wooden pieces aspect of the game too. 

I don't intend to make a long list of games with wooden pieces in this thread, but if you own or know of a game with nice wooden pieces, feel free to share it here.

Let me start with two games that have a lot of wonderful wooden components and are the kinds of games where you take a photo at the end because you've created a beautiful scene.

The first is Medina, which I think I'm getting for my birthday in a few weeks and can't wait for. This photo is from the 2014 second edition.



The second is Cathedral, which was first published in 1978 (!) but which has been republished several times. This photo is from the 2013 edition.


39
General / Completionism Poll #5: Wheel of Fortune
« on: February 08, 2016, 02:25:45 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the Wheel of Fortune.

Wheel of Fortune was released as a hard-to-define expansion/spin-off/addition in 2009. It was the first element in the Carcassonne series to feature text on a tile, with words written in German or English (depending on your edition) on the Wheel start tile. The English edition is out of print and difficult to come by, while the German version (which also includes a book with the same title as the game) is easier to come by.

Big Box 5, released in 2014, contained a language-independent version of the Wheel. Another difference in this version was that not all tiles contained the wheel watermark (see page 114-115 of the CAR for a full explanation of the differences).

So, Carcassonne collectors, which version(s) do you own? Do you think a stand-alone version and the BB5 version is necessary for your collection? Is the language (or language independency) on the Wheel start tile important to you? Does the watermark issue matter to you? Does the German book matter to you?

Vote in the poll and discuss your thoughts below!

40
Reviews & Session Reports / In-Game Photos
« on: February 02, 2016, 08:26:54 AM »
I thought this would be a fun thread where people can post any game photos they find interesting, for any reason.

I'll begin with a 'before and after' shot from a game today with the Plague.

Before: my two monks and thief are having a nice time together near a lovely river. But there's news of a contagious disease claiming lives on the east bank of the river.



After: four turns later. It's safe to say the epidemic has spread...


41
General / Completionism Poll #4: Heretics and Shrines (Cult)
« on: February 01, 2016, 02:12:15 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at Heretics and Shrines (also known as Cult), which has three different versions.

Cult was released as part of King, Count and Robber, with 5 tiles and the crown watermark. It was later released by Spielbox with the same 5 tiles in the same configurations, but with the Spielbox watermark.

Later still it was released by Rio Grande Games, but this time including 6 tiles, as part of Cult, Siege and Creativity with no watermark. The extra tile is a CRFR tile (i.e. the start tile, with a shrine).

So, how many versions of this expansion do you have? Does the difference in watermark between the King version and the Spielbox version matter to you? What is the definitive version of the expansion?

Vote in the poll and discuss your thoughts in this thread.

42
General / Completionism Poll #3: The River
« on: January 25, 2016, 02:06:42 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the River, with a specific focus on the so-called River (III) from Big Box 5.

The River (River I) was released in 2001. It has variously been attached to copies of the base game or available as a mini-expansion.

The River II was released in 2005 and was later packaged with the expansion King, Count and Robber (2008). It contains a fork in the river, some different tile configurations, and it also has expansion features on it (an inn, a volcano tile and a pig herd tile).

In 2014, Big Box 5 included a new version of the River I. The tile configuration is the same but there are expansion elements from Hills and Sheep (two tiles with vineyards and two with sheep).

Do you consider the new River to be the River III and is it therefore something that must be owned, or is it just the River I repackaged and therefore not worthy of purchase? How many rivers is enough rivers for your collection? Vote in the poll and discuss your thoughts below.

43
Other Games / Medina
« on: January 20, 2016, 04:08:56 AM »
Edit 2: I just gave my wife my birthday wishlist with both Cacao and Isle of Skye on it, so there'll be no more temptation for me to buy it.

Both are great games for the smaller gaming group. Cacao works great no matter if 2, 3 or 4 players. We've yet tried Isle of Skye, though, and can't wait to try it out.

I changed my mind at the last minute and left Isle of Skye off my birthday wish list in favour of another game. I won't tell you what the other game is yet, but I'm super excited about it. There are no tiles, but it's an abstract, city building game with a lot of wooden components. Any guesses? :)

I still think Isle of Skye looks cool and it's still on my 'Games to Buy' list, but I can't see it getting much play unless I find more people to play with.

44
Hi farin (and all),

Thanks again for all your work with JCZ. It's been so great to be able to play these online games and competitions.

One problem I very often have with JCZ (as danisthirty and others can attest) is that when playing with the Tower, I lose track of what is happening in the game. The lack of 3D often means that even with the number on top of the tower, I am unaware that one of my followers is about to be kidnapped. And also that it's hard to know when your opponent's move has been to add a tower piece (e.g. this doesn't show up in the 'show last moves' feature). In several games, I had a follower kidnapped when that just wouldn't have happened in a 'real life' game.

I know it's hard to implement the Tower in a 2D setting, but since we'll be having a Tower league sooner or later, I wanted to see if others have the same problem that I do and ask for people's opinions on what could be done to make the Tower more 'user-friendly'.

Thanks!
jungleboy

45
General / Completionism Poll #2: Crop Circles
« on: January 18, 2016, 02:24:12 AM »
The Completionism Poll is a weekly series where we ask how much of a completionist you are by breaking the game down into different expansions and elements. This week we look at the Crop Circles, also known as the Corn Circles.

For the main game of Carcassonne, there are two versions of this expansion: Crop Circles I and Crop Circles II (there is also a new Crop Circles expansion for the Winter Edition, but because this is a spin-off game, it is being left out of this poll).

Crop Circles I was originally released as a bonus expansion attached to copies of the base game in 2010. It was later available separately, but not anymore, and it is now one of the rarest expansions for Carcassonne. Crop Circles II is the 7th mini-expansion: if you buy the six 2012 minis, each of them contains one tile for Crop Circles II; therefore if you buy all six, you have the complete mini-expansion Crop Circles II. The two sets have the same rules but the tile configurations are different.

For those players who have Crop Circles II and not Crop Circles I, how much are you willing to pay for Crop Circles I? For example, would you pay a similar price as for the Tunnels, or does the fact that there is also Crop Circles II mean that you wouldn't pay a high price for Crop Circles I?

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