D&D Minis

I am looking to get some minis, I don't need anything special or rare, just some basic figures for a project I am working on... Are there are reliable places online that sell common figures for a fair price?

Also, does anyone know anyplace online that shows images of each mini, like an archive, so I look throught them?

Answer from reader - Check out the D&D Miniatures Gallery for images of all of the minis, and you can find most of them at reasonable prices from traders on MaxMinis.com.

Monopoly

I wont touch this game with a 10 mile stick or a magical six-sided die. Not since the "Great Monopoly Scandal of 2002" as it has become known in our family. Someday I'll write about it, but then again, some things are best kept quiet.

However, my wife loves to play this game as does my oldest son Brandon. So since they played it today, I thought I'd log it in.

Brandon ended up winning but it was apparently a close game. I was happy to get a few hours to play WoW on the computer while they kept themselves occupied with Monopoly.

Descent: Journeys in the Dark

I was just commenting a few days back about how much we loved this game, but how little table time it gets because of it's lenght of play and investment in the initial setup. But Brandon had asked if we could play it again and we had nothing better to do, so I said 'sure!'.

As we started to set up the game, It was shocking that my wife Kris decided to actually play, we started at 9pm and she said we could play no later than 10:30. I kind of chuckled to myself because I knew we'd probably not even get started until 10:30.

I setup the board as fast as possible (Scenario 2 since Brandon had just done Scenario 1 a couple of week before), and while I did this, Kris and Brandon selected the characters. It was her first try at a game like this, so I tried to make it as fast and easy as possible. I again was the overlord.

The game went well, but a little slow, as 10:30 rolled around soon turned into 11pm, I didn't want her to have a bad experience, so at the end of a room I suggested we stop, much to my surprise she asked to keep going, she was having fun!

We played another 40 minutes or so before getting to a good stopping point, about half way through the scenario. She said she'd like to play it again because it was a lot more fun than she though but as with our assessments of the game, she thought it was a little on the slow side. She also suggested the next time to do it when we have more time.

Visual Eyes

Brandon and Krissy pulled this game out today to play, I wasn't really into it because it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be when I played it the last time. They had a decent time playing, but I get the feeling that this is going to be the last time they play it as well.

Phase 10 Dice

We played this game because my oldest son said he played it before and liked it. The game was ok, not as good as the card game version, but much faster. I would play this game again, but I don't know if it is something I would look forward to or get excited over.

Players: Daddy, Mommy and Brandon.

The Kids of Catan

In an effort to locate some games that Parker could play (almost 5 years old), I orderd a copy of Kids of Catan. I am a big fan of the Catan series of games and hoped this would prove to be a good one for the little ones.

The game was great for someone his age, but I think he will quickly outgrow it as he gets to be 5 and 6 years old. Over the last couple of weeks we have played this game quite a bit. There is no strategy, it is all random chance with rolling a die and moving around the board.

It really gives Parker a feeling that he is taking part in the family gaming and he also doesn't seem as upset when my older gaming buddies come over for a game and he can't join in, because he knows he now has his own games that we can play on our own.

In the game we played today Parker won with me close behind followed by Brandon and in last place Mommy. 

Go Fish!

We decided to give a more traditioal game with easier rules a shot so Parker (my 4 year old) could join in. We went with Go Fish, and the players were me, Brandon (age 13) and Parker (age 4).

It was Parker's first time playing a card game like this, and he actually picked up the rules quite quickly and won. Brandon came in second place and Daddy (me) lost!

Conquest of the Empire

This is a great game and we always have fun when we get it out on the table. We usually end up with 4 players, but I think the real sweet spot of this game is when you have five players, something we seem to have a problem doing whenever we want to play.

We played with Wil, my son Brandon and Wil's friend John from DeLand. Brandon did pretty well, and was able to survive until the end. The game lasted from 9pm until 2am, it was one of the longer games we have ever had. John was killed off right near the end and Wil ended up winning but the game could have gone on for another hour or two had Brandon decided to not throw in the towel (Brandon had a much larger land army and had captured my Ceasar and John's Ceasar as well, however, Wil had a navy unlike any other seen before, and Brandon would have had no chance trying to get his troops across the sea to launch an attack on Wil.

This game was a lot of fun but it seems to take us too long to get into battles, the first half of game was mostly getting territory and building forces, I look forward to a game with more people because I know it would be more fun and get us into combat quicker.

Mah-Jongg - I want in...

When I was a little kid my Grandfather had a really nice set of Mah-Jongg, it was bone or ivory and really old in a wooden box with nice material inside, I remember looking at the tiles and really wishing I could play the game... When I got to be a teenager I found it on the computer and that is when I first started to play.

Now I am an adult with a bunch of kids of my own, and we were playing checkers and candyland and whatnot the other day and it got me thinking about Mah-Jongg...

Does anyone know where I could purchase a nice set, with really nice tiles and high craftsmanship? I don't want some cheap game that you would find at a discount store or anything, I want something nice. I think it would make a nice addition to my game collection and bring back some nice memories.

Answer from reader - I had a very good experience with Yellow Mountain Imports.

Castle Keep

My wife had been having issues with wanting to buy me a game of some sort for Christmas, but having no clue what games I needed/wanted/etc., so one day in Wal-Mart I made a comment as I looked at this game, something like "Hmm, this sounds neat, I don't have it yet". So she purchased it for me and gave it to me on Christmas.

Ok, I know what you are thinking... real gamers wouldn't play this thing, right? Well wrong... it was actually quite fun and would make an excellent 'filler' game for anyone who is waiting on other people to show up to a gaming session, etc., and there is a bit of strategy involved.

I played against my wife Kris, and she was completely pissed that I kept destroying her castles, but she kept building with all the same colors and the win came pretty easily for me. (haha), I think if we play again, she'll have a better understanding of the game and be able to do better in the future.

Special Note: This was the game we played during the horrible rainstorm when Copper (or dog) ran outside and got lost. I was outside in the dark, in a massive thunderstorm in my underwear and socks trying to get him back before he went into traffic (he was very sick and not himself, we had him put to sleep shortly after that), Copper, you will be remembered as a member of our family forever.

Oceania

We tried this game out today in an effort to explore some new games we have had and not had a chance to play. My wife and I played a game and she won by a landslide (18 points to 2 points). The game was a lot of fun and pretty fast, she seemed to enjoy it which was good (probably because she won), so hopefully we can play it again in the future.

Note to Cardboard Carnage: Let your wife win from now on when trying out new games and maybe she'll want to play more.

Silent Death

I have had my eye on this game for years... never a top priority, but always on my list... years ago a guy I knew had it and it looked fun, but I never did actually play it.

Anyhow, it looks like I'll be getting this game here in the near future in a trade deal and wanted to know if anyone here had any ships to unload for a fair price.

Answer from reader - Iron Crown still sells the ships.

AT-43

We have been having a blast with this game and just finished up one for the record books. It was one of the most thrilling and exciting games I have played with my son Brandon since we started playing a couple of weeks ago.

The entire game was touch and go and anybodies game right down to the last few seconds of the last round (round 5). Brandon was playing the Therians (as he always does), and I was the UNA. His goal was to kill five of my troops before the end of turn 5.

He actually won and managed to kill my five guys, but the last guy was killed in the last shot of the game, so he literally won on the last die roll. :)

AT-43 - Couple more questions.

My son Brandon and I played through some more of the scenarios this afternoon/evening, we have already done all of the ones in the Starter Set, and I had downloaded the ones from the website and printed them out and we have worked our way through those as well.

Again, we had a great time, it is so much of a relif to play this game for some reason, it is fast, fun and for the most part easy to understand (again, I have a long time history of playing 40k and finding people stuck reading the rules and trying to figure things out for half the game).

Anyhow, two questions came up tonight, and since I do not yet have the big rule book (only the mini one from the starter set), I can't find the answers.

1) A situation came up where my son had engaged me with a unit and we were in hand to hand, and his second unit came up behind the close combat (behind my guys), is he allowed to open fire on my unit even though it is engaged in hand to hand? We decided that he could, and also decided if any of his guys were in the zone of fire they would take the first shots... none of his guys were in the zone though, and he shot me from behind and had his second unit also engage in hand to hand (it was a brutal day for the White Stars), anyhow, is there an official rule on this? (Can you shoot into hand to hand with another unit)?

Answer from reader - The answer to question #1 is on p. 61 of the deluxe rulebook: "If the targeted unit is engaged, the whole melee is targeted: for matters of simplicity, consider all the units engaged as the same unit." This does not appear in the starter rulebook you are using.

2) The second question is probably something that I am just missing... to determine what we need 'to hit' when shooting, we have just been using the chart on the back of the main book, but it is a pain always going back to that chart, especially if playing a scenario in the book or if one of us wants to look something up in the book... So my question is this: how do you determine what you need to roll to hit based on the target number and how many bands away from the enemy unit you are. For instance, if you have a 5 for your target number, and are 4 bands away, what do you need?

Answer from reader - You need to use the universal table of resolution which is on one of the included cards.

As for the first question with the combat, let me ask you this... If he has 4 guys and I have 4 guys, and we are engaged in hand to hand combat... and he fires into the engaged group with another unit (not in the hand to hand)... do the wounds done get split evenly between the two units... OR, if my units were all standing in such a way that my units blocked his, would I take wounds first, and then the excess goes to him.

Example: X = My guys 0 = His guys

00.......XX00

00.......X0

0........XX0

In the above example, his guys (the O's on the left) are shooting at the hand to hand combat on the right (X's and O's all engaged)... Since he doesnt have a clear line of site to his guys (O's), would my guys take all of the hits first? If he did 5 wounds, would my guys all be killed off, or would I lose 3 guys and him 2?

Answer from reader - Shooting into melee is one of the most complex things to do in the game.

You need to break things down into their smaller steps.

1) Determine field of fire and range.

2) Roll and determine impacts.

3) Distribute impacts from closest to farthest with left over impacts hitting the targetted unit.

4) Roll cover saves, if any, for each group.

5) Roll damage for each group and remove figures starting with the closest to the shooting unit.

Thanks, My son and I have had a blast with this game!

Descent: Journeys in the Dark

I played this with Brandon. It had been probably a good year and a half or more since we had last played it with Wil from my gaming group, and we did enjoy it, but the time it took to setup and play was a big downer.

I was overlord and Brandon assembled a team of two players to brave my dungeon with. The game was a lot of fun and in the end the Overlord won, but only because Brandon was doing the divine retribution power to kill a bad guy and didn't keep track of the conquest tokens, loosing the game for himself because of an error.

This is one of my top 10 favorite games, I love this game and look forword to playing again, but as I said before... the setup time is a game killer and the time to play is also a negative mark against it, so this game doesn't get nearly enough table time as it should (twice in 18 months).

AT-43 Army Builder?

I use "Army Builder" from Lone Wolf Development for all of my Warhammer, BFG, Necromunda, 40k, etc., army lists, and recently downloaded the AT-43 file for it... 

My question... is anyone here using it, and if so, do you have a version that is in English? The one I downloaded is not in English, and I can't seem to find one that is. I still can read it and tell what things are, but I'd rather have the English version if it is available, especially since my 13 year old son is going to be using it as well.

FOLLOWUP: I was emailed an 'unofficial' version in English, it installed and is working fine. Thanks!

In A Pickle

After the bad luck with Ivanhoe, we decided not to play it right away, but to give it a couple days, read the rules again, etc., and we pulled out one of my son's favorite 'family games', In A Pickle. He loves putting together the different cards and the funnier the better.

Players: Myself, My Wife and My Son

Games Played: 1

Winner: My Son

Hilight: My Son put and egg in a skeleton and my Wife and him argued about it. In the end I made the ruling that it would be allowed because my son justified it by saying "I could bring an egg to school and put it in the mouth of the Skeleton in Biology class!"

My Rating: 7/10

A solid game, but not a game I like to play too much, it is fun for certain times.

My Wife's Rating: 7/10

As with my opinion, she likes the game but it is something we don't want to play all of the time.

My Son's Rating: 8/10

He really can get into this game, espeically with some of the funny combinations of cards you can play.

Double or Nothing

Ok, this is the absolute worst game every made. It sucks. Don't even try this game. We played it twice, thinking we were messing somethin up, but once we determined we were doing it correction and after exploring the internet to discover pretty much everyone else who played this game also thinks it sucks, we know it isn't just us.

I think this is the only game I have ever owned, that I actually threw in the garbage. I wouldn't want to sell it on ebay and curse someone else into owning it.

Players: Me and my wife.

Session Report: Snakes and Ladders

The version shown in this photo is not the version we played. This is basically the original version of chutes and ladders (from what I understand) and the game is basically the same.

Players: Parker, Daddy & Mommy.

Warhammer 40k books for sale.

I normally don't use this blog to promote any of my ebay or sale items, but I know there are some 40k gamers that read my blogs and I have some 40k books that I was going to list on ebay, but I thought I'd list there here for sale/ trade first. If you are interested in any of these books, just let me know and I'll look at your trade list and see what is of interest or sell them to you at a fair price!

Just to clarify, I am not getting out of 40k, but since it has been over a year since I have played, and none of my local gaming group shows any interest at this point, I decided to list books I knew I would not longer be using. My armies are going to be put in storage for the time being, they are NOT up for sale (so don't ask!).

- 40k Hardcover, leatherbound, foil pressed cover, limited edition, rule book (newest version) - this is that expensive book from the 4th edition rules launch

-Codex Deamonhunters (current one as seen on GW website)

-Codex Space Marines (version just previous to current one)

-Codes City Fight (not the Citydeath one)

I will make excellent trades for these, so if you don't have much to offer don't be afraid to ask, I haven't played much 40k in the last year or so, and I'd rather the nice leatherbound limited edition rule book goes to someone that could really use it. I'll be happy to take a game(s) in trade and give YOU the better deal, otherwise I have to go through the hassle of listing on ebay, etc.

Note: The book still has the certificate of authenticity thing (or whatever it was that came with it) in there, just like brand new.

Dungeons and Dragons

I have a bunch of D&D stuff that I am going to put on ebay for trade, mostly 3rd edition (3.5) hardcover books, some softcover, misc. things like a ton of Forgotten Realms maps (all of the old and new FR full color hex maps sets, etc.) all the Monster Manuals, things like that.

I am going to sell because it has been over a year since we have played D&D and there are some rumors in the air of a new 4e coming out soon and one of my New Years resolutions was to get rid of the extra stuff or things I no longer have use for... these books take up almost a full shelf on my bookshelf, and I can use the space for something else and the money these generate on some new games that I can play with my sons.

It won't be easy getting rid of these books though, I have a lot of good memories associated with them and a lot of good campaigns played, but the time has come. In anycase, before going to ebay, I thought I'd ask if anyone here had any interest, I'll make an excellent trade here, rather than selling. I'll trade in favor of YOU to save me the hassle of ebay and hopefully provide some other D&D players with some nice books.

If interested, please let me know, I'll email you a list of what I have and go from there. Don't be afraid to let me know if you are interested, I'll do my best to work something good out and someone who can use these books can get a good shot at them.

Session Report: Phase 10

For what it is, this is a really fun game... Mostly luck, a little tiny bit of strategy and a little bit too long, that is the one downfall, slightly too long... If it was a faster game (I know, there are some variants, but my family likes to do the full game), it would be a solid 8 or maybe even a 9 in my book, but as it stands, I can't rate it that high.

Now my son won this game, but it was close... Another card or two and I would have also 'gone out' on the same turn... I was winning by points, nearly 200 points less than him, and about 300 less than my wife. DOH! It was a great time for this one.

Players: Myself, My Wife and My Son

Games Played: 1

Winner: My Son

My Rating: 7/10

A Little too long to play too often.

My Wife's Rating: 8/10

She has fun making all of the matches, matching colors, etc.

My Son's Rating: 8/10

He likes the matching as well, and has fun with the skip cards, he gets a little too serious and competative in this game.

Session Report: Candy Land

I can't claim credit for playing this one... it has been a good 30+ years since I have set foot in "Candy Land"... but one of my other younger sons (age 4-1/2) loves this game, so for Christmas Santa brought him the Toys R Us exclusive with the little miniatures, nicer board, nicer graphics, etc., it even had little plastic bridges with stickers to apply. 

My son loved it, and had a blast, playing (and winning) two games against my wife. They had a blast.

Players: My Wife and My Younger Son

Games Played: 2

Winner: My Son (both times)

My Wife's Rating: 7/10

Brought back some nice memories of her youth, and it was fun to share these experiences with a new player who loves the game.

My Son's Rating: 9/10

This is one of my son's 'most bestest games', but if you ask him to pick a favorite he will pick "Kids of Catan" still I think.

Session Report: Ivanhoe

We tried this game after Battle Line turned out to be a huge success, we didn't have as much fun, but I think it was because it was the first go at this game for all of us, and we had to stop a few times to check up on some rules, and also half way through we realized we were all doing something wrong. In addition to that, it was late at night and having just had the New Years celebrations the night before, we were all tired.

In anycase, it was not a bad game, and we all agreed that the next time around we will have more fun because it will go quicker and we won't make stupid mistakes.

Players: Myself, My Wife and My Son

Games Played: 1

Winner: Myself, but only because of a critial error my son made by playing the Maiden when he shoudn't have and in turn he lost a token that cost him the game.

My Rating: 6/10

I see some great potential and think we need to play it again now that we all have gotten our feet wet.

My Wife's Rating: 5/10

Same thoughts as myself, we need to give it another try now that we know the correct rules and it will play faster.

My Son's Rating: 7/10

Despite playing it wrong, he still liked the feel of combat in this game more than Battle Line, it might turn out that he likes this more than Battle Line once we play it again.

Session Report: Battle Line

Again with the Battle Line! This time it was against my Wife, she saw me and Brandon playing the day before and thought it looked interesting.

Players with: Myself and My Wife

Games Played: 1

Winner: Myself

My Rating: 9/10

Still a winner!

My Wife's Rating: 8/10

Her rating dropped from a 9/10 to an 8/10, but I think it was because she lost this time, and also lost the games we played a few nights earlier, although like Phase 10 she really likes this game and is the one who keeps asking to play. Mental Note: Let her win the next game!

AT-43 - Starter Questions (continued)

I only have the basic rulebook, and to me it sounds like you move and measure each character his maximum movement, not based on just the leader, but my thoughts on that might change (like yours did?) after reading the advanced rules.

However, please clarify if I am understanding you correctly...

You have 3 minis, represented below as (A) (B) and (C), with (A) being designated the leader.

(C) (B) (A)

They are all within the minimum distnace of eachother (what is it? 2.5cm? I am not looking at the rules now). 

If I move the leader forward 15cm (or whatever his movemnt is), here is what it would look like:

(C) (B) (A) -----> moving this way 15 cm

to this final positon:

(A) moves 15cm

--------------------(C) (B) (A) 

With the leading having moved exactly 15 cm and his men 'falling in' behind him (also each having moved 15 cm).

Is what you are saying is that you ONLY measure the leader, and once he moves the 15cm you can move the other guys WHEREVER you want, so long as they are all within 2.5cm of eachother... like this:

(A moves 15cm, but other move further)

-----------------------------(A) (B) (C)

The leader would have moved 15, but the other ones would now have moved futher... in this example troop (C) actually would have moved 25 cm (if they maxed out at 2.5 cm from eachother.

Is that what you are saying? It seems to me like this gives larger units an unfair advantage and also some fighter minis could almost get DOUBLE their normal movement???

Please confirm if I am understanding you correctly. I think my years of Warhammer 40k has drilled it in my head that you have to measure each models movement... 

I am looking at the AT-43 summary sheet right now, and for movement it clearly says 

"Fighers may make a rush move, combat move or engaged unit move (half combat move)." (then it lists the distances for each).

They made "fighters" plural, which leads me to assume that each fighter may move the distances listed... not just the leader.

Now for shooting, we measure from the LEADER's base, and then the rest of the unit is in the same 'zone' or 'band' or whatever it was called... this just makes it much faster and I think it is how they want you to do it anyways, right?

I did get on Rackham's website in the Rules Clarification area of the forum, and found the info on that specific movement question. It is clarified that you DO measure movement based on the leader, and only the leader, and you move the leader up to the maximum distance allowed by his movement type. You do NOT have to measure the other fighters, so long as they stay in unit cohesion and maintain the minimum needed cm's...

BUT, it does also say that no model may move MORE than the maximum movement on their card and they use the specific term "leapfrogging" to describe that you can NOT move one guy out in advance of the leader essentially doubling his movement. The way it is worded is you move the leader UP TO HIS maximum distance, and the rest of the unit will "Fall In" BEHIND him.

So that is the info I read from the rules forum on Rackham.

I should be getting my advanced rules in the next week or two, I promised my son we could get some more unit sets and I need to know what the best things to purchase are to move forward from the point we are at now! 

Goodbye 40k, hello AT-43 (so far is seems to be much faster and more fun, with no assembly or painting required - haha!)

AT-43 - Starter Questions.

My son and I are long time 40k players, and he had wanted this game for some time, so I finally got the initial boxed set for him for Christmas and we had a blast! We played through all of the scenarios that come in the started rules. It is a really nice change from 40k, the rules seem to be a bit more streamlined and basic, and the quality of the minis I think is well worth the price. 

(I have heard a lot of people who have complained about the price being too high for pre-painted, but from my experience in Warhammer and Warhammer 40k, if you buy minis and try to build/paint them to this same level of detail you will be waaayyy more into them with the time it will take, these minis had above average table top quality in my opinion!)

Two questions come to mind, and at the time we played, I wasn't able to find an answer in that mini rulebook, so either I overlooked it, or read something incorrectly. Since we plan on continuing this game, and purchasing more units, the full rules, etc., I wanted to make sure we were playing this correctly in the mean time.

My son played the Therians and I played the U.N.A. 

Question #1 - His Storm Golems do a 'combat move' for their turn. Am I understanding it correctly that they can first shoot with their Nano Blasters, THEN make the move OR they can move first and THEN shoot?

Answer from reader - Correct.

Question #2 - Using the same combat move as above, can they shoot, then move, then engage in hand to hand and also attack with their Reaper Blades all in one move?

Answer from reader - Correct.

Question #3 - (Ok, I lied, three questions came to mind!) In the same combat move as above, can my UNA troops attack back with their combat knives immediately after the Therians hit me with their blades, or do I need to wait until I have activated that unit for my attack back?

Answer from reader - You have to wait until the unit is activated.

Question #4 - We were moving each mini and measuring each mini, not just the leader (meaning we did NOT just move the leader, then move all of the other guys around the leader), it seemed like it would be unfair because some guys would get extra movement if we just measured the leader?

Answer from reader - You are correct, it would lead to very strange situation. Movement is measured per mini.

Question #5 - Also, when shooting, we ONLY measured the leader to see what 'zone' (I can't remember if that is what those 10cm bands were called?), and we based the shooting measurement off of the leader figure ONLY, so some of the other guys in the unit might have been a little futher back and in a different 'zone', but we would just consider where the leader was and what 'zone' he was in, is that correct?

Answer from reader -Correct, you measure off the leader to see which range band the target is located in.

Sorry if these are pretty basic questions, but I was not sure of how to correctly do the combat move action, and wanted to make sure we were doing it right.