Between today’s SDJ and KSDJ announcements and some convo’s I had today about them (Congrats to Code Names and Isle of Skye), I keep thinking where will some games be in our minds in 1-2 years. On those 2 in particular I think Code Names will still be one of the best party/casual/family games there is, I am not so sure about Isle of Skye. I think it’s a good game, and one which I enjoyed. However, it’s not one which I will seek out. So since this is the time of year where we start to foam at the mouth for the new hotness of Gen Con (and be sure to check out our 2016 Gen Con preview on the Geek Allstars in 2 weeks), I thought I would do my semi-annual look back at the try and buy from this past year’s Gen Con and my thoughts on each of them.

So here is my list and my thoughts on each one of the listings.

I hope you enjoy!!

Try

1. Cryptozoic– DC DBG Legion of Super Heroes.

So I got to play this at Gen Con and I enjoyed it, and later picked up. However, for some reason DC DBG has been one I haven’t been able to get to the table as much over the past year, in the original base or 1st expansion. I did however play/bought the Teen Titans version and I really enjoyed it as well. The problem with these smaller 20-30 card mini cross over expansions, is that you have to grab them then shuffle them into the base game. And then possibly take them out of it when you play again. If you don’t you run into some possible weighting issues b/c cards you need to make others work just won’t be seen too much if the main deck is too thick. Anyway, long story short, I have not played it again since buying it.

2. AEG Dice City

I did not play this at Gen Con but I did pick it up when Wolfe was selling his copy. I enjoy this game and it’s not been too long since I have played it for the first time, but I am really looking forward to more plays. It’s not a great game but it’s got some constructing of your tableau fun to it that I dig.

3. Game Salute– Poseidens kingdom

I never did see this one at Gen Con, but later last year Game Salute sent me one to review. I really like this one and if you can pick it up at a good price I recommend doing so (I think Cape Fear Games has it for 62$? which to me is a steal considering the pieces are hella-amazing.

4 Passport– Mistfall co-op card based fantasy questing (2hours)

This is Pathfinder ACG on steroids. A fun little game which is real deep and has some good meat to it. I didn’t get to play it last year but they sent me a review copy and I got to play it solo. I hope to review it on an upcoming show, I just have to get a couple more plays in of it. But if you want some meat to your adventure Card games this is a good solid choice.

5 Arcane Wonders– Mage Wars Academy 20-30 mins (Might be there )

Never got to play it, and really have not seen it in the wild at all. I would still love to play it.
6 Eagle Griffin– Fleeples Warfside

I love this little card game. It’s light with some strategic depth and easy to get to the table. The Fleeples do us proud yet again.

7 Crypto– Ghostbusters the board game

This has been an interesting title. I don’t remember being able to get to a table at their booth to play it last year and have yet to see anyone I know play it. Crypto gets (IMHO) a bad rap in almost all the podcaster/BG community that I run in. I seem to be one of the only Crypto -appologists. Maybe it’s b/c I don’t take my game playing too seriously and love the fact they made a DC DBG and it’s AWESOME. And I love everything they have done with that Cerebus engine. I also don’t care if the Ghostbusters game seems to be a cut out of many more of the scenerio genre before it (MAnsions of Madness, Betreyal at house on the hill, Zombicide), but hell let’s get one thing straight, they almost ALL steal from each other so why pick on Crypto? If the game is legit fun to play and you like it while playing it then just flat admit it. But I want to be the judge of that myself. I keep bugging them to send me one but nothing yet.

8 Cephalofair games– Gloomhaven– Co-op Dungeon crawl. Card based action/talent system (kinda like descent) made by isaac Childress (Forge War)

This one I never saw and haven’t heard much about. I can only hope they will send me one when it comes out b.c I think we would legitimately enjoy playing it for the show.

9 DHMG/GTG— New Bedford or Spirit Island, Bott of 9th, Deck building the DBG

These I think it’s obvious that I love them all. I am real excited to see the new art in the wild for New Bedford this year at Gen Con. I am still in love with Spirit Island, and hope I can get a demo with whatever they have available again this year with Christopher Badell at Gen Con, and the other two I own and love. Nuff said…

10 Wizards– MTG: Arena of the Planeswalker

Never got to play, I see it’s at a pretty good price at Target but really I have heard next to nothing how people like this one or not.

11 Artana- Corrupted Kingdoms — Dirk Knemaier (Tesla Vs Edison)– Euro-ameri-trash?
Corrupted Kingdoms is a fun strategy and negotiation game set in a fantasy world, where you take on the role of an evil corporate monster, fighting for power over the pathetic united kingdoms and its political elite. To advance your hidden agenda, and enrich the lives of your friends and associates, you will use your minions and wealth to corrupt and subvert the assembly of the realm. Use the right kinds of “persuasion”, increase your own power, and push backroom deals through the assembly, all while looting the kingdom and its people of all its worth.

Again I haven’t heard much at all about this one since Gen Con, and I didn’t get to play it at all either. I would love to hear an update about it.

So my To Buy was supposed to be 11 but as you will see I cheated a little bit. And well, because of that my wife wasn’t happy with what I spent last year (opps!!)

To Buy Gen Con 2015

1 Blue Orange– NY 1901 $50

I picked this up on day one and it’s been one of my favorite games in the last year. If you don’t own it yet shame on you! A perfect combo of strategy/Chill/Gateway game feel. Bravo Blue Orange

2 Stonghold– La Granja, Survive Space Attack!
Among the stars revival (expansion focusing on 2p)
Space Cadets Away Missions

La Granja was another one of my favorite games of last year’s Gen Con. I picked it up and I am REAL glad I did so. I have played it a bunch and it’s easily still in my top 5 of last year. If you like meaty euro’s you will like this. IIRC it’s on the KSDJ recco list.
BUT…. I bought Survive Space Attack and still have not gotten it played.
Among the Stars Revival I picked up as well and really enjoyed it two players. 2 player drafting is real hard to pull off but they did it pretty well in this one. And it’s a good addition to the AtS line.
And finally in the SHG line Away Missions. I am still needing to play this one. Stephen donated one to the charity which I tried to win but I did not. It’s a good looking game and the reports have been good for it, but no one in my immediate circles have reported playing it, so I will have to see when I can give it a try.

3 Cryptozoic — DC DBG Teen Titans $40 (ongoing cards!), Spyfall (25$)

Well, yeah!! Of course I bought Teen Titans and I loved it, and yes still like it.
Spyfall however, is a weird story. It was fun and we had a real fun time playing it a few times last year, but it’s been completely replaced by a few games in the collection and never seems to hit the table. It could possibly be fixed if there were cards they put out with the locations for all players in the box, instead of having to try and remember them or printing something out. So unfortunately Spyfall is one I kinda regret buying now.

4 Ludonaute/asmodee Discoveries (AKA Lewis and Clark Dice),mysterium

I picked up Discoveries on the 1st day like many others, and I still really like it. It’s a bit confusing to teach so I haven’t gotten it out with some medium weight gamers or with my wife but I still enjoy it myself.

Mysterium is one that I haven’t bought as of yet. It gets into that category of, “Chris has it so why should I buy it” games. And generally I will likely only play it when he is around so I still haven’t picked it up yet. If I can land a cheap copy or trade for one I might, b/c I think I have some casual friends who might enjoy it, and I would love to introduce it to them.

5 Plaid hat– Ashes

So this is yet another one of those games which I enjoyed but never get to play. I played with Isaac at last year’s Origins and immediately pre-ordered it. BUT it’s still, to this day in shrink on my shelves. Like many other deep 2p games, Chris K (or Mosley I guess too) is the only one I would play with but we never have time to play it when we are gaming (b/c we have so many new things to play for the show or a KS proto to play) or there are more then just the 2 of us so it gets pushed aside as well. So the verdict is still out. I kinda regret getting it now. Hell, I am sure I got something for pre-order but I have no idea where it might be b/c since the game is still in shrink I know it’s not in that box at all.

6 Portal– Rattle Battle Grab the Loot (60$),Tides of time ($12)

I played Rattle Battle at Origins with Chevee, TC Petty and Tim Norris. I enjoyed the hell out of my play (likely mostly b/c of who we played with), but I didn’t enjoy it 60$ worth. IF I could grab this one for 25 or maybe even 30 I would love to have it for my family. But 60$ is just a no go for me.

Tides of Time I grabbed and am still glad I did! I love the game and so does my wife so it’s a great addition. I am not so sure about this new version with the corruption but I will give it a shot this year before I pass judgement on it.

7 UDE– Firefly Shiny Dice Scott Morris , Predator DBG

So interesting story—> I picked up Firefly dice last year, every single one of my friends bashed the hell out of it, I still have yet to get it played. BUT I have not sold or traded it. I still want to play it and still hope I might like it.
Predator was just too expensive for yet another Legendary game I would want to play but would sort out the cards and hope eventually I would convince someone to play and never do so (I am looking at you Legendary Aliens!

BUT— I am sure as hell going to buy Legendary FireFly the second I see it this year.

8 Brotherwise games– Boss Monster 2 Limited edition

I don’t know if I never saw their booth or it was sold out but I didn’t get this one. However, I am really looking forward to trying out boss monster in VR at their booth this year.

9 Passport GS– Grog Island (40?) what pirates do when they retire

So here is a game I wanted to try, I heard some people say they have, but it’s dropped off the face of the earth in the last year. I hope eventually someone I know will have it so I can give it a shot.

10 Privateer Press– The Undercity Iron Kingdom Adventure Board game

This one is great. We even did a First Play Second Play video on it with Matt Wolfe and Jessica. I am not sure if Kirkman ever got it edited. If not I am needing to get our new video editor pro (Booth) to take the reigns b/c it’s a good video and really gives some good info on the game.
If you have not gotten this one yet and you have the cash and love evolving deep scenario games with AMAZING gameplay and even better mini’s you NEED this game. It’s awesome. Just until Legend of Sleep Hollow comes out by the Fleeples and Kirkman, then just buy that b/c it’s going to be epic.

11 Red Raven– Artifacts inc 25$

Ryan L or Red Raven games puts out yet another light fun game. This one has an advantage b/c it’s small and cheap too. I played it couple times at Gen Con and after but not since. Just one of those games you want to get to the table again but never can unfortunately.

So There you have it. A retrospect look at what we thought of some hype from last year’s Gen Con. I think the majority of the games I was looking forward to I was glad I played but I think maybe little less then half I either have played again or am glad I bought. It’s a crazy industry right now. There are good games but too many of them it seems sometimes. B/c no matter what we think of a game (And I loved playing Ashes when I did) sometimes you just never get to play it again.

The Question now is, will this temper my thoughts for this year’s crop of Gen Con games? Will I want to, and buy as many as I did last year? Who knows. I bet I still to anyway.

What are your thoughts about your purchases last year?

–GeekJock

Back in August we did our yearly show on top 11 to try and top 11 to buy of Gen Con. I also covered my list on the final score show.
I thought it would be fun to quickly go back over my lists and see how I thought of the games I had on these lists, and see what might have faded out of the hotness.

Top 11 to try.

Holy crap GeekJock is back!

Yep and I hope to be back more if I ever get time. Well that, or if I ever figure out how to install the program to be able to voice to write. I am much better at talking and doing posts then actually typing (that’s why I have been podcasting SOOO much more then actually blogging lately due to time).

Today I want to touch a little on the Jock side of things. I want to get all us adults who spend way too much time saying “I don’t have time for that” — and I am guilty of it as well–, to take a moment to remember one of the greatest feelings we can ever experience in life and try to look for that feeling again. Try and find it and embrace it b/c things like this will bring us enormous happiness in a time where we don’t always get that feeling and often take it for granted.

That feeling is what I like to call the spine-tingling awe of the professional sports field.

I want you to close your eyes for a min (well metaphorically of course) and take yourself back to when you were a child. Unless you grew up real rich or happened to have season tickets to every sport there is you prob didn’t get to go to major sporting events a whole lot. Remember how rare it was that we were able to see the field or ice or court. Now bring yourself to that EXACT moment that you rounded the corner and got to the beginning side of the tunnel to get onto the concourse where your seats would be. That expectation of seeing what would be one of the best scenes you could imagine as a kid.  And imagine your feeling as you get to the END of that tunnel and there it was in all its gigantic and wonderful splendor. THE FIELD! I would always just stop and marvel at how large it was. How green it was and how bright and beautiful it was. Tingles would go up my spine as I just thought to myself “one day I will be out there”.

The same is true as I would go to NY Islander games with my dad as a kid. I would rush to the door, open it up to the inside of the Nassau Coliseum where the seats where and run up the tunnel! There it was. THE ICE! Where my favorite team the Islanders played. It instantly brought a smile to my face and made me jump for joy.

Why? Well b/c to us as kids, it was where the immortals got to play. Where the heroes of our world were in their greater then life size glory. There was just something special about that EXACT moment, that EXACT sight that released every ounce of endorphins I had as a kid.

30 years later…. I now have season tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes and I get to roughly 30-32 games each year. Do I get that rush when I come up the tunnel? Not as often as I like. It’s not that I don’t love that sight, b/c I do. It’s that in all the hub-bub of the world and rushing and no time for this or that, that I often forget to take a step back and HAVE that moment with the arena.

I say to you now. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the AWE. Take the time before any sporting event you go to, to remind yourself to HAVE that experience. To have that spine tingling moment. It’s in that moment that nothing else matters. Work doesn’t suck, life doesn’t suck and there are no bills to pay. There is just YOU and your 8 year old self, enjoying the AWE of the field. I promise you, that if you remember to do this, you will be much happier for it.

The Ultimate AWE moment when I was announced and skated onto the ice at the 1st annual Canes Alumni Fantasy Game

The 3^rd Annual Gamers for Cures 24 hour board game marathon to benefit Turner Syndrome Society of the US came and went in a flash! What was 6 months of planning, begging, advertising, volunteering, networking, and organizing all culminated to an absolutely amazing event on Nov 9^th 2013. I absolutely couldn’t have been happier with both the resuts and the turnout as we had right around 40 marathon players and around 10 more who were overnight players. The foot traffic for the day was in the multiple hundreds easily, as no table was empty at all during the day. All that culminated in us shattering our fund raising goal. When the games stopped and the meeples were all put away, we tabulated the numbers and we raised $13,500 for TSSUS!  I nearly fainted at that number and I will not lie it did bring a tear to many who were in attendance.

During the day we have a ton of events which go on including demos of games and painting/modeling, but we also had door prize raffles every 3 hours, in which anyone who was in the store had a chance to win one of a bunch of prizes we put out for each one. We of course also had the $1 raffles which could be bought and placed in one of 100 boxes to win the corresponding game/lot of games, and finally we had the big ticket raffles for $5 which we had a bunch of great prizes including an iPad and TV!

Here’s a little re-cap of the day through my eyes.  (And I will do my best not to forget the games I got to play and what Lauren and DJ got to do through the day as well.

The event started as always, bright and early on Sat. , at 8am, with a bunch of great sandwiches donated by Chick Fil-A and some other tasty treats donated by Cinnabon as well. I didn’t get to do a whole lot of gaming in the morning time, between giving out the swag bags, making sure everyone had enough food for breakfast and just generally going over the day’s events and set up one last time with Crystal and Scott (The amazing store owners of The Gamers Armory who help make all of this possible with their amazing hospitality and help. Late in the morning Lauren got to play in a game of Ticket to Ride that I taught to a full group, and as always she had an absolute blast. She’s such an up and coming gamer. The TS often makes it harder for her to grasp some advanced visual and/or spatial concepts but she tries real hard and does an amazing job playing games.

After that game wrapped up Lauren wanted to try her hand at one of the demos going on for the day. We always have a ton of demos each and every event ranging from painting, to mini’s games to euro games to card games. This particular one was Wargames Factory’s Jim Goss leading a co-op zombie mini’s game for up to 8 people. It was a take on their Zombie Vixen’s line, in which up to 8 of us had to get from one side of the board to the other, all the while fighting hungry zombies lead by super model/vixen zombies which drew in hoards of male zombies to their side when they appeared on the map. What started as simply Lauren and myself commanding 8 survivors, quickly became 8-10 of us surrounding the table cheering and laughing at the game. It was an infectious fun that more and more people just wanted to be a part of.  I was real proud of Lauren for trying out new things and getting into some mini’s gaming. Thanks to Jim for the well done demo!

Shortly after the zombie invasion was over Lauren and my son DJ headed over to the painting mini’s demo table. There we had some tanks and space marines, which were donated and Sandy H was helping people get started in learning the fun points of painting. She did an amazing job showing people, especially my kids as I couldn’t believe how good those models turned out!

While they were getting some painting going I got our lunch set up for the marathon players. Once again this year lunch was provided by Jersey Mike’s. They have been with us since the beginning of our events and they have never ceased to provide us with the best quality lunch and plenty of it! Thanks so much to such a great company for their help!

The afternoon was full of more demo goodness for me. I was able to demo one of my favorite games, the DC Comics Deck Building game. It’s a ton of fun for all ages, it’s easy to pick up, it’s quick and of course most importantly it’s got DC characters!!! All the participants loved it, and I of course, can never get enough of this great game. This card game theme continued on as next up was a 5 player game of Northstar Games’ Clubs. This light, family friendly, trick taking game is easily one of my favorites of this year and to no surprise was also a huge hit. While this was going on Lauren was getting into a game of Cinque Terre.

 This is a real fun little Ticket to Ride meets Finca sort of game. She loved it, but she didn’t quite grasp all the deeper strategies of getting the tickets completed and getting the higher points for delivering goods, but none the less she couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had playing it!

Next up was a small demo of the immensely popular Augustus. What has been dubbed “Gamer Bingo” by many, is easily one of my favorite games, both for that gate way game and for filling that small gap of time at the end of a night. My family loves it too, as it’s not too heavy and plays in less than an hour. We had fun playing it of course at the event, and the best thing you can say after doing a demo of a game, is not only that the other players loved it, but they immediately went and picked up a copy the very next day!

Dinner wasn’t far behind all of this demo fun (see how fast the day went? AMAZING!), and the marathon players enjoyed the food donations by Primo Pizza, Craft Public house and some delicious cheeseburgers from McDonalds!

The evening brought in some real fun social gaming. I am not usually one for playing in Werewolf type games but as I always say, those games are better with the right groupings of players so since I knew we had a bunch of great people around the table it was the perfect time for some! First up was BANG! The dice game. This is a quick moving game of (mostly) hidden objectives and (mostly)backstabbing. Each player has a hidden  objective, outside of the sheriff, who just always wants the bad guys eliminated, and they are all trying to get their objective completed, all the while trying to convince the sheriff that they are his deputies. Dice are rolled shots are fired, beer is drunk (to heal health in the game) and Indians attack. It’s a quick pace game with tons of finger pointing and no trust anywhere and most importantly ABSOLUTELY FUN. We played it a few times during the marathon and I had a blast each time. This social game turned right into another social gamer favorite, The Resistance. We ended up picking up a couple of more players so The Resistance was a perfect choice to head into next. Many of us had never played the game before, but we all really got into it and I have to say I really enjoyed playing it. It’s not a game I would like to play with strangers, but one in which I can say would be real fun to play again with a bunch of my friends. Both times we played the Spies won, but hey I was a spy in the 1^st game so it didn’t hurt quite as badly.

After all the social gaming goodness, it was nearly time to  lock the doors and let the marathoners and over-night players get to the 2^nd portion of the day, which is the overnight gaming. It seems like it went so fast but we still have 8 hours more to game!!!

But first, it was time for the raffles to be drawn!! We had the 90 boxes of $1 raffles and the big ticket raffles. I ended up winning Battles of Westeros and my lovely daughter came away with Cheeky Monkey. (A complete list of winners can be found at the bottom of this post). This was also the first year in which we opened up the raffles (both $1 and $5) to online sales through the Gamers Armory web story. It also was a big success. We had a bunch of winners for the box raffles and one of the big ticket winners was also an online sale.

Overnight is generally where I get in the majority of my heavier games. In the past I got to play some gems like Castles of Burgundy and a playtest of The Princes of The Dragon Throne. This year was no different with our test of the prototype of the Dice Hate Me 2014 release Brew Crafters. It’s an amazing game where you run your own brewery! It’s quite akin to Agricola in nature but a little less constricting on your available actions. A REAL good game , that I cannot wait to see next year.

While the Brew Crafters game was going on Adam O headed out to his patented Cook Out runs, that he frequently does during local cons and the like. While he was gone I got to play an old Reiner Knizia card game called Poison. It’s a typical Knizia game with math and funky scoring, but it didn’t overstay it’s welcome and I have to admit I liked it.

Only two more games to talk about so please stay awake with me!!!

Next up was our Wits and Wagers Demo/Game. W&W is quite possibly one of the best party/trivia game out there today. It’s a game in which you don’t actually have to know anything at all in order to win. You put your guesses on a erase board, they get sorted and everyone bets on who the correct one actually is. So in essence you can know nothing, and get none of the Q’s correct ever and STILL win the game. Thanks to Northstar Games for providing us with some copies of the game for prizes.

Last but certainly not least is an overnight staple at events and cons like these, Tier auf Tier (also known as Animal upon Animal, the on the bridge version). There is no replacement for the mindless fun and laughter this game brings. It’s a HABA game and you might have to hit up Amazon for a copy, but it’s one I CANNOT recommend enough. It’s for any age of player and weather you are a hard core gamer or just a new player you will LOVE the laughing and trash talking that erupts from a game of this.

So that about wraps up the 3^rd annual GFC charity event. I really cannot thank all the sponsors, publishers, designers, the community enough(A good list can be found at the Gamers Armory GFC page). And another big thanks to Crystal and Scott from the Gamers Armory and their sons Alexander and Hunter who also did an amazing job helping out. Thanks to Carol, Mike and Robert who worked at the store during the event. A big THANKS to Adam Skelding who handled all of the graphical design of the posters and programs and online pieces. And of course a big thanks to all the volunteers from The Turner Syndrome Society who helped us that day, and for being there talking about TSS and for being great fans of our charity group.

Lauren with 2 TSS members Courtney and Barbara

And naturally none of this could be possible without the best Wife in the world, Janice you are amazing, and two of the greatest kids a guy could ask for, Lauren and DJ.

And of course thanks to all of you out there for supporting us and spreading the word about our event, without you none of these funds could be raised at all.

Remember next time you see me at a con or gaming event, I might just ask you to donate or be a part of the Gamers For Cures family! I know most publishers have seen my smile and begging face, and they will real soon again!!!

–GeekJock/Dan

(For another real good recap please check out Socially Inept Gamer)

Raffle Winners: Congratulations to our winners!!

Raffle Lot #1
Warhammer 40,000 Dark Vengeance
Donated By: Games Workshop
Winner: Adam Skelding

Raffle Lot #2
Venture Forth
Donated By: Minion Games
Winner: Ronald Watkins

Raffle Lot #3
Thunderstone: Thornwood Siege
Donated By: Travis Bryant
Winner: Cassandre Kowal

Raffle Lot #4
Coutier
Donated By: AEG Games
Winner: Casey Silva

Raffle Lot #5
Twilight Struggle Deluxe
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Eric Behymer

Raffle Lot #6
Descent: Journeys in the Dark (+ Token & Minis)
Donated By: Fantasy Flight
Winner: Brin Mackey

Raffle Lot #7
Bundle: Operation Cobra & Beyond the Beachhead 2
Donated By: Bounding Fire Productions
Winner:  John Muje

Raffle Lot #8
Dungeon Roll
Donated By: Tasty Minstrel Games
Winner: Ginger Cherry

Raffle Lot #9
Mr. Jack
Donated By: Asmodee
Winner: Mike Mayer

Raffle Lot #10
Space Cadets Dice Duel (Signed by Designer)
Donated By: Stronghold Games
Winner: Timothy Edwards

Raffle Lot #11
Duel of Ages II
Donated By: Brett Murrell
Winner: Steven Brady

Raffle Lot #12
Panic on Wall Street
Donated By: ACD Distribution
Winner: John Pace

Raffle Lot #13
Legacy Expansion: Forbidden Machines
Donated By: Floodgate Games
Winner: Nicki Courson

Raffle Lot #14
Viva Java – The Coffee Game + Expansion
Donated By: Dice Hate Me
Winner: Burke Drew

Raffle Lot #15
Munchkin Deluxe
Donated By: Steve Jackson Games
Winner: Ronald Watkins

Raffle Lot #16
Dominant Species: The Card Game
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Timothy Edwards

Raffle Lot #18
Apocalypse Survivors “The Men”
Donated By: Wargames Factory
Winner: Butch Arthur

Raffle Lot #19
Tahiti
Donated By: Minion Games
Winner: Casey Silva

Raffle Lot #20
Lost Temple
Donated By: Stronghold Games
Winner: Tom Gurgarus

Raffle Lot #21
Battle of Westeros (with miniatures)
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory
Winner: Dan Patriss

Raffle Lot #22
The Great Heartland Hauling Co. + Expansion
Donated By: Dice Hate Me
Winner: Kerry McManus

Raffle Lot #23
Dreadball Deluxe (figures painted by TGA in Display)
Donated By: Mantic Games
Winner: Matt Parker

Raffle Lot #24
Go Fetch It!
Donated By: ACD Distribution
Winner: Cassandre Kowal

Raffle Lot #25
King Philip’s War
Donated By: Multi Man Publishing
Winner: Allison Mcwaters

Raffle Lot #26
Relic Runners
Donated By: Days of Wonder
Winner: Adam Reeves

Raffle Lot #27
Command & Colors Ancients: Greece vs. Eastern Kingdom
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Ronald Watkins

Raffle Lot #28
Citadel Paint Hobby Starter Set
Donated By: Games Workshop
Winner: Luann Hensel

Raffle Lot #29
Fleet (Kickstarter)
Donated By: Matt Riddle & Ben Pinchback
Winner: James Neely, Jr.

Raffle Lot #30
City of Remnants
Donated By: Plaid Hat Games
Winner: Jeremy Maciejewski

Raffle Lot #31
City of Iron
Donated By: Red Raven
Winner: Ronald Watkins

Raffle Lot #32
The New Science
Donated By: Conquistador Games
Winner: Wray Ferrell

Raffle Lot #33
Space Empires 4X
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory|
Winner: David Wingler

Raffle Lot #34
Dixit
Donated By: ACD Distribution
Winner: Adam Reeves

Raffle Lot #35
Yoda Wooden Wall Art
Donated By: High Tech Treasures
Winner: Kelly Watkins

Raffle Lot #36
Chewbacca Wooden Wall Art
Donated By: High Tech Treasures
Winner: Crystal Blanton

Raffle Lot #37
Command & Colors Ancients
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Tony Chen

Raffle Lot #38
Pathfinder: The Inner Sea World Guide
Donated By: Paizo Publilshing
Winner: Mike Tavares

Raffle Lot #39
Compounded: Better Gaming Through Chemistry
Donated By: Dice Hate Me Games
Winner: Scott Blanton

Raffle Lot #40
Viticulture 2013
Donated By: Stonemaier Games
Winner: Lynn Dubar

Raffle Lot #41
MTG From the Vault: Realms
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory
Winner: Jacquline Coronilla

Raffle Lot #42
Star Wars Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
Donated By: Fantasy Flight
Winner: Robert Barker

Raffle Lot #43
France ‘40
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Mark Palmer

Raffle Lot #44
Ticket To Ride: the Heart of Africa
Donated By: Days of Wonder
Winner: Tracy Lankford

Raffle Lot #45
Time ‘N’ Space
Donated By: Stronghold Games
Winner: Steven Herr

Raffle Lot #46
Canterbury
Donated By: Quixotic Games
Winner: Dan Patriss

Raffle Lot #47
Ticket to Ride
Donated By: Alliance Game Distributors
Winner: Stephen Brady

Raffle Lot #48
Pathfinder Bundle: The Worldwound/Faith & Philosophies
Donated By: Paizo Publishing
Winner: Butch Arthur

Raffle Lot #49
Jungle Speed
Donated By: Asmodee
Winner: Chad Barker

Raffle Lot #50
Pathfinder Core Rulebook
Donated By: Paizo Publishing
Winner: Chris Olsson

Raffle Lot #51
Trains
Donated By: AEG Games
Winner: Tracy Lankford

Raffle Lot #52
Navajo Wars
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Mike Hartshorn

Raffle Lot #53
Milestones
Donated By: Stronghold Games
Winner: John Taylor

Raffle Lot #54
Pandemic
Donated By: Z-Man Games
Winner: Casey Silva

Raffle Lot #55
Pandemic: In the Lab Expansion
Donated By: Z-Man Games
Winner: Peter Soloninka

Raffle Lot #56
Pandemic: On the Brink Expansion
Donated By: Z-Man Games
Winner: Adam Yonce

Raffle Lot #57
D&D Magic Items Compedium
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory
Winner: April Gollar

Raffle Lot #58
Carnival + Expansion
Donated By: Dice Hate Me
Winner: James Neely, Jr.

Raffle Lot #59
Cuba Libre
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Matt Parker

Raffle Lot #60
Grave Business
Donated By: Minion Games
Winner: Wray Ferrell

Raffle Lot #61
The Supreme Commander
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner:  Andrew Henrick

Raffle Lot #62
Dominare
Donated By: AEG Games
Winner: Vincent Reyes

Raffle Lot #63
1989: Dawn of Freedom
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner: Cassandre Kowal

Raffle Lot #64
MTG Return to Ravnica Guild Pack Bundle
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory
Winner: Shawn Purtell

Raffle Lot #65
Steampunk Jewelry (Necklace)
Donated By: Nenne’s Little Treasures
Winner:  Laura Drew

Raffle Lot #66
Steampunk Jewelry Set (Necklace & Bracelet)
Donated By: Nenne’s Little Treasures
Winner: Anna Naples

Raffle Lot #67
Advanced Squad Leader – Starter Kit #1
Donated By: Multi Man Publishing
Winner: Adam Reed

Raffle Lot #68
Advanced Squad Leader – Starter Kit #2
Donated By: Multi Man Publishing
Winner: Voss Graham

Raffle Lot #69
Advanced Squad Leader – Starter Kit #3
Donated By: Multi Man Publishing
Winner: Voss Graham

Raffle Lot #70
Mercante
Donated By: AEG Games
Winner: Breck Roundtree

Raffle Lot #71
Castellan (Yellow & Green International Version)
Donated By: Steve Jackson Games
Winner: Tyler Cooke

Raffle Lot #72
Fallen City of Karez
Donated By: Golden Egg Games
Winner: Chad Ramsey

Raffle Lot #73
Sword of Rome: Conquest of Italy 362-272 BC
Donated By: Wray Ferrell (Designer)
Winner: Tracy Lankford

Raffle Lot #74
Garden Dice
Donated By: Meridae Games
Winner: The Gaddys

Raffle Lot #75
Munchkin Apocalypse
Donated By: Steve Jackson Games
Winner: Ginger Cherry

Raffle Lot #76
Eight-Minute Empire
Donated By: Red Raven
Winner: Brant Guillory

Raffle Lot #77
Pathfinder Bundle: Chronicle o/t Righteous & Demon Hunter’s Handbook)
Donated By: Paizo Publishing
Winner: Swanson

Raffle Lot #78
A Distant Plain
Donated By: GMT Games
Winner:  Ian Harris

Raffle Lot #79
Canadian Crucible
Donated By: Multi Man Publishing
Winner: Vincent Reyes

Raffle Lot #80
Gamer’s Armory – Grey Game Bag w/ Lid
Donated By: The Gamer’s Armory
Winner: James Neely, Jr.

Raffle Lot #81
Hide the Kids!
Donated By: ACD Distribution
Winner: Evan Niconienko

Raffle Lot #82
King of Tokyo
Donated By: Iello
Winner: Elizabeth Calcutt

Raffle Lot #83
Bundle: Munchkin Fu & Munchkin Fu 2 – Monky Business
Donated By: Steve Jackson Games
Winner: Stephen Barrera

Raffle Lot #84
Bundle: Munchkin Bites & Munchkin Bites 2 Pants Macabre
Donated By: Steve Jackson Games
Winner: Stephen Barrera

Raffle Lot #85
Cartoona
Donated By: Game Salute
Winner: Jenny Purcell

Raffle Lot #86
Bundle: The Walking Dead Board Game & Card Game
Donated By: Cryptozoic
Winner: John Koski

Raffle Lot #87
Cheeky Monkey – Stuffed Animal w/ Game inside
Donated By: Eagle/Gryphon Games
Winner: Lauren Patriss

Raffle Lot #88
Bundle: Goblins Drool Fairies Rule Game & Puzzle
Donated By: Game Salute
Winner: Todd Derr

Raffle Lot #89
Bundle: Flames of War Achtung Box Set & 2 Blister Sets
Donated By: Battlefront Miniatures
Winner: Daniel Edwards

Raffle Lot #90
Bundle: DC Deck Building Game + Promos + Playmat
Donated By: Cryptozoic
Winner: Ruth Boyack

So I was going to just talk about how the “What I want to Buy from Gen Con” turned out. BUT since the 3rd Annual Gamers For Cures 24 hour board game marathon to benefit Turner Syndrome Society of the US is 2 weeks away, I figured I would make this a potpourri post of sorts.

So first, how did my top ten to buy at gen con turn out? Well, I did come home with an absolute ton of games and some were actually on my list! So one by one here goes…

Oh well here’s what Dice Hate Me Chris and I did. On our trip to Gen Con we mapped out what our path would be for when we got into the vendor hall Thursday morning. We tend to get  there right at 9 to stand around and get a good spot for the doors to open and get right in and run to where we want to go. I won’t bore you with the details about where and how long it took us to to the lap but I will say we were fairly successful with out map. Adam, however stayed in the room and slept in, knowing he really didn’t need to get anything that early or even at Gen Con at all really. (He’s a hell of a lot smarter then the rest of us really)

10 Trains– Well Turns out there wasn’t really limited copies there. But Chris and I got to AEG real early and real fast to pick this one up. Neither of us had played it but we had heard all the buzz and figured we needed to grab one! I knew I would like it, b/c hell, I am MR DECKBUILDING so I had to add it to the collection. Still love it today and glad I grabbed it. It also helps that I got the limited edition Indiana Gen Con map, and that the wife REALLY likes it as well. GREAT BUY!

9. Spyrium– Here is the first on our list that I ended up not buying. It wasn’t that it was too expensive or that I played it and didn’t like it. It was cheap enough and in good supply. I just never did grab it or play it. And of those I am only regretting that I haven’t played it yet. I am sure it’s decent so hell, if it bowls me over I will grab it eventually.

8. Bioshock Infinate/Krosmaster Arena.– Ok back when I came up with my list I was worried that these might be too overpriced for my taste. Well I didn’t end up grabbing either one of these. First Bioshock is still pricey and I like Paid Hat’s work but it’s turned into one of those try before I buy. It’s just such a ginormous game and so much to it, that I want to see if I will actually play it at all before I invest $70+ into it.  So I do still really want to try it out but haven’t even seen it on any table at all yet to even ask about it. Krosmaster is a different bird entirely. I went over to Japanime games’ boot to check it out. And they were kinda swamped so I just kinda hovered taking it all in. I knew throughout the weekend if I ended up wanting the base game I could grab it. BUT, while I was checking stuff out I was observing the people working the booth. Sometimes these are just volunteers others they are employees. Without naming names I will say the people I saw that day were big wigs in the company that were there helping out. And oh my God where they ALL complete assholes to everyone. They didn’t want to be there and it was showing BADLY. Snippy to the customers and not wanting to answer any questions or talk at all to people. How they were still making money is beyond me. I did get to chit chat with one of the workers at one point and he was actually pretty cool but the rest were schmucks. SO I thought, well everyone has bad days I will come back and talk to them later. So when I went around on Sunday, when I was talking to a TON of publishers about donations for the GFC charity event, I figured I would touch base with them. Who knows maybe they would be nice. Nope, not at all. Again I won’t name names, but the person was not very nice at all. I barely got eye contact, got a complete a-hole attitude and got a card thrown at me. At least I gave them my card but that was it. I also mailed them later about a donation (which they told me to do), and what do you know??? Nope not even a flipping peep back to say no. Thanks Japanime games, you got yourself on my do not buy list!

7. Dead Panic– This was the zombie version of Castle Panic that I was wanting to get for the family co-op zombie romp I wanted to do. Unfortunately it wasn’t on my initial map, and it was Sunday before I even stumbled upon the booth again. This is one of those I regret not getting. It looks good and it was reasonably priced.

6. Dungeon Roll– Well I did grab one of these real cheap at the con. Hell, by Sunday Mindes was practically giving them away at the booth. So I grabbed one at a nice discounted price b/c well I do love dice and do love me some dungeons! I am glad I got it but I am also upset that I haven’t played it yet to this day. Yeah I know I am slack.

5. Rialto and Brugges– Once I got to the con I decided these two were try before I buy. Why? I don’t know, don’t ask me. I love Feld A LOT, and know I will love em but figured it was a way to save my wallet money. Brugges sold out REAL fast so that didn’t upset me at all anyway. Rialto, as far as I know was there but I don’t remember seeing it much anyway. SO, to this day I HAVE played Brugges. And I did like it a lot. There are some crazy combo’s and I am not sure why they didn’t cap some of them when testing, b/c quite frankly some of them are broken as all hell. That doesn’t stop it from being a good game tho. I really want to play this more. Hopefully soon I can get to try it out again b/c there are some more strategies I would like to try out. I went heavy building and reputation and it didn’t work out well. Mostly, b/c I didn’t get many good buildings in my hand so I still would love to try it out again. As for Rialto, it’s still escaping me, and I haven’t played it yet, but still REALLY want to. No regrets about not buying it, but I bet one of these ends up in my hands sometime next year.

4. Maximum Throwdown. This was an auto buy for me. Well, sorta an autobuy. I went to get it and then I heard it was going to be in the AEG night freebie box so I didn’t buy it. BUT I would have. I guess I kinda did since I did drop $40 on AEG night. Anyway, this game kicks ass. I have played it a ton of times and still LOVE it. It is just plain fun to throw cards onto a table. Bravo Tagmire well done on a great game buddy.

3. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game– I am pretty sure this was being sold at either 50 or 60 (I think 50 is accurate) at the con, with there also being the mini expansion pack being available at the con as well. So we kinda bypassed this one on day one with the big pass through mainly b/c the line was CARZY long, so we didn’t want to waste half of our day waiting in the Paizo line. They ended up selling out (IIRC) and I didn’t end up getting one there. I was a little upset about it, BUT once I got home a few weeks later I ended up getting it for something around $40 from a buddy of mine Dave who runs Games Well Played. He had a good price on the base game so I couldn’t pass it up! As with some Dungeon Roll, even thought I own it, to this day I am yet to play it. I am fairly certain that I will be getting a play of this in on the 24 hour Charity event in 2 weeks. I love the looks of this and am REAL glad I own it, and have heard nothing but great things about it. I am still not 100% sure if I can get the better half to play it with me but I am really hoping I can.

2. Space Cadets Dice duel— I made it a point to go say hey to everyone’s favorite game company owner, Steven Buonocore. He’s just the greatest guy and I cannot say enough about him. We ran over to the Stronghold booth and there was still a few left for sale so I grabbed one. I am glad I did but, as the theme is running here on the post, to this day I have not played it yet . That’s despite TC Petty having read the rules for what seemed like 10 hours one night. He had it in his hand and he kept “reading” every few mins as we hung out and chatted but he still never told us how to play haha. Oh well hopefully soon I can get a play in. GLAD to have gotten this one tho, I am real sure I will be getting to play this with family real soon, especially since the holidays are coming.

1. Ascension: Darkeness Unleashed– Sequel to Rise of Vigil. I made no bones that I wasn’t very optimistic about this one, mainly b/c I thought the base game was WAY too swingy. It was a bit of a let down for me. I knew I was going to play in the world championships so I figured I would see how I liked it there. WELL, I got to play it a bunch in the tourney, as I finished in the top 10 I got a ton of games in. I have to say after playing this many times, ITS REAL GOOD. And to be quite honest, the set makes sense now. I spoke to a few devs as well. It’s way crazy and OP b/c they kinda just wanted to have some fun with this one. They pretty much knew it would be an insane set and they were cool with that. What’s even more intriguing to me, is that since they knew it was crazy, what do they have in store for us next time that will ramp the craziness and swingy-ness back to normal? I can’t wait to see that’s for sure. (Actually I think I am more excited to see when Ascension Online will be released b/c I will be playing an absolute crap-ton of it, and can’t wait to see how high up the ladder I can get— There isn’t too many games I can claim to be one of the best players there is of. but Ascension is truly a game I know I am among the best there is). The good news? Well b/c of finishing in the tie for the top 8 tourney and basically being the LAST one excluded b/c of the weird way they handle tiebreakers there, they gave the tieing peeps a copy of the full block with the expansion included. Which is real solid, b/c I now also have a signed board saying 2013 World Championships by Mr. Ascension himself Justin Gary! I still love that I have this for sure.

1A. Lords of Waterdeep Scoundrels of Scullport– Here is what I still say to this day, was the biggest money blunder and marketing mistake of the WHOLE convention. Somehow WOTC didn’t have ANY of these for sale at Gen Con. WTF? How can you not have the most awaited product for one of the biggest games there is (And The Geek Allstars’ 2012 GAME OF THE YEAR)? They could have sold out and made an absolute killing on this one. They had all the buzz in the world at their fingertips and they totally dropped the ball on this one. Sure I got it about a week later and I love the hell out of the expansion, but still there is a black mark on WOTC in my eyes. They really have no flipping clue about customers and/or marketing. I have heard this is really kinda their way. Clueless and careless about the fan/customer. Luckily for them most of their fans buy their crap without even a blink and Magic will keep them rich for years. Oh well, Love the expansion not the company.

The game that was on my “To play” list b/c I didn’t think it would be there but ended up being my first purchase was “Firefly:The board game” by Gale Force nine. Boy oh boy is this game fun as all hell and thematic as hell too. It might be a little bit of a table hog and longish b/c of the teaching time, BUT it’s a great game and I am sure it will be in my top ten when the year is over.

So that was Gen Con, and again I am real sorry I am so slack and this was so late. Tomorrow marks my last trip to ATL for work so I will be home a bit more in the coming weeks. Will I post more? Eh prolly not, but I am missing it so I am going to sure as hell try and post more.

I will try and get a better post up about the 24 hour board game marathon, but for now here is a killer poster for it and please check out www.gamersforcures.com and www.gamersarmory.com for more info.

Ok so I have been admittedly MIA from blogging for quite some time. Mainly it’s been b/c I have been concentrating on family and The Geek Allstars Podcast which I make. It’s been quite a ride and as always I cannot thank everyone enough for listening. Unfortunately it’s left me with little time to blog. NO NO I’m not shutting it down or anything but just sorry this has been so slack lately.

But hey, here without further delay here  is my list for what I want to buy. A quick note though, I didn’t include any games that are on KS or are for demo only. This is a buy list after all and not a play list. Also I am not sure if the Shadowrun DBG will be available, but it could very well make this list if it is.

10. Trains (60$-Limited copies?)

Ok this could end up on the over hyped list as well, but it’s getting a ton of buzz and it’s Deck-Building so instantly I am intruiged. I am pretty sure I am going to want to try this first though, so hoping it’s got a demo of it going on. The 60$ price tag seems hefty for what it is to me.

9. Spyrium (35$)

Speaking of a good price, $35 is a solid buy for this one. Also this is made by the creator of Caylus, so I am instantly interested. Yeah yeah I know I give Caylus some crap b/c it’s not very good anymore but for it’s time it was a lights out and it arguably started the Worker Placement movement. So with that, I am more then willing to give this one a shot. I think Eric Martin said it’s solid too, and I play with him a bunch and trust his take on games. I am sure I will get his take in person before I pick it up tho.

8. and 8A Bioshock Infinite (Plaid Hat 70$)/Krosmaster:Arena (80$, expansion pack 28$ each -6 of them)

Yep it’s a pure cop out to have 2 games here. BUT these two are ridiculously over priced, yet I still want to buy them. I think I will end up picking up one or the other tho and I am leaning towards my DT Network buddies the Plaid Hat gang on this one. Plus I love the Bioshock universe so this one screams GeekJock. But Krosmaster has the kid thing going for it and I am always looking for those games my daughter will want to play withme.

7. Dead Panic (Fireside Games 40$)

Again with the segway. My daughter LOVES LOVES LOVES Castle Panic. Being this one just looks like a re-skin with some fixes screams BUY ME. The only think keeping me back is the zombies part. I am just not sure if it’s gonna scare the kiddies or not. The orcs and goblins etc are cartoony enough to not scare anyone. Zombies on the other hand….

6.Dungeon Roll (TMG 15$ Thursday $20 others)

Yeah dungeon, dice and Darden, Good combo and I should have backed this on KS when I had the chance. I am not sure why I didn’t but I will fix that at Gen Con, and for 15$ with extras I won’t miss it this time!!!

5. and 5A Rialto (TMG $50)/Bruges (Z-Man $60)

Yep did it again! But honestly they are Feld so I gotta give em both a look. I keep hearing from buddies of mine like Chris “Dice Hate Me” Kirkman (sorry for the continued name dropping), that Rialto is 100% a GeekJock game so I might have to side with it. BUT, he’s already got it and I do most of my gaming with him so why double up? So I think I might be leaning towards Bruges on this one. FELD!

4. Maximum Throwdown (20$!!!)

This is a Tagmire joint so instantly it had my attention. And since I got to play it at Origins this year and LOVED it, it will have my money too. It’s a card flicking game with very little seriousness to it, so it’s going to be fun for all ages and gamer levels. My kids and non-gamer friends will even like it so SOLD

3. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords – Base Set  (60$ Add on deck 20$ Paizo)

Ok so a not so well kept secret about me is I LOVE RPGs. I just don’t EVER get to play in any campaigns. I also love dice and cards. So this one could be the way I trick my gaming buddies into playing a pseudo-D&D campaign with me. Or hell I might be able to convince the wife to play one with me instead (EGADS!)

2. Space Cadets Dice Dual (Stronghold Games $50)

So I admit I have yet to play the base Space Cadets but I am likely going to at a local con in Sept. BUT I have no real interest in buying it. Not because I won’t like it but b/c I know there is very little chance I will ever get it to the table with friends or family. It’s longish to play and very longish to teach. Double whammy for the causal fam play. BUT the dice dual screams casual. It’s also got great buzz and Buonocore told me it’s great. And has he ever exaggerated before? I will let you guys answer that one!

1. Ascensionarkness Unleashed (Stone blade Entertainment $30)

Of course Ascension is going to be tops on this list. This is the expansion I hope fixes the crazy power creep that is Rise of Vigil. I almost put this lower down on the list b/c I am not thrilled with Vigil and I could see myself waiting for Ascension Online to hit b/c I backed it as expansions for life. BUT hell, who am I kidding, I HAVE to have this set right away. I am likely to try and play it a bunch b/c it will be included in the World Championships which I am playing in on sat as well. Ascension is an insta – buy for me every time.

1A.Lords of Waterdeep:Scoundrels of Skullport (WotC 30$)

Ok well this one is the REAL # 1 for me. Even though Ascension is an insta-buy for me, Lords Of Waterdeep is my reigning Game of the Year. I love the damn game and STILL love to break it out as much as possible. So then why is it sharing #1 with Ascension? Well to be blunt WoTC hasn’t officially said if it will be there for sale or not. If I was a betting man I would say 100% it will be though. They are a smart company and they cannot be dumb enough to actually make con goers wait till the announced “release date” of 8-20 (Tuesday after the con). SURELY they will have copies and sell it to a con of their rabid fans to get the buzz going and be declared the big sellers of the con. I will assure you though if they don’t you will hear me and A LOT of other people bitching about it quite a bit.

What’s your # 1 most anticipated games to buy at this year’s Gen Con?

I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Matt Hyra, designer of the DC Comics Deck Building game (a favorite of mine), as well as many other great games. Titles to his credit include Food Fight,  The Locke and Key Card game, and Batman:Arkham City Escape. He also worked on the WoW CCG as well as the VS system.  As you will see below he’s got a ton of great projects he is working on and I think we will all enjoy them when they get released by Cryptozoic in the future.

First, I wanted to take this time to thank Matt for his time and look forward to talking to him some more in the future!

Game 3 Batman

So in my random choice of the next Hero to use, up comes the Dark Knight himself. Now I will admit I am quite fond of Bats in the regular game so I was pretty excited to see how he will do in this solo set up. Generally there is no shortage of equipment and when people generally are not trying to block you or take them all for themselves it should be pretty easy right?

Ohhhhh soooo wrong…..

(As a refresher Bats gets +1 for EACH equipment he plays on a turn)

Turn 1 Kid Flash, Bane, ClayFace Penguin, Cape and Cowl
Power—> 5 Cape and Cowl (nice start!) Roll 3 Clayface gone

Turn 2 KF, Bane, Catwoman, Pen,Ssquad
Power—> 2 Kid Flash (at least something was there to buy right?) Roll 1 Bullet Proof gone

Turn 3 Power Ring, Bane,CW,Pen,SS
Power—> 6 (1equipment) Power Ring + Penguin Roll 3 Cat Woman Gone

Turn 4 Super Girl, B,Watch Tower, Poison Ivy ,SS
Power—> 3 Poison Ivy Roll 1 Super Girl gone (anyone surprised? 3rd straight game shes gone QUICK)

Turn 5 Fortress of Solitude, B, Watchtower,Cape + Cowl, SS
Power—> 6 (1E) Cape + Cowl –grab some def. and more equip Roll 3 Watchtower gone.

Turn 6 FoS, B, Grundy,Bat Signal, SS
Power—> 4 Bane Roll 4 Batsignal gone (grrrr)

Turn 7 FoS, Riddler, Gundy,SSpeed,SS
Power—> 7 (1E Ring for +2—>with power to a 3) SSp+ SSq Roll 1 Fortress gone

Turn 8 SSp, Rid,Grundy, Penguin, Trident
Power—> 9 (2E) R’as Al Goul Roll 4 Penguin gone

New Villain Anti Monitor—- As luck would have it no defense and after shuffling RAS goes to the line up. (um that’s kinda crappy luck)

Turn 9 SSp, Riddler, Grundy, Trident, Trident, Ras
Power—> 2 NADA Roll 4 Trident Gone

Turn 10 SSp, Ridd.Grundy, Trudent, Ras
Power—> 10 (2E) Grab Grundy + Trident Roll 5 RAS IS GONE —- DOH!!!!
I know I could have gotten R’as back here, but my thinking was he would take a while to get to me, and Grundy goes straight to the top of my deck and I pick up a trident which is SUPER important in these solo games for top decking.

Turn 11 SSp, Ridd, Lasso,Lass (yeah I know who shuffled!), Ssquad
Power—>9 (1E) Sspeed, SSq, Lasso Roll 5 Zatanna gone

Turn 12 SSp, Ridd, Lasso, Swamp Thing, Riddler
Power—> 12 (3E including Trident) Anti-Monitor which goes to top (could this be the break I need?)
Roll 5 Riddler gone
New Villain Brainiac which I use Super Speed on his attack

Turn 13 SSp,Ridd, Lasso,ST, SStrength
Power—> 9 (1E) Anti Monitor destroys a couple of cards and I end up with Super Strength and Lasso
(Also a Harley Quinn came out making me put a punch on top of my deck slowing me a bit as well).
Roll 1 SSpeed gone.

Turn 14 SSquad,HQuinn, Lobo,Swamp Thing, Robin
Power—> 9(1E) Lobo + Quinn (need to thin out this deck in a HURRY) Roll 5 Robin gone

Turn 15 SSq, Man Of Steel, Cape and Cowl, SwT,Doomsday
Power—>5 SSpeed Roll 2 Man of Steel gone (apparently to hang with Super Girl)

Turn 16 Grundy,Bow, C+C,SwT, Doomsday
Power—>10 (1E) and naturally Brainiac is 11 so I am SoL, Grab Grundy and the Bow
Roll 2 XRVision gone

Turn 17 Util Belt, Doomsday, C+C, SwT,Doomsday
Power—>14 (1E) Also used Lobo to destroy some which might help but too little too late Defeat Brainiac
Roll 1 Belt gone New Villain Deathstroke— Lasso gone

Turn 18 Trident, Doom,C+C,SwT,Doom
Power—>10 (1E) Anti Monitor destroys SwT 2Face comes up Roll 6 pick 2 Face gone
New Villain Lex SSpeed to avoid it

Turn 19 Trident, Doom, C+C, Catwoman,Dooms
Power—> 14 (3E with BOW) Lex plus a Doomsday (Also used anti monitor in turn to mess with the board a bit. Roll 3 C+C gone

New Villain Captain cold and face down goes the Batman… not what I needed right now!

Turn 20 Trident, Zatanna,Batmobile, CatW,Nth
Power—> 19 (3E) plus BOW) Get Cap Cold, Zatanna,Trident Mobile and Nth

A good turn finally at the end but it was too luttle too late as Black Manta and THE JOKER escape! (Would have been cool and fitting to have the Joker as the final villain).

Final Tally
Villains 27
SSquad 9
Others 27
Total 63

Ugh not a great play. Obviously if Ras had not been ripped from me I might have been able to pull it off but alas the Dark Knight goes down swinging.
Total extra points from Equipment 22 not quite as much as Green Lantern who was able to get 24 total points from his ability in the game (and as a reminder WWoman got 17 extra cards over the course of a game)

And I cannot wait for the next time I get to take this out and play it.

Ok here goes session #2 Wonder Woman. (been picking them random)
For this one I made 2 slight changes.
I now refill the whole middle before rolling the D6. I missed the original author’s saying this and it makes sense to do so to “simulate other players”.
Also I have changed Poison Ivy to +1 Power and Draw 1 Card. I look at her as a cheaper Bane. He’s cost 1 more and now +1 more then her.

Soo on to game # 2!!!

As a Reminder Wonder Woman’s power is for each Villain you acquire or defeat you draw 1 additional card when refilling your hand at the end of your turn. I will put +1 +2 etc after the turn to denote if I drew more cards

Turn 1 Kid Flash,Penguin,Super Girl, Man Of Steel, GA Bow
Power–> 4 Get Penguin Roll 3 Super Girl Gone (2nd game in a row she gets killed on turn 1!!)

Turn 2 (+1) KF, Bat Signal,Heat Vis, MoS,Bow
Power—> 4 Bow Roll 6 Swamp Thing Gone

Turn 3 KF,BS,HV,MoS, SSpeed
Power—> 5 Kid Flash, Kick Roll 2 Bat Sig Gone

Turn 4 SSquad, Clayface, HV,MoS, SSp
Power—> 3 Kick Roll 3 Heat Vision Gone

Turn 5 SS,CF, Cheetah,MoS, SSpeed (3 Villains in lineup!)
Power —> 5 Cheetah + Kick Roll 6 Nth Metal Gone

Turn 6 (+1) SS,Clay, GArrow, MoS, SSp
Power—> 7 (w/bow) Ra’s Al Goul Roll 3 Green Arrow Gone ( )

New Villain Parrallax (Discard all cost 2 or less)

Turn 7 (+1) SS,Clay,BatMobile,MoS, SSp
Power—> 4 (was left with 2 cards both kicks) Get Clayface Roll 5 Sspeed gone

Turn 8 (+1) SS,Cat Woman, BM,MoS, J’onn J’onzz
Power —> 7 (Plus I Cheetah’d SSq) Buy JJ’onzz Ra’s to bottom of deck Roll 4 MoS gone

Turn 9 (+1) King of Atlantis,CW, BM,GArrow, High Tech Hero (Holy Heroes!)
Power—> 8 Get King o’ At + HTH Ra’s to bottom, Roll 4 Green Arrow gone (OUCH 2 GA now gone that hurt)

Turn 10 BLue Beetle,CW,BM, Doomsday, Lobo
Power—> 8 Doomsday Roll 2 Catwoman gone Parrallax becoming a problem for me to beat

Turn 11 (+1) BB, Grodd,BM, HVision, Lobo
Power —> 3 + JJ = 6 + Cheetah (took Bmobile) Buy BBeetle Roll 5 Lobo gone

Turn 12 SSquad, Grodd, AQM Trident, HV, Bow
Power—> 7 (w/Bow) Grodd + Cheetah a SSquad Roll 4 H Vision Gone

Turn 13 (+2) DKnight, BMobile, AMT, Catwoman, Bow
Power—> 7 + JJ’onzz = 14 Parrallax (finally!) + Catwoman Roll 5 Bow Gone
New Villain Atrocitus Punch randomly put under hero

Turn 14 (+1) DK, BM,AMT,Lasso, Bizzarro
Power—> 13 (including a King Of Atlantis to destroy a punch) Defeat Atrocitous and grab the Trident Roll 1 DKnight Gone

New Villain Sinestro 1 Hero in hand discard 1 Vuln

Turn 15 (+1) Trident(yep another), BM,Robin, Lasso, Bizarro
Power —> 8 Bizarro (I know he won’t be worth anything not getting any Weaknesses but I have to keep getting extra cards each turn so he’s a nec. Evil) Roll 4 Lasso Gone

Turn 16 (+1) AMT, BM,Robin,SStrength,Grundy
Power —17 (finally one of THOSE turns) Ras,Biz,SS,Doomsday,ClayF,Punch
Get Sinestro and Grundy (Grundy goes to top) Roll 5 Fortress of Solitude gone
New Villain Darkseid —No effect I obviously have a Villain in hand

Turn 17 (+2) AMT, BMob, R, SSt, Riddler
Power —> 6 + Parallax Just enough for Darkseid! Roll 1 Trident Gone

Villain Captain Cold (Flip WW after drawing up)

So now I have 3 turns to go and 3 Villains to defeat! The suspense is killing me!!!

Turn 18 (+1) GArrow,BM, R, SSt, Riddler
Power—> 12 (JJ’onzz is a monster in solo play) CCold and Riddler
Roll 2 Bat Mobile Gone

New Villain Deathstroke I choose to destroy a Batmobile in Discard

Turn 19 (+2) GArrow, Watchtower, R,SSt, Emeral Knight
Power —> 14 (W/Bow) Deathstroke and Green Arrow Roll 1 Scarecrow Destroyed

New Villain Lex Luthor but no villains in center (GRRR would have been nice with Bizarro in deck)

Turn 20 (+1) Arkham As,Watch T, Robin, SSt, EK
Power—-> 10 exactly plus Cheetah Lex goes down and grab a Robin

What a Dramatic Win on the last turn!

Final Points
Win +5
Villains +41
Green Arrow +5
SSquad +4
Others +24
Bizarro +0

Total 79

Total extra cards drawn to start turns 17!!! Good use of Super Powers

All in all I thought Wonder Woman went real well. There are SO many Villains plus the Super Villains, that it’s crazy how many extra cards you get to start turns when played well. She’s always been easily a top 3 most powerful Hero pick in my mind. There is rarely a game where you don’t get a pretty decent use out of her (unlike Flash where you can totally get hosed).

I thought Parallax was gonna be my downfall but once I got him down and was able to get rolling the rest was just fighting the clock. Good Game for sure.

The next one is done… a little foreshadowing… A Bat has a hard time in the night!