Week In Review: Wait... Where Did The Weeks Go?!?

So as I previously mentioned, there had been a lot of packing as I moved back home for a few weeks.  On top of that was a ton of driving with me heading down to Boston one day, back to home the next, then back again, then home again... So much driving! On top of that, there has been snow storms, birthdays, medical things... it truly has been interesting times!  That said, I have been able to squeeze in a tiny bit of hobby so let's take a look!

Eastern Reinforcements From The West!

I picked up the last of the vehicles that I need for the 12th Company... a GAZ-AAA from Rubicon Models!

Yay for generic box art photos... since I threw my box away too soon.  Whoops!

Now for those of you with some knowledge of WWII (which didn't include me until recently BTW), the GAZ is a truck that was built by the Soviets which means it's in entirely the wrong theater for me to include with the 12th, right?

Nope.

The GAZ-AA is actually a version of the Ford Model AA that was licensed to the Soviets by Ford motor company.  Besides the USSR, the Model AA was also produced in other European countries including France.  So yes, in this case, I can field a GAZ-AA... I just decided to go with the Rule of Cool and slap the extra set of wheels on it as well.  The rivet counters are just gonna have to deal with it.

This was also the first Rubicon model that I've purchased and overall it's pretty nice.  There is a bit more detail than you typically find on Bolt Action models, plus their range actually covers more vehicles as plastic kits.  In fact, the only downside that I could find was gluing them together.  All I had on hand was Testors glue in the blue bottle.  This works great for Warlord stuff but Rubicon... not so much.  It still works, but the time that it takes to get a solid bond is much longer. Once I realized the issue I did a search to see if this was just me or if this is just something I'd not realized. Apparently Tamiya plastic glue is the recommended type, so I'll have to try to get some of that in the future.  As it was I made it work with the Testors with only a minimal amount of swearing so that seems like a win.

And with the Ford assembled, it also means that I have all the vehicles I need for the 12th to be fully mechanized and ready to go!

My motley mechanized force. Can't wait to finish painting them up!

I have no idea how this motley assortment will fare but even unpainted I love the feel that it gives.  The two trucks have MMGs attached to their roofs like they were pressed into service, and I swapped out the MMG on the from of the Hano for an HMG more fitting for the US M3.  I'm hoping that I can start painting them this weekend, plus I still need to make sure that I have all my ground pounders sorted as well.

The Building of Decks And More!

Other than picking up and starting to assemble the GAZ, there hasn't been any mini related progress.  There were boardgames though!  Dominion, Trash Pandas, Radlands, Splendor, Clank! Acquisitions Inc... so many games which has shot me up to 35 games this year!  Soooo much better than last year and the best part is the time that I've been able to spend with friends and family.

And that has been about it! I will be heading back out to the field soon which will in theory mean more time for hobby, but I'm starting college a week after that so... yeah, more interesting times. Still, I want to focus my hobby more while I am away so I'm going to narrow down the things that I bring down to work on. Variety is good, but too many options mean nothing gets done. I have some ideas that I want to try out for Core Space, plus I have all those minis that I painted! I also picked up the Outlands Delta Garrison terrain set from Battle Systems which I think will add some interesting variety to what I already have for Core Space. Oh, and there's a dragon that I want to paint. Until next time...

Core Space: Getting Into Some Characters

Since I picked up all my new cyberpunk minis, I figure it's high time that I actually wiped up some stats for them in Core Space.  The thing is, while there are rules for making characters, its a little vague as far as what is... well, average?  To try to figure this out, I broke out the character cards that I have.  First things first, every crew needs a captain... and I honestly think that this was the easiest one to make.

I see captain Kylan Hesketh as a bear of a man from a life of hard knocks, so I used Weaver as a starting point for his stats.  I dialed down his skill points by one, dropped combat expert, and made close assault 1 as his secondary ability.  Kylan is a former gang member that has broken from his criminal past and is trying to make an "honest" living as a trader.

Now for the crew.  I'd planned on stating them all up but I think that for now I'm just going to focus on the second crew member for the beginning of the Perseus Campaign.  In this case, the crew is Riva Doan.

Looking over the base crew cards, most characters start with four health, four skill points, and an array of nine career points spread between two or more commonly three levels.  In this regard, Riva is pretty much bog standard.  The only difference is that when you build characters, you have to start with two career points while most of the out of the box characters only get one.  Not a big deal but it does mean that the point value for custom characters are going to be a bit higher.  As for her background, Riva was another member of the gang that Kylan was part of and she decided to follow his lead when he jumped ship on the gang.

This gives me what I need to start the campaign though I want to incorporate some of my new civilians into the story as well.  I won't post all their cards but we have Mara Chaldr the techie, Sevia Nakamola the corporate, Dolin the trench, and even Skitz the cyberdog.  I'll probably tweek their stats once I play a few games with them but this is good enough to start!  Now to get them to the table and see how it works out.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Mutants And Zombies And Chainsaws... Wait... Who Took My Chainsaw?!?

I had some spare time this Friday morning so I went to the game shelf and grabbed one that's been way down on the bottom collecting dust for a while now.  It's an oldie but... well, yeah... an oldie... It's Chainsaw Warrior released in 1987 by Games Workshop!

My brother had picked this up for me literally decades ago and I vaguely remember playing it a few times.  The concept is interesting enough; there is an evil force that is going to do something horrible in New York and it's up to you to save everyone but you only have 60 minutes to do it!  And you might be able to do it with a chainsaw!  Maybe... Sure, it's literally the name of the game but that doesn't mean that we are just going to hand you a chainsaw mister.  There's a process here, paperwork to fill out, we need to check the storeroom to see if we even have it in at the moment.

The mechanics of the game are simple enough.  In the turn, you advance the clock by 30 seconds then draw a card.  Depending on what you draw, you might have to fight a zombie, a cultist, avoid a trap, or maybe even find nothing at all.  The fighting all done with 2d6 (no shock there since it's a GW product) and that all seems straightforward enough.  In fact, the game play as a whole doesn't seem too bad but there are some specific parts that left me thinking "WTF guys?!?"

Before you start the mission, you need to create your character and to do that, you need to roll some dice.  The first stat you roll is your endurance which can be anywhere from 4 to 24.  Now this has nothing to do with how much damage you can take, this only tracks radiation poisoning and zombie venom.  If you are wounded by a zombie, you gain a point of zombie venom plus it might increase just from encountering a zombie.  This could be trouble but it seems manageable, especially compared to radiation.  As soon as you draw a mutant, you take d6 points of radiation just from looking at him.  There are fewer mutants than zombies but given the widely variable range on your endurance, this seems a little aggressive.  The rest of the stats are variable as well, being either one or two d6 plus a set value.  My first thought was at least this was a little more balanced but I think that this was just from the relief of seeing a set value being incorporated into the roll.  You are supposed to be some kind of retired super soldier after all.

Once you have your attributes, then it's time to kit out but wait!  There's still another die roll!  Another d6 but with a +2 this time, and that's how many points of equipment you can get... at random.  Yeah, apparently the stockroom you are being kitting out from has been pretty badly ransacked so maybe you can get that chainsaw that the we mentioned before... but probably not.  In fact, to be kitted out with the gear that they show on the character (chainsaw, flare gun, u/v emitter, medi kit, wire cutters, knife, acid, blaster, steel gloves, anti-rad capsules, and implosion waistcoat) is actually impossible.  All of this gear would cost you 12 points of gear but you only have d6 plus 2... drawn at random.

At the end of the day, I'd played it twice and then set it back onto the shelf.  The first run, I made it half a dozen or so turns into the game when a lunatic grabbed the only weapon that I had that could win the game.  Nothing to do at that point but go get a beer!  The second run went a lot better until I ran into the Meat Machine, a bizarre cyborg creature that rips off parts of you flesh to add to itself.  I was holding my own for a couple of turns, but as soon as it started hitting me it was over.  Not because I was dead, but because even if I managed to kill the Machine, I was so badly mauled that I wouldn't be able to shoot the big bad and actually hit.

An interesting concept with some mechanics that weren't too bad.  I could probably mod it so that it would be more playable but... not today.  Back to the shelf with you for now.  Until next time...

Marvel United: United And Alone!

With work being rained out again, I spent most of my day working on minis.  A date was finally announced for our local Bolt Action tournament so I decided that I needed to get off my duff and actually start painting.  So far I've got one squad of the 12th Company finished up, plus my new transport which currently looks like it's fresh off the showroom floor... but more on that later.

After spending a number of hours painting, I decided to take a break and play a game.  I have a few of them out here with me, but a number of them are... heavier?  Not necessarily from a rules stand point, but length of game.  A short game is good for breaking up the monotony but I wasn't feeling like sitting down for a long play this time.  In the end, chibi super heroes seemed like the way to go.

I had seen Marvel: United back when CMON ran the Kickstarter for it.  It was really tempting.  I enjoy the superhero genre and the chibi figures just looked adorable, but a CMON Kickstater?  Now that is anything but cute.  My first experience with them was the Relic Knights Kickstarter which I ultimately wound up getting a refund on.  Too many delays and it was just starting to feel like they were never going to deliver.

Jump forward to now and preorder has become synonymous with Kickstarter, at least from CMON's point of view.  They do a good job with them, but they also push the envelope of the Kickstarter exclusive to the extreme.  In fact, I've even heard it said by a reviewer that if you don't do the all in pledge, there almost isn't a reason to buy their products... and I tend to agree.  Needless to say, I decided to pass on Marvel: United.  After all the extras, it was massive but it was also quite expensive for what it looked like you were getting.

Then again, when you find the base game on clearance from Wal-Mart for $15... yeah, I had to pull the trigger on that one.  Turns out that I'm glad I did.

The base game is for two to four players with seven heroes from the Marvel universe to choose from, trying to work together to defeat one of three villains.  The main game play is from cards that the players lay down that have different powers associated with them, but that's not all you use.  In addition the the powers on the card that you play, you also use the powers on the last player card that was played.  This means that if you do it right, your heroes can string together their powers to ultimately take down their foes.

Yeah, that's a really high view of the game play but there are plenty of other people that have reviewed it, and probably have dug more into it all than I would.  But is the game worth picking up?  Based on my two solo plays today, I say yes.  Both games were against the Red Skull (the beginner villain) but I mixed up the heroes for both games.  The first was Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel, while the second featured the Hulk, Black Widow, and Venom.  Even just from a single play for each of the heroes, I could see from why the decks were constructed that they nicely focused on the various heroes strengths.  The mechanics are also very tight, with everything laid out step by step in the rule book.  

The first game I had a couple of mistakes that went both ways, but in the end managed a win... just barely.  The second game... well, let's just say "Hail Hydra" and leave it at that.  This is also a game that you can't slow play, which I love.  You drag your feet, and those villains will walk all over you so you have to push forward as fast as you can.

Now the question that I had before I bought this game was do I need to have all the exclusives to make this game worth it?  No, you definitely don't.  Just the base game has enough in there to make for fun gameplay, which is really good because finding the exclusives... yeah, not too easy.

In my research for this game, I found out that the exclusives for this one weren't necessarily driven by CMON, but by their partner Spin Master Games.  I did find they have released a new bundle through Amazon that includes the base game, the Into the Spiderverse version of the base game, and Dr. Strange.  This is selling for $50 which isn't half bad for as much as you get, and if I didn't have the base game already I might have snapped it up.  Either way, if you are looking for a quick and easy family oriented co-op, I'd say this one is worth tracking down... as long as it's for a reasonable price.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Blades, Wrath, and Buffy

Things got busier for me on the work front at the end of this past week so I wasn't able to get as much hobby done as hoped.  I did start to dabble with stating up my Goritsi and Teknes minis for Song of Blades and Heroes.  It was a little difficult since there isn't a lot to differentiate the minis.  Normally this isn't an issue but when I got to the Goritsi shield breaker it was making things pretty challenging.  While I ruminated on the solution, I decided to break out another board game to give it a try.

I picked up Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Board Game a while back but hadn't tried it out yet.  I brought it with me since it scales from one to four players so it works for solo play.  So without much ado I cleared off the table, set it up and gave it a spin.

I wasn't able to finish the game due to phone calls but I feel like I was able to get a good feel for it, at least enough for a quick review anyway.  Overall very quick to pick up but good gameplay that still gives a challenge.  Not going to dive too deep for now but I'm glad I picked it up and I'm looking forward to running through a full session soon.

I was able to get back to my Wrath of Kings minis after that though and I think I figured out the best way to handle the breaker.  Oddly enough I had to tap into some rules from Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes but I'm looking forward to giving them a try.  Currently I have two 250 point forces stat'd up for both forces so I'll have to see if I can squeeze in a game this week.  This is going to be a short week for me but worst case scenario I'll be able to run a game or two next week for sure.  Once I give those a try, I'll expand the forces to see how they work plus I've also picked up the advanced rules.  Figure running a game or two of each using the "same" minis will give me a good feel for how the two compare.

I've also managed to get a paint "table" set up too, so I've started working on my resin cyberpunk minis again.  Slow progress for now since I've doubled back to finish off some details (the bases and other small bits), but I've got some more into the cue that will be appearing soon.  Until next time...

Betrayal Legacy: The Final Betrayal... Or Perhaps The First

 It was a year later than we expected, but we finally did it; we completed Betrayal Legacy.  Our original goal was to finish it last summer before two of the players headed off to college, but then there was social distancing, followed by the two of them unfortunately breaking up... but the four of us that were last pushed through and completed the game.

Just look at all the rolling real estate outside of the house now!

All I can say is wow.

No, not really.  It would be a really short post if that was all I said!  Now that it's done, we know the story behind the house and it actually makes more sense.  Why isn't there an easy way out of the basement?  Just why are there so many bizarre and creepy things crammed into this one house, and why in the world did the group from the original Betrayal even go there?

Of course someone still had to get stuck in the basement.

On top of the story making more sense, now we have our own version of the game which is a really cool twist.  This is the first legacy game that I've completed and I think it will be fun to break it out again in the future just to experience what our campaign created.

One of the final moments of our story!  Man was it close!

Is this a game for everyone?  Probably not.  I enjoy the traitor mechanic in the game but there are those that really don't, plus if you are a newer player it can be tricky to get your head around what exactly you are supposed to be doing.  After all, it's not like you can ask the other players to help!

As for what's next, I'm thinking that I'll go back and repaint some of the minis, plus add more that better fit the various haunts.  By the end, you have a total of ten minis that come with the game and I added more on top of that.  Just like the look of it more than having a cardboard counter for the inhabitants of the house, makes them more part of the game as least for me.  Before I get to that though, I've got some stalkers to work on, and one of them is already assembled!  Now I just gotta figure out what the other are equipped with.  Until next time...

Random Update: I Finally Played Banker of Catan

I have a confession.  I'm 48 years old and up until this past weekend, I'd never played Settlers of Catan.  Yes, I'm a gamer who never played the game what is considered by some to be one of the gateway games for the hobby.  Instead I went the Ticket to Ride route for introducing people to the hobby (see what I did there?), so I've never even thought of buying Settlers.  The question is, how did it measure up?  Was it worth the wait?  Did it live up to its legendary expectations?

Well, as the title for the post says, I've finally played the Banker of Catan.

Our friends (who are both experienced Catan players) introduced us to the game and it was fun.  It's great to hang out with friends, and I think I can see the allure of Settlers.  Then again, by the end of the game I had a total of two settlements and either three or four roads.  And yes, that's including the two settlements and two roads that I started with.

What went so horribly wrong that I started and ended the game with the same two victory points?  The dice.

With a background in Warmachine, I'm very aware of the bell curve inherent to something involving two d6.  My starting locations weren't prime real estate, but they weren't horrible either.  Unfortunately the die were stuck on a total of 5 for what felt like most of the game, so most of my "gameplay" consisted of handing out and taking back resources that everyone else was getting and spending.

Compared to something like Ticket to Ride where there is almost always something happening on your turn, this might sound pretty dull.  Well, it actually was kind of dull from a gameplay point of view but I think that I just happened to get stuck in the perfect storm that is bad dice luck.  This is nature of that ephemeral mistress that we call Lady Luck and I don't begrudge the game for that and I really had a great time hanging out with my friends and family, which makes it all worth while.  Hopefully we can play it again in the future, and then maybe I too can break out of the financial business and become one of the settlers as well.  Until next time...

Random Update: The Problem With Gloomhaven

Yes, I'm treading on dangerous ground here saying some negative about the game that is number one on BGG for theme, strategy, and just overall existence but hear me out.

I've played this game seven times now with my friend and it's a lot of fun.  The world is refreshingly different from other fantasy settings, and the gameplay is unique and interesting enough to keep you engaged the whole time.  Even if you "die", you can just take over moving and flipping cards for the monsters so even the downtime is limited once you've been taken out of action.  This heads right to my issue with Gloomhaven.

Based on what we have seen, there seem to be no consequences for failing.

Our latest adventure had us breaking into an Inox encampment.  The first time we were so close to succeeding... and then we started falling like dominoes.  Battered and beaten, we wake up outside of the encampment effectively no worse for wear.  Heck, the Inox that we just attacked didn't even take the gold we looted from their fallen comrades, never mind the other equipment that we had.  We walked back to Gloomhaven to buy some more equipment and give it another go.  Returning to the same encampment for a second time, they were just as shocked to see us though they did manage to soundly thrash us within a couple of turns.

Waking up outside of the encampment, battered and bruised but still very much alive after attacking the same group of Inox for the second time, we proceeded to attack them again.  The guards and archers had all taken their appropriate places for the beginning of this dance as the music started for a third time.

And this time, we actually won.

My first thought after the third run was that we must be missing something.  Surely you can't just make the same run over and over with no repercussions for our actions, but everything I found online indicated that we were doing it right.  You can literally play like its a video game and just grind for levels without it having any impact on the main storyline.

Is Gloomhaven still a great game, worthy of all of the praise it has received?  I think that it is, it just seems like there is a disconnect in the narrative that the game is generating, that the lack of the finality of character death does take a bit away from the drama of the story... The story that we will be continuing this Sunday as we push onto our next adventure.  After all, I did say that its still a great game.  Until next time...

Hocus Pocus: Beware! The Sanderson Sister Will Completely Own You!

While wandering through Target before Christmas, I stumbled across Hocus Pocus, designed by Prospero Hall and published by Ravensburger and based on the Disney movie by the same name.

I have to say that I never really got into the movie Hocus Pocus but it's one of my wife's favorites so I knew I had to get this for her for Christmas.  She was really excited to see it and we soon broke it to give it a test run.

Holy crap.  This is a kids game?  What are we doing wrong?!?

As the title for this post implies, we lost against the Sanderson sisters... three time in a row.  We did manage to win the fourth game... by slightly cheating but hey, a win is a win right?  Maybe?

The mechanics for the game are very simple.  You start with a hand of three or four cards (depends on how many players you have...) and you go around the table playing the cards into the "cauldron".  The card must either match the ingredient or the color to be played.  If you match all the ingredients, all the colors, or have one of each ingredient and one of each color, then you stun one of the sisters and go to the next round.

Simple, right?

The trick is that you play with your hand closed and aren't supposed to discuss your cards unless you have Binx the cat in front of you.  Some of the cards have his icon which brings him into play.  During your turn you can also ask the other players one piece of information about their hands, but that's it!  "Does anyone have newt saliva?" or "Does anyone have green cards?"

While you might not think this limited information would amp up the difficulty too much, it really does!  You have to cooperate without actually being able to tell each other what you have which makes things very tricky.  On top of that, there is also a chance the sisters will cast a spell on you.  Play a card with the spell book symbol and then look out!

On top of all of this, there is the limit on the cards.  If you run out of cards and are required to draw, then game over man!  While this isn't too bad the first time through, it gets harder with each round because you don't get all of the cards in the discard pile back.  Only the cards with the Binx or Spellbook icons are shuffled back into the deck so not only have you lost a number of cards, you've kept all of the spells, some of which force you to draw more cards!

After our third lose, we decided to play with all of our hands open just to see if a win was possible.  It is, but man it's not easy!

So is this a good game?  In my opinion, yes.  Sure it keeps kicking our butts but so does Ghostbusters: Protect the Barrier and we still enjoy getting that one to the table.  What makes it so good is game play itself is pretty basic so you can get right into the action.  The tricky part is getting all your ducks in a row to actually pull out the win.  I think once we get our head around the strategy and card distribution a bit better this game will get easier but I like that this simple game really makes you stop, think, and work together to win.  If you are looking for a light but challenging game that won't break the bank, I recommend giving this one a try.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Core Space In A Battle System

It's been a while but they've finally arrived; the Battle Systems Ruined Village and Battle Systems Core Space!  I had hoped to take a look at the village set "in the flesh" before taking the plunge, but after watching several play throughs I'm feeling really good about shelling out the cash for Core Space.  The mechanics look very straightforward and the terrain looks really nice as well!  As for the minis... I'll have to see tonight.  The joys of USPS notifications. "Your package is here.  You can't look at it though.  Ha ha!"

I plan on cracking them open tonight and maybe I'll even get to paint/build something?  Maybe?  Hopefully?  If not tonight, then definitely by the end of the week!

On a somewhat unrelated note, I was able to get together with a friend of mine this weekend and try the Sentinels of the Multiverse: Oblivaeon expansion.  It seemed vaguely promising at first... and then it all went to Hell in a handbasket! My friend and his son both went through three characters before we lost while I knocked it all the way up to five, and one of those literally entered the game and instantly died.  "I'm here to save the..." splat...  Still a lot of fun even if we did get our butts kicked!  Slightly time consuming though (think we clocked in around four hours for the one game?) so make sure you bring some snacks if you want to try to save existence!  Until next time...

Random Update: Incoming!!!

Not much time for hobby BUT... I did buy some things.  This time of year everybody has a Black Friday sale and I decided to take advantage of the one from Miniature Market!  I could have gone a whole lot crazier than I did but I decided to show a bit of restraint...  kind of.

So we have...

My tiny pile of Black Friday goodness...

On the top of the pile are the Teknes Union workers for Wrath of Kings.  More pig warriors!  I really didn't like these figures when I saw them in the Kickstarter but once I actually got them to the table, I knew I needed some more.  They are just goofy, full of character, and fun to play!  This box takes me up to 24 workers which should be more than I will ever need!  The perfect number!

Next is Tomb Trader.  I've seen this one a couple of times on Miniature Markets sales, and this time I was able to grab a copy.  The players are all legitimate archaeologists... really... not tomb raiders at all... and you try to make it out with the most treasure for the "museum" before the temple collapses.  There is bit of deal making thrown in and as long as everyone agrees, then everyone can leave with something.  But if not... no treasure for you!  This just sounds like a fun, light game and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

And last but not least...  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Board Game.  I never watched too much Buffy so I'm not one of the show's cult like following, but this game has really good reviews.  The basic concept is you need to defeat the big bad to win, but along the way you need to deal with the lesser monsters of the week.  Take them all out before too many townies die, and you win!  I've actually been looking at this one for a while on Amazon but it's been locked solid at $33.  With this sale, it dropped all the way down to $18 which made it a must buy just so I could check it out.

What I found interesting about this game was the reviews all took the approach of Buffy fan and everyone else, but either way it had good reviews.  On top of that it also can be played solo which will make it perfect when I go back into the field.  I enjoy painting and pushing around my minis, but sometimes it's good to just crash in the hotel and play a game.

That said, there is still a bit more that I've picked up since then.  The Battle Systems Ruined Village set will be arriving tomorrow and the Battle Systems Core Space core game will be arriving next week.  Yeah, I went a little crazy for the BS but I'm excited at the prospect of some quality assembled terrain, and my daughter has even expressed an interest in Core Space though that one can be played solo as well.  Lots of good stuff heading this way and I'm really looking forward to trying it out!  Until next time...

Funkoverse: Oh Yeah!!!

There is another addition to the wonderful world of the Funkoverse and there ain't nothing that's gonna slow him down! Oh, Yeah!!!

That's right, Kool-Aid Man has joined the fight, standing side by side with Voldemort, Batman, and Blanche.  Because... well, why not?

A few weeks ago I had looked at the upcoming releases for Funkoverse just to see what else I might be interested in.  At that point, the only solo expansion showing was Aggretsuko so when I saw the Kool-Aid Man at Target, I was quite surprised.  With a little bit of research on the interwebs, it turns out that this is a Target exclusive release (at least at this point anyway) and I must admit that I instantly caved and picked him up the next day.

This was another one of those "It sounds so ridiculous it's gotta be good!", but after looking over his abilities, it might just be true.

Kool-Aid Man brings a red and blue ability token to your pool, backing up some interesting abilities.  The first one is Hey Kool-Aid! which is a move 3.  The only caveat to this is he must end his move adjacent to an ally which might sound limiting, but in a fun little twist he can also move through walls so not so much.

Next up is Splash Zone, a challenge 3 against all adjacent rivals.  The catch with this one?  He has to move this turn to be able to use the ability.  It is worth noting that a turn is when each individual character activates so a round consists of six turns, one for each character.  This means that if another character moves him on their turn, it doesn't count because he has to move on his own turn.  This is a minor thing but I can see it coming up so it's worth noting.

His abilities are rounded out with Oh Yeah! which gives him move 1 and challenge 3, and yes, that move can also go through walls.  Notice a trend yet?  Oh Yeah!!!

Thanks to his Bust Through trait, when Kool-Aid Man moves through a wall using one of his abilites, you place a rubble token on the wall to represent the big old pitcher shaped hole he has smashed though the wall.  Any character (ally or rival) can then move through the hole though interestingly enough, there is no mention about line of sight.  Going by rules as written, I would take it that this means the wall still blocks LoS but even so it still opens up some interesting options.  There are only three rubble tokens and once they are all placed, move one of the old ones if you need another.  This opens up some board control options as well as this likes you close one of the holes to keep your rival from using it.

Overall, this seems like it will be a little fun pack.  Is it a must buy?  Probably not, but if you are a fan of Kool-Aid or just interested in adding some more options to your Funkoverse, this is one worth checking out.  Until next time...

Funkoverse: Thank You For Being A Friend... With Cheesecake!

I dove further into the Funkoverse this week, adding the most bizarre expandalone in the first wave...  The Golden Girls.

When I first heard that the Funkoverse would include them, I immediately swore off the game.  "They have DC characters, Harry Potter characters... why would they include half of the Golden Girls?  That's just ridiculous."

Then I realized just how ridiculous it was and it all made sense.

Funkoverse isn't about making a cohesive universe with a story arc about the lives of the characters that live there.  It's about mashing things up and enjoying the mess that you make!

This expansion gives you two of the girls from the series and while you might wonder how well they could stand toe to toe versus a superhero or wizard, these girls mean business!

Blanche Devereaux gives your team some token manipulation in the form of Flirt, a challenge 2 which lets you put one of your opponent's tokens onto their cooldown track.  Notice that she doesn't need to actually win the challenge and she lets you take any token from your opponent's pool.  I can see this ability messing with your opponent as you take away one the token he needed to pull off his masterplan!  In addition to this, she also adds some board control as she can use Southern Hospitality and Hi, Boys to move either herself or her rivals around the board.  Not only can this set up combos with our allies, she can also nerf adjacent rivals thanks to being Devastatingly Beautiful.

On the other hand, Rose Nylund can be something of a brute since Life Isn't Fair, Kiddo.  Challenge 4 is a solid blow and being able to move them afterward could be a handy trick as well.  Story Time gives her some board control as well as she pulls an ally in line of sight potentially across the board.  I can see this being handy in several of the scenarios as you pull allies across the board to score extra points or set up follow up actions.  Thank You For Being A Friend can supercharge Rose as it lets perform any basic action when her friend is challenged.  You could even use this to pop the friend right back up if Rose is adjacent since assist is a basic action.  Last but definitely not least, you need to remember that she is St. Olaf's Favorite Daughter.  If you're going to challenge her, you better knock her down or she'll be coming right back at you!

And of course you can't forget their item; cheesecake.  Whoever is carrying this item can use it to stand up as an action.  That's right, cheesecake make you Relentless, just like Batman.

This is a really fun looking set and I'm excited to add them to the mix as I can see some strong combinations coming from both of them.  I'm also that much closer to having the all the set from the first wave which just leaves the question; should I get Ron and Draco next or Rick and Morty?  Until next time...

I've Been Pulled Into... The Funkoverse!

I had only planned on buying one of them, honest.  I found the DC 4-Pack for a good price on Amazon and picked it up... then I found the DC 2-Pack on sale as well.  It only makes sense and they go together after all... then I found the Harry Potter 4-Pack on sale for less than the sale price of most of the 2-Packs...  But this is it... I'm serious this time... Just let me check Amazon again...

For those of you who might have missed it (though I don't know how), the Funkoverse is a light strategy combat game that is being published by Funko.  These games all come with a slightly smaller version of their Pops and are themed according to their pack.  There is DC and Harry Potter, plus you can add on Rick and Morty or even the Golden Girls.

I'll let you go back and re-read that last sentence.

I had only played this game a few of times solo but I really liked it and wanted to get it to the table.  The gameplay is very straightforward but I think that there is enough variation with the characters and missions that are included that this one will stay interesting.

Only in the Funkoverse will you find Voldemort bopping Joker in the nose with his wand.

And it turns out I was right!

I want over my friends new house and he told me to bring the Funko.  I've mentioned it to him and he was gracious enough to be a guinea pig and try it out.  I ran down the rules basics, we grabbed our Funkos and got down to business.  On my side of the table we had Batman, Catwoman, and Voldemort working together against the forces of chaos and anarchy, Jokey, Harley, and Hermione.

Mourning the death of Batman... until he jumped up and started smacking people around!

The first game was just the basic game to run through the basic mechanics.  Quick and dirty, but it touches on the high points and sets you up to jump into one of the scenarios.  Once that was done, we jumped into Control, one of the four scenarios included so far with the game which is where I think this game really shines.  While some games lead to people turtling, this one really pushes you to keep moving forward.  Sure, you don't have to but if you don't your opponent is probably going to run away with the game

The victory nap!  Yes, I won the game with my entire team watching the clouds drift by.

This is a game that I'm glad that I picked up.  I was really on the fence but there is more to it than I first thought there would be.  Would I pay the full retail price for it?  Ummm… probably not, but I tend to be an aggressive bargain hunter when it comes to gaming.

That said, I do plan on buying the rest of the packs for the first wave.  Not because I'm trying to be a completionist but because they sound like they would be fun to play.  As for future expansions, we'll just have to wait and see what they are, but it won't be a long wait...  the next wave is slated to start rolling out within the next couple of months if I'm recalling correctly.  We'll just have to see what the next madness is that comes to the Funkoverse!  Until next time...