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: Digging Out Yet Again!

It's been forever since I posted and longer since I've had a chance to hobby!  Argh!!!  I've been slowly making progress cleaning out my office/hobby space yet again so I should be able to start painting again soon.

Thankfully we have been more active with our board gaming recently though, largely because a friend of ours and his girlfriend have been coming over for game nights!  Been a ton of fun breaking out some games that haven't been touched in a while, plus we have been working our way through Betrayal Legacy!

So far we have finished six of the chapters (plus the prologue) and it has been so cool to see the story of the house take shape.  We enjoyed the original but this really makes the whole thing a more organic experience that has been a blast.  There are also aspects that have been added to the game which are providing some cool twists.  For example, as you draw items you might have the option to make them heirlooms for your family which gives you a bonus when you use them.  Then there are background cards that you draw right at the beginning of the game that give your character a unique bonus.  Maybe you are a war veteran, an occultist, or well-to-do.  All of these add to the flavor of the game and more are being added as the story continues.  I can't wait to see what other twists and turns we will run into as we try to unlock all the secrets the house holds, the trick will just be working out way through it before the end of the month.  I see some marathon Betrayal sessions in my future!

I'm also very slowly making some headway with a short campaign using the Frostgrave rules to explore a desert wasteland looking for an ancient treasure.  My daughter and I will be playing this one but I want to incorporate some cooperative elements to it as well.  The wastes are a harsh land after all, and sometimes you need all the help you can get just to survive.

Here is the board for our first scenario, still in progress at the moment.

We talked about incorporating clue markers into this adventure to represent us searching for information to figure out where the final location is, the idea being whoever finds the most clues gets to decide what the next scenario will be.  She likes the idea and I think it will be fun to craft our own campaign story together.

And last but not least, I was able to meet up with a friend of mine at our LGS and play a game of Bolt Action.  I'll admit that Bolt Action isn't my favorite game (I blame Antares for this even though I haven't played it against a live opponent) but it was great to hang out with him and push around some minis.  Of course hilarity ensued as well, with both of us taking a bunch of inexperienced troops and I just had to squeeze Stewie into my force too.  Lots of fun but I think the best moments were when my lieutenant and his minder walked onto the board next to my friends mortar team and gunned them down.  This was followed by the same dastardly duo spraying the truck my target was hiding inside, only to have it go up in flames and letting me pull out a draw on the last turn.  Pure action movie stuff!

Hopefully I can squeeze in some more cleaning this weekend so I can finally get back to painting again.  Wish me luck!  Until next time...

Random Updates: Bookcases and Betrayal!

I was planning on getting in some gaming this weekend as the family was away but I got caught up cleaning.  Not normally the best of things but in this case its helping get out games squared away so I'm okay with it.  Behold the wall of games!

Nothing as fancy as Ikea but they aren't bad for knockoffs.  We purchased one of these shortly after we moved but quickly learned that there can't only be one!  After some shipping fiascos we finally have the second one and all of our games can have a happy home.  Huzzah!

Even with all the cleaning I did still manage to get a little bit of progress made with the Heroclix I'd picked up for Betrayal at the House on the Hill, namely removing all those gigantic bases.

These are an assortment of some of the more generic figures (as in not super heroes) that you can from the DC and Marvel ranges.  They aren't stellar minis but they will do for replacing some of the cardboard from the game.  The six in the front are also alternate investigators as the mix of characters from the original game is just kind of creepy.  I can understand the jock, the gypsy, and the professor, but why are the little girl and boy there with them too?  It's something that always bothered my daughter in particular as the story of it just didn't make sense to her, plus this gives me some more figures to use in other games as well.  I'm not even sure if I'm going to repaint them to be honest.  The paint jobs are your typical pre-painted stuff but for some figures that I can just grab and throw on the table, they should work just fine.  Now I just need to get some more of the things that go bump in the night.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill: More Proof That Cats Are Evil

After emptying out our storage unit and beginning the unpacking process, we took a break and dusted off Betrayal at the House on the Hill.  We've only played this one a few times so I had to skim the rules as we played as a refresher but for the most part it went pretty smoothly... at least until the traitor was revealed!

Mechanically it went fine but holy crap it was close! Having been shrunk down to miniature versions of ourselves, it took us twice as long to move around the house trying to escape... and then there were cats.  Evil, evil cats.  Of course I'm biased, especially since I was one of the two players that was eaten by those vile felines.  I don't want to spoil too many details as the surprise is a big part of the fun with Betrayal but I can say it was a real nail biter with the last two survivors just barely managing to escape.

Of course playing the game also made me want to get minis for all the various critters and companions that you might run into along the way.  Once we are settled in I might start working on that as I'm thinking that this game in particular might be hitting the table more often now.  This would also give me some more figures to use with Fear and Faith which would be fun as its been years since I got that one to the table.  So many plans...