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Timestamp 38:00 Wrong you can search rooms. The loot is normally alot less, but each room is searchable one time.

Question - right at 30 min in, Alek gives a poison when he attacks. How did that happen?

I think I saw Eric say they will be selling upgrade packs on their site soon. I am waiting to get my copy upgraded!

How big is the upgrade pack? My wife and I are still awaiting ours...Can you list the contents at a high level?

How helpful did you find the play mat?

Are you using the standard five heroes in the Hero deck, in addition to the house-ruled individual decks?

that was absolute gold...so mad i fell asleep!!!

Derrick was so excited to play this 😇😇

I struggle with historical war themed games because I have friends and family members who are veterans, and have seen how it can destroy people. Also most of the war games that existed when I was growing up felt like glorification of power and violence, which helped develop my feelings on the theme. I will say that nowadays, there can be a lot more nuance in the focus of a war game, and I'm seeing more that have an educational bend, which I appreciate. I actually really like Halls of Hegra and This War of Mine because they do a good job of making the player become emotionally invested, and feel the anxiety and stress of the situation. It's no longer big power smash other big power and becomes personal. I'm also a story driven gamer, so I'm rarely interested in direct conflict 1v1 games no matter the theme.

Another question which software was used to play? Is this available somwhere?

Thanks guys, love this gme in all it's modes. Currently restarting a campaign with the 1st RR Corpse of Viros, using it's precon for Brennen, whilst I wait for my Siege of Lordswall to be forwarded from a group sub that arrived in the UK yesterday, hopefully early next week. ~14.00 First RR turn. This set mixes it up a bit, 4 Behaviour was reveal & attack with the RIGHTmost not the normal lrft to right sequence. Also rolling 4 basic when only 3 in pool you would continue rolling any basic left until 4 rolled , even if those 3 triggered a red rain being placed on Chimera , when the 5 rage dice reset to basic, the fourth would be one of those.. That is how TC played it.

Question regarding the items to craft. Why was the Dragon ability in the pile/store to craft?

Is it "Derrick" or "Peacerick" like in "Beatnick"? 😁

I personally like war themes in games, especially the Napoleonic period. The problem with war games is that the designers seem to think that making a good war game involves rolling A LOT OF dice (among other stuff adding tons of luck) and making the rules as obtuse as possible. The only war themed game I actually love (shares my number 1 spot with Spirit Island) is Starcraft the board game which has very little luck, but high depth. PS: I really like history but I don't like WWI to modern times war themes. Byzanthium is my favourite, but I like anything from Antiques to post Napoleonic up till WWI.

Forgot to mention before I had to leave, but I highly recommend the solo game Navajo Wars. Despite the name (and having chits) it is nothing like a typical wargame. Itnis closer to Eldritch Horror or Robinson Crusoe with some Dawn of the Zeds (another great retheme of a war game system actually ) thrown in. The solo system here is FANTASTIC and the emergent narrative is just incredible.

Great stuff, thanks to you both! Was a blast watching along. Need to get DotR back to the table!

Nice one both, that was great fun Looking forward to the Late War

Love you breaking out some older stuff!

Paused in the intro because I feel like I'm missing out! I have the original version of the game, plus the Dragon expansion (not played with the latter) Are the king's blessing tokens in the dragon expansion or are they from the updated edition or am I just stupid and missed them in the original boxing? The characters are new to me, again are they in the new edition or in the new expansion. Is the new expansion compatible with the old game? Also, why am I being a lazy so-and-so and asking you when I has google? lol Any road, looking forward to watching and finding out what is meant by "Early War" and what the house rules are. Thanks Steve and Kim.

Glad to see a coop play of this game! I didn't see the thing that worries me (about having upgraded cards byte you back when they return as enemies), so that's pretty cool!

To comment on Steve's question at minute 52 about why you would pick a boss battler compared to another game that has bosses. In general the bosses are a much cooler puzzle in boss battlers than in other games, because more freedom of design can be focused on making that boss be a puzzle. Comparing bosses from KDM, ATO, Oathsworn, Primal, Aeons End. With bosses from different dungeon crawls like the Haven Series, Sword & Sorcery, Cthulhu Death May Die and so on is not even a competition. Way too often a boss in a dungeon crawl is just a HP sponge and even when they have some sort of AI its nowhere near as involved as they are in a true boss battler which can live on AI decks, hit location decks and so on. So the story that happens when fighting the boss becomes so much more involved than in other games. This also makes the fight more fiddly than the bosses in the other games which might be one of the reasons it doesnt sing for Steve. Another reason might be that you just dont need that tactical and thematic thing in your boss, but just want this guy you fight as an end to a journey. For me boss battlers are a replacement for those epic moments of fighting a World of Warcraft raid boss back in the day when i had the time. Yes there are other parts in wow. But the focus when raiding was on the bosses.

Thanks for the playthrough, it's great! Love card crafting and I can't wait to try this one out!

I haven't seen anyone fight something off the top of their draw deck, are you sure you can do that?

Great chat as always. I think for me, the pull of boss battlers is the focus on combat. I love combat focused games, including skirmish games. Also, while some games I love do have b9ss fights (Massive Darkness 2 and TMB for example), everything up to the fight can be great while the actual boss fight feels a little lackluster. Street Masters and Cthulhu DMD both do this differently and I love them both, it's still bot the same as something like Oathsworn or Primal. I also actively dislike sandbaox adventure games, so that also plays a factor in what other games do and don't work for me.

Great discussion! I find myself agreeing mostly with Steve on this one (also in that I need something extra with my Boss Battlers). But regarding a definition/classification of sorts, this is what I personally concluded a while ago: First, all of the following game types are "Adventure Games" (rebranding 'Ameritrash' games when compared to eurogames). Then, within that umbrella, I'd define each subgenre by what it focuses on (F) and what consequences (C) flow forth from that (in order of importance): 1) Dungeon Crawlers (DC) - F: zoomed-in location exploration. C: scenario-directional grid movement, plural enemy combat, obstacle skill checks, gear loadouts, character growth. Note: distinguish between one-off randomized DCs and story-driven campaign DCs (where growth takes longer) 2) Overland Adventure (OA) or "Hexcrawl" - F: zoomed-out (open world or freeform) movement. C: pickup-and-deliver event resolution, encounter triggering, enemy combat/skill checks, character growth 3) Boss Battler (BB) - F: singular (boss) enemy combat. C: combat learning curve and mastery, tactical grid movement, gear crafting/loadout, character growth 4) Tactical Skirmisher (TS) - F: granular team move and conquer. C: freeform (ruler-based) movement within established 'arena', team & gear selection, plural enemy combat, multiple goal achievements Also notes that: - Adventure Games can be of ANY genre: fantasy, sure, but also sci-fi, horror, steampunk, historical, modern, etc. - Many boardgames now are blends between the five described above - Obviously this list is very subjective and based on my idea of 'adventure' being a blend of 'discovery, challenge, and growth' using characters, events and locations (CEL) Finally, I may be a little conservative in my following statement but I just do not see card-focused games as any of these. The above Adventure Games should all have boards for movement, character minis/standees and THEN cards for effects, gear, skills and possibly attacks. Adventure Games have table presence and most card games simply don't have this.

Well… jaust watched it… Mike you are great but Peter and Jerry🤦🏼 glad you did the new stuff without them 🤣😂🙌🏻

Sinister 6 in 10th? WHAAAAA

Great video and discussion as always! Outside of Mythic battles Isfet (which is competitive) Grimcoven and blood are right at the top for me. I am admittedly hoping Grimcoven gets some balance tweaks to the difficulty, but worst case I'm sure the community will find some workable house rules(9espeically given it's an Awaken Realms game, so there will be a large number of them! lol). I will probably watch Odalin as well because I love the them, but I think it's a campaign game which is a big hill for a game to climb to get past. Also, I don't see a way i can justify the 4 of them, and I don't see it bumping either of the others out. Gods Heist sounds intriguing, especially as I've always wanted to try a game from Triton Noir, but didn't care for the them of V-Sabotage, and didn't want the campaign of Assassin's Creed.

Today it was announced that the Sirens campaign was delayed to early July, so you may still have a chance to get a prototype

Agemonia: more stuff, backed! 7th Citadel: more stuff, backed! Grimcoven: too hard...groan Jomsvikings: deckbuilding boss battler...errr... Unstoppable: deckbuilder roguelite...nah Incubo: another deckbuilder? c'mon guys.... Nightshift: my wife has the same 'interested' look as Kim had ;-D HexploreIt Vol. 5: heck YEAH! darn best RPG-in-a-Box evah! Blood: looks great, not my theme nor game (BB) Odalin: loved, loved, loved Tanares Adventures, so duh, I'm all-in! Sirens: they ain't callin' me ;-) Skytear Horde: never got into this Gods Heist: intriguing...loved Assassin's Creed

Thank you so much for the shoutout! Loved the video!

!battle

So cool to see this game played. Thank you :D Love the modularity and the increadible thematic and pretty presentation ^^ So glad that Steamforged came to the rescue. Really looking forward to the reprint so I will eventually be able to experience it myself :D

You actually weren't 1 away at the end of that final turn, you were in Wrath so the damage from Wrath would have killed you unless you had 8 block, not 7.

Pretty kewl news here. What about the dice mitigation?

!battle

Wow! Very cool! Can’t wait to give it a try! My suggestion for boss name is Geat Blue Beastious. It would be cool to have weapons so we can GAMMA SLAM the boss! And we should get damage for bad rolls! Thanks for taking the time to,do this!

so what i would do is put together specific attack text for each person kind of. that way your paying patrons can be awarded weapons/armor/skills or whatever for supporting the channel as a result its might say "mike hits the boss with a club for x" but "Derrick launches from a hidden position and backstabs the boss with his epic support shank for x damage!" is cooler if that makes sense lol either way looks like a blast

The reason to choose the pain (of an elite) is the elites always reward a relic and relics are super powerful. IMO the only reason *not* to pick an elite is if you think they might kill you or put you in a walking dead situation where you'll be killed before the next healing opportunity.

Great and fun video. I LOL’d when Kim went to get the pandemic board and also when she criticized your listening skills :)

I do love myself some Sleeping Gods/Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies 💜

Thank you so much for this fun video, Steve and Kim :) Love your playthroughs and think my tastes coincide quite a bit :D I am an avid fan of Cthulhu Death May Die (superb puzzle, every game feels tight and it plays fabulously at 5 players or even 6 with GM) and Arkham Horror 2ndED (which brought me into the hobby in 2006 ^^). Really love Marvel United (which also plays great at any player count!). Mix& Match games are great! Gloomhaven/Frosthaven is fully played through at 3 players (love the card management but am a bit tired of the mega campaign style). Keep the Heroes Out is simply ingenious! Here are a few additional personal favourites of mine (with our player counts): - Slay the Spire - very recent - this game feels amazing and is currently my "want to play now" game - mini-campaign deckbuilder, one Act (of 3) per evening is perfect. One of the best computer game adaptations I have experienced. They took great care to retain the feel but simplified upkeep, length and math. Just got this 2 weeks ago and played 4x sofar at 3 players. So amazing that they managed to turn this pure solo game into a shared experience with great co-operation and discussions :D ---- It is quite pricy and the App is a great way to check if this is to taste. - Massive Darkness II 10 scenario campaign mode - this is so much fun - best at 2-3 players (played up to 6) - the only game I know that perfectly feels like an ARPG on the table, amazing if you reach lvl9/10 and collected a high level full armor set to bash the final boss :D (40+ plays and fully painted ^^) - Chronicles of Drunagor - phantasy themed campaign, great table presence and game mechanics. Simply love the cube and initiative system. Loot was a bit sparse in 1st but is ok in 2nd Ed. :D - Sweetspot is 3 players. - Zombicide Black Plague/Marvel Zombies - yes dice-chucking galore with some splendid puzzles - best at 6/4 - Deep Madness - you need at least 4-5 hrs - very immersive and claustrophobic horror setting in an underwater station. A lot of very small font text on cards though - 2 players once or twice a year ^^ - King of Monster Island - Co-op King of Tokyo best at 5 players - easy teach and a lot of fun at public game nights :D - Elder Sign - Dice placer yatzee-style, really hard to win but ok with the Portals of Arkham expansion and removing some super hard tasks - The more the merrier ^^ 4-6 players ^^ - Planet Apocalypse - Cthulhuesque, strategic, scenario driven - 2-3 players - hope my own copy delivers some day ^^ - KDM ^^ best at 2 ... occasionally sharing boss fights up to 4 players :D Great co-op filler games: - Dorfromantik - very accessible and pretty tile laying puzzle game where you unlock more complex pieces over time. Plays in 30-40 mins and also works well at any player count up to 6 - Mists over Carcasonne (? hope that is the English title) - quick co-op filler tile placer with a difficulty ramp-up :D - up to 6 - Tranquility - card grid placement - very relaxing and beautiful, otherwise maybe on par with "The Game" -2-4 Newest in my household and honorary mention: - Flame and Fang :) arrived yesterday and we might get to try it tomorrow hopefully. It looks very accessible. Future co-op games I am looking forward to: Orange Shall Overcome, Dice Throne Missions, Monster Hunter Iceborn, Deep Rock Galactic and Primal. Wish you enjoyable gaming sessions! Looking forward to your new play throughs and co-op chats! Thank you a lot :)

Really well done, thanks!

Great video guys :) Always enjoy listening in while I do stuff. Keep it up.

Thank you for presenting the top 30 and talking about all the games! Love that all the co-op LCGs made the list (some of my favourites). Also if you ever want, I would be more than happy to deckbuild LotR for you.

Thanks for such an awesome video! Love seeing your reactions too these games!

In all of the art and videos I’ve seen the symbols where you put your tokens on your abilities are super dark. It’s really hard to see what colours are needed for what skill. Is that just a lighting/ camera thing? How clear is it in person?

Thanks for the recap, sounds like a great time. I sometimes listen to these videos while I drive and I miss the name of the game at the start of the discussion but the discussion itself catches my attention. It’d be helpful if you could say the name of the game again at the end of discussing it (I know it might be hard to remember!). Great video!

Is there anyone who knows if this games comes out in germany? may be even localized?

It sounds as if you had a fantastic weekend of games! I bet there was a lot of laughter! Some great games on the list. And a Little Shop of Horrors AND a Last Starfighter as well! Great podcast!