The Lord of the Rings The card Game LCG by Fantasy Flight Games core set unboxing and review

I love the Lord of the Rings, always have since i was a very young lad and my Uncle got me a copy of the Hobbit book.  I devoured it, and wanted more in this wondrous world, so was steered towards Lord of the Rings, and Silmarillion and more all guided by my uncle, and i adored the world i found, and still do to this day.

So as you can imagine i have a deep love for the worlds of Tolkien.  And when i found out that Fantasy flight Games had created a game that can be played multiplayer cooperatively OR solo!! (you know how much i love the solo addition) i thought i have to look into this.

Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”
     –Gandalf, The Return of the King
 

An ancient evil stirs in the black lands of Mordor, and the people of Middle-earth speak of a terrible doom approaching from the east. The Dark Lord Sauron is gathering his forces, and should he acquire the power he seeks, he will cast the world into eternal shadow. The only hope lies in a heroic few who must work together to stem the tide of evil…

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a cooperative Living Card Game in which one to two players (or up to four with two Core Sets) command some of the most powerful characters and artifacts in Middle-earth.

  

Select your heroes, gather allies, acquire artifacts, and work together with your friends to survive Middle-earth’s most dangerous fiends. By cooperating to overcome the obstacles drawn from the encounter deck, you will complete the quest before you and claim victory!

Lets pop open the box and take a rummage......

Merchants and Marauders presents: Broadsides from Z-man Games

Ahhh pirates, and combat on the high seas, something that has not been done enough in games, well not good ones anyway..... and not the naval aspect which i crave.  Now this is not a true simulation of age of sail naval combat, but it does do something that other games with ships in have not, and that is go into depth on the combat aspect..... more than rolling a dice anyway... This game is all about combat! priming the guns and blasting your opponent.  Now i have to say, i LOVE the cover art on this game, really is the kind of thing i have been hoping for in a naval game, sails, and broadsides of guns.....

Set in the Merchants & Marauders universe, Broadsides is a standalone game in which the two opposing players command pirate ships engaged in a fierce battle over a profitable sea lane. Sinking the enemy or taking out their Captain and First Mate are the only ways to seize victory and survive the day!

The card-driven game system allows players a wide variety of actions, triggered by playing cards in a variety of combinations.
Aim: zero in your cannons using an innovative targeting system
Hold: Draw more cards to increase your versatility
Reload: Load a variety of ammunition types (chain shot for rigging, canister for crew, solid shot for hull) into a variety of cannons (reliable 18-Pounders, thunderous Carronades, deadly Long Nines)
Broadside: Blast all your cannons at once in a fierce but costly salvo
Sheer Off: Correct your course just enough to disrupt your foe's plans
Repair: Send sailors where they are needed to man the guns, patch the hull, or replace ruined sails
Additionally, your Captain's unique Reputation and a handful of drafted Dirty Tricks means that every matchup will be different from the last. Multiple tactical approaches to either of the win conditions means that you can tailor your gameplay to your strengths and your foe's weaknesses. Outthink, outplay, outgun, and sail away the winner!

 So you get a hefty contest list on the back, some nice art, and an overview.  They say ages 14 and up, may just be because of the small pieces, but i reckon younger gamers can grasp the basics, but may not have the tactical nuance to use the games system to their full advantage. It is 2 players only, and they say about 45 minutes, which is about right.. maybe a bit quicker when you get used to the system.

so lets see what we get inside the box.........

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game TIE SF Special Forces Expansion pack unboxing and review

Once more we dive into the world of Star Wars for our continuing look at the latest wave.  This time with the First Order (also usable in Empire forces) TIE SF (special Forces)  First seen in the Force Awakens i have been waiting for this to hit the table to hopefully add some punch to the Empires TIE fleet.

Only the First Order's most elite pilots were authorized to fly the specialized TIE craft from the Special Forces TIE Expansion Pack. Outfitted with enhanced shields, weapons, and sensor systems, the ship had a dual heavy laser turret mounted to the bottom of its fuselage. In X-Wing™ this turret empowers the ship to launch a more potent attack from its primary firing arc or to fire from both its primary and auxiliary firing arcs in the same round. In addition to its pre-painted miniature, the expansion also contains four ship cards and five upgrades.

As always, in a nice clam shell pack where you get a good view of the ship... At first glance you may just think.. oh its JUST another TIE, but you would be wrong..... so lets look and see whats different!

Star Wars Dobble from Asmodee Games

Dobble.... the hit card symbol matching game comes in so many different flavours now, with regular Dobble, a timed variant with Dobble Chrono, themed versions like Disney Pixar Cars Dobble and now... Star Wars Dobble!!!

And of course we like Star Wars right? With games like X-Wing Miniatures the Force Awakens core set, Star Wars Timeline, Star Wars episode I-III Timeline, or perhaps epic Star Wars fleet battles are more your thing with Star Wars Armada, or roleplaying ground combat such as Star Wars Imperial Assualt.  There is certainly a Star Wars game to cover all kinds of gaming needs, and this just adds another feather into the cap of Star Wars and Dobble, with some excellent cross appeal between Dobble players looking for new mini games and challenges, and Star Wars fans looking for something small, light, portable, fun, and friendly for all kinds of gamer....

Suitable for ages 4 and up, and plays fast with 2-8 players, though of course you can always combine the clock from Dobble Chrono to play solo timed challenges too. 

Presented in the standard Dobble style tin, it fits in nicely with he rest of your collection.

Lets take a quick peak inside!

Fantahzee hordes and Heroes by AEG Alderac Entertainment Group

Its been far too long since i delved into a fantasy world in board games, i mean a true, old school style fantasy with skeletons, and orcs and heroes and such like. I think its time to remedy that!

Gather up a team of heroes in Fantahzee: Hordes & Heroes to defend the town, roll the combinations to activate their awesome abilities, and fight your way through the monsters to the bosses. Defeat three of the five bosses, then tally up your trophies from the day. Collect the most VP to win!

You may have gathered by the play on words in the title that this is a dice based game, and in fact the subtitle of "The game of heroic dice and slice" is fairly unsubtle about it.  It does help set you up though knowing what to expect.... cartoon style characters and a ton of dice... and honestly... that does not sound too bad at all to me!

 The Back gives you a little run down of contents, and some of the back story.  It says suitable for 2-5 players, but.... it CAN be played solo too! and you all know i love that ability in a game, again it should really mention it.

Play time 30-45 minutes, sounds about right, can be quicker once you know what you are doing and you can play fast.  Ages 14 and up.... i would probably agree with this, as there is a fair amount of dice rolling and matching which yes could be done by an age, but to get good you need to chain the combos together to bounce off other cards, so you COULD play with a younger gamer if they where competent.

Now lets pop it open and take a rummage inside........

Timeline British History from Esdevium Games and Asmodee

Timeline games have always been fun, easy to learn and play. In the case of Timeline Historical Events highly educational, and with the Star Wars Timeline epsiode IV, V, VI and Timeline Star Wars Episodes I, II, III just pure movie based fun.  There is though a wide range of different subjects covered by the Timeline series Inventions, Music & Cinema, Science & Discoveries and General Interest as just a few examples, and they acan all be mixed together as well!

The Latest addition though... is British History.

 I Have to say the artwork is fantastic on the cover, really love it, and it screams "British" with the victorian lady, Cheshire Cat, Tea, Big Ben, lots of references with lovely colouring.

 The Game advises ages 8 and up, which is possibly fair, only for the content really not the rules.  But if you are using this as a teaching aid, and believe me it makes teaching a lot more fun then you can drop the age to maybe 6 or 7.  Players.. 2-8 yes, it plays fine at all numbers.  Time suggested for a play.. 15 minutes.... usually the games I have had have gone quicker than that, but i have not often played in the larger groups, and with people who may be thinking a lot on their turn it could happen.

Time to take a look inside!!

For Family Honor a Game of Thrones the card game expansion from Fantasy Flight Games.

Its been a while since we delved into A Game of Thrones the Card Game LCG 2nd edition, but now we are back, with the latest chapter pack... For Family Honor.

Im real excited to see this, as A Game of Thrones is my favourite card game.

Like all the expansion packs you get 60 cards, 20 new ones, with 3 copies of each for your deck building.

No one would admit to being afraid—they were men of the Night's Watch, after all—but Jon could feel the unease. Four empty villages, no wildlings anywhere, even the game seemingly fled. The haunted forest had never seemed more haunted.
   –George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

The War of Five Kings has already begun to shape the future of Westeros. Robb Stark marches on Lannister holdings, even as Tywin Lannister menaces the Riverlands from Harrenhal. To the south, Stannis Baratheon lays siege to Storm’s End and Renly Baratheon calls upon the might of Highgarden to break his brother’s armies. Yet in the midst of these kingly conflicts, another drama unfolds far to the north. From Castle Black, the Night’s Watch rides forth in a great ranging and ventures beyond the Wall to confront Mance Rayder and brave the fury of the wild. If they fail to defend the realms of men, the consequences could reach far beyond the icy heights of the Wall. 

For Family Honor is the second Chapter Pack in the War of Five Kings cycle for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. Throughout this Chapter Pack, you’ll find plenty of new cards that support the major themes of the cycle as you continue to follow the storyline of A Clash of Kings. New Kings and Crowns invite you to stake your own claim to the Iron Throne, even as other cards heighten the importance of loyal cards—the characters you can truly trust, the locations that would never fall, the events and tactics that you utterly control. Finally, For Family Honor introduces iconic characters to join the game, including Ser Edmure Tully, a House Tyrell version of Renly Baratheon, and Hot Pie.

 Lets take a closer look at the cards....

Dead of Winter The Long night unboxing and Review from Plaid Hat Games

Zombie games, they are still a thing going strong, even after so many variants and years of them it seems we have not yet tired of the walking dead.  The Recent Hit Z Road From Asmodee Games tried a different approach to the zombie games, and proved to be great fun.  for straight up fighting the hordes and dodging around its hard to beat Zombicide from Cool mini or Not.  So with Dead of Winter The Long Night, is there enough space on your shelf for another Zombie game? Stick with us and see......

Dead of Winter is a meta-cooperative psychological survival game. This means players are working together toward one common victory condition — but for each individual player to achieve victory, he must also complete his personal secret objective. This secret objective could relate to a psychological tick that's fairly harmless to most others in the colony, a dangerous obsession that could put the main objective at risk, a desire for sabotage of the main mission, or (worst of all) vengeance against the colony! Certain games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Work toward the group's goal, but don't get walked all over by a loudmouth who's looking out only for his own interests!

"Crossroads" is a new series from Plaid Hat Games that tests a group of survivors' ability to work together and stay alive while facing crises and challenges from both outside and inside.
Its for 2-5 players in a small, weakened colony of survivors in a world where most of humanity is either dead or diseased, flesh-craving monsters. Each player leads a faction of survivors with dozens of different characters in the game.
 
Dead of Winter is an experience that can be accomplished only through the medium of tabletop games. It's a story-centric game about surviving through a harsh winter in an apocalyptic world. The survivors are all dealing with their own psychological imperatives, but must still find a way to work together to fight off outside threats, resolve crises, find food and supplies, and keep the colony's morale up.

It really is less of a "Zombie" game, though they of course feature hugely, its more a game focused on survivors working together to do their best to simply, well survive.

Dead of Winter has players making frequent, difficult, heavily- thematic, wildly-varying decisions that often have them deciding between what is best for the colony and what is best for themselves.

Dead of Winter: The Long Night is a standalone expansion for Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game that introduces the Raxxon location where horrible experiments will spill out into the town unless players can contain them.

The line "What would you do to live" on the back, its not just a bland statement, this relates to the crossroads cards that force hard decisions on you, not just in game terms, but it makes you question your moral standing as well, i mean one option may be "better" in game terms, but can you morally live with the choice? Do not worry we shall be looking into the crossroads part more later.

This is not an expansion of the Original Dead of Winter, well it is in a way, but you do NOT need the Original Dead of Winter to play this, though you can combine them for more options.  This is its own, Stand alone game, ready to play straight from the box, you don't need to have played the previous version.

Take a look at the component list,  you get a whole world of goodies in this box, so make sure you set yourself some time aside if you are intending to play straight from the box.


The game has players at a new colony location trying to survive with new survivors against brand new challenges. Can you handle being raided by members of other colonies? Will you explore more and unravel the mysteries of the Raxxon pharmaceutical location to find powerful items but release stronger enemies? Or will you upgrade your colony to help it better withstand the undead horde? These are all choices you will get to make in this new set, and if you want, you can mix in the survivors and cards from the original set to increase the variety even more.

Thje game works in a clever way with expansion modules... You get your base game experience, then you cand "plug in" expansions like Raxxon, the improvements module, or Bandits, so you can play with all, some or none of them.  You also get scenarios in the book that guide you through how they all operate which is great as it eases you into them.

So lets take a little look and see what we get.........

Star Wars X-Wing miniature games Protectorate Figther expansion pack unboxing and review

Today we drop out of hyperspace into the Star Wars universe for another look at the latest wave.  This time the Protectorate Starfighter for the Scum and Villainy faction.

Also known as the “Fang fighter,” the Protectorate starfighter was a fast and sleek Mandalorian craft custom-built for fighter combat. The Protectorate Starfighter Expansion Pack brings this aggressive ship to X-Wing™ as one of the most potent—and most deceptively simple—vessels in the Scum and Villainy fleet with three attack and three agility. Although the ship has no shields, its pilots favor aggressive approaches, meeting their foes in deadly head-on charges. In addition to its pre-painted miniature, the expansion contains six ship cards and two upgrades.

shes small an sleek.. but is she any good in a fight? lets look and see...............