Game: Conquest of the Fallen Lands

Thread: Re: My German Friend said this one is better then Settlers of Catan!

Kevin_Whitmore — 2008-09-27T04:14:41+00:00

Both games are pretty quick to play, why not take both games next time?

Have fun,

Kevin

Thread: My German Friend said this one is better then Settlers of Catan!

Hendal — 2008-09-26T23:47:50+00:00

Hey All,

So I have a game day at a German couples tiny Eco-lodge on the Ocean in the middle of the Rains forest once a week. I taught them COTFL and they really enjoyed it and we played a lot of it. My German Friend kept telling me I need to get Settlers, and I said I wanted to. I finally get it here after trying once and getting oh so close ( I live in the jungle of Costa Rica ) the first time. So I am all proud of this new game and we head to our friends for game day, they are happy to see us ( this is the first week after I returned from the states and my trip to Gencon - so as far as games go I am loaded for bear I tell you. ). We play settlers and I didn't even win, our friend the Newbie to it wins, go figure. The next week I redeem myself and win, so I am happy. The next week we go back and I win again, but I have been playing it online so I have a much better concept of it. After the game my German friend says she like the " Conquest " game better then settlers and I should bring it next time instead of settlers. I thought that was a very cool thing. For the Record she use to play a lot with all the expansion so I think part of it might be she misses all the extra tiles and stuff going on.

I have a game night tonight with friends, and dinner - yea, and I am leaving settlers at home and bringing COTFL with me.

Conquest On'

Thread: Re: Great customer service!

Hendal — 2008-09-26T23:37:38+00:00

Yep they sure do Rock at the Main Office of this Game.

Scape On'

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usagi-san — 2008-09-26T01:22:04+00:00

5-player Conquest of the Fallen Lands at Fallcon 21

Thread: Great customer service!

Andrew Snyder — 2008-09-23T22:28:06+00:00

I had a soggy misfortune with my cards, but Alexander Vaschillo of ASSA Games was nice enough to send my some new ones! Let the conquest resume!

Thread: HELP received! (was need new cards- HELP)

Andrew Snyder — 2008-09-10T20:19:01+00:00

I was playing this with someone who was was playing close to their vest, which unfortunately was a wet bathing suit. Not the best thing for paper cards...

Does anyone know where I can get replacement cards?

(I tried the contact on the publishers site about a week ago, but its a small shop and they might not have seen my request yet)
--------------------------
I've from ASSA Games, and they are sending me a new deck. Life is good!

Thread: Re: CotFL: Almost but not quite great

Duglis — 2008-08-20T09:09:42+00:00

3 player games are VERY GOOD!

Thread: Microbadges are finally here for this Great Game!

Hendal — 2008-07-26T15:39:52+00:00

Hey All,

So we finally got the microbadge for COTHFL - very cool!

Big Props go out to

thorndor

For making this happen ( I just requested it and threw some GG at it to make it happen faster )

You can go here to buy one

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/microbadge/5504.

Game On'

It happened the day after I get my silver session reporting Microbadge, so that lasted 1 whole day, and is now gone so I can proudly display my Conquest of the Fallen Lands Microbadge.

Cheers

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Rokkr — 2008-07-14T11:06:30+00:00

game in progress

Thread: COTFL Being Demo'ed in the GenCon Game Room!

Hendal — 2008-07-11T11:24:11+00:00

Hey All,

I will be doing some Demo Games at GenCon this year in the Open Gaming Room for Conquest of the Fallen Lands. I decided this self published game could use some extra exposure and thought I am just the man to do it. It is a great little game that has a lot of strategy and a great area control mechanic to. It is a card driven game but you need to manage your army cards and select the best followers to support your cards. This is different every game so no one strategy will win you the game. All my friends have really enjoyed this one and everyone has wanted to play more of it, which is always the biggest factor for me when rating a game ( the Fun Factor ).

If your heading to GC and would like to see what the game is all about stop by the Open Game Room at:

Thurs: 2pm - 4pm
Sun.: 2pm - 3 or 4 pm

If I do not make the Heroscape Championship ( which I figure I won't ) then also at:
Sat. 12:30 PM - 2 or 2:30 PM

Hope to see you there!

Thread: Waiting on the Microbadges for this one!

Hendal — 2008-07-07T12:02:56+00:00

Hey All,

I got a friendly BGG'er to make us 3 microbadges ( of the 3 followers ) and we are just waiting for them to be approved. I am told there is new adm. in charge and they are a bit behind, bummer since I can not wait to sport this one.
Just thought I would let all the other COTFL fans know this should be happening sooner then later.

Enjoy & as always

Game On'

Thread: Re: 14 & 10 year old loved it, and want some more!

Hendal — 2008-07-03T03:52:55+00:00

Got in another one with them today. We didn't show our cards and I didn't help them at all, and they did fine and had a great time, but my nephew was so determined to get a 12 point tile that he just surrounded it and took one tile per turn or put on garrisons to the extent of not getting other stuff when he should of, but he had a great time. Every time my niece was poised to get a high point tile I beat her to it, and I flooded a 11 pt tile she was going for, so I really hurt her this game. They will be back in a week so I am sure we will be playing more.

Thread: Re: 14 & 10 year old loved it, and want some more!

assa — 2008-07-03T03:22:28+00:00

We have had 8 year olds play the game and love it. Younger kids usually do not have enough strategic insight for the game, but they still happily play and to my surprise they often win! I tried to analyze how my 8 year old son manages to win games against 14 year olds and adults, and it looks like you can win using a good short-term tactics and not planning many turns in advance.
I am not entirely clear on how he manges to do this, but it works. Magic. ;-)

Thread: 14 & 10 year old loved it, and want some more!

Hendal — 2008-07-02T12:43:21+00:00

My niece and nephew are visiting which means game time to me. We started off with Carcassonne and they enjoyed it. They asked for something different and I pulled out Conquest of the Fallen Lands. They loved the look of the box and enjoyed setting up the tiles once I pointed out all the cool monsters on the different tiles. The question to me was would the 10 year old grasp the game and be able to play a good game of it. For it being his first game I was very impressed with his level of play, not great but he got it as well as a lot of adults I have played with on their first game.

The board didn't have a lot of low #'ed tiles and so it made it a tough board to start out on. I went last and my niece and nephew both chose good starting positions. I was the only one who could only claim 1 tile verses 2 on the first turn. My nephew ( the 10 year old ) took the early lead and was getting more tiles but at the cost of not having a lot of support for the medium valued tiles in the middle of the game. It can be a little tricky figuring out that you want to get a mage early to get extra cards verses using all your cards up getting a lot of tiles in the early game ( I kept explaining Meeple Management to them in Carcassonne and now I was trying to explain to them that this game has a long range strategy and it is about card management and areas control that needs some serious planning for the middle and late game ). My nephew was about to make a big score when my niece played a silent thief card on him and stole the card he really needed on his next turn ( being 10 he took this pretty hard to start with but when i explained it was because he was in the lead and had the most cards that it just made sense. When you tell a 10 year old they are winning they usually forget everything else and he did ). This was perfect for slowing him down. I cornered off a section of the board and and isolated two high point tiles for the end of the game and then started to spread out from my tiles base ( at the end of the game I explained my strategy to them so next game they would be even better opponents ). My niece made a couple of miscalculations that hurt her, thinking she could add some garrisons and then still have enough followers to get tiles also ( in the middle and late game this happens a lot where you are so excited to get a bunch of high point tiles that you over calculate and wind up not being able to get what you want - it has happened to me a few times so I felt for her ). This really hurt her. I had been saving the flood card the whole game and near the end both my opponents where poised to take on the only 2 dragons on the board. The game really comes down to who has the most $ at the end so I counted their $ up ( the best I could from their stacks ) and figured if I didn't stop my nephew he would be way closer to winning then i was ready to let happen. He had even used some magic to claim the dragon tile and was pretty proud of himself - his sister had guys around both dragons but only enough support around the other dragon and the one my nephew was going for was not in danger but he had saved the claim card the whole game and was very proud of using it in such a worthy spot he said . As a newbie it just has to suck to have someone pull out a card you have never heard of that just ruins your day ( I flooded the tile with the dragon was on so no one could get the points from it ). He asked me why I didn't stop his sister since she was poised to get as much gold as he was. when I explained that he was closer to winning then her, and that he was the big threat to my victory he got a big smile on his face and said we have to play tomorrow now that he knows what he is doing score.

The kids really like it, which is always a plus in my book, for their first time I was very impressed and I look forward to playing a a few more times with them to see how they improve their game. I think this was a great game for them and there is just enough down time for them to really think out where they where going next. 3 people was perfect to start with them, when you have 4 people on the same board you have much more competition and a lot of times something your where planning on getting winds up already taken by someone else. I helped them through out the game and I figure 2 more games and they will really have it done, but most of my friends need that 2nd game to fully understand it so that isn't bad for their age.

The box says 8 years +, but I think 10 is about as young as I would go on this one, which just means it has a lot more depth and strategy then most people would think. I highly recommend this game to anyone looking to add to their collection of very good solid games worth owning.

There parents love having me play games with them as I am teaching them a lot of different things through out the game plus entertaining them. My wife got to spend a lot of quality time with her sister and my brother in law had to work on the computer since he hadn't for the last week of vacation. I feel good knowing they are growing up gamers even if there parents are more serious minded people, lawyers, who are into sports but are not board gamers at all.

As always

Game On'

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

scottsnew1 — 2008-06-27T08:07:08+00:00

really great game that i wish i had the opportunity to play more often. lots of strategy to explore. never a dull moment.

Thread: Re: Pre-Set Board lay outs? Would you use them?

i7dealer — 2008-06-26T07:11:02+00:00

It might be interesting to have a board that has lesser tiles on the outer ring working in to a deadly center. Having said that, I'd have to say I'm not thrilled at the idea of setting a board up from instructions. Currently I enjoy just playing the random maps, and wouldn't want to spend the time setting a board exactly right according to spec. But that's just me.

Thread: 2 more gamers think this is Great!

Hendal — 2008-06-25T02:27:40+00:00

Just got done playing COTFL with some friends of mine who we game with once a week. My wife wasn't feel to good to she bowed out early and I pulled this one out to show our friends. They thought this is one of the better games we have played so far and said they want to get here early next week so we can get 2 games in of it - that just makes me oh so happy!.

I am the game buyer & explainer for my area and I have a few groups I game with. This is one of the games that has been the most highest rated in all my groups, and the one that gets asked to be played again the most so far ( in about 4 months of gaming with 4 different groups ). I really enjoy it and we have only played the basic version so far, but to be fair I think this should be the regular game and the 2nd version - basic has a bad ring to it to most gamers and a lot of games have a basic version for kids, this is not the case with COTFL.

I highly recommend this game to any one who is thinking of getting it, well worth the price of admission!

Game On'

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whoami — 2008-06-14T00:16:49+00:00

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

Stratagems — 2008-06-07T16:12:51+00:00

My group liked the game quite a bit even though we interpreted the support rules incorrectly. We were only adding neighboring tiles that we controlled, I think I read elsewhere that you add all adjacent tiles to your total value when trying to conquer a new tile. Anyway a very good game worthy of a spot in more gamers collections.

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

VixenTorGames — 2008-06-07T14:56:07+00:00

Yeah, this game is a winner. It's very good. The guys at Assa Games have said they're working on a second game, and if it's anywhere as cool as this one, it should be pretty great.

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

LatinaNakita — 2008-06-07T13:21:50+00:00

This is a fun one for sure! A lot of different strategy depending on the cards you get right off the bat.

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

wwscrispin — 2008-06-05T19:18:16+00:00

I think this game needs more exposure. It is solid fun but I think coming from a smaller publisher hurts its visiblity.

I am glad I picked up a copy.

Thread: Re: A Great Game for Any Collection!

gmonk — 2008-06-05T12:55:58+00:00

Thanks for the great review. This review made me put the game on my wishlist. Keep it up!

Thread: Re: Claim on a Claim?

Hendal — 2008-06-05T11:48:48+00:00

Yea - I found something new in your game, big big smile on my part. With good sharp eyes like these I bet I would be an ideal play tester for your next game -- hint, hint

Thread: Re: Claim on a Claim?

adagio_burner — 2008-06-05T05:43:09+00:00

Yes it is a misprint. It's funny that no one reported that before -- I would think that all typos would be known by now. Good catch, thanks!

Thread: A Great Game for Any Collection!

Hendal — 2008-06-05T03:42:32+00:00

Conquest of The Fallen Lands ( COTFL ) is an amazingly fun game that my friends,wife, and I are all enjoying a whole lot. I have to admit right off the bat that I won this game from Matt Drake's cool web blog on gaming :
feed://drakesflames.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

I recommend checking his site out for very funny reviews and contests every once in a while. Now I actually really wanted ElfBall because I asked Matt to try and review this one since I love Battleball.

Matt is a super great guy and I talked my way into a 2nd game, and this game was COTFL. I was really thinking of getting Mr. Jack, but the wife hated the theme and I was looking for more games that she would enjoy. I hate to admit this, but I have not played ElfBall yet, and I am oh so very happy I got COTFL because it is such a wonderful game and everyone I have played with ( around 15 people ) have all really enjoyed it and all have wanted to play it again. I have a few friends who said they are going to look into getting it themselves.

This is a self published game and for that reason alone I feel more Geeks should own it since we all dream of making our own games some day. I want to make my own game, but I really doubt I can make something that would be as cool as COTFL, but if I keep spending most of my time playing games and cruising the BGG who knows what I might wind up making.

Components: The Box is sturdy and the cover art is attractive yet simple. It depicts the 3 type of followers you will be buying and using through out the game. the game comes with 61 nice big think tiles that have simple yet very pleasing to the eye pictures on them and they are all numbered 1-12. There are a lot of the low #'s and only a few of the higher #'s. I actually really enjoy just playing with the tiles and seeing what kind of board I can make. Check out the variant threads for this game and you will see what some of my ideas for this game are. You have 3 stakes of follower tokens: A Warrior, A Craftsman, and A Mage. They are a little thin and do the job fine, but living in the tropics where the dry season is over 92% humidity I have started to keep this game in our gift shop with AC on in the day to help them from warping a little, but that is more because of where I live, i am sure they would be fine in Ohio where I am getting a 2nd copy of the game so I can play with my old gaming group when I go visit. There is a bunch of round cardboard coins in 1,5, 10, & 25. They are nice quality and the colors are different enough that they are easy to tell apart. I personally think you really don't need the 25 pt coins , it could just use more 10 pt. coins, but that is a minor thing. You then have a big stack of little cards that are also very nice quality. I am not a fan of small cards but I don't mind these at all. You need small cards so they fit in the tiles when you claim the tiles for your own and collect $ from them, so big cards would not really work for this game. The cards have troops of all kinds, 4 types of Fortifications, and magic cards. It is a game for 3-5 people so there are also the standard glass chips ( rounded on top glass buttons ). There are plenty of chips and I have actually used some for markers in my micropul game ( a great little PNP ). I like that they give you plenty of markers. The Rules are 4 pages and very well written and very easy to read. My eyes are getting worse by the year and I love big printed rules and these are super easy to read, but also easy to understand. There are plenty of good pictures to help explain everything so the rules are very easy to follow. Then you get another 2 sided page of rules for the Advanced game. I am not so sure this is an advanced game as much as it is another variation of the game. I have only played this way once and it is very fun and has a very different feel from the regular game ( they call it basic but I feel it is more the standard game. Basic in most games means a version for kids, but this is not the case at all for COTFL ). You then get a very handy little easy to read and of good quality reference card that has a side for the regular and advanced game. If I find any fault in the components then it would be that there is not at least 2 of these reference cards so more then 1 person could be looking at it at 1 time. But that is pretty minor complaint. The box has cardboard dividers in it with 9 separate compartments so everything has a place to sit on its own and I really like that the box is divided like this.

Rules: Like I mentions above the rules are straight forward and very easy to learn. You can teach someone the rules in under 5 minutes and by their 3rd turn they totally understand how to play. The rules give you 3 different starting amounts of tiles you lay down. You put them down randomly so the boards are different every time. Less tiles means a faster game, so you can plan on a shorter or longer game. I play the short one with newbies the first time so you can finish their learning game and then play one where they fully understand the rules and what is going on. As with any game it really helps to see all the cards so you have a better understanding of the game as a whole. Everyone then picks 8 cards and hope they get some good ones that they can use right off the bat. If you get all cards that can not be used you can redraw all 8 cards on your very first turn only. You then get to choose 2 followers that are what you need to play your cards. Every turn, starting with the first, you can also buy an additional follower ( you can only buy one follower per turn ). A big part of the game is figuring out the followers that will help you best and when you should stop buying followers. Everyone gets 25 gold coins to start and it costs 5 gold to buy a follower. So you start the first round with 25 gold but you buy a follower right away and are down to 20. This matters because the winner at the end of the game is the guy with the most $.

Your turn has 4 phases:

1. Hire a follower ( that is buying a guy for 5 GP )

2. Complete tasks ( conquer a field, fortify a field,&/or use a magic card )- as the game progresses you have more followers in your hand so you get to play a lot more cards then in the beginning of the game.

3. Draw/Exchange cards ( you get to draw one more card at the end of your turn and an additional card for every mage you have not used. So you have to think about not using the mages as much as you would like or you will get low on cards and not have the options of cards when you need them. You can also trade in any 2 of your cards for 1 card. In the beginning of the game if you get troop cards that need a lot of followers to use you may be better off trading some of these in for new cards.

4. Restore your followers ( you turn your followers upside down when you use them, so you know what you have left to still use. You now turn them back over and next turn they can all be used again ).

Each follower is different and has a Attack # & a Support # on the top left side. Below this is a picture or two of the followers you will need to use this card and then a # beside it of how many of that type of followers. For example a simple Spearman card has 1 attack value and 1 support value, he only take 1 Warrior to use. A Halberd card has 2 attack and 2 support and he needs 2 Warriors and 1 Craftsman to use.

Game Play: Like I mentioned earlier it is a pretty easy game to understand after just a few turns. So who ever goes first will have 3 followers and be limited on his options of where to go. A lot of luck is involved in what cards you get in the beginning and through out the game. So all the tiles have a # on them. You need to match that # with your attack value to claim that tile. So a Halberd troop who has 2 attack and 2 support could take over a 2 point tile on your first turn by using all 3 of your followers. You then put the card on the tile and colored glass chip on the card to show you have conquered that tile. You then get to get 2 GP for conquering that tile. Your turn is over beacuse you have no more followers that can be used so you pick up your one new follower card and turn over the followers and wait for your next turn ( although this is the time where you figure out where you want to go next ). On your next turn you would buy another follower because in the early part of the game you always need more followers. So lets say you buy a mage. Now you could conquer a tile anywhere on the board but if beside the 2 pt. tile you just took over last turn their is a tile worth 4 pts. you could try and take it over. Since your original halberd guy has a 2 support that means any tile next to him you already have 2 attack from his support. So if you had another halberd guy in your hand you could place him on the 4 pt. tile because his 2 attack + the 2 support from the adjacent tile equals 4. You would then collect 4 gp. Now lets say you have a battle mage ( which has 1 attack and 1 support and takes only 1 mage to use ) you could end your turn and collect 2 new followers ( 1 extra for the mage you did not use ) or you could use your mage to take over another tile. There are lots of 1 pt. tiles and you could get one anywhere on the board which is a good thing to be a little spread out sometimes and to deny other players the easy low point tiles. Lets say beside the 2 and 4 pt tiles you have already conquered with 2 different halberd troops are by a 5 pt. tile you would have 4 support from the 2 halberds and could use your battle mage card to take that space ( your 1 attack + 4 support from 2 differen tiles that are touching the tile you are going for equals 5 and you would conquer this tile and get 5 more GP. You would only get one new follower troop then since you used your mage to lay your battle mage follower ).

Are you still with me good, if not, oh well. You can only lay one follower per tile, so you can not stack a few guys on the same tiles to build up your support #. But you can lay down 1 fortification card on a tile you have already conquered. The fortifications come in #'s form 1 to 4 and that is how much extra support they give. So if you had the tile with the battle mage on it that has 1 attack and 1 support he is not giving much support if your trying to take over a 8-12 pt. tile. So you could lay a fortification that is worth 3 support on it and then you would get 4 support in total ( 1 from the battle mage and 3 from the fortification ). On top of that there are a lot of magic cards that can add to your attack value or do all sorts of cool stuff to mess with the other guy ( you can steal a card, you can put a plague on everyone else, you can flood a tile you can not get to and keep others from getting those points, you can have a magic builder so you can build a higher pt. fortification then you have cards for, you could get a shadow army and get to use a lot of extra cards, and some other really fun cards ).

Part of the strategy is to not let yourself get boxed out at the end of the game where you can not get conquer any tiles. It is also important to make sure you position yourself so you can get the high point tiles if you want to win. A lot of times someone else snakes the tiles you where going to be going for next time and you have to figure out a new place to go, just all part of the fun.. A big part is deciding if the other guy can take what tiles and try and snake them from him to screw him over, or to help yourself.

The warriors give you good attack value and poor support value, the Craftsman give you poor attack value and good support value, and the mages give you magic and extra cards. You will always have different strategy in this game depending on what your starting cards are. You have to pick followers that match up with your cards. It actually turns into a really fun balancing act trying to make the best decisions and use the cards and followers to their best advantage. The game will always be different and you have to be able to figure out what you can do with the hand you are dealt. For me this makes for a lot of replayability and keeps the game fun to play even after multiple plays.

Fun Factor:For me this is a very fun game and so far everyone I have played with has asked to play again. A few of my friends have really enjoyed it and ask to play this one first on game days. I find it to be a very interesting game and am not sure what to call it. I would almost lean towards a Euro game since the fighting monster they talk about is more about managing cards and area control. But I am pretty new around the BGG and may not really have my terms down yet.

I would like to say I have figured this game out, but I don't think I am even close to that all said and done since every game is so different from the last in the way I play. Sometimes you are using lots of Craftmen and getting great support all over the place, sometimes you are just using brute force with lots of warriors, sometimes the Mages can win it for you with all their magic, and most times it is balancing you hand between all 3 styles. It can be a screw your neighbor game if you want it to be, or it can be a more friendly game although at the end when there are few tiles left you can not help but take a tile someone else was looking to get on their next turn. The game takes about 35-60 minutes which is just the length of game I like. With 3 or 4 people I think it plays great, with 5 it has a little down time, but not to bad to make it not worth playing and really it just gives you extra time to figure out the very best place to go with the cards and followers you have to work with.

Pros:
Supporting a Self published game
Easy to learn
Replayability factor high
Always different strategies
Good solid components
can make the game longer or shorter by how many tiles you use
2 different games versions to choose from

Cons:
No dice involved
No real violence to speak of ( you are killing orcs & dragons & attacking fortresses but compared with Ameri-trash games that I have played it just doesn't feel like you are )
No 2 person version of the game ( my only real complaint on this one )

Hope you enjoyed my review and

Game On'

Thread: Re: Claim on a Claim?

Hendal — 2008-06-04T23:17:21+00:00

Thanks Andrei! Your game Rocks.

Was that a misprint on the claim card I found? ( Pay instead of Play? )

Thread: Re: Claim on a Claim?

adagio_burner — 2008-06-04T22:51:36+00:00

Absolutely you can put a claim on another claim. The color chip indicates whose claim is on the field, but it does not make it conquered.

Thanks -- Andrei

Thread: Claim on a Claim?

Hendal — 2008-06-04T21:41:35+00:00

So I have a question. When someone places a claim card on a tile, can someone else place another claim on top of it? The card says: Pay ( although I think this is a typo and should be Play )this card face-up onto any unconquered field on the board, and mark it with a color chip. No player may conquer this field while the claim card is on it. At the start of your next turn, retrieve the color chip and discard this card.

Does the color chip count as it being conquered? Or is it just to let you know who's claim is on it?

We played you could have 2 claims on it, but just wanted to get an official ruling?

Thanks in advance

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

assa — 2008-05-29T19:08:26+00:00

Designing a good game takes a lot of time. It took more than two years to design, test, and finally release Fallen Lands. This is why it is so good ;-).

The second game is coming... But you would not want the designers to rush, cut corners and come up with an imperfect game or mediocre art, would you? Be patient and ASSA will deliver...

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

Luscious Willard — 2008-05-27T17:45:09+00:00

VixenTorGames wrote:
... Assa has only managed one. It's a good game, but I wonder why they don't ever pull their heads out and make another one.

You need forty-two contractors to build a toilet seat, which is probably why there aren't any in the game.

Dude, you're hilarious.

Thread: Pre-Set Board lay outs? Would you use them?

Hendal — 2008-05-13T15:05:12+00:00

Hey All,

I am really enjoying COTFL and have been having fun just playing with the tiles and daydreaming of battle to come. I have been wondering if anyone else set up a standard board and documented it, to be used in the future because it is so perfect for the game? So evenly placed that every one has the same chance and the first couple of placements are not such a big deal? Just so fun to play? Or for any other reason?

I was wondering if someone could tell me of a program or a way for me to down load a hex map onto the session reports also - and allow me to put #'s in the tiles so I could map out a board to share with people?

I know the randomness of it is fun, but to be honest a few times we have rearranged the tiles to make it a more fairer ( for lack of a better word ) board for all to play on.

One idea I really enjoyed was just playing with the tiles and making a big board with the 2 dragons in teh center and working circles around that with the highest to lowest tiles, the board looks really col. Think of it as a hard core game where you invading a valley that is run by twin Dragons with all their minions gaurding them. THe forts all in circles around the dragons, and then a layer of encampments and then just orcs and small orc bands on the outside of the circle looks really cool. I set one up and what I did was on the 4 or 5 layer I did not have enough tiles for the whole ring so I left groups of mainly 3 ( 1,2, & 3 pt. tiles ) spaced 1 apart from each other the whole way around the board. That way everyone had a starting spot where they could get a foot hold into the valley. I think this would be a very interesting board to play, but sadly I never got to try it, but when I do you know you will be hearing about at the BGG.

If any one interested in this idea, please let me know. Maybe we can brainstorm more for cool variants or we can share pre-set boards we have playtested and enjoyed.

Game On'

Thread: Re: The Flood Wins The Game!

Hendal — 2008-05-13T12:20:37+00:00

Matt - thanks so much, I am glad someone enjoyed the report and found it useful.

My group is really digging this game, It will be seeing table time for a while I think.

Thread: Re: The Flood Wins The Game!

Sigrdrifa — 2008-05-13T04:15:08+00:00

Hendal wrote:
This is a great game with a lot more strategy and depth then I first thought, and I have not seen any games so far with a run away winner, they all seem to be close in the end even when the someone starts with a big lead. 3 of us had a very good chance of winning it right down to the end, which made for a very exciting ending!

You are NOT helping my will-power to desist in buying any games until I play the ones I have!!!

Nice report

Thread: The Flood Wins The Game!

Hendal — 2008-05-12T12:13:35+00:00

We had our Sunday Game Day at our Friends Eco-lodge on the Beach ( http://www.ojodelmar.com/ ) and it was wonderful as always. Our friends where out for lunch when we got there so we hiked the deserted beach to a little river mouth and swam for a while before walking up to some waterfalls. We got back and our friends where ready to rumble.

4 people playing on a 51 tile quick board. My friend Matt is a newer gamer but big into Heroscape and this is his first game of COTFL, I spent 10 minutes teaching him the game as we set up the board and got everything ready. Matt picked it up really quickly and only had a couple of questions through out the game.
Nikko went first and got a couple of tiles. My wife went next and she takes 1 tile right by Nikko - Nikko is like " Come On, it is a big board " , my wife tells her she is heading the other way and calm down. Matt goes and takes two tile right by Nikko and My wife. I explain he really wants to start on the other side of the board so I don't have the whole side to myself, he says he is happy and won't budge . I of course think this great. I have the lead for most of the game but it was very close most of the game.

I really love the mechanics to this game. Buying different followers to be able to use your army cards but trying to figure out what combination of followers will work best for the cards you have. THe big question is what will your next cards be and can you use them, or will they sit for a long time. Then you have to factor in the Mage is how you get extra cards so you need to use the mages, but you also need to not use the mages to allow a lot of card draws. Matt didn't get Mages for a few turns and then started using all the ones he did buy so he got to a point where he was really low on Cards. I on the other had had gotten mages early but found I had a lot of little cards I could play a lot and also found myself low on cards midway through the game. This left me with limited choices but as lady luck would have it the cards I did have where very good for my situation. I had 2 turns that I could only build up structures for support and take only 1 tile, which meant I thought everyone would catch up or pass me. Luckily Matt had a turn where he could take nothing at the same time and that helped out a lot for me.

So my wife did a straight line across the boards gobbling up tiles and headed right to my easy picking fields, but since I had 1/2 the board almost all to myself ( Nikko got a lone tile on my side but never followed up getting more ). This was a new tactic for our group, and then she went back and picked up a lot of other tiles with the 2 in row right down the line, it worked great till the end when she got boxed in a bit. I also cut her off from 1 side of the board early in the game and had 1/4 of the board all to myself, but I was also the one who was smart enough to go conquer a lot of the small 1 and 2 pt. tiles so others wouldn't get them late in the game to help get the high point tiles that are the game winners. It never hurts to be the biggest gamer in the group and to really know the game you are playing better then the others. For the record I was trying to give Matt some good advice along the way , and he took it half the time.

I thought I was winning, and half way through I thought Matt was out of it. Nikko is the complainer in our group and was pissed with the rule ( even thought we have used it all but the 1st time we played ) where she went first and I went last and then the order turns around after the first round, which meant I got 2 turns in a row. And she pointed out that means I am really in the lead since I always have 1 more follower then them ( well 1 more , and then the same amount ). So I promised we would drop this rule next time and see how it goes ( yes I also explained it was an advantage for me since I got last choice on the prime real estate to start on , and it wasn't my fault all 3 of them decided to start all bunched together one 1 side of the board ). Nikko was in 3rd most of the game, but this is one reason I really really enjoy this game. She was never truly out of it. She had the least tiles conquered but she was in a section of the board with a lot of large point tiles all bunched together. So she spent a lot of time putting different types of forts on her tiles so she could then make a big claim on the big pt tiles. All of a sudden she is almost tide with me and she has the best position to take the last 3 big pt. tiles ( 11, 9, 7 ). It is mainly me and her fighting for these tiles ( although my wife informed me she could have managed the 7 pt. tile with magic she had ). At this point I have about 2 or 3 cards in my had because I had been using them all so fast I couldn't stuck up any and if I wasn't getting cards I could use every time I would have been in a very bad position instead of holding the lead the whole game. NIkko plays the claim card on the 7 tile which is the only one I had a chance of getting ( but I had no chance to get it with the cards I was holding ). 2 turns before I was lucky enough to get the flood card and held it till I found the best place to play it. Matt had actually jumped in 2nd place in money 3/4 the way through the game and was poised to take the lead till others took the only tiles he could get at and he got boxed out at the very end - .

So Nikko lays the claim and is already counting the gold she will get for the tiles. I then play the flood on the 11 pt tile ( the biggy left that she would have claimed next turn and she realized all her coutning was for nothing). This also cut her off from the 7 tile she had played the claim card on, oh what a wonderful game I have to say. SO it ends up

Me 57
my wife 52
Matt 49
Nikko 48

Nikko was last,but if I didn't have the flood card she would have gotten 18 more points and would have easily won ( I would have had 2 less ). My last turn after I played the flood I still needed to buy one more warrior to be able to take the 7 point tile, but I had figured that I could still afford to do this. If I coulnd't have taken that tile my wife would have snatched it up for the win.

Matt simply loved the game and was like " We have to play another now that I understand the game " , he loved it and can't wait to play again, so for me that was even better then winning ( well almost ).

This is a great game with a lot more strategy and depth then I first thought, and I have not seen any games so far with a run away winner, they all seem to be close in the end even when the someone starts with a big lead. 3 of us had a very good chance of winning it right down to the end, which made for a very exciting ending!

Game On'

Thread: Re: CotFL: Almost but not quite great

LatinaNakita — 2008-05-06T14:12:41+00:00

I enjoy this one, but sometimes the cards are just really frustrating. When you have crappy cards and you are limited on where you can conquer it can really be a bummer. I wonder if 3 is the sweet spot for this one, with 4 you start to get some down time, unless you have people are really on top of it and have played a lot.

Thread: Re: Finally a 2 person version? Edit: I fixed the board

Hendal — 2008-05-06T02:54:37+00:00

So we tried something different tonight. My idea for 2 player was we take turns controlling a 3rd player. That way it is going towards the other guys army more when you control it, more towards your army when he controls it. I thought it was a wonderful idea. But my wife hated it, she would not attack tiles she needed for herself and said for me to just control it. I gave the 3rd person 5 extra $, but 10 might be better since he will lose some turns and usually not get in a really good round. I actually played it like I was my wife and then as me, so I tried to be fair. My wife was in the lead early and I got to use the 3rd person 1st when he just got The Flood card, I traded it away, because the wife was not happy about this game at all, but she was a good sport about it and understands we are trying something new to see if it works - it does not for here, I think it is an option that could be explored a little more, but it is just better to get another friend to come over all said and done - like that is even an option sometimes?

Thanks

Game On'

Thread: My group is loving this one!

Hendal — 2008-05-05T01:02:01+00:00

So we have started a Sunday game group here, and I almost missed the 2nd one from having to work, luckily I found one of my guides and he agreed to do the tour for me - yea.

We got there late which meant only 1 game, but that is fine. We had all played the week before and Mike had played a few 3 person games with us during the week.

All the games have been close, the lead changes through out the game. If some one gets ahead the others kinda block them or use magic to slow them down, which stops a run away leader. We all enjoy the game and have been working on strategies to share with others - may take a while to have anything ground breaking .

I just thought I would let others now that this is a great game.

When playing 4 person what we are starting to do is have the person 2 past you in turns watch what you are doing and make sure it is all on the up and up. If the person in front and behind are busy studying cards, that is OK. If the next guy up is on top of his choices and is ready to buy his follower right away, and then proceed to take over tiles right away the game will go a lot faster. You still have to wait for your friend who over thinks everything , It is easier to move along faster earlier in the game of course - but it can cut off 10 min. to a game and keep it under 1 hour hopefully ( with the 51 tiles game ).

For your 1st game you could just do a 37 tile board to get a feel for it, then play a 2nd on the small board if time permits ( or a bigger board if time permits ) - but getting a 2nd game in the first session really helps to sink the rules in for people.

Hope your enjoying this game , or will try it if you get the chance, because it is a lot of fun.

Thread: Re: Finally a 2 person version?

Hendal — 2008-05-01T16:30:29+00:00

I am in the middle of my 2nd game on my board I designed and it is a tough game. IT takes some time, I think if you traded some higher point tiles for lower points ones in a few key spots you would make it easier and take some time off of the game.

----------------------------- EDIT-------- below here added --------------------------

I want to state here that I really like this game, and I am not doing this because I think it is broken in any way shape or form - I just want a 2 person version that my wife and I can play because I actually like the game so much. So I am hoping the community can help brain storm some ideas with me?
I wish I had a 3rd person to play this more often, but like most gamers I take what I can get most of the time.

So I finished another game on the new preset board and it was tough took a while to get the cards needed, and I think for the 2 person version we are going to try trading in 1 for 1 cards and see if that is to much next time.

I am also going to change 4 of the tiles to lesser #'s so the middle is a little easier to take. I think this will also take some time off the game if I am right.

I will add the new one to the main post so people won't miss it.

Thanks

Thread: Re: Finally a 2 person version?

wwscrispin — 2008-05-01T14:44:38+00:00

This is a game that I own but has not made it on to the table with my gaming group. I would like to try it - 2 person.

Thread: Finally a 2 person version? Edit: I fixed the board

Hendal — 2008-05-01T12:02:11+00:00

Hey All,

There are almost 300 people here who own this one, and another 100 who want it so I thought it was time as a whole to show this game a little more loving. To me it just screams home made rules, but that is for a whole different post. I wanted to play this with just 2 people and see if you could make it work. It may not be as fun as with 3 people, but if you only have two I think it can still work. I am sure some of you out there can come up with better ideas, so who knows if nothing else this will lead to someone else doing something cooler.

All we really did was design a set board with only two 1 spots on opposite end of the board and went at it. Our feeling here is that with 3-5 people you want the randomness, but in 2 it may be better to just make things equal and see how it goes. We used 35 tiles which is 2 less then the 3 person quick board from COTFL.

For me personally I would love to see COTFL's webpage come out with some new starting boards. I understand if I want a shorter game, use less tiles. But if you had a triangle for 3 people and you all had to start on a one spot in the corner( the rest was random ) - to simulate you all coming in from a different side. If you had a square board or a long board is it any different? After making a board for the 2 player I think it would be cool to have a couple of preset ones you could download off the web or the BGG that could be pre-set boards that are fair - or equal for 3, 4, or 5 people - have different ones for diff. #'s of people. Just wondering if anyone else playing this has ever thought about this? Pre-set boards verses random.

I really love the art work on the tiles, I can just sit there and daydream about them for a long while. I had a lot of fun arranging a set board that is the same on both sides, I pictured it as the Dragon is charge of this whole valley and this is how he set up his defenses. Both players are going in to attack from both sides at the same time to split the Dragons ( We call the Dragon Tile Conky - in honor of the trailer park boys - Conky the pissed off dragon, he knows he is going to lose, he always does) defenses and rid the valley of this foul beast.

So here is the board we used:

---------------Edit - OK this board looks more like it - sorry about that ---------------

1 2 3 10 6 9 2
2 4 5 3 3 4 2 5
7 11 6 12 6 11 7
5 2 4 3 5 4 2
2 9 6 10 3 2 1

Edit : after playing I am going to try draw cards 1 for 1 instead of 2 for 1. And I want to change the 2 9 tiles to 7's, and the 6's right beside the 9's to 4's I think this will make it a little faster and a little easier?

1 2 3 10 4 7 2
2 4 5 3 4 2 5
7 11 6 12 6 11 7
5 2 4 3 5 4 2
2 7 4 10 3 2 1

I hope these tile board lay out are better, sorry the last one was so lame.

2nd edit - so I have the tiles staggered here, but it shows up in regular rows, not sure why, but shift everything to the right one space on the 2nd row, 2 on the 3rd , 3 on the 4th and 4 on the 5th. If you go to set the tiles up you will understand.

Thanks

------ End Edit ----------------

It is long and the 1 tiles are at the end of a long narrow board, the way it comes out there in my chart is pretty skewed from how it looks. You have to start on the 1 spot first, then you can go any where you want, we are playing the basic rules here. There are two 2 spots away from the starting zone that end up being very important in the game. It made for a very interesting game between us. It is almost a race to get the best tiles, but it is also potential for a lot of steal the other guys best option on his next move.

We where thinking it might work to trade in 1 card for 1 card if you wanted the game to go a little faster - so we may try that out at some point also. We played this one in 40 minutes. My wife said I took to long a few times. But I had strange cards and had to build up forts and only get 1 spot a few times, but then my hard work and planning would pay off and I would claim 2 big ones and a med. one, so it worked out good for in the long. My other turns where super fast and she didn't really factor in that part of it. I think part of it is you hate to see the other person have a really good round. She thought maybe a little shorter game, but I was very happy with the length of it. I said if we made the board 28 tiles it should bring it down to 1/2 hour, but I think part of that is she is pretty tired. So I will ask her after we try a game in the day. I want to get a few plays in and see how it feels with different people, but also to see if the board still seems like a good design after 5 plays or so? I would think it would be good to have 5 or 10 designs so you could play a different one every sitting, play one board 1 to 3 times a sitting, and next time it hits the table use a different pre-set tile board.

So the game went really well and I had a lot of fun. With just 2 people there is not much down time unless the other guy is taking a long time. You are trying to figure out the best options with your new cards and sometimes it seems like there is not enough time for that.

I got 2 tiles the first round, my wife 1. Then we both got 1 tile, but hers was a 4 to my 2. The next round I went for the 2 spot on the other side of the board ( the 2's beside each other - important spot on the board really ) and informed my wife she may want to get the one of the double 2 tiles on my side, she said she was already on it. The beginning of the game didn't have a lot of blocking the other guy, but then half way through it was all about screwing him out of the best tiles and who could muster the strength for the big tiles we where both around. I actually blocked her off from part of the board, which was cool. I had way more land and got Conky in the center. But she got most of the other big point tiles and was doing well. The last round she was getting tired and all she could do was flood one of the last 2 tiles that I had surrounded with troops. I could have done a plaque on her and placed a tower to get the 10 point tile the next round and not bought a follower, but to end it quick I bought a 5 pt. craftsman and ended it right there ( allowing me to build a 4 support tower ).
I thought with all the big scoring at the end I had it and it turned out I just barely pulled this one out - 63 to 60. I might have been able to have 68 but she might have been able to play some magic and I got nothing out of it.

My hand of cards kinda sucked at the beginning, and my wife was not getting any really good cards. I had no magic at all for almost 1/3 of the game, and then when I got it I couldn't really use it till half way through the game. About 2/3's the way through the game I used a magic builder to help with a fort and then to leave enough guys to take over some tiles also. Late int eh game I used Shadow Army and got 4 extra Warriors, which allowed me to play a knight, and 2 more cards all of warriors. Karen got to use a little more magic then me this time, and her flooding one of the big tiles I was to get made a huge difference in the game. I was heavy on the mages the whole game trying to get better cards, but was drawing a lot of forts so I traded a lot of those in. I traded a lot of cards in ( 2 for 1 ) while my wife only did a couple of times at the end of the game.

So we where very happy with the way the game turned out. I will playing it again later today and will report back in on how the next few 2 person games on this pre-set board work. If you at all interested in this Ideal I suggest you try it, post your results and maybe we can figure out a cool 2 person version of this game. If you have any other ideas that you think would work, or would be better for a 2 person game, please let us know. I don't think this will be a great 2 person game, but if it is a good solid 2 person game then we can play it once in a while for a little chance of pace and be happy. Plus down here in the jungle I am limited ( for a while longer ) to the games I have access to so i want to make the most of what I have!

Thanks &

Game On'

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

XanderF — 2008-04-30T02:07:56+00:00

I read your review and couldn't help but be APPALLED at your lack of loyalty to your liege.

I mean, isn't it clearly our duty, once the Dark Elves plotted and Dark Elf warriors knocked down the Sibling Spires, to purge the Fallen Lands of Orcs and kill a dragon??

Thread: Never thought I had a chance, and I still won!

Hendal — 2008-04-29T21:27:02+00:00

So I just got this game last week, and we got in our first 2 games the day before with 3 and 4 people. My friend Mike was all about this one and showed up last night ready to play a few games. I could not have been happier to be honest. He is a gamer ( different style of games then me ) but has not been playing anything for the last few years. He said he was really happy we have become friends because he forgot how much he loves to play games - hey me too!

So we set up for a 3 person game and use the 37 tiles board. The first game went smooth and we used rule where you go counterclockwise the first turn, and then switch on the 2nd turn, giving the last guy 2 turns in a row - which we all agreed made a lot of sense ( I forgot it the day before ). I won the first game pretty easily but it was a lot of fun. Mike just didn't get any cards and the spots where my wife and I fought over I got the better of the deal. Mike also played a couple of magic cards on my wife that really helped me to win it in the end.

The 2nd game was the real grudge match for us. We had 3 games under our belt, we all where feeling comfortable with the game and we where ready to rumble. My wife went first and got a 2 spot, I got a 2 and a 1` spot, and Mike got a 2 spot. Mike also got to go again and had three 4 spots around his only conquered land. So I am on the other side of one of the 4's and of course that is the one he takes, which just so totally screwed me it was incredible. That one simple move shaped the game so much. My wife and I end up fighting for limited stuff and both kinda stalled in the middle of the game. Mike was on fire and was getting everything he needed. He was all mages and craftsmen way late in the game. He had so many cards stockpiles it was just crazy and he was doing well. I finally broke away from my power base and took some land on the other side of the board. I got a silent thief card and stole the most powerful magic card from Mike and then used it next round. He had guessed wrong where I was going and this really helped, I took his next target so he went a late round with out getting anything - oh yea I forgot I played the claim magic card that caused this and it was perfect. He was also forced to get some low point tiles verses not getting anything late in the game when he was still on a roll but he had to make a choice on what field to flood. He choose wrong thinking I would not get enough support to conquer the big 12 point tile. I had a 4 support fortress to play and that gave me enough for the big tile. Next thing I know I am in the lead with $. I also did not buy followers one time that he had, so that really helped.

It was a really fun tense game that played out very strange. My wife and I thought we where trapped and had no hope of stopping him. then it just slowly happened and we slowed him enough between us for me to get the win.

67 - 57 - 45.

Mike had played almost all cards that are 1 attack but 3 -4 support, it was amazing how much support he had everywhere, I still can't figure out how I pulled this one out. He finally bought 1 warrior with maybe 3 rounds left in the game. A real great part of the game, is that you have to change your tactics to fit the cards you have.

It was a fun time for all of us, and Mike said he will be back for more!

Game On'

Thread: 2 player game ideas?

Hendal — 2008-04-28T21:52:43+00:00

Hey All,

Just wondering if anyone else thought of making a different shaped board or something different with the rules for a 2 player game.

We have just played the game with 2 people and it is fun, not as good as with more people, but still playable by our standards. I just feel there is something small that could be added for a 2 person game that would really make it better? And wondering if you could help me with some ideas?

In the game Politico( http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/32639 ) you have one rule added for the 2 person version so you end up drawing more cards, it is actually a great simple little rule that makes the 2 person game playable, or at least a lot more fun.

I am going to try a long skinny board and see it as a race going back and fourth, but you can still fly ahead and start father along to then block the other guy, not sure just trying to brain storm here?

OK then, give us some ideas if you have any?

Thanks so much

Game On'

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

LatinaNakita — 2008-04-28T16:13:26+00:00

My husband had me read your review on this one from your game review blog - Drake's Flame, and it really helped me to understand the game the first time. It was nice to read about a game before my husband tries to explain it. I was just reading the rules and he forgot to switch the starting order up after everyone takes their first turn., next time I will make sure we add that rule in.

Thread: A very close game, for 2 of the 3 conquerers.

Hendal — 2008-04-28T05:37:31+00:00

I got this game a week ago and got to play a couple of warm up games. You know - get to know the game so we can teach it to other gamers - with just 2 of us, which is fine and it was fun - but the game says 3-5 people! And it is a lot better game that way for sure, but if the wife wants a game of 2 player COTFL I am all over it. The reality of it is, with 3 or 4 people you are more likely to get screwed out of something you wanted or expected, which makes it a lot more fun ( not that we didn't get a little in the 2 person game - we where talking about it and thought a long skinny board for 2 player where you got hardly any support may work out better for a 2 person game? Just brain storming - I will report back on this idea after play testing it. )

So I took my game to my German friends place who run a eco-lodge in the rain forest, and are surrounded by a beautiful garden with fruit trees and giant trees and monkeys passing by and we are under a thached roof - so a great place to play a board game. There was 4 of us and of course 3 of us jam up all on one side of the board and make it way to easy for our friend Mike to get all the land he wants. I decide to break away form my small power structure and get a base on the other side to slow Mike down. Nikko says she loves games and even though it took her a few rounds to really figure it out, she was steam rolling to the corner where the big point tile ( 12 gold or points since you need $ to win ) was waiting for her. Mike is the thinker and it was great having Nikko there to tell him he is taking to long, so it wasn't me for a change. Of course she took a long time a few into it as she was grasping the mechanics of the game, which we all where. My wife kinda got boxed out and I was keeping up but not really, it was at a high cost of strong attack/week support - which meant I couldn't follow through and get the best points later in the game. We thought Mike had had a good lead, but with me deciding to pick him off any where I could I ended up costing him the game. Nikko ended up pulling off the win. I want to say around 60 something Mike was a few behind, and I was 12 or so behind, My wife was a little less.
We needed that first game and it was fun. Once you play that first game then you are actually ready to really play a game and start to understand it. We did feel it had some down time, but mainly when Mike was taking to long to decide. We all took a good amount of time, but mike is the over-thinking in our group. The cards can be fickle, it is a big difference what first 8 cards you get, I think this makes for a great part of the game, deciding what followers to choose first based on what cards you draw - leads to a different strategy for a lot of games.

For the 2nd game it would just be 3 of us, Nikko had to deal with the lodge stuff. I figured this would be great as there will be less down time. A cool part of this game is that you could use a different amount of tiles in the game, making it it a quicker game if need be ( 61 tiles in all for the 4 or 5 person game, 51 tiles for the quick 4 person, and 37 for the 3 person). I like the art work and the idea behind the tiles are harder and harder things to fight ( there are 12 different types of tiles ) so a 1 has a few orcs, a 5 a small encampments, a 10 is a castle, and a 12 is a dragon. The box says it is fighting monsters, and if you count the pictures I guess it is, but I would say light fighting since you are trying to control the best tiles ( Land control ) through card management. I got this game as a gateway from the fantasy themed Ameri-trash I love so much. And I am very happy with this so far and can tell I will be playing it for a while. I almost got in another game tonight, but my friend showed up late and could not stay long, so we taught him Politico ( http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/32639 )

and we got 3 games of that in.

OK then, so we are playing a 3 person game. We actually kept the bigger board of 51 tiles, which I was happy for a longer game. I go first and have 4 of 8 magic cards ( I know, and 2 of us shuffled them in separate 1/2 piles and then traded parts and shuffled more ) but needed all 3 cards to take 1 spot. The other two started with 2 spots each. So I was at a disadvantage. I then got a mage and only got 1 more spot, so felt I was a little behind. My wife and I where on 1 side of the board and mike was free a few rounds to get what ever he wanted, and he did, he was looking good, even put up a watch tower ( 2 support ) and was in the lead with the $ - which is all that really counts in this game. Kinda cool, it is about claiming tiles, but it doesn't matter for the win, just you Booty Count goes toward the Win. Then I went for a tile control on his side of the board and made my presence known there. I knew if I didn't we would be boxed in and fighting for the same big tiles while mike ran wild. To be honest I was a little behind but was up on cards - i had the magic. I figured i would help Karen to win, since I was in last place. I was playing to stick it to Mike and I stopped a couple of his plays and then Karen dug into what he thought was his easy pickens on that side of the board. I started with the most powerful card in my hand, but it would be a while before I could use it ( you need so many mage followers and it takes a while to build them up ). When I did use the magic horn it took Mike by surprise and he lost a gimmi for him, but also was key to him not taking the next prime one behind that one. I had also some how managed to get 5 of the 6 spots around the only 12 point tile and it is worth having. Mike had the only other tile connected to it, and said he was one power from taking it himself, which means he had a lot of magic by then. He couldn't pull it off so I went for it and added that to my conquered lands. Mike had a nice advantage in that he had part of the board kinda boxed off. My Magic Horn card helped stop that some, but he was dug in deep. At the end it turned out there was only 6 spots left, my wife took one, and the turn before I traded in cards and made sure I picked as many as possible and as luck would have it I picked up 4 guys that all needed 1 or 2 cards to work. Very late in the game there was still two 1's and two 2's open and for taking. I got them all and then MIke took the last 9 point spot. Near the end I had caught up and thought it might be close but that Mike was going to take it. I ended up winning 67 to 65 and my wife came in a at 55.

I would say the first game was 1:20 minutes with rules.

the 3 person game was 50 min. or less.

We had a lot of fun and want to play it again! Nikko asked if we could have a game day there every friday ( I will have to bring a comfortable chair, they have benches in the kitchen ) - so that is promising. Mike really liked it and wants to play again. My wife really enjoyed it also, so that is 3 thumbs up over hear.

I think you get a lot for you $ with this game. It is self published and I think for that reason alone you should want to find out more about it. Everyone here at this site has had to at least once thought of making there own game, heck that is what I spend most of my free time thinking about since I have found all you other geeks here. So Support Some One Who has Done it. They stepped up and I think hit a home run. I think the quality is great for the price you pay.

The thing we commented on was this just lends it self to make so many other games out of. I now after we play it a bunch we will be making a lot of variants. The tiles could be upside down and you take a turn ( or pay $ or trade Mages ) to turn it over. It would take longer so you have less tiles.

DIfferent lay out for the starting boards ( long skinny ones that are a race ).

Random placement of flags and you could also win by getting so many flags?

Being able to fight the other guy , and make him pay you the $ he made from conquering the land?

I See we got in 2 reviews for this really cool game today, so I am glad my session report is going out on the same day, you will be hearing more about this one from me, and I recommend this one as a great light game that is around an hour with 3 to 4 people ( not sure if the 5th adds a lot of time ).

I will be letting you know if it works with 2 people as a race on a thin board?

Game On'

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

Hendal — 2008-04-27T21:41:41+00:00

Great review, I guess I might wait a while to write m y review up

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

bluekingzog — 2008-04-27T20:43:58+00:00

You can also build fortifications in lands you already occupy. Craftsmen can turn a previously conquered area into a green zone, and the forts you erect can add their support to attacks on outlying areas.

I understand the Green Zone fort known as the "Embassy" covers 32 Hexes but is never really finished , is hideously expensive to construct and maintain, and is still liable to the odd orc being catapulted in.

Thread: Re: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

Bolger — 2008-04-27T18:30:26+00:00

The second review of this little known game in one day? Are you guys playing the same copy?

Thread: Re: We love Conquest of the Fallen Lands!

scottsnew1 — 2008-04-27T18:21:26+00:00

stephenhope wrote:
How do you get money? I assume it has something to do with the values of the tiles you've conquered?

paragraph 6 under "gameplay"

When you conquer a Field Hex you get money equal to the difficulty level of that Hex. In this way you build up your money.

Thread: Re: We love Conquest of the Fallen Lands!

stephenhope — 2008-04-27T17:27:18+00:00

How do you get money? I assume it has something to do with the values of the tiles you've conquered?

Thread: Re: We love Conquest of the Fallen Lands!

ooogene — 2008-04-27T17:20:55+00:00

This is an excellent game! Only got to play it once, at GenCon last year, but would love to play it again.

Thread: Orcs Hate Us For Our Freedom

VixenTorGames — 2008-04-27T17:10:23+00:00

Conquest of the Fallen Lands is one hell of a good game that you've never even heard of before. And the reason you haven't heard of this game is because it's published by a little one-horse company out of Seattle called Assa Games (I may, as I write this review, 'conveniently' leave off the last 'a' now and then). The publishers are also the designers, and honestly, that doesn't usually bode well. Most self-published games rate somewhere between crappy and soul-suckingly horrendous. Small Box Games is one exception; Ass Games (see, I did it already) is another. Except that, where Small Box Games manages to release games on a pretty regular basis, Assa has only managed one. It's a good game, but I wonder why they don't ever pull their heads out and make another one.

Anyway, the theory behind Conquest of the Fallen Lands is that monsters have taken over this remote realm. The entire countryside (which is composed of randomly-placed hexagons) is occupied by the forces of evil, and you and your fellow noblemen feel obliged to kick them out. Of course, once you invade, you're probably stuck there fighting insurgents without an exit strategy, but that happens after the game is over, so it's not our problem.

Every noble starts off with two loyal followers. These can be any combination of mages, craftsmen or warriors. Sadly, vice presidents are not potential followers, which is a shame because then you could get really juicy contracts to redevelop the area after you kick out the orcs. You'll have to get by with Blackwater knights and Halliburton craftsmen.

In order to take over a section of the Fallen Lands, you'll need to play troop cards. You can afford these if you call on your warriors. They have to be volunteers - that goes without saying. Institute a draft and everyone will be coming home tomorrow.

Every troop card has a cost in warriors, craftsmen or wizards (or combination of those). You need three craftsmen to build a catapult, two warriors to put together a team of light cavalry, and two craftsmen plus two wizards to fabricate a war golem. You need forty-two contractors to build a toilet seat, which is probably why there aren't any in the game.

Troop cards have two values. Their attack value is a measure of how well they'll fight at the front of the battle, and for the first field you take, that number is all that matters. You'll probably start off slow, taking out a couple one-point orc stragglers, but you'll need some pretty hefty firepower to take out the dragon, and the Orcish Republican Guard will require considerable support.

And to get that support, each troop card on the field lends its support value to any hexes next to it. So if you've got archers in one spot, and cannons next to them, even light cavalry can take a pretty tough opponent. Since your troops all stay on the field for the whole game, you'll start small and build up, so that the game builds to a big finish. Then you're stuck there for a hundred years, but that's a small price to pay for the spread of democracy.

You can also build fortifications in lands you already occupy. Craftsmen can turn a previously conquered area into a green zone, and the forts you erect can add their support to attacks on outlying areas.

To really mix things up, you can make your wizards go to work casting spells, making wondrous devices, and calling in tactical air strikes. The magic cards can really turn the game on its head - your opponents may be eyeballing a field they think you can't take, and then BAM! one troop surge later, you're in there.

Of course, you can't go attacking your fellow liberators. You're one big coalition for world peace. So even if your opponent wants the same spot as you, he can't grab it if you get there first. And if you're a great big military force that generates a historically significant national debt to support an oversized army but still somehow can't find the cash to armor your siege engines, you'll probably be able to grab a lot of land from the guy who placed all his troops in stupid places while you went in and grabbed the capital city.

The goal of the game is to get paid. Every time you grab land, you get cash equal to the strength of the troops you had to defeat to get there. Happily, the Fallen Lands are rich in resources, so you can really clean up if you can take out the big enemies. This is probably why you're not going after the Tin Despot Lands - they don't have anything to steal (their people have to eat dirt, for crying out loud!), even if they do pose a more significant threat, and you can't win if you're broke. Of course, that money might be spent before the game is over - you've got to keep recruiting if you want to stay in the game. You'll need to hire more warriors, and then more wizards, and then more warriors, and more craftsmen, and more warriors, and you might wind up with a barrel full of pork for your trouble.

Once the entire country is liberated, it's time to count up your money. The player with the most cash wins. You don't even have to do real accounting - you get to keep all the money, and you don't even have to pay back the national debt. You can leave that for the people who have to clean up the mess you made in the Fallen Lands. Maybe it's for the best that you decided against bringing freedom to the Chaotic Lands - that's a mess you won't ever be able to resolve, as previous leaders have illustrated by getting their asses handed to them. Plus the Chaotic Lands don't have oil.

Conquest of the Fallen Lands is a really good game. It's a shame the creators don't make more games - I would play them. Considering the low budget production for the game, it's surprising how fun the game is to play. It would be more interesting if you could fight your fellow liberators, especially if you could claim friendly fire and offer a big mea culpa and a shrug, but that would sort of ruin the whole concept.

Maybe later Assa Games will make a game where two equally incompetent lords compete to be the next prince by offering empty promises and pointless-but-charismatic speeches, while a rival prince takes Geritol and talks really slow. The primary qualifications of the rival lords could be basically handy gimmicks that make the peasants think they're part of history. That might be a fun game, too.

Summary

Pros:
Clever, nearly luck-free game
Lots of forethought required to stay competitive
Plays pretty fast, and turns go quickly
Opportunities for not-so-subtle political commentary abound

Cons:
A little too Euro for lots of people
A little too Ameritrash for lots of other people
Fairly crappy art and components (but don't let it sway you - this is still a good game)

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BACbKA — 2008-01-05T18:20:06+00:00

Board close-up - my 2-year-old watching us playing the "Normal rules" using a set from the original test run - Lehavim, Israel, Jan 2008

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BACbKA — 2008-01-05T18:15:39+00:00

My kids, a family friend, and I playing the "Normal rules" using a set from the original test run - Lehavim, Israel, Jan 2008

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Rokkr — 2007-12-06T08:41:21+00:00

all coins, both sides and diamond

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Rokkr — 2007-12-06T08:40:12+00:00

follower tokens - warrior, craftsman, mage

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Rokkr — 2007-12-06T08:39:03+00:00

all magic cards

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Rokkr — 2007-12-06T08:37:03+00:00

all fortification cards

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Rokkr — 2007-12-06T08:35:49+00:00

all troop cards