August Board Games (Tsuro / Dominion Dark Ages / X-Wing Miniatures)

This afternoon & evening was again time for monthly Blokes & Boardgames at Dave's house.

"Dominion: Dark Ages" has been on the agenda to make an appearance for quite some time now, and this month we finally got to play a game. While we waited for everyone to arrive, we had time for some quick games of Tsuro.

Set up.

Game 1: Tsuro

In Tsuro, you place tiles down on a board, with your dragon following the path you (and others) lay out. The aim is to stay on the board, and avoid death as long as possible. Collide with another dragon = death. Fly off the edge of the map = death.

It's a fast game, so we started the afternoon off with two quick rounds. I came last both times.

Dragons flying close to the edge.

Game 2: Dominion

I've played the original version of Dominion a few times. This month we finally got a chance to play with cards from the expansion games. Tonight's game featured a mix of cards from two different expansions, "Dominion: Dark Ages" and "Dominion: Intrigue".

A mix of strategies and recurring cards being played by the same people led to an entertaining game. "Marauder!", "Torturer!" and "Swindler!" were frequent cries around the table.

I'll be getting this board game for our collection soon.

The stacks of cards.

One of the first to start collecting Victory cards, guess who came dead last? Yours truly.

The official Score Book. I see a pattern...

Game 3: X-Wing Miniatures

After dinner, the final game of the evening was Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures. As it was a brand-new game for 3 out of the 4 of us in attendance, it was classed as a "trial round" for scoring purposes.

TIE Fighter Miniature.

It was also my first real experience of playing any sort of game with miniatures, which adds something different to tabletop gaming. Designed for 2-3 players, Dave owns two copies of the game so that we could play in two teams of 2. My team controlled 4 pilots for the Legitimate Government (aka The Evil Galactic Empire) while the other controlled 2 pilots for the Nasty Terrorists (aka The Rebel Alliance).

As is often the way with initial run-throughs, we were largely learning/clarifying the rules as we went along, and probably got a few things wrong. But I certainly found it an interesting game, with different factors giving each side an "edge" in particular areas. The Rebels have shield technology, higher firepower, and all-star pilots. The Empire have superior numbers, greater maneuverability, but minimal defenses.

Incredibly outgunned, and tired after an evening's gaming, we finished up with our last remaining TIE fighter making a bee-line for the edge of the table (and out of the playing field) rather than hang around to be blown up by Luke Skywalker and Biggs.

At least no scores were recorded...

I'll be sure to watch the Tabletop episode before attempting this game again. If you still haven't seen any episodes of "Tabletop", I recommend them. It's "Celebrity Poker" for board game geeks.