Live fast, die young, and have a good sounding story.

Being English, I’ve often lamented a dearth of wargames representing English history. My woe is further compounded by the fact that as a Casual Wargamer my choice is further restricted to those games which have sensible caps on complexity and play time. I was therefore delighted when Jerry Taylor announced he was designing a game based on the Wars of the Roses, and further delighted when Columbia games did me the honour of sending me a review copy. The title it seems has changed to Richard III, one of the four monarchs England enjoyed during the wars which has the unfortunate side effect of making me hear Baldrick saying ”Oh dear, Richard the Third” in a deadpan tone whenever I think about the game. But it’s the play that matters, not the name, so on with the review.

No, the game has nothing to do with the classic 80s coin-op.  It's a fun, Roborally-inspired romp that will let you dodge some asteroi...er...asteroyds, fly through some gates, and still make it home in time to score some major space nookie.  (DISCLAIMER:  The latter part of the previous sentence is not depicted within the confines of the boardgame, but amorous gamers should feel free to improvise.)

You ever wonder what it would be like to be stuck at sea on a tiny lifeboat...with the person you hate the most...along with the person you love dearly?  And a couple of other people you could give a rat's ass about?  Oh...and apparently, whoever driving the boat is doing his or her best Speed 2 impersonation?   And did I mention the Thurston Howell  the IIIrd-esque stash of treasure on this little boat?

Yeah, it's as screwed up as it sounds. 

Alright, folks, this is one that literally took me completely by surprise--a game that was not even on my radar previous to its release *at all*, and yet is a game that is completely up my alley.  It's a fantastic co-op themefest straight from the minds of...Ystari Games?!?  Just what is going on here?

Does anybody here remember the Playstation game "Wipeout?"  Bitchin' game with futuristic racers, lots of weapons, and an awesome soundtrack.  Rush n' Crush is kinda like Wipeout, except without the soundtrack.  And also apparently in the future, racers are !#$$@# difficult to pick up.

WARNING:  I refer to that infernal Disney song in this review.  However, as this occurs during the introduction, you're past it now.

I know I'm playing catch-up here, as I have been these past few months, but diving head-first into the Thunderstone system has been a real pleasure.  Everyone who reads me and has talked with me on the forums knows how much I enjoy deckbuilding games, so know going in that I wear that proudly on my sleeve.  But thus far, Thunderstone's base game has delivered the goods.  So how does the expansion stand up?

Well folks, I've been running around like crazy the past few days, and since last week's round-up was well-received (and allowed me to get a lot of my gaming thoughts and opinions crammed into one article), I thought I would follow suit this week with some more not-quite-ready-for review discussions about stuff I've played recently.  Next week--The Big Yomi Review, I promise.

Sorry for the long title, folks...it's a shorter edition today, talking about changes to come in the formats of my reviews and articles, oh, and a short review of Thuderstone: Dragonspire.  Short, because the review by Drake's dad was awesome.

Playing a little catch-up this week, as I'll give some quick reviews of two games I've played recently-- the entry level pick-up-and deliver Days of Steam from Valley Games, and deckbuilding dungeoneering Thunderstone from AEG.

The cool scent of dusk hovers, the sun will soon retire to silent slumber. The forest grows dark, but you are not fooled — under shadow lies life, and with breathe comes probable danger. You will ascend to the tower in the distance this midnight. Silhouette firm but ever fading, you know not what lies within its walls…it does not matter, it is no match for you, it is no match for a Mage Knight.

This is the first in my periodic looks at boardgames through the eyes of how they work with my family, and how I feel they might work with others.  First up I'm hitting a softball as I get this up to speed--with a review and look at Ticket to Ride: Europe.  You already know Barnsey's not a fan, but here's my take.

The motor splutters to a stop. You drift towards the Island. That Island. For years there were stories, rumours, old wives tales. The kind of tale you would trot out round the campfire to scare the kids. No one believed it. Still, no smoke without fire. This school trip was always a bad idea and now you are stuck here on this island, its getting dark and you have this weird feeling you are being watched

"If the sun comes up tomorrow, it is only because of men of good will. And that's - that's all there is between us and the devil." - Kenny O'Donnell, or rather, Kevin Costner

If there's one thing that identifies gaming as a nerdy pastime, it's the fact that we can make a game about anything. It doesn't take long to exhaust the demon-hunting, Nazi-killing, and alien-blasting, and then we move on to boring crap like farming and storing things. Historical events are traditionally a big winner, but they're generally focused around something violent. For some convincing evidence that we can make a game about damned near anything we want, I present 1655 - Habemus Papum.

I love this game. 

The other week I got to play a couple of games of 1960: The Making of the President over at WarGameRoom. I was pleased to have the chance to play as, like most fans of the outstanding Twilight Struggle I'd had my eye on this, the second game from the same designer. After playing, I spent a little time picking over what was good and what wasn't so good in my head and I was also struck by a curious revelation. I don't normally do review-style pieces here at F:AT but I wanted to share my revelation, and the only way to introduce it properly is to do this "semi-review".