Pest - Fighting the Plague

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Board Games - Pest features some really cool Plague Doctor miniatures.

Description from publisher:

Our once great Empire was struck by a devastating plague… will you answer the call to save it?

Once standing tall and great, we now need to rediscover and rebuild our fallen cities. There are still survivors among the ruins – we must take them in our care and cure them. In order to stay ahead of the plague, we must implement new inventions and technologies. Our influence will expand as we rebuild, but the plague will still lurk in the shadows, ready to strike when we least expect it. Once it does, it will be difficult to adapt, but we will survive. In addition to the procurement of important resources, our imperative will be to get the plague under control.

In Pest, players slip into the roles of leaders of the ruling houses of a once great empire that was struck by a cataclysmic plague. The plague has left much of the empire in ruins, so now it is up to the players to restore it to its former glory.

Pest is played in 6 rounds. Each round before players take their turn, a plague card will be revealed which shows how the plague will spread in that round. On their turn, players will be able to select among many actions on their player board using a unique action selection system. Thus, players will be able to move their containment team on the board, quarantine and cure infected people, rebuild, assign workers, harvest for resources, and more.

As their house influence grows, players will be able to play more actions, generate more resources, and house more people. This will bring forth new technological advancements which are much needed to get the plague under control.

The game ends after the 6 round is over and players count their final amount of Renown (victory points). The player with the most Renown is the winner and declared the savior of the empire!

Feeling Frosty - Frost Punk Fully Painted

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Board Games - I’m really behind on posting here, but will work on getting back to a regular schedule. My most recent project is a bit out of season now that spring is finally here, but what if spring never came? Frost Punk explores the idea of a perpetual winter set during the age of steam a what if post apocalypse game in which Victorian era technology needs to deal with a forever winter.

The game seems very cool according to this description:

In Frostpunk: The Board Game, up to four players will take on the role of leaders of a small colony of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world that was hit by a severe ice age. Their duty is to effectively manage both its infrastructure and citizens. The core gameplay will be brutal, challenging, and complex, but easy to learn. The citizens won’t just be speechless pieces on the board. Society members will issue demands and react accordingly to the current mood, so every decision and action bears consequences.

The players will decide the fate of their people. Will you treat them like another resource? Are you going to be an inspiring builder, a fearless explorer, or a bright scientist? Is your rule going to be a sting of tyranny or an era of law and equality?

The game is based on a bestseller video game by 11bit studios, the creators of This War Of Mine. The original (digital) edition of Frostpunk is a highly successful strategy-survival-city-builder, a BAFTA-nominee that originally launched in 2018.

Northguard - Fully Painted

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Board Games - This year it seems I’ve painted quite a few board games based on video games, which is an interesting trend. I supposed it makes sense to create analog versions of popular properties as people are more likely to pick something up based on name recognition.

This is one of those games that has a ton of tiny pieces that I used a simple contrast method to put some color on, while painted the larger monsters in a more traditional method. I was asked to keep these in my lower level to save on cost which makes sense based on the detail level on the models.

I haven’t played it but here’s the description from the publisher:

Based on the universe of the Northgard video game, Northgard: Uncharted Lands is a game of conquest and exploration set in the age of vikings. Each player controls a Viking clan, looking to achieve victory by reaping glory in various ways or controlling the most prized territories of this new continent.

The game focus is on streamlined rules and mechanisms, allowing for a fast-paced and smooth rhythm of play. Each turn, players alternate their actions to adapt their strategies to their opponents' moves and the expansion of the board. Fame (i.e., points) can be earned by exploring, fighting, and controlling and developing territories. The various corresponding actions are played through the cards that the players have in hand. At the end of each turn, they have to choose a new card to improve their personal deck as their clans develop new tactics and technologies.

The conquest of Northgard also requires clever management of resources to build new buildings, improve your warriors' effectiveness, better your hand of cards, and upgrade your clan's specificities. The winter phase makes this management more difficult as you have to feed your units to keep them healthy and happy.

The pace of the game is set by the players as the game ends after seven turns, but can also be cut short at any time if one of them is in control of three closed territories hosting certain types of buildings.

Steamwatchers - Something Epic

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Board Games – Steamwatchers is a big box game with several expansions that add to the game play and introduce new elements. As a huge game these parts are pretty small but also pretty well detailed.

I don’t know that most people would spend time painting all these minis, but using a few techniques you can get some paint on them quickly to give the game a bit more life that the colored plastic provides.

The game sounds interesting, based on the info from the publisher:

Steamwatchers unfolds in a frozen Europe, broken by an ice age that followed a brutal water level increase. In those hostile conditions, nomadic clans struggle to survive with the regular and puzzling outbreak of steam columns everywhere on the continent. These columns are a testament to intense subterranean heat sources. They free earth from the grasp of ice and allow mankind to grow food once again. These oases of heat are vital for survival...and, unfortunately, only transient. To make things worse, a strange sickness spreads around them: The Bane. It affects both mind and body, and to this day, no cure has been found. Handling it is necessary to the survival of the clans.

Steamwatchers is a 2 to 5 player game in which you play as the leader of a nomadic clan. You will struggle over the geothermal resources of Europa in scenarios that last from 3 to 6 rounds. At the end of the last round of the chosen scenario, the winning clan is the one with the most geothermal resources (steam columns and farms), but a clan can claim victory before the end of the scenario by acquiring 10 geothermal resources.

Rurik: Stone and Blade

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Board Games: This expansion for Rurik allows you to build epic structures and has three additional modules for the game.

Dune Imperium - Miniature Upgrades

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Board Games – Dune should have been a bigger hit than it was, coming out on HBO Max and in Theaters at the same time was nice for viewers during the Pandemic, but unfortunately it probably hurt the chances of finishing off a series. But fear not you can live out the experience in the Dune Imperium Board game.

Here’s the description from the manufacturer:

Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice Must Flow to lead your House to victory!

Board with a Vengeance

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Board Games – Kill Bill was a great homage to the classic revenge flicks of the 70’s and 80’s. Vengeance is a board game that takes you through a similar homage. With a ton of unique plastic miniatures and a giant box of board locations you can play through a variety of story lines to see if your character can get revenge against the criminals that wronged them.

Western Legends - 3D Tokens Fully Painted

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Board Games – Western Legends is a cool game set in the Old West. The game has some cardboard pieces that represent the various locations you can explore in the game. This batch is for the upgrade tokens that take the flat cardboard and make a 3D representation. To keep this simple I matched the colors for the tokens while adding a bit of old west flair.

Ghostbusters - Board Game Painted Up

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Ghostbusters - Board Game Painted Up

Board Games – Several years ago the Ghostbusters board game was on Kickstarter. When I finally got it in hand I played it once and put the game on the shelf. It’s not because the game was bad but more so because the game is involved and unless you want to play solo getting people dedicated to playing through a boar game campaign is hard.

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Masters of Night

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Board Games – Masters of Night is a Vampire themed game set in which you play as a vampire arriving in a new city and need to take control to survive.

The minis are pretty standard board game quality with just enough detail to look cool but not quite enough to make a showpiece.

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REVIEW - Jungle Cruise - Board Game

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Jungle Cruise is a really nice looking game!

Jungle Cruise is a really nice looking game!

Board Games – I’ve always loved the Jungle Cruise, the idea of exploring the jungle always stuck in my head as something really cool when I was a kid. Indian Jone, Romancing the Stone and all the rest of the films of the genre really stuck with me. I remember my first trip to Disney riding this at night as one of the last rides we did, I was probably in about third grade and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

It looses a bit of the magic as an adult but it still holds a place in my heart. The recently released film looks like fun and I can’t wait to see it. Earlier this year my wife and kids gave me the Jungle Cruise: Board Game as a gift. The game is based solely on the ride and not the film property.

First off the game is beautiful, the components are sturdy, well designed and cohesive. I was super excited to get this game out of the box a try it. I own Jaws which was made by the same company and really love the look and feel of that game as well as the mechanics of play.

My first play-through was a two-player game and it became apparent very quickly that this game s more of a roll and go experience. Very few of your decisions in the game matter. You have a bunch of things to do, move around passengers, search for clues, choose your speed, pick the dangers and roll to avoid them . Ultimately it comes down to who gets to the end first with the most “chosen” passengers.

The game is thematic and full of the terrible jokes from the ride, it’s not strategic and is almost completely luck based. For me the theme is strong enough that this will make it out to themed game night every now and then or just as a simple game that gets the family around the table.

Shadows of Brimstone - More Expansions

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Board Games – I’m sure I’ve said it before but Shadows of Brimstone reminds me of RIFTS/GURPS, in so much as it appears to be a mis-mash of any crazy thing you could imagine happening. I’ve painted aliens, cowboys, natives, crazy monsters and space stuff so it was no surprise when a dinosaur, rock people and rats made their way to my table.

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I honestly have never played the game or read a ton about it, but the models are all decent quality hard plastic that have just enough detail to make painting quick and simple.

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Gloomhaven - Jaws of the Lion

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Board Games - Gloomhaven is a massive game and it’s popularity has spawned several expansions. Jaws of the Lion seems to be more of a “prequel” geared toward a casual crowd.

Hardened mercenaries working together to achieved their goals, is the way the game is billed.

Arcadia Quest - Achievement Unlocked?

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Board Games – Last year I painted up the majority of the models for Arcadia Quest and the various expansions. This batch of models should be the last of what CMON has released so far.

Overall I’m really happy with how the models have turned out painting Chibi style minis is fun and a nice break from the serious grim dark stuff I typically paint.

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