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Blood Bowl 2 Legendary Edition was released today. I admit, I am excited about this. The original version of Blood Bowl 2 left much to be desired, and my reviews stated as such. It was short on teams, short on play modes, missing key single player options, and generally just "better graphics and less of everything else."
I was not in the minority in this opinion, although others decried the cost of races through DLC more. However, to their credit Focus Interactive listened, upgraded, modified, and created Legendary Edition of Blood Bowl 2. This is a worthy successor to the original Blood Bowl - it has literally turned into on of those "more and better everything" upgrades which is quite awesome across the board. If you have been on the fence about Blood Bowl 2, now is a good time to re-evaluate it.
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Commands and Colors is one of my favorite war game systems. It plays fast and enjoyably, allowing for multiple games to be played in a single afternoon. I guess I am something of a "FanBoy" as I own every game and expansion there is, from every company. While I have definitely played a lot of Memoir '44 and Battlelore (from Days of Wonder, before it was ruined by Asmodee and stopped producing anything of value), Battlecry (from WotC), a couple games of "The Great War" (from the Plastic Soldier Company), and dozens of Samurai Battles (from Zezdva's short flirtation with board games), the "old school" wooden block games from GMT occupy the bulk of my time. There is something nostalgic and fun about them, plus I don't have to worry about pieces getting broken.
Tricorne, from Compass Games, follows the GMT model. It uses the same block/stickers and even similar dice style. Although don't mix them! Tricorne features more flags than other games. The pace of the battle of slower than Napoleonics, and there is a lot more give-and-take. One thing I do not like about Napoleonics is the game involves a lot of maneuver while looking for cards that let you charge across the battlefield without having to endure withering hails of fire. Basically most games of Napoleonics for me boils down to, "Which person loses patience and marches into shooting range first." Tricorne does NOT play like that. The battles are less bloody and morale and rally (a new mechanic) play a huge part. Ranged and Melee combat are much less bloody and pushing the enemy back or breaking their lines is a big part of the game.
The Rally mechanic (basically, after a unit retreats, test to see if it Rallies or runs off the board) is the new major modification to the core rules. I really like how a few subtle differences or tweaks to the rules can provide so much variation and provide a more thematically appropriate experience. (Running out of honor and having your army flee in Samurai Battles being my favorite.)
Again, I'm a self-admitted "Fan Boy" - but if you liked other Commands and Colors games, especially the GMT style ones, then you owe it to yourself to check out Tricorne.
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I'm headed to GenCon, where I will be running a slew of Tunnels and Trolls, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and 2d20 games. They are my favorite game systems for my favorite game companies, so a major win-win there. The events are all full, and when I check the attendee list, I see familiar names, so I must not have driven anyone off too badly from previous years.
Speaking of driving people off, the hotel prices this year and freaking insane. Given that GenCon claims it is running out of attendee badges, I guess this means the extortionate price gouging has been accepted by gamers, which only sets the precedent that higher prices can be expected every year, without fail, for as long as people are foolish enough to pay them.
Sigh.
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I have returned un-slain from the Best Four Days in Gaming. It was a great time. I ran a lot of great events, met a lot of great people, and saw a number of exciting new products. Although the hotels were so grossly overpriced that my purchases were quite limited. My favorite of the Convention was actually the Folding Dice Bags from "All Rolled Up" which are a nice felt/wool combination. They are pretty amazing and every game I ran (and even some I played in) had to suffer from my pitch of "these things are amazing and inexpensive". A friend found "Kittens in the Blender" and of course, with my RPG bent a number of new supplements and fun was had. Also, a major shout out to Modiphius for their "Tales from the Loop" winning a couple very prestigious Ennie awards. So check those out and get ready for GenCon 51 - I will be there with the same crews running more games and fun for all.
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We are now about one week from GenCon. Plans are finalized, shopping lists are prepared, and general chaos and confusion is already building. I am running a number of 2d20 games from Modiphius, Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games, and of course, plenty of Tunnels and Trolls in support of my friends over at Flying Buffalo Games. Here's to a good time to be had by all!
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