Whats on Your Table?

[bob48]

I think its a pity that the game gets such a lot of hate from some gamers. At its core, it really is a good game despite the fact that it can cost a lot if you go down the collectors road, but that applies for many other game systems as well.

I look at a lot of the, in some cases, very expensive board games out there, especially 'none wargame' ones (no names, no pack drill), the cost of which would by you more than enough cards for hours of play. Some of the deck builders pack actually represent good value, its only when you look at older editions that you see the price escalate, some time by quite an amount, and obviously targeted at collectors.

We have around 1000 cards, none of which are later than maybe the 8th edition, and going back to 'Portal' and early stuff. One of the great things about MtG is that the core rules have, as far as I'm aware, stayed pretty stable over the years, and all the cards we have in our modest collection are compatible, regardless of the edition to which they belong.

[Bison]

I would love to play with your collection. I really enjoy the art and mechanics of the older blocks. My cube is 720 common cards mostly from 2002 onward. Really inexpensive. And I’m constantly researching how to change it. If I decide to replace a card, the cost is most likely about 10 cents. My next big update I’m considering is replacing 40 of the multi-color cards with another 8 cards of each of the primary colors. Total cost will be maybe...maybe $5. So there are very cost effective means of playing the game. A bulk lot of a 1000 cards can be purchased for less than $20. The best cards in the game? No. A great cheap collection to play?  Yes. And a cube of a 1000 cards results in millions of variations of card combinations. Get bored with the same cards? A few dollars on a deck builders toolkit or another bulk lot and you have new variety.

The cost is really associated with collectors and players investing in older or format specific power cards. IMO the increasing use of net decking is driving up prices for specific cards in constructed formats like legacy, modern, and standard. It’s also starting to effect prices on Commander and pauper format “staples.” It’s unfortunate but as you said high cost exists in many gaming hobbies. Try buying an out of print ASL module. The expense is there too.

Anyway I could drone on about how to play MtG on the cheap or my favorite formats....

[bayonetbrant]

Bison, PM your mailing address

[bayonetbrant]

Yes, Bawb, I've still got an envelope here for you, too


 

[bob48]

Oh?

[bob48]

Bison, we actually started a with small 80 card set that was given away with a PC game - 'Majesty' I think it was. We liked it so much that we then brought what was the current started set - edition 5 If memory serves.

We periodically added a few booster packs and then a couple of 'Fat Packs', which used to include a magazine and was quite good value for money. We also picked up the boxed 'Battle Royale' set in a sale somewhere and that added a lot of stuff to what we already had. Not purchased anything for a while, although I keep looking at what comes out.

I need to get Mrs B playing again!

[Bison]

My tactic is to just put the cards on the table, brew a pot of coffee, and then announce I’ve setup the game as requested! Usually results in and eye roll and a “what the hell are you talking about?”...I feign amnesia...and then the game gets played.  It’s a technique and hasn’t resulted in too many head lumps or a divorce...yet.

[bob48]

Good idea! I 'll hide any large cooking implements before I try it though.......................

[mirth]

Loot from yesterday's trip to the FLGS.





The kids each picked a game (5-Minute Marvel & Gonuts for Donuts). The Starfinder Beginner box was on my list and just released. I grabbed Mille Bornes to play with the kids (it's a game I loved playing as a kid).


Thunder Alley is not at all the type of thing I normally buy,  but I've played it and it's pretty good. The shop had it for $25 new and that's a very good price. At least $10-15 below what you could find from even the discount outfits.

[Bison]

Paizo makes some of the best beginner boxes.

[mirth]

Paizo makes some of the best beginner boxes.

Word.

[Arctic Blast]

I got in a game of Mega Civilization yesterday at a local game store. There were 9 of us in total, playing on the Western half of the board with an advanced start. Normally you start with one guy on the map and that's it. In this case, everyone started with 5 cities, multiple units and a set of 4 technologies. I was the Minoans (Iberia, the Celts, Carthage, Rome, Egypt, Hellas, Assyria and the Hatti are the other 8 civs on the western board). I think they would be a bit more interesting to play from the very beginning, but I was absolutely hemmed in with the advanced start. I really enjoyed it, though. The trading is interesting, I like the use of the same tokens to represent both units and currency in your treasury. In all, it took about 7 hours to play.

[bayonetbrant]

I got in a game of Mega Civilization yesterday at a local game store. There were 9 of us in total, playing on the Western half of the board with an advanced start. Normally you start with one guy on the map and that's it. In this case, everyone started with 5 cities, multiple units and a set of 4 technologies. I was the Minoans (Iberia, the Celts, Carthage, Rome, Egypt, Hellas, Assyria and the Hatti are the other 8 civs on the western board). I think they would be a bit more interesting to play from the very beginning, but I was absolutely hemmed in with the advanced start. I really enjoyed it, though. The trading is interesting, I like the use of the same tokens to represent both units and currency in your treasury. In all, it took about 7 hours to play.

that sounds like a ton of fun

[Arctic Blast]

I got in a game of Mega Civilization yesterday at a local game store. There were 9 of us in total, playing on the Western half of the board with an advanced start. Normally you start with one guy on the map and that's it. In this case, everyone started with 5 cities, multiple units and a set of 4 technologies. I was the Minoans (Iberia, the Celts, Carthage, Rome, Egypt, Hellas, Assyria and the Hatti are the other 8 civs on the western board). I think they would be a bit more interesting to play from the very beginning, but I was absolutely hemmed in with the advanced start. I really enjoyed it, though. The trading is interesting, I like the use of the same tokens to represent both units and currency in your treasury. In all, it took about 7 hours to play.

that sounds like a ton of fun

I would absolutely play it again. Of course, I'm curious about the full 18 player game, but even with this it covered two separate 6 foot long tables as well as a couple of side tables.

[chemkid]

hi there, again...

i'm preparing to get axis empires' totaler krieg setup. in vassal, though. don't have the space and wonder if anyone here played the vassal module before it hit the updated/expanded ruleset? it's like i have the 10.65 version(for totaler krieg - ETO only) loaded and ready to go - any thoughts? i have the box and unpunched counters, even the errata counters from DG but like i said... no space. wish me luck.

anyhow, that's what is on my table, at the moment...