Feature – Page 9 – Stately Play

D&D Beyond is the bee’s knees

December 1, 2017 David Neumann 4

Tabletop • Back in August, Wizards of the Coast made a grand proclamation that D&D Beyond was up and running and was, finally, their method of getting books into digital format. Sure, every other gaming company figured out how to release PDFs in about 2003, but WotC has been plagued with dumb decisions and things like Gleemax. Never forget Gleemax. Much to my chagrin, D&D Beyond is a browser based compendium and it will cost you through the nose if you want to see everything it has to offer. Digital books are full price and, on top of that, there are optional subscription models for additional stuff. It sounded like WotC had dropped the ball again, but I’ve been using D&D Beyond almost every day for the past few weeks and, I have to admit, it’s worth the price.

Sales to choke down with your turkey

November 23, 2017 David Neumann 9

While App Store sales and Uncle Ed getting hammered on blackberry brandy then clumsily groping Aunt Elle in front of you and your cousins are both expected on Thanksgiving Day, only one of them will require years of therapy to unravel. We’re going to focus on the one that doesn’t require professional help: sales. Click beyond to see all that we’ve found on the App Store and Steam this holiday weekend. I’m sure we’ve missed a bunch, but there’s a therapy session we need to attend. Hopefully you find something worth picking up, and if I missed a sale you’re aware of, please post it in the comments so others can jump on it as well. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turns 8-13

November 17, 2017 David Neumann 1

Tabletop • In our effort to speed things up with our ongoing Liberty or Death session report, I’ve managed to somehow combine six (6!!!) turns into one post. Unfortunately, this means I’m already broke my promise to report on at least one non-board game per day by not covering anything yesterday, but I did report on two non-board games Wednesday, so I’m calling it even. Without further ado, let’s see what’s happening in the colonies.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turn 7

November 15, 2017 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • We’re back with our parade through (alternate) history via GMT Games‘ brilliant COIN title, Liberty or Death. I’m getting the sense that you, the Stately Players [I’m really trying to get him to stop. This will be the last time, I swear -ed.], are losing interest in these turn-by-turn walkthroughs, so I’m going to really try and wrap the whole thing up before Thanksgiving so we can move on to a different game. When I started the affair, I had it in my head that I would spend 5-6 hours playing the game and then chop it into a week’s worth of material. When I saw how much information had to be relayed while writing up the first turn, I realized I may have bitten off more than I could chew and moved to the one-two turns per day format. That works well for me, but it needs to work well for you as well. I’m new at this, and still learning. Stick with me. We’ll wrap up LoD as quick as possible and then throw something else on the table.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turns 5 and 6

November 13, 2017 David Neumann 3

Tabletop • We’re back after a long gaming weekend that consisted of playing a lot of old favorites with not one “new” game hitting the table. We had some new players, so game teaching was still in order, but far less stressful than trying to teach games I barely know how to play. That’s all in the past, however, and from this point on we’re going to focus on wrapping this game of Liberty or Death from GMT Games up. I’m hoping turns become faster and faster as I become more familiar with the flowcharts of the AI, so maybe we’ll finish this game before New Year’s? Let’s take a look at two quick turns, Turns 5 and 6.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turn 4

November 9, 2017 David Neumann 1

Tabletop • Due to our dining room table being needed for actual dining, I was forced to remove GMT‘s Liberty or Death from its resting place and put it all back into the box after Turn 3. Luckily, I had several badly taken and blurry iPhone pictures taken of the board at this stage, so setting it all back up wasn’t too much of a chore. Anyway, that’s why we had a slight delay in getting to Turn 4. Or, at least, that’s the story I’m sticking with. It had nothing to do with me being lazy, as far as you know. Onwards!

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turn 3

November 7, 2017 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • When last we left our intrepid rebels, they had convinced the French to send a few resources their way and used them to take control of New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the British had troops to spare and loaded up Pennsylvania with both regulars and Tories and even built a fort in the Keystone State. Not to be outdone, the Native Americans added more warbands to the territories west and north of the Proclamation of 1763 line, and even built a village just outside the colonies. Luckily, both the Native Americans and British were unavailable for Turn 3, so lets see if the French and Patriots can make up some ground.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turns 1 and 2

November 6, 2017 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • It’s commonly believed that the American Revolutionary War began on a wet Wednesday morning in northeastern Massachusetts in the year 1775. That may be true, but a much more fun version of it erupted on a cold November afternoon in Wisconsin, specifically (and much to my wife’s chagrin) on my dining room table. That’s when my latest foray into GMT Games‘ fifth COIN game, Liberty or Death, began, leading to the following tale of military and political highs and lows. The trip should have something for everyone. Old grognards can tell me where I misinterpreted the rules and how stupid I am for not covering my flank, while LoD newbs can read an alternate tale of the ARW and see if Liberty or Death seems like something they’d like to throw down on their own dining room table.

Ooze is also apparently a vaping product. It advertises dual quartz technology, so I guess it's twice as timely as a watch?

One Deck Dungeon and the Digital Giants

November 6, 2017 Kelsey Rinella 15

I mistakenly thought I might be able to tempt my daughter into a game of One Deck Dungeon. An all-female cast in a relatively simple and quick dungeon crawl seemed like it might be the key which unlocked the gamer she could become. It didn’t happen, but I can make lemonade: I now happen to own a copy of the tabletop version of a game with a much-watched (including by us) digital kickstarter campaign. So this isn’t a review of the game as a tabletop experience, but specifically a look at its fitness for digital translation.

Strategy 101 : Stormbound, Basics Edition

October 6, 2017 Zac Belado 2

Stormbound is an interesting take on CCG and lane defence titles and poses interesting tactical questions for players both during play and in deck-building. Like many games, there are some facets of play in Stormbound that aren’t immediately apparent. The purpose of this article is to shine a light on these aspects and get you up to speed as quickly as possible.